Speeches
Pelosi Floor Statement Urging Override of President’s Veto of SCHIP
10/18/2007
“My colleagues, as I listen to the debate today, I hear a
lot of subterfuge and distractions, but the fact is that this is a discussion
about
“That is why I am so proud of what has transpired since we
took our first vote on this bill. That
day I said we could establish ourselves as the children’s Congress. And we did.
The work remains to be done to bring that to fruition.
“But in the meantime across our country, Democrats and
Republicans, governors and mayors, people who work with children or have a
responsibility of delivering on our system of health care, have been advocating
for this reauthorization of SCHIP that we have before us today.
“Our country has put poor children first. The poorest of the poor children in this
country are able to receive health care through Medicaid. I wish you could have heard the stories of
some of the parents told us. Bethany
Wilkerson’s parents were in the other day, and the press asked them if they
were afraid if their family would come under attack because they were lobbying
for SCHIP. ‘We are already under attack,
but we’re proud to come forward to support this initiative,’ they said. ‘We’re
not proud of the fact that we are low-income.
We’re trying very hard to left ourselves up higher into the
middle-class. We work very hard not to
be on Medicaid, but to be among the working poor, it’s not something we brag
about, but SCHIP is something that we need.’
“So when the President wants to insure 4 or 5 million
children instead of 10 million children in this initiative, is he the one, the
decider, who wants to go that family and say, ‘Your child is out?’
“But that does not include people earning $83,000 a
year. So while some of you may use that
as an excuse not to vote for this program, I hope you know intellectually that
it is not a reason to vote against SCHIP.
They are currently no children enrolled in SCHIP with family income of
400 percent of the federal poverty level, $83,000 for a family of four. In fact, 91.3 percent of the children
enrolled in SCHIP are in families of four that make less than 200 percent of
poverty. And 99.95 percent of them are
in families under 300 percent of poverty.
“So this is a sad thing.
We’re asking people working hard, they’re playing by the rules, and
they’re taking care of their families. They could have stayed out of work and
stayed on Medicaid. But that’s not what
we’re encouraging people to do in our country.
We’re encouraging them to move on and upward. And these families have to come forward and
say why they have not attained the American dream of enough wealth to afford
$1,200 a month in health insurance premiums and that’s a big order.
“I’m so pleased, though, with the work that the groups have
done. Easter Seals, the March of Dimes,
the Red Cross, all the organizations, working with the governors and
mayors. Now 81 percent of the American
people support this initiative. And let
me also say that there are some myths about SCHIP. I don’t really think they’re myths, I think
they’re excuses not to vote for the bill.
I mentioned one of them. Another
one is about illegal aliens. Clearly,
the bill states no federal funding for illegal aliens. It is also the law of the land. Illegal aliens do not get benefits. So don’t use that as an excuse to deprive 10
million children in our country who are eligible for enrollment in SCHIP that
they shouldn’t get it.
“This has been a bipartisan effort. And some of what has been said about this is
simply not true. But don’t take it from
me. Senator Orrin Hatch, former chair of
the Health Committee, in the Senate now, a ranking member said: ‘I believe that
some have given the President bad advice on this matter because I believe that
supporting this bipartisan compromise to provide health coverage to low-income
children is the morally right thing to do.
If we were truly compassionate, it seems to me we’d endorse this
program.’ Senator Orrin Hatch,
Republican of
Senator Charles Grassley, former chair of the Finance
Committee, another committee of jurisdiction, now the ranking member said: ‘The
President’s claims about SCHIP are flatly incorrect. The SCHIP bill is not a government takeover
of health care. Screaming ‘socialized
medicine’ during a health care debate is like shouting ‘fire’ in a crowded
theater. It is intended to cause
hysteria that diverts people from looking at the facts.’ Senator Grassley, Republican of
“And so my colleagues, we have a decision today to override
the President’s veto, which would be in my view the right thing to do for our
children and for our country. It’s not
about compassion, it’s about fairness.
And this is a bill that has been bipartisan in its development and
required enormous sacrifice from the Democrats in the House of
Representatives. We had a much higher
goal. This is what is achievable for the
children. It should have been signed by
the President. There is no reason that he
has given that is consistent with the facts.
And so I urge my colleagues to think about the children, to think about
Bethany and the other children.
“The President is isolated in this. Don’t join him in his isolation. Come forward on behalf of the children and
let’s truly send a signal that we are about the future. I tried to do that when I was sworn in as
Speaker surrounded by children. It was a
spontaneous moment, but it was one that was clear in its message: we are
gaveling this House to order on behalf of the children.
“There is nothing more important that we have to do in our work than make sure that our children are healthy and safe. Today, we have an opportunity to do that; let’s not miss that opportunity. Let’s give a vote for the children and against the President’s veto.”