Republicans Support SCHIP, Compromise (Rep. Deborah Pryce)

As a Republican who supported the most recent version of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and a longtime advocate for children’s health, I am deeply concerned with the Democratic leadership’s rejection of the notion of compromise to keep the program operational beyond its November 16th expiration date.

Last month, forty-five Republicans voted for the largely Senate-drafted SCHIP legislation as a reasonable extension of an important program serving low-income children. We did so knowing full-well that many Members in our Conference and the President had concerns regarding the size and scope of the bill, and that the White House was certain to veto the legislation. We voted in support of the program, but also to move the process forward, in a timely fashion, toward reconciliation and a resolution that can become law. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the Democratic leadership’s intransigent intentions very clear when he rejected any possibility for compromise on SCHIP, calling the President’s compromise overtures “an insult.

House leaders proclaim the current bill to be “bipartisan compromise.