Obama signs SCHIP into law

From NBC's Athena Jones WASHINGTON -- President Obama signed his second major piece of legislation into law Wednesday, calling the bill that expands health-care coverage for children a downpayment on reform. The law continues government aid to cover seven million children, provides an additional four million children with coverage and lifts the ban on states providing insurance to legal immigrant children. Obama said America's responsibility to ensure the health and well-being of the nation's children had only grown more urgent during this time of economic crisis and that signing this bill was only the beginning of what he hoped to do as president.  "This bill is only a first step," he said. "The way I see it, providing coverage to 11 million children through CHIP is a down payment on my commitment to cover every single American and it is just one component of a much broader effort to finally bring our health care system into the twenty-first century." ...( read more ) (link)