Senate Finance CommitteeVerified account

HAPPENING NOW: Chairman @SenOrrinHatch urges Democrats not to hold #CHIP hostage. Watch: https://www.c-span.org/networks/?channel=c-span-2 …

Hatch: The funding bill includes the longest extension of #CHIP in the program’s history.

Hatch: Approximately nine million children depend on #CHIP and, after several months of uncertainty, deserve the peace of mind that comes with a long-term CHIP extension.

Hatch: I have been working with my Democratic counterparts on a #CHIP extension bill for months. Sen. Wyden & I introduced our initial bill in the fall, which would have reauthorized CHIP for five years, and it was promptly reported out of the committee with overwhelming support.

Hatch: Democrats decided to pretend that bill never existed. As we worked through a crowded end of the year calendar, my colleagues were well aware that efforts to reauthorize #CHIP were ongoing. Yet, many of our colleagues accused Republicans of neglecting vulnerable children.

Hatch: So, where are our colleagues today? Where are Senate Democrats – both on and off the Finance Committee – who have been on their own righteous crusades with regard to #CHIP? Are they prepared to vote for it today? Apparently not.

Hatch: The question is: Why are Democrats willing to filibuster this continuing resolution and shut down the government? There’s really nothing wrong with the substance of the bill.