 Chairman's Corner
Below is a guest opinion article written by
Chairman Cowan in support of Joe Knollenberg and his stance on the State
Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
Oakland Press Guest Opinion
This week, I read Dave
Woodward's diatribe against Congressman Joe Knollenberg. Dave's
criticism is misplaced. He confuses facts and fiction about the
Congressman. If Dave Woodward were a doctor, he probably would have
amputated the healthy limb.
Congressman Joe
Knollenberg knows a lot about providing healthcare for our children. In
1997, he voted to create the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
That healthcare initiative was started by a Republican Congress and
President Bill Clinton. They worked together in a bipartisan fashion to
come up with a way to provide healthcare to the children of low income
families. Today, the SCHIP program insures 6.6 million children
nationwide and more than 118,500 children in Michigan alone!
Since the inception of
that healthcare program in 1997, Congressman Joe Knollenberg has voted
to ensure its funding and has continued to be a strong supporter of the
SCHIP program.
At issue in Congress
today is the attempt by the Democrat-controlled Congress to "hyper
expand" the SCHIP program well beyond its original scope, including the
coverage of adults and illegal immigrants, all at an increased cost of
$35 billion. As all of us know from having watched how Congress works,
you better get the legislation right the first time. Otherwise, you
will have bad legislation around forever.
If Dave Woodward had
bothered ask his Democrat friends in Washington, D.C., he would have
learned that Congressman Joe Knollenberg is playing a key role in trying
to bridge the gap over the SCHIP legislation. He is one of a small
group of representatives working across the aisle with Senate and House
leadership, including Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, to address
legitimate differences and move amended legislation forward.
Obviously, working in a
bipartisan fashion is not good enough for Dave Woodward. He would
rather stoop to the position of using kids as a political bludgeon
rather than contribute to civil discourse on children's healthcare.
Fortunately,
Congressman Joe Knollenberg has the maturity and the leadership to see
past such political gamesmanship. He realizes that in working in a
bipartisan fashion, we will come up with better healthcare for our
children.
In the meantime, let
Dave Woodward play in his political sandbox. We will let Congressman
Joe Knollenberg do the heavy lifting for our children in Oakland County
and throughout the State of Michigan.
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