“It's hard to imagine the president telling millions of parents they don't deserve the same basic care for their kids that the president had for his,” Baucus said in the two-minute address. “But that is exactly what he did - and now it's up to Congress to come together and override his veto.”
Baucus cited the example of a Missoula family that has benefited from SCHIP. He said Fawn Tuhy's 2-year-old daughter fell down and split her scalp, requiring nine stitches. The same year, Tuhy's 6-year-old son broke his arm twice and needed surgery and a hospital stay.
“For all the talk about partisanship and gridlock in Washington, SCHIP has been an amazing example of what government can do when we work together,” he said.
He noted that 6.5 million children nationwide are covered by the decade-old program. The bill Congress passed and Bush vetoed would increase that by more than 3 million children, including 12,000 in Montana.
Baucus' address comes as advocacy groups and lawmakers gear up for a Thursday vote in the House to attempt to override the president's veto.
“Now every Republican must decide whether they will stand with the president and his veto - or stand with our children and their right to a healthy future,” Baucus said.
He urged listeners to tell their senators and members of Congress to override the veto. “This is America,” he said. “All our children should be able to see a doctor.”
Baucus, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, helped author the SCHIP bill that Bush vetoed.
The Senate passed the SCHIP measure by a veto-proof two-thirds margin, but the House did not. Democratic leaders are searching for about two dozen more votes needed to reach the two-thirds majority.
Saturday was the first time Baucus has given the Democrats' weekly radio address.
The vetoed bill would have increased spending on SCHIP by $35 billion over five years, paid for largely by a 61-cent-a-pack cigarette tax increase. Bush, who opposes the bill as an expansion of government-run health care, wanted to increase spending by $5 billion and objected to the cigarette tax boost.
If the House fails to override the veto, lawmakers would pass either a short-term or one-year extension of the current program and begin working on a new bill.
Congress has already approved a temporary extension of the program to keep it running beyond its expiration date of Sept. 30.
SCHIP is a federal-state program to help children whose families don't qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private health insurance to get coverage. Any SCHIP funding increase would be on top of the $25 billion now available over five years.
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