(Welcome back, Senator Schauer. We regret that it is under such unfortunate circumstances.
BFM readers - note that there are links to videos of floor statements at the end of this article. - promoted by Christine)
Ever since President Bush's veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill earlier this month, Senate Democrats have been fighting to continue this critical program that would provide health-insurance coverage for 80,000 Michigan children.
A week ago our caucus introduced SR 117, a resolution urging Congress to override President Bush's veto of the children's health insurance program. That same day the Michigan House voted on HR 201, a similar resolution which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support by a vote of 72-34.
For the past week Michigan Democrats have been leading a full-court press against Michigan Representatives Camp, Hoekstra, Knollenberg, McCotter, Rogers and Walberg, urging them to join their Republican colleagues Vern Ehlers, Candice Miller and Fred Upton in supporting the SCHIP program.
Last Monday, Gov. Granholm and Rep. John Dingell held a town hall meeting in Detroit featuring dozens of families who have benefited from the insurance program. That same day, Sen. Liz Brater (D-Ann Arbor) and I stood with local health experts in Ann Arbor to urge support for children's health insurance. Since then, Senate Democrats have met regularly with constituents and local officials in an effort to build public support for this important health care program.
During today's session, Democratic Floor Leader Buzz Thomas moved to discharge this important resolution from the Appropriations Committee so the full Senate could consider the measure. We knew time was of the essence, since the Congress was preparing to vote just a few hours later on the override of President Bush's veto.
I spoke out in support of the motion to discharge SR 117 this morning, but when it finally came up for a vote, Senate Republicans voted along party lines to delay consideration of the discharge for a day. This meant we couldn't even debate the merits of the resolution until at least a day after it was too late to influence Congress.
The State Senate has made a number of tough votes in recent weeks, but this should not have been one of them. For an issue that has such strong bipartisan support across the country, it is incredibly frustrating and disappointing that Michigan's Senate Republicans refused to join our effort to insure 80,000 Michigan children today.
You can view floor statements from our Senators at the following links: Sen. Whitmer, Sen. Jacobs, Sen. Scott, Sen. Gleason, Sen. Clarke, Sen. Clark-Coleman, and Sen. Hunter. |
