October 12, 2007
October 12, 2007
LANSING - In her weekly radio address, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today urged citizens to ask the six Michigan congressmen who voted against the reauthorization and expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to override the president's veto when the House of Representatives holds a vote next week. The legislation would allow Michigan to extend health insurance to as many as 80,000 uninsured, low-income children in addition to the 55,000 already covered by Michigan's SCHIP program.
"The bottom line is that this bill is good for Michigan's children and good for Michigan's economy," Granholm said. "In order to overturn President Bush's veto of children's health insurance, we need to convince the six Michigan congressmen who voted ‘no' to change their votes and say ‘yes' to provide Michigan kids with the health care they need."
The governor's weekly radio address is released each Friday morning and may be heard on broadcast stations across the state. The address is available on the governor's Web site ( www.michigan.gov/gov ) for download, together with a clip of the quote above. The radio address is also available as a podcast on the Web site, as well as on iTunes and via RSS feed for general distribution to personal MP3 players and home computers. Links to the audio files and text of today's address follow.
Governor Jennifer M. Granholm
October 12, 2007
Full Radio Address Audio (3:00): http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov114_Full_212123_7.mp3
Edited Radio Address Audio (1:30): http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov114_Edit_212124_7.mp3
Short Clip (:25): http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov114_Quote_212125_7.mp3
This is Governor Jennifer Granholm.
Earlier this week, I joined Senator Debbie Stabenow at a community roundtable on the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which in Michigan is known as MiChild. I sat for an hour with health care professionals and child advocates who shared their first-hand experience with how important it is for our children to have health care coverage. We heard heart wrenching stories about what happens when kids don't have access to preventative treatment. We heard about a child who died from an asthma attack, because he couldn't see a regular doctor; and about an earache that went untreated and led to permanent hearing loss; and a tooth infection that led to death. Insurance and preventative care would have made a difference in all of these cases.
MiChild provides health care coverage in Michigan to 55,000 children every month. Earlier in the summer, I joined with 42 other governors from both parties to urge Congress and the president to renew the program. The legislation passed through the House and Senate at the federal level with bipartisan support. But when it arrived on President Bush's desk, he vetoed it, blocking expansion of the program and leaving us unable to insure an additional 80,000 low-income children in Michigan.
However, there's still time for citizens to act and push Congress to overturn the president's decision. This week, the House of Representatives will hold a vote on overriding the Bush veto, and we need only about a dozen additional votes across the country to make it happen. Surprisingly, six Michigan congressmen voted against the bill.
No parent should have to choose between putting food on the table and taking their kids to the pediatrician. And no child should have to wait for an illness to become an emergency in order to get treatment. This is a moral issue, and no Michigan citizen should stand by and miss this opportunity to help 80,000 uninsured Michigan children.
At the same time, this is an economic issue that impacts Michigan businesses and families. Who pays for the uninsured? You do. Every family with an insurance policy pays an additional $730 per year to subsidize those who don't have insurance. It's not as if those who don't have insurance don't get sick; they do. They just go to the emergency rooms for treatment where it's most expensive, and you pay for that.
The bottom line is that this bill is good for Michigan's children and good for Michigan's economy. Congressman John Dingell and others from our congressional delegation were instrumental in its design. But now, in order to overturn President Bush's veto of children's health insurance, we need to convince the six Michigan congressmen who voted "no" to change their votes and say "yes" to provide Michigan kids with the health care they need.
So this week, please tell those who voted "no" to change their votes. Tell Congressman Joe Knollenberg, Congressman Mike Rogers, Congressman Pete Hoekstra, Congressman Tim Walberg, Congressman David Camp, and Congressman Thaddeus McCotter - tell them how important their votes on this issue are to all of us in Michigan. I encourage you to call the Capitol operator at 202-225-3121 and ask to speak to these congressmen.
Thank you for listening.
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