Washington - President Bush today vetoed the bill to improve the Children's Health Insurance Program, a move that threatens health coverage for around 6 million children nationwide and 130,000 in New Jersey and that could deny an additional 4 million children coverage, including as many as 100,000 in New Jersey.
U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who led the fight in the Senate to preserve federal support for New Jersey's strong FamilyCare program, today reacted to the veto:
"President Bush has told millions of children who have nowhere else to turn that the greatest country in the world refuses to look out for their health," said Menendez. "If evidence was ever needed that 'compassionate conservative' was just a long-deceased campaign slogan, this is it. While the president racks up billions upon billions in deficit spending for Iraq, he refuses to support a program benefiting American children who could soon lack health coverage. This has always been a matter of values: do we value our children and do our actions match our values? This veto tramples on the values that most every American shares, that our children are our greatest and most fragile resource.
"I have stood up to targeted attempts to take away health coverage from New Jersey children on the Senate floor before, and I will stand up to the president now. We must renew and improve the children's health program, and I will work to help override this uncompassionate veto."
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