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New York - Today the New York State Democratic Party called on U.S. Rep Tom Reynolds to vote to overturn President Bush's veto of bipartisan legislation to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
"Tom Reynolds was wrong to vote to cut health insurance for New York's children. The law he voted against would help working families in our community gain access to quality health care for their kids. Now he has a chance to do the right thing by voting to overturn President Bush's veto of this critical legislation," said June O'Neill, Chair of the New York State Democratic Party.
O'Neill noted that since its adoption by Congress ten years ago, New York State's SCHIP program has become the second largest in the country - successfully reducing the number of uninsured children in New York by more than 40%.
"Tom Reynolds' constituents know that cutting back on children's healthcare will mean more trips to the emergency room and that more kids will suffer needlessly from preventable disease," said O'Neill. .
This spring, the New York State legislature voted across party lines to expand New York's successful SCHIP program to cover more working families. On August 17th the Bush administration rejected New York's request to expand coverage and proposed new rules that would cause more than 70,000 children in New York to lose coverage.
"President Bush is trying to dismantle New York's successful children's health insurance program pure and simple. It's wrong and Tom Reynolds should stand with his colleagues in both parties to stop it. It's simply outrageous that Reynolds would vote with the President to deny coverage to our kids," said O'Neill.
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