SCHIP... How To Find Out if Your Member of Congress Supported the Kids

Remember SCHIP? State Children's Health Insurance Program. One-third of all rural children depend upon SCHIP and Medicaid for their health care services. That's six points higher than the rate of enrollment for city kids.

We wrote about SCHIP in 2007 and then again throughout much of this year, as the majority in the House and the Senate supported it, President Bush vetoed twice, and; the House fought diligently (and failed) to over-ride the Bush vetoes. The Carsey Institute has more data about the program.

152 Members of Congress worked diligently to stop our rural children from accessing health care. All too many of these were self-identified proud conservatives who represented rural districts and quite simply, had no shame in their neglect of rural children.

Steve King (R IA-5) who was identified this week as one of the eleven worst members of Congress, in tandem with Virgil Goode (R VA-5) who doesn't have such a hot record himself as he so conveniently failed to vote for even the Farm Bill are two examples of those who neglected their District's children. King's CD is 49.4% rural and Goode's CD is 64% rural. Yet, their voting records look like they haven't even noticed.

Project Vote Smart identified King and Goode's twin voting records as follows:

• NO 1/23/08 SCHIP Reauthorization Act of 2007 Veto Over-ride Failed House 260-152
• NO 10/25/07 SCHIP Reauthorization HR 3963 Bill Passed House 365 -142
• NO 10/18/07 SCHIP Reauthorization HR 976 Bill Veto Over-ride Failed House 273-156
• NO 9/25/07 SCHIP Reauthorization HR 976 Concurrance Vote Passed House 265-159
• NO 8/1/07 State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) HR 3162 Bill Passed House 225-204
  

We've made an example out of Steve King and Virgil Goode because they've consistently failed to vote their District, but we urge you to go to Project Vote Smart and check on your own Representative and Senators ... make sure they did the right thing. In the case of King and Goode, all four of the Senators (Tom Harkin (D IA), Chuck Grassley (R IA), John Warner (R VA) and Jim Webb (D VA) from their home states laid partisanship aside for the good of the children.

PROJECT VOTE SMART