NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday January 23, 2008

Bee would have joined extremist ideologues today to prevent kids' care

Tim Bee would have voted with a lonely and partisan minority today if he were in Congress right now.

Bee opposes the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which covers the health insurance for children of working poor families. In Arizona, nearly 83,000 uninsured children would have been eligible for health insurance with today’s vote.

“If Tim Bee were a Congressman, he would have voted with President Bush to prevent 83,000 Arizona kids from getting health insurance,” said Maria Weeg, executive director of the Arizona Democratic Party. “But that doesn’t represent Arizona. We’re compassionate – and we want to make sure that the most vulnerable among us are protected. That means sending kids to the doctor when they need to go. It’s just the right thing to do.”

President Bush has vetoed the legislation twice, while a bipartisan group of members of Congress continue to try to override his veto. The bipartisan group came within 15 votes of overriding the veto on Wednesday.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords voted in favor of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, as did the other Democrats in the Arizona Congressional delegation.

Bee told the Arizona Republic in October that the expansion was “not necessarily an appropriate thing to do at this time.” (link)