Senate Republican Whip Trent Lott Calls for Responsible SCHIP Compromise
October 17, 2007
Floor Speech
Following are Excerpts:
“I have a message for everybody involved. Let’s put low-income poor kids first. Let’s figure out how we deal with their needs. That’s what caused this program to begin with. I had the pleasure of being the Majority Leader in the Senate in the1990s when this program was created.”
“Only in Washington can you get confused about a program that’s for kids and then start putting adults on it.”
“We were looking at going above the $5 billion increase that the President originally was suggesting. How much? Well, that’s what the legislative process is about. Is it $9 billion – perhaps $9 billion instead of $5 billion? Or maybe $12 billion? I wasn’t wedded to a number. I was wedded to a concept and a program to make sure that we cover those now in the program.”
“So now what? We sit down, work it out. What’s the plan for the Democrats? Let the program just collapse? That’s unacceptable. Nobody is going to stand for that.”
“We can play politics. We can play partisan politics. But do we have to use kids in the process?”
“One of my big problems about the plan we have here, it would put two million kids who now have private insurance on government rolls.”
“There are many problems with this bill, but typically what I’ve always said is, Okay, let’s have our political debates. Let’s stake out our partisan positions, and then let’s sit down and work something out. Isn’t that what the people expect us to do? Let’s get a compromise worked out, and let’s protect this program which is well intentioned.”
Senator Trent Lott Press Release
10/17/7
Magnolia Tribune
