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Senate Passes Health Bill to Aid Low Income Children

A recently passed bill allowing for assistance for low income children involved an intense debate that led Senator Charles E. Grassley a Republican from Iowa to comment that he saw this as a very unfortunate beginning to bipartisan efforts in the capital. As the leading Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, Grassley is a strong supporter of the program, but he was disgusted by the way Democratic leaders handled the debate. Senator Grassley says that he sees this as a bad sign of things to come in the following months as regards cooperation of the two parties.

Some well-established lawmakers noting that the vote on the health plan came just one day after passage in the House of an $819 billion economic stimulus package that gain absolutely no Republican support questioned the ability of the president to create a new period of cooperation in the capital.

The children's health program has continually received broad bipartisan support ever since its creation in 1997 under a Republican-led Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid a Democrat from Nevada, points out that there are few government programs at the present time that have enjoyed such great success, a success that has been acknowledged by members of both of political parties and by all bipartisan health-care experts.

The expansion of the program has gained the support of governors, consumer advocates and business executives all of whom lobbied for the expansion, with the argument that in this weakened economy, more and more families have sought the assistance.
The executive director of Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families, Cindy Mann, says that during this time of economic turmoil, it is of prime importance that we maintain and strengthen this program which represents an important lifeline to our nation's children. She added that it is also important that we help financially strapped states respond to the increasing need for affordable health-care coverage.

During 2007, such prominent Republicans as Grassley and Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah encouraged President Bush to support renewal of the program.

Hatch points out that taking such a position was not easy for them. He explained that pushing through a different version now would not only be unfair, he said, but an insult to those who have worked so strongly with those of the other party.
Democrats point out that the bill that the Senate approved last night is one that closely resembles the versions many Republicans supported in the past.

The new provision allowing states to enroll certain legal immigrants was objected to by GOP lawmakers. UP until the present time, immigrant families have been required to wait up to five years for coverage.

Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois says that the bottom line is that the debate is about health coverage for children and is not a debate regarding immigration.