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STANDING DOWN ON SCHIP, GENOCIDE
The Gate - National Journal, DC
Oct 18 2007
Updated.
The House Democratic leadership failed to wrangle the 12 to 15
additional votes it needed to push an expansion of a health care
program for poor children past a presidential veto.
Lawmakers voted to override President Bush's veto 265 to 159, just
under the two-thirds majority required. Squabbling over the bill,
popular in spirit but contentious in practice, culminated in lawmakers
using and attacking real live children volunteered by their parents
as props in the debate.
Today's vote was originally scheduled for around noon, but had to be
delayed because of still more ugliness. During floor debate preceding
the vote, California Democrat Pete Stark accused Republican fiscal
conservatives of "telling lies" about the breadth of the expansion.
He continued: "You don't have money to fund the war or children. But
you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get
enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their
heads blown off for the president's amusement."
The National Republican Congressional Committee fired off video
of Stark's remarks so fast that it misidentified the loose-cannon
lawmaker as a fellow Republican. Protesting GOP lawmakers called for
a reprimand vote on the remarks, which failed.
It seems that the hard-charging Democrats of nine months ago have hit
a wall when it comes to Bush's vetoes. Today's vote means they will
be forced to make concessions, despite a vow from House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid yesterday (subscription)
that they would not give in on the $35 billion figure for SCHIP
expansion. Lawmakers are under the gun to push reauthorization through,
as a number of states have already suspended their programs in the
face of no new federal contributions.
In remarks yesterday warning House lawmakers against an override,
Bush said, "Now it's time to put politics aside and seek common ground
to reauthorize this important program." The president, backed by a
bloc of fiscal conservatives in Congress, has criticized the package
as overly expansive, because in some states middle-class families
qualify for coverage. The program's intent was to cover families too
poor to afford private insurance but ineligible for Medicare.
Bush signaled yesterday that his veto should stand because there is
plenty of room for compromise. "If it requires more than the 20 percent
increase in funding that I proposed, then we'll work with Congress
to find the funding that we need," he said in a press conference.
Also yesterday, Pelosi signaled the House would back off on a
nonbinding resolution condemning the Ottoman Empire's genocide of the
Armenians nearly a century ago. Even critics of Turkey, which denies
the genocide occurred despite overwhelming historical evidence, have
come to acknowledge that the issue is one of timing. The Turkish
government reacted angrily after the resolution passed committee,
and is retaliating by threatening cross-border military strikes in
northern Iraq and warning of a severing of ties with Washington. The
Bush administration and all of the living former secretaries of state
have urged the House to drop the matter.
"We don't have the number of allies we used to have. We've lost so
much credibility worldwide," said Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha,
predicting the measure would not pass.
The prospect of losing Turkey as an ally is proving too much even
for lawmakers who feel strongly about the Armenian genocide issue.
According to a National Journal poll of congressional insiders that
will be released tomorrow, the most frequently cited reason for
backing off the resolution is timing.
"Even as a co-sponsor, I do not believe this is the right time,"
said one Republican lawmaker.
The Gate - National Journal, DC
Oct 18 2007
Updated.
The House Democratic leadership failed to wrangle the 12 to 15
additional votes it needed to push an expansion of a health care
program for poor children past a presidential veto.
Lawmakers voted to override President Bush's veto 265 to 159, just
under the two-thirds majority required. Squabbling over the bill,
popular in spirit but contentious in practice, culminated in lawmakers
using and attacking real live children volunteered by their parents
as props in the debate.
Today's vote was originally scheduled for around noon, but had to be
delayed because of still more ugliness. During floor debate preceding
the vote, California Democrat Pete Stark accused Republican fiscal
conservatives of "telling lies" about the breadth of the expansion.
He continued: "You don't have money to fund the war or children. But
you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get
enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their
heads blown off for the president's amusement."
The National Republican Congressional Committee fired off video
of Stark's remarks so fast that it misidentified the loose-cannon
lawmaker as a fellow Republican. Protesting GOP lawmakers called for
a reprimand vote on the remarks, which failed.
It seems that the hard-charging Democrats of nine months ago have hit
a wall when it comes to Bush's vetoes. Today's vote means they will
be forced to make concessions, despite a vow from House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid yesterday (subscription)
that they would not give in on the $35 billion figure for SCHIP
expansion. Lawmakers are under the gun to push reauthorization through,
as a number of states have already suspended their programs in the
face of no new federal contributions.
In remarks yesterday warning House lawmakers against an override,
Bush said, "Now it's time to put politics aside and seek common ground
to reauthorize this important program." The president, backed by a
bloc of fiscal conservatives in Congress, has criticized the package
as overly expansive, because in some states middle-class families
qualify for coverage. The program's intent was to cover families too
poor to afford private insurance but ineligible for Medicare.
Bush signaled yesterday that his veto should stand because there is
plenty of room for compromise. "If it requires more than the 20 percent
increase in funding that I proposed, then we'll work with Congress
to find the funding that we need," he said in a press conference.
Also yesterday, Pelosi signaled the House would back off on a
nonbinding resolution condemning the Ottoman Empire's genocide of the
Armenians nearly a century ago. Even critics of Turkey, which denies
the genocide occurred despite overwhelming historical evidence, have
come to acknowledge that the issue is one of timing. The Turkish
government reacted angrily after the resolution passed committee,
and is retaliating by threatening cross-border military strikes in
northern Iraq and warning of a severing of ties with Washington. The
Bush administration and all of the living former secretaries of state
have urged the House to drop the matter.
"We don't have the number of allies we used to have. We've lost so
much credibility worldwide," said Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha,
predicting the measure would not pass.
The prospect of losing Turkey as an ally is proving too much even
for lawmakers who feel strongly about the Armenian genocide issue.
According to a National Journal poll of congressional insiders that
will be released tomorrow, the most frequently cited reason for
backing off the resolution is timing.
"Even as a co-sponsor, I do not believe this is the right time,"
said one Republican lawmaker.