This week, President Bush vetoed health care for 10 million children for the second time. Speaker Pelosi responded: Let it be clear that Democrats will not rest until 10 million children in America have access to health care, and that it is paid for. Let it be clear that we will persist with this effort. We will try to continue the negotiations with our Republican colleagues, but we will introduce legislation immediately that will cover the shortfall between now and the end of the fiscal year, September 30, and at the same time we will be working for the bigger bill. We want to protect the health care of the children who are on SCHIP now, and we are working to expand that to 10 million children.
Our childrens health is of the highest priority for this Congress. This holiday season, when parents should be thinking about presents for their children, instead they must be concerned about whether their children will have access to health care. This is simply not right. Democrats will not rest until 10 million children in America have access to health care.
Pelosi on Bush Veto of SCHIP: ˜Democrats Will Not Rest Until 10 Million Children Have Access to Health Care>>
The Gavel: President Bush; Second Veto of Childrens Health Care (SCHIP)>>
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Banning Torture and Improving Our Intelligence Programs
This week, the House passed the final Intelligence Authorization legislation, which provides the largest amount for intelligence programs ever authorized. It contains numerous provisions to improve the effectiveness of intelligence programs and agencies, and extends the prohibition against torture in the current Army Field Manual to all U.S. intelligence agencies and personnel. The legislation accountability measures include provisions to enhance oversight of the intelligence community as ell as provisions to improve accountability on the use of contractors.
This bill prohibits torture by requiring that the military and intelligence community only use interrogation techniques that fall within the Army Field Manual. (Currently, the Army Field Manual only applies to interrogations by the military.) It is necessary to have clear guidelines on what interrogation techniques are allowed, and what are not allowed. That is precisely what the Army Field Manual does. It specifically authorizes 19 interrogation techniques and specifically prohibits 8 techniques “ including waterboarding, forced nudity, denial of food and water, and beatings.
The Gavel: House Debates Intelligence Authorization Conference Report Extending Army Field Manual
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Tax Relief for Millions of Middle-Class Families
House Democrats are providing millions of middle-class families with tax cuts to grow our economy without increasing the national debt. This week, the House passed legislation to provide $50 billion in alternative minimum tax (AMT) relief to 23 million families, and expands the child tax credit to help 12 million children.
The AMT was established to ensure that the wealthiest families did not escape paying taxes altogether. It has grown to be such a problem that it now threatens teachers and firefighters “ a far cry from its original intent. For example, the bill would provide for a married couple with two kids making $80,000 with tax savings of $1,500, or a married couple with three kids making $70,000 with tax savings of more than $900. The bill also helps 12 million children, by making more families eligible for the refundable child tax credit“ covering working families making at least $8,500 in 2008, instead of requiring them to make $11,000 as under current law.
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Improving Benefits and Health Care for Troops and Veterans
The Defense Authorization legislation the House approved this week will make America safer “ addressing our military readiness crisis, investing in the equipment that will make our troops safer in the field, and improving benefits for military personnel and their families.
This bill supports our troops by giving the military a 3.5 percent pay raise, and upgrades military health care by prohibiting cuts in services and ensuring there are no increases in TRICARE fees for service members and retirees. It provides better benefits for reservists, and provides family medical leave for families of soldiers wounded in combat. It also makes progress in ending the Military Families Tax, which unfairly penalizes the survivors of those who have died as a result of their service-connected injuries.
The Defense Authorization also includes the Wounded Warrior Act, a provision that improves care for injured soldiers, particularly those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. This provision of the bill responds to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center scandal. The service of our returning veterans can never be fully repaid, but we can honor their service by ensuring they receive only the highest quality medical care when they return home.
Read Speaker Pelosis statement on House Passage of the Defense Authorization
"Speaker Nancy Pelosi"
www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=999
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