Byron Dorgan: “I am going to talk about a couple subjects this afternoon. I am going to begin, however, talking about the issue of…”

“I am going to talk about a couple subjects this afternoon. I am going to begin, however, talking about the issue of children's health insurance. The Children's Health Insurance Program will be the subject of the cloture vote later this afternoon, and it is a very important issue. We have a lot of children in this country who do not have health insurance coverage. Ten years ago, we put together a piece of legislation called the Children's Health Insurance Program. It has worked. It has been very successful. Millions of children who otherwise would not have had health insurance coverage now have health insurance coverage. The President, when he campaigned for office a couple of years ago, said he supported and wanted to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program to cover more children. The Congress, on a bipartisan basis, has now passed the Children's Health Insurance Program reauthorization that would provide additional coverage for nearly 4 million additional children in this country--3.8 million additional children, to be exact. The President vetoed it--this after he campaigned saying he supported expanding the program.”