[Bill Hemmer, Cnn Anchor:] Want to move to other end of country right now, President Bush heading up to Milwaukee, to flesh out his health care agenda today. CNN's John King from the White House now, to tell us what the speech is all about. John, good afternoon.
[John King, Cnn Correspondent:] Good afternoon to you, Bill. This is a speech that will get some attention for how different it looks, if you will, since September 11, the president not putting much time into focusing on key domestic items on his policy agenda. He, of course, has been overwhelmed by the War on Terrorism, the homeland security debate here in the United States, dealing with a somewhat contentious argument with Democrats in the Congress over the struggling U.S. economy. Mr. Bush today will pull together many ideas he has touched on in the past, but never has he given as president what aides describe as a comprehensive view of what he believes the federal government should be doing when it comes to health care. In the president's new budget, more than $300 billion in proposed funding. Mr. Bush in that speech in Milwaukee will talk about three themes: affordability, accessibility, and accountability. Mr. Bush will highlight some tax credits in his speech that would allow either individuals or families to get a tax credit if they have to go out and buy their own health insurance. He will also highlight more than $1 billion in funding that goes to local community health centers around the country. Mr. Bush says that's critical to make health care accessible to low-income Americans who don't have insurance. And the president on the accountability front will talk about trying to reach agreement this year with the Congress on an issue that fell apart; negotiations collapsed late last year, the so-called HMO Patients Bill of Rights. The president will also talk about more medical research, some of that geared to the War on Terrorism, more biomedical research. All of this part of the president's effort to focus attention early in this new year on his domestic policy agenda, all more important because it is a Congressional election year, because Democrats and Republicans in the Congress want to turn back now to many of the issues, like health care, that put aside late last year after the events of September 11. So the president is outlining his views today knowing full well domestic issues like economy and health care will be much of the focus this year in the United States Congress Bill.
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