Edolphus Towns: “last week most of the Republicans once again marched in lockstep with the Bush administration. I have just been informed…”

“last week most of the Republicans once again marched in lockstep with the Bush administration. I have just been informed that the President has vetoed the CHIP bill. That is a shame and it is a disgrace. Despite the fact that this Democratic Congress crafted a bipartisan bill with Republican input, most Republican Members chose to ignore the health care needs of 10 million children. It is a shame and a national disgrace. The Children's Health Insurance Program has helped our Nation reduce the number of uninsured children. During each of the 8 years of the program, the number of uninsured children decreased, but over the last 2 years these numbers have actually gone up. Based on these troubling trends, this Democratic Congress did not believe that a straight reauthorization was enough. We needed to strengthen the CHIP program, and that is exactly what we did. And now I have been informed that the President has vetoed it. That's a disgrace.”