Mike Pence: “in 1998 the Republican Congress enacted the State Children's Health Insurance Program to help children of families near…”

“in 1998 the Republican Congress enacted the State Children's Health Insurance Program to help children of families near poverty. But now, true to their big government agenda, the Democrat Congress has sent the President a massive increase in the SCHIP program that will usher in a new era of socialized medicine in America. This bill will take a program designed to help children near the poverty level and expand it to include families with incomes of up to $83,000 a year, and Democrats would pay for this middle-class entitlement with a 61 cent per-pack tax increase on cigarettes. Let's provide health insurance for children of the poor and the near poor, but let's reject a liberal Democratic Congress's attempt to create middle-class entitlements on the backs of American smokers. Mr. President, veto this bill.”