Congressman Kline On SCHIP

I missed this last Wednesday when it came out, but Drew Emmer at Wright County Republican didn't!

Minnesotans understand that we have a responsibility to care for and support our children in need. As a father of two and a grandfather of four, I appreciate the importance of ensuring that health care is available to children. That is why I have been a supporter of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) since I was first elected to Congress in 2002.

However, I am not supporting the proposed expansion of SCHIP, because it fails to put poor kids first and relies on reckless funding schemes. This bill the president vetoed is a huge expansion of a government program extending coverage to illegal immigrants and those already insured.

SCHIP was created 10 years ago by a Republican Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton to provide health care benefits for low-income children not covered by Medicaid. Ensuring that all children have access to the care they need remains a priority for me, which is why I co-sponsored legislation that would provide an 18-month extension of the current SCHIP plan. This measure provides a stop-gap, not a solution.

Most, if not all, Republicans and Democrats in Washington understand the value of SCHIP. Unfortunately, some of my colleagues in Congress are using uninsured children as a political bargaining chip. We must end this dangerous game of politics and come together in a bipartisan manner to expand the program with solid funding to ensure the children of the working poor do not fall through the cracks.

Instead, we have an SCHIP bill that is fatally flawed by funding schemes and budget gimmicks that should trouble anyone. The bill relies on a budgetary gimmick that drops SCHIP funding by nearly 80 percent in its sixth year - resulting in a "funding cliff" that will ultimately force a choice between increasing taxes dramatically or stripping health insurance from millions of children. Because it depends on a huge cigarette tax increase, its funding scheme would need 22 million Americans to start smoking a pack per day. While no one would like to see kids smoking, the fact remains that the funding mechanism for this SCHIP proposal is reliant on a dramatic increase in the smoking population.

As it was written the bill was a farce and a sham.....a legislative shell game and both Congressman Kline and Congresswoman Bachman showed their wisdom in voting to uphold the President's veto of the SCHIP reauthorization. Both stood up to the political gamesmanship of the left and did the right thing....killing a bad bill. Hopefully now a workable SCHIP reauthorization bill - one that really helps the children most in need - can pass through Congress.