Keith Ellison: “I rise today with the very, very wonderful company of my freshman Members. Mr. Speaker, since the 110th Congress began…”

“I rise today with the very, very wonderful company of my freshman Members. Mr. Speaker, since the 110th Congress began, we have, as a class, stepped forward to try to do everything we could to help the American people see a new way forward for America. And this week, we have seen that the distinction and the differences between our view of caring for the health of all Americans and that of the President were brought into very sharp contrast, very sharp contrast in that the President has vetoed SCHIP. Mr. Speaker, before I turn it over to my very able classmates, I just want to point out that we're not rising today to talk about health care and SCHIP to throw partisan darts or anything like that. We recognize and respect and appreciate and even are quite grateful for members of the Republican Caucus in both Houses who have come forward to join and say that the health of our children is very important, in fact, it's sacred, and that all Americans should come together to support it. Mr. Speaker, the bipartisan SCHIP reauthorization bill, which was vetoed by the President, is supported by 67 Senators, including 18 Republicans. It is supported by 43 Governors, including 16 Republican Governors, and I'm proud to say my own Governor, Tim Pawlenty. Governor Pawlenty knows that he and I have disagreed on things in the past, but we're together on this, that children's health must be cared for by adults.”