Political Quotes

“when the House tried to reauthorize the children's health care bill, the President of the United States called SCHIP ``a welfare benefit'' for ``middle-class households.'' Maybe there is some confusion at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Our bill provides health care for 10 million children whose parents work every day but can't afford to buy health care. They earn a paycheck, not a welfare check. They are parents like Dolores Sweeney. Dolores lives in my district. She works for an insurance company that doesn't provide health care. She has three children, and they would like to buy private health care for their children but can't afford it. Her children were on SCHIP, and without the SCHIP program, they would have gone without health care. Our bill does right by the Sweeney children and 10 million other children from working families. But the President says it's too expensive and calls it welfare for the middle class. At the same time, the President is eager to spend $680 billion in Iraq. We have spent $400 billion in 4 years in the war in Iraq, and for 40 days for the cost of the war, 10 million children in America will get health care for a year. So the President can call the children's health insurance ``excessive spending'' and he can call SCHIP ``welfare,'' but for Dolores Sweeney, it is peace of mind.”