Health Alert: President Vetoes SCHIP

Email received from Catholic Charities, 03 October 2007:

Health Alert: President Vetoes SCHIP Take Action!

Let the President Know What You Think!

WHAT: Despite strong support from the U.S. Congress and the American people, President Bush today vetoed the bill to renew and strengthen the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The bill rejected by the President would have provided access to proper health care for nearly ten million of the neediest children in our nation. ACTION NEEDED: Click on "Take Action" and enter your zip code to send a letter to President Bush and let him know that his veto has imperiled the health of vulnerable children in communities across our nation. BACKGROUND: Last week, both the House and the Senate passed a bi-partisan SCHIP reauthorization bill which would have provided an additional $35 billion over five years to keep children already receiving health care coverage, and to provide insurance to nearly four million more children whose health is at risk due to lack of proper health coverage. The President vetoed the bill not because the funding passed by Congress exceeded the $5 billion over five years that his Administration had requested, but because of ideological differences about how to expand health coverage to poor Americans. Improving public policies that promote the health of our nation's children is a key issue area of Catholic Charities USA's Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America. Click here for more information on our positions on SCHIP. WHAT HAPPENS NOW? Congress will likely schedule votes to attempt to override the President's veto in the coming weeks. Please look for alerts from Catholic Charities USA to help you call on your Members of Congress to successfully override the SCHIP veto. For more information, please contact Desmond Brown, Director of Health and Welfare Policy at dbrown@catholiccharitiesusa.org or Christin Driscoll, Senior Director for Policy Development and Advocacy at cdriscoll@catholiccharitiesusa.org. Thank you for taking action for America's children!