Political Quotes

“I helped negotiate the original SCHIP when I worked for President Clinton. It was President Clinton who proposed the SCHIP bill, not the Republicans; in fact, they opposed it. Then they agreed, after the Balanced Budget Agreement, that we would have pediatric care, eye and dental; but it was President Clinton that demanded it and made it a precondition before any agreement on the Balanced Budget Agreement. Now, I believe the sincerity that my colleagues support this, and I believe the sincerity of what they said in their letter, which is why we answered every one of those questions, both the sincerity in supporting it, and the sincerity of those remarks. At some point, you have to understand that you can take yes for an answer, and that is, we have provided that answer. Second is, Dolores Sweeney lives in my district. She works for an insurance company. Dolores Sweeney has three kids. Her insurance company does not provide her or her kids health care. She does right by her kids; she earns a paycheck, not a welfare check. If her kids got sick, she would go to Medicaid and go to welfare, but she's doing right by her children because she's working and teaching them right from wrong. Her kids are in SCHIP. And without this program, her kids will live one illness away from Medicaid. Medicaid is for them, for the poor. SCHIP is for parents who work full time earning a paycheck, not a welfare check. They're doing right by their children.”