Cigarticles
SCHIP in Congress
CAMP'S FLOOR STATEMENT ON CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM Jan 14, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I believe every American child should have access to quality health care. The Children's Health Insurance Program has done just that for those in families without the means to otherwise buy insurance on their own.
SCHIP was created as a bipartisan program, one I was proud to support. The bill before us today, however, not only threatens the core mission of the program - providing health insurance for low-income children - but creates a new entitlement that will demand higher taxes on all Americans in just a few short years.
Let me first state the obvious problem with this bill: a children's health program should not be used to cover adults, non-citizens, potentially illegal immigrants, and those making $80,000 per year.
There is another problem with the bill-one the majority hopes you ignore: this bill blatantly attempts to hide the true cost to American taxpayers. It is irresponsible and untenable to fund a children's health program with a revenue stream that is fast drying up. Increasing the cigarette tax, regardless of your support for such an idea, does not, will not and cannot cover the cost of this program.
The Democrats are blowing a giant cloud of smoke into the face of the American taxpayers, and I believe the impending tax increases that must come to cover this program will have us all in a severe coughing fit. The Democrats want you to ignore the fact that the percentage of Americans who smoke has been dropping for decades. But research and logic both show that raising the prices of cigarettes will lead to less smoking and fewer tax dollars coming into the federal treasury.
The only way for this funding scheme to work is if the Democrats find 22.4 million new smokers. I can't wait to see the look on Sen. Daschle's face when the Speaker tells the soon-to-be Health and Human Services Secretary that little tidbit.
In all seriousness, while its funding base is declining, SCHIP costs will increase exponentially. CBO predicts that SCHIP spending will more than double under the Democrats' proposal. The resulting gap between program spending and revenue becomes staggering - a gap Democrats will soon ask the American taxpayer to fill.
In closing, I'd like to add one final note. This bill represents a broken promise to lower and middle income Americans. President Elect Obama promised that no one making less than $250,000 per year would see their taxes go up.
Under the Democrats' proposal, a working class family with two adult smokers would face hundreds of dollars in additional federal tobacco taxes each year. We haven't made it to Inauguration Day and House leaders are already breaking this campaign promise. That might be a record even here in Washington, D.C.
Let's keep SCHIP focused on low-income children, let's not ask 22.4 million Americans to start smoking and let's demand a better, bipartisan bill to improve SCHIP. I ask my colleagues to vote no on this bill.
Representative Camp's web page
The vote:
H R 2 RECORDED VOTE 14-Jan-2009 2:45 PM
QUESTION: On Passage
BILL TITLE: Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009
| Ayes | Noes | PRES | NV | |
| Democratic | 249 | 2 | 5 | |
| Republican | 40 | 137 | 1 | |
| Independent | ||||
| TOTALS | 289 | 139 | 6 |
| Abercrombie Ackerman Adler (NJ) Altmire Andrews Arcuri Austria Baca Baird Baldwin Barrow Bean Becerra Berkley Berman Berry Bishop (GA) Bishop (NY) Blumenauer Boccieri Bono Mack Boren Boswell Boyd Brady (PA) Braley (IA) Brown, Corrine Buchanan Butterfield Cao Capito Capps Capuano Cardoza Carnahan Carney Carson (IN) Castle Castor (FL) Chandler Childers Clarke Clay Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Connolly (VA) Conyers Cooper Costa Costello Courtney Crowley Cuellar Cummings Dahlkemper Davis (AL) Davis (CA) Davis (IL) Davis (TN) DeFazio DeGette Delahunt DeLauro Dent Diaz-Balart, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Dicks Dingell Doggett Donnelly (IN) Doyle Driehaus Edwards (MD) Edwards (TX) Ehlers Ellison Ellsworth Emerson Engel Eshoo Etheridge Farr Fattah Filner Foster Frank (MA) Frelinghuysen Fudge Gerlach Giffords Gillibrand Gonzalez Gordon (TN) Grayson Green, Al Green, Gene |
Griffith Grijalva Gutierrez Hall (NY) Halvorson Hare Harman Hastings (FL) Heinrich Herseth Sandlin Higgins Hill Himes Hinchey Hinojosa Hirono Hodes Holden Holt Honda Hoyer Inslee Israel Jackson (IL) Jackson-Lee (TX) Johnson (GA) Johnson, E. B. Kagen Kanjorski Kaptur Kennedy Kildee Kilpatrick (MI) Kilroy Kind King (NY) Kirk Kirkpatrick (AZ) Kissell Klein (FL) Kosmas Kratovil Kucinich Lance Langevin Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) LaTourette Lee (CA) Lee (NY) Levin Lewis (GA) Lipinski LoBiondo Loebsack Lofgren, Zoe Lowey Luján Lynch Maffei Maloney Markey (CO) Markey (MA) Massa Matheson Matsui McCarthy (NY) McCollum McCotter McDermott McGovern McHugh McIntyre McMahon McNerney Meek (FL) Melancon Michaud Miller (MI) Miller (NC) Miller, George Minnick Mitchell Mollohan Moore (KS) Moore (WI) Moran (KS) Moran (VA) Murphy (CT) Murphy, Patrick Murphy, Tim Murtha Nadler (NY) Napolitano Neal (MA) Nye Oberstar |
Obey Olver Ortiz Pallone Pascrell Pastor (AZ) Paulsen Payne Pelosi Perlmutter Perriello Peters Peterson Petri Pingree (ME) Platts Polis (CO) Pomeroy Price (NC) Rahall Rangel Rehberg Reichert Reyes Richardson Rodriguez Rogers (AL) Ros-Lehtinen Ross Rothman (NJ) Roybal-Allard Ruppersberger Rush Ryan (OH) Salazar Sánchez, Linda T. Sanchez, Loretta Sarbanes Schakowsky Schauer Schiff Schrader Schwartz Scott (GA) Scott (VA) Serrano Sestak Shea-Porter Shuler Simpson Sires Skelton Slaughter Smith (NJ) Smith (WA) Space Speier Spratt Stark Stupak Sutton Tanner Tauscher Taylor Teague Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Thompson (PA) Tiberi Tierney Titus Tonko Towns Tsongas Turner Upton Van Hollen Velázquez Visclosky Walz Wasserman Schultz Waters Watson Watt Waxman Weiner Welch Wexler Wilson (OH) Wolf Woolsey Wu Yarmuth Young (AK) Young (FL) |
| Aderholt Akin Alexander Bachmann Bachus Barrett (SC) Bartlett Barton (TX) Biggert Bilbray Bilirakis Bishop (UT) Blackburn Blunt Boehner Bonner Boozman Boustany Brady (TX) Bright Broun (GA) Brown (SC) Brown-Waite, Ginny Burgess Burton (IN) Buyer Calvert Camp Campbell Cantor Carter Cassidy Chaffetz Coble Coffman (CO) Cole Conaway Crenshaw Culberson Davis (KY) Deal (GA) Dreier Duncan Fallin Flake Fleming Forbes |
Fortenberry Foxx Franks (AZ) Gallegly Garrett (NJ) Gingrey (GA) Gohmert Goodlatte Granger Graves Guthrie Hall (TX) Harper Hastings (WA) Heller Hensarling Herger Hoekstra Hunter Inglis Issa Jenkins Johnson (IL) Johnson, Sam Jones Jordan (OH) King (IA) Kingston Kline (MN) Lamborn Latham Latta Lewis (CA) Linder Lucas Luetkemeyer Lummis Lungren, Daniel E. Mack Manzullo Marchant Marshall McCarthy (CA) McCaul McClintock McHenry McKeon |
McMorris Rodgers Mica Miller (FL) Miller, Gary Myrick Neugebauer Nunes Olson Paul Pence Pitts Poe (TX) Posey Price (GA) Putnam Radanovich Roe (TN) Rogers (KY) Rogers (MI) Rohrabacher Rooney Roskam Royce Ryan (WI) Scalise Schmidt Schock Sensenbrenner Sessions Shadegg Shimkus Shuster Smith (NE) Smith (TX) Souder Stearns Terry Thornberry Tiahrt Walden Wamp Westmoreland Whitfield Wilson (SC) Wittman |
| Boucher Meeks (NY) |
Sherman Snyder |
Solis (CA)
Sullivan |