WASHINGTON DC - Congressman Peter Roskam (IL-06) was the only Republican from Illinois to vote against H.R. 3 Thursday night, and his office issued the following explanation:
Representative Peter Roskam (IL-06) voted today against H.R. 3, the Spending Cuts to Expired and Unnecessary Programs Act, due to a provision which would rescind the $7 billion in funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) which was passed earlier this year. Rep. Roskam has been a strong advocate for the CHIP program and does not believe that cutting funding for this critical program is in the best interest of our country or the children that rely on the program.
“When I voted for the Championing Healthy Kids Act last year, which funded CHIP, I did so to ensure our children’s health would not be put in jeopardy. It’s important to preserve the bipartisan progress we made just a few short months ago,” said Representative Roskam. “Negotiating a spending bill of this magnitude is an extensive process, but we need to take caution that our children do not become collateral damage of our efforts to provide funding to other important programs.”
In November of last year, Congress voted to pass a 10-year extension of CHIP. It’s essential that children retain access to healthcare at the most developmentally critical phases of their lives and CHIP allows thousands of children to across the country access to that care.
“I believe we can come together to develop a package that does not jeopardize healthcare for our children,” said Roskam. “We need to put our children first and ensure that their well-being is prioritized above all else.”
