The upcoming vote to override President Bush's veto of a bipartisan bill to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program is one of those rare opportunities.
So far, the majority of our congressional delegation has been on the wrong side, the president's side, of this issue. But they have a chance to redeem themselves, to stand up and tell The Decider he decided wrong, and they should grab it. Their first responsibility is to Utah's children, not to a lame-duck president who rarely gets it right.
The number of uninsured Utah children - nearly 90,000 - has grown 26 percent since 2005. Despite the precarious situation of their most vulnerable constituents, Congressmen Chris Cannon and Rob Bishop and Sen. Bob Bennett voted against the reauthorization bill. They say they have their reasons, but we're not buying them. We believe they voted the party and the administration's line - that CHIP is an evil harbinger of socialized health care.
The truth is that CHIP is a program with proven efficiency in protecting the health of children. Without it, when these children become ill or injured, they are treated in emergency rooms (which Bush applauds), with the costly tab paid through taxes and higher insurance premiums.
Until someone comes up with a better program, and we haven't seen one, we should let CHIP continue to provide health care to kids and enroll as many low-income children as possible. The legislation that Bush vetoed would do just that, providing an additional $35 billion to add 4 million children to CHIP's rolls.
To his great credit, Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, one of the original sponsors of CHIP, has boldly told the president he was wrong to veto this legislation. Owing in part to Hatch's strong stand, the Senate approved CHIP reauthorization with a veto-proof majority. Hatch said Wednesday that voting to reauthorize and expand CHIP is "the morally right thing to do," a view now held by many of his fellow Republicans.
Rep. Jim Matheson, Utah's lone Democrat in Washington, has backed CHIP all along. Now it is time for Bishop, Cannon and 13 other Republicans to "do the morally right thing" by voting to override the veto. If you agree, let Messrs. Bishop and Cannon know your thoughts.
