Congressman Mike Conaway - 11th District of Texas

Contact: Anna Koch 202-225-3605

Washington, Oct 25, 2007 - Today, debate on H.R. 3963, the Democrats’ second SCHIP bill, was considered under a closed rule, meaning no Republican input was allowed. The Republican Whip’s office reported that this is the 40th time that the Democrat majority has tried to pass legislation under a closed rule. Congressman Mike Conaway made this statement following the passage of the “revised” SCHIP bill:

“Yet again, the House leadership has broken their promise of running an open and transparent Congress. Not only did the 293-page bill arrive to the floor this morning to be voted on this afternoon, but Democrat leadership refuses to allow Republican input or amendments to this important legislation. This so-called “new and improved” SCHIP legislation continues to allow states to increase coverage without ensuring that poor children have coverage first, continues to provide coverage for many adults through 2012, and, among many other reasons, actually costs more than the first Democrat SCHIP bill. Until the Democrats can work in a bipartisan manner to get a responsible bill on the House floor, the Washington political games will continue. We must insure the poor children first, and we must do it rationally.”