Thursday, October 11, 2007

"There is a fight going on in Washington. Some fight for children, some fight for politics. And like the seasoned hand at DC politics that he is, my opponent, Congressman Robin Hayes, is trying to rationalize not supporting SCHIP expansion, a program that will help keep children healthy, by pointing out how powerless he is to change the bill to protect North Carolina tobacco jobs. As folks in Cabarrus County have recently been made painfully aware, tobacco jobs are already leaving, and neither Mr. Hayes' past votes or any other aspect of his tenure in Congress have helped to keep them here one bit.

Yet, now when the health of our children is at stake, suddenly he is concerned about keeping our jobs here at home. Of course this coincides with President Bush needing his vote again, just like he did on CAFTA. The working families who depend on Philip Morris fueling the economy of our area to support their children are going to be among the first in need of SCHIP. Congressman Hayes' support of President Bush's veto is sadly pointless for those families.

When our jobs are at stake, Hayes stands with Bush over the children of working families. When the children of working families are at stake, Hayes again stands with Bush, only this time blaming the job losses he and President Bush helped create. Enough.

There are thousands of families in North Carolina who are counting on Washington politicians to exempt children from their political fight and support SCHIP expansion. I hope Congressman Hayes will just this once break with President Bush and exempt our Congressional District and children from petty politics."