Blunt: 'New' SCHIP Bill Addresses None of the Problems With...( WASHINGTON Oct. 25 -- House Repu...),Health

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) issued the following statement today after Democrats attempted once again to use a children's health program created by Republicans to expand taxpayer-funded care to people who are neither children nor poor -- and in some cases, not even in this country legally:

"Many of us had hoped the majority would take our concerns to heart and come back with an SCHIP bill that extends quality health care to poor kids first. Instead, we got a hastily assembled bill that few of us were given an adequate chance to read -- resulting in a final product that addresses none of the serious issues that have plagued the Democrats' plan from the outset.

"The majority insists this is a bill about children's health, but the plan we have before us would allow adults to remain eligible. The majority insists the bill was crafted with the interests of poor kids in mind, but it was written in a way that ensures families making as much as $73,000 remain on the rolls. And the majority insists that those here illegally would no longer be in a position to collect taxpayer-funded benefits, but the Social Security Administration has been clear that they will.

"If this bill truly represented a genuine compromise, we would've been given more than a couple hours to read it. As it is, we voted on legislation today that will never become law. And because of that, we missed yet another opportunity to send the president a bill that's committed to insuring poor kids first."