CORNING N.Y. - Today, Retired Navy Commander and Candidate for New York's 29th Congressional District Eric Massa defended children's health care and went on the offensive against his opponent Randy Kuhl. This past week, Kuhl voted against the SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program) Bill in Congress which would extend health coverage to millions of children in low income families. This is the second SCHIP Bill this year which Kuhl has opposed and even though this Bill is the result of bi-partisan compromise, which has been supported by conservative Republican Senators such as Charles Grassley (Iowa) and Orrin Hatch (Utah), Randy Kuhl and President Bush oppose it.

CORNING, N.Y. - As George Bush's Congressional rubberstamps prepare to block privately administered health insurance for more than 4 million children, including approximately 10,000 kids right here in New York's 29th Congressional District, working families all around America are holding their breaths and watching. Randy Kuhl, who voted against the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) after taking thousands of dollars from tobacco lobbyists now faces a second opportunity to do the right thing. Kuhl has dished out all kinds of excuses as to why he has and will reject SCHIP, including that it is too expensive. Randy Kuhl didn't consider the impact of voting against SCHIP on our property taxes however.

CORNING, N.Y. - Retired Navy Commander and Congressional candidate for New York's 29th District, Eric Massa, made a final personal appeal for his opponent, Randy Kuhl, to reconsider his vote against the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Kuhl, who took an additional $1,000 from tobacco giant RJ Reynolds just one week before the initial vote, has vowed to sustain George Bush's veto during the override vote scheduled for today. The American Cancer Society, the foremost authority on cancer legislation, has denounced the efforts of a handful of Congressmen, including Randy Kuhl, for protecting tobacco lobbyists above children. Below is a statement from the American Cancer Society regarding the SCHIP vote:

"No more dancing around the issue. For heaven's sake Randy, do the right thing for New York's children."

CORNING, NY - Yesterday, Randy Kuhl voted against the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007 in yet another lock step Bush vote. Earlier this year, Kuhl stood against SCHIP health care for millions of children on four separate occasions, and now he stands against helping families receive access to critical mental health and addiction treatment. Kuhl, who has received thousands of dollars from insurance lobbyists, has a long history of standing with big business and against families of Western New York.

"The Wellstone bill is one of the most important mental health bills ever to pass the House, but once again Randy Kuhl has decided to stand against families," said Congressional challenger Eric Massa. "If this legislation had been in place a few years ago, it's quite likely that the tragedy of Virginia Tech could have been averted. New Yorkers don't deserve to have a Congressman who consistently puts the priorities of George Bush and insurance lobbyists over those of our own families. Mr. Kuhl stood against our children four separate times during the SCHIP debate and now he stands against those that need our help the most. The working families of Western New York want a Congressman who will represent their values in Congress, not insurance lobbyists, and that's exactly why I am running."

On Thursday, retired Navy Commander Eric Massa issued his plan to protect Social Security from privatization as George Bush and Randy Kuhl have tried to do. You can read it by clicking on the link below.

You can read Massa's plan online at http://massaforcongress.com/eric_massa_ss_plan.pdf

This past Saturday I celebrated my 47th birthday.  It was a birthday I wasn't supposed to have.  When I was 38 doctors told me that I would never celebrate my 40th birthday.   I beat the odds and that helped inspire me to run for Congress.   But along the way I got a chance to see just how broken our health care system is.  When I retired from the Navy with a diagnosis of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, I had the eye-opening experience of touring the country as a cancer outreach specialist.  I learned, much to my dismay, that hundreds of thousands of families across this country are forced to make incredible sacrifices in order to afford necessary medical attention.  One recent estimate says that there are 46.6 million uninsured people in the US.  But actually, it's worse than that one statistic alone indicates.