TV and cable air time in Missouri has been purchased for the first round of the advertising, which may continue in the period immediately before the election. The BluntExposed.com Web site details more than a dozen anti-child votes by U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, covering such issues as health care access for infants and toddlers, Head Start funding, and cuts in federal funding for Missouri's enforcement activities to collect child support for the state's children.
Michael R. Petit, president, Vote Kids, said: "We're here today to bring attention to Congressman Roy Blunt's terrible voting record on kids—one of the worst in the House of Representatives. His voting record shows why Wall Street can depend on Cong. Blunt, but why Missouri kids can't. When Wall Street banks depend on him for hundreds of billions to bail them out of their recklessness, Cong. Blunt delivers. But when thousands of Missouri kids depended on him to support the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), he voted against spending one dime to provide health insurance for all Missouri kids."
Dr. Kelvin Walls, an internist who practices otolaryngology in Blue Springs, Missouri and Lees Summit, Missouri, said: "People tend to think of votes in Washington as having little to do with day-to-day life in Missouri. But as a medical professional, I can tell you it is possible to draw a very direct line between Roy Blunt's 'leadership' and harm done to kids and their families. Roy Blunt led the charge for votes that resulted in less health care, less safety, less preschool education, less economic security, and a plethora of deprivations for thousands and thousands of children in this state."
Missouri has an estimated 291,000 children – 20.7 percent of all children – living in poverty, with about 129,000 who are uninsured against disease and other illness. About a quarter of the state's two-year-old children are not properly immunized. Six in 10 three- and four-year-old Missouri children are not in a preschool, nursery school, or pre-kindergarten program. Nearly a third of fourth graders in Missouri are below acceptable basic reading levels.
As compiled on BluntExposed.com, "highlights" from Congressman Blunt's anti-child voting record include the following:
- Child Health Insurance – Roy Blunt led the effort to sustain President Bush's veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. As a result, more than 60,000 Missouri children remained uninsured from 2007 to 2009. (RCV #982, HR.976, 10/18/2007) Last year, Blunt voted against expanding the program to these children. (RCV #50, HR.2, 2/4/2009)
- Child Support Enforcement – In January 2006, Blunt voted to cut federal funding for Missouri's enforcement activities to collect child support by $195,000,000, causing an estimated loss of support to Missouri's children totaling at least $113,000,000 over 10 years. (RCV #363, S.1932, 12/21/2005) In 2009, he voted against restoring this funding. (RCV #70, HR.1, 2/13/2009)
- Head Start – In 2003, Blunt voted to eliminate quality standards in the early childhood educational and nutritional program Head Start as well as reduce access to Early Head Start. (RCV #444, H.R. 2210, 7/25/2003). In 2009, Blunt voted against expanding Head Start funding to Missouri children by $34,000,000. (RCV #70, HR.1, 2/13/2009)
- Fair Pay for Single Mothers – Blunt voted against prohibiting employers from discriminating against women in employment and salary. This will benefit more than 250,000 Missouri children living in homes headed by low-wage, working single mothers. (RCV #37, HR.12, 1/27/2009)
- College Loans – In December 2005, Blunt voted to cut the federal student loan program. (RCV #363, S.1932, 12/21/2005) This vote forced students to pay an average of $1,954 more for college loans. The $12.7 billion cut he voted for was the largest in the history of the program. In 2010, he voted against reforming the student loan program to allow students to pay lower fees on student loans. (RCV #165, HR.3962, 3/21/2010)
ABOUT VOTE KIDS ACTION FUND
Vote Kids Action Fund is a federal independent expenditure political action committee (PAC) devoted to making children a national political priority by communicating with the public during election campaigns. VKAF does not make donations to, nor coordinates with, candidates or political parties.
SOURCE Vote Kids Action Fund, Washington, D.C.
