The plan, which passed with bipartisan support, bolsters our national defense, allows additional funding for children's health care and increases support for our veterans.
This blueprint for America's budget is an important milestone because Congress was unable to pass a budget in three of the last five years. This budget:
-- Improves children's health care by expanding funds available to the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
-- Invests in education by increasing funds for No Child Left Behind and Pell grants.
-- Creates a deficit-neutral $20 billion reserve fund to increase funding for energy, disaster assistance and commodity support in the next Farm Bill.
The Bush administration said Saturday that senior advisers would recommend the president veto Senate legislation that would substantially increase funds for children's health insurance.
The legislation calls for a 61-cent increase in the federal excise tax on a pack of cigarettes. The revenue would be used to subsidize health insurance for children and some adults with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford insurance on their own. Members of the Senate Finance Committee brokered a bipartisan agreement Friday that would add $35 billion to the program over the next five years. The Bush ...
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Tags: Care, Children's, Health, Improves, Plan