Rep. Pence with children in Anderson

Washington, Dec 19, 2007 -  

WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. Congressman Mike Pence issued the following statement today announcing his intention to support reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program:

“I am pleased to support S. 2499, the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007. This legislation represents a victory for vulnerable Hoosier families and a victory for taxpayers. This bill provides an eighteen-month extension of the current State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and it will ensure that the health needs of poor children in east central Indiana continue to be met in a fiscally responsible manner.

“In 1998, the Republican Congress created SCHIP. SCHIP was designed to help cover healthcare costs for those children and their families who were near the poverty level but who weren’t eligible for health insurance under Medicaid. The reauthorization of SCHIP has been the subject of much contentious debate in this Congress. I was unable to support earlier SCHIP reauthorization bills because those bills attempted to expand the program beyond the poor children it was intended to serve and, in effect, created a middle class entitlement.

“Because those of us who believed in maintaining the SCHIP program in a fiscally responsible manner stood firm, Congress was able to act in a bipartisan manner today to extend this important program for poor children and their families and serve the interests of future generations of Americans.”

###