January 23, 2008

Today, US Rep. Ed Perlmutter joined with a bi-partisan majority of the House of Representatives, and represented a majority of Americans, as he voted to override the President’s Veto of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The House voted 260 to 152 to override the veto, however, this vote was not enough to override the President’s veto. 151 House Republicans voted to sustain the President’s veto.

Perlmutter stated, "Today, House Republicans stood between 3.8 million additional children who would be covered by SCHIP under this bill and the health care they need. The President’s veto on December 12th denied health care to children of hardworking families across America just as the country began experiencing an economic downturn, with families increasingly struggling with the costs of food, gas and health care.

"When unemployment increases, so do the number of Americans without health insurance. In this weak economy, more and more American parents are having difficulty finding health insurance for their children. As a result, the SCHIP program is more critical than ever."

The legislation vetoed by the President provided a $35 billion expansion of the SCHIP program and would have provided health care coverage to 10 million children nationwide. As of 2006, nearly 70,000 children in Colorado were enrolled in SCHIP, and under this new legislation 60,000 additional children would have been covered.