Republicans’ Continued Rejection of Children’s Health Care is Shameful; We Will Continue the Fight to Cover America’s Children

Washington D.C. – Congressman John Conyers, Jr., Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary and Dean of the Congressional Black Caucus, released the following statement regarding the House’s unsuccessful attempt to override President Bush’s veto of the consensus State Children’s Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP) Reauthorization bill. The override was supported by 273 House members and opposed by 156, falling 13 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass the legislation over the President’s veto. The widely-supported SCHIP Reauthorization bill would have provided health coverage to 10 million children from needy and low-income families.

“Through their obstructionist tactics and misleading rhetoric, the President and House Republicans derailed a broad bipartisan effort to ensure that 10 million needy children receive the quality health care services they deserve. Their efforts have potentially jeopardized the health and well-being of millions of American children.

“I have long been a proponent of universal, single-payer health care, such as that proposed in H.R. 676, my legislation for national health insurance. If our nation had true universal health care, fights over stopgap programs to cover the poor would no longer be necessary, because all Americans would be guaranteed health coverage regardless of income, employment, or health status. In the meantime, however, we must continue the struggle to get coverage for as many Americans as we can under successful programs such as SCHIP. Congressional Democrats will not stop this fight until we achieve our goal of covering 10 million children. Make no mistake, the President will see this legislation on his desk again in short order.”