Conyers Responds to President’s S-CHIP Veto:
“Ideology Won’t Cover Our Children”

Washington D.C. – Congressman John Conyers, Jr., chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary and Dean of the Congressional Black Caucus, made the following statement in response to President Bush’s veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP):

“Once again, President Bush has put his ideology ahead of the will and the well-being of the American people. This President is so afraid that the concept of guaranteed health care for all will gain more support with the public that he has rejected health care coverage for our nation’s most vulnerable children. This President thinks that the well-being of these children should be subject to the ups-and-downs of the stock market, to their parents’ employment status, or to how much they have in the bank. This President, who is willing to spend $12 billion a month on a war of choice in Iraq, claims we can’t afford to spend $7 billion dollars a year on health care for our children.

President Bush’s ideology has failed to provide health coverage for our nation’s children in the past, and it there is no evidence whatsoever that it will do so in the future. That is why the Congress will not allow this President’s ideology to trump the health and well-being of our children. We will override this shameful veto and guarantee that all America’s children have access to the health care they need."