Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Allyson Schwartz released the following statement concerning the House vote to override President Bush’s veto of the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

“With what we will spend in Iraq in the next 3 months, we could provide health coverage for 10 million children for five years. Yet, today the President and 154 Republicans in the House decided that their priority was not the healthcare of America’s children.

“Members of Congress had a clear choice. Vote for a bipartisan plan to deliver health coverage to 10 million American children – a bill overwhelmingly supported by 8 in 10 Americans. Or, stand blindly by President Bush and allow his veto to stand.

“Republicans in this chamber who supported his veto today illustrate that they, like the President, do not understand, or worse, have chosen to ignore how deeply healthcare matters in the lives of American families.

“For the parents of children who don’t have health coverage, their worries are all consuming. And, for a nation as great as ours, it is unacceptable that children go without needed healthcare simply due to the lack of an insurance card."  

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In 1992, as a state Senator, Rep. Allyson Schwartz spearheaded Pennsylvania's children's health program, one of the first in the nation. As a member of the Committee on Ways and Means, Schwartz has continued to be one of the leading advocates for extending the Children’s Health Insurance Program.