Democrats Fail to Override Bush Veto of S-CHIP Program

WASHINGTON — The Democratic majority in the House of Representatives failed Thursday to override President Bush's veto of legislation to expand a state-run, federally financed children's health insurance system and Republicans promptly called for bipartisan negotiations to continue the popular program.

"Hopefully we'll have the real negotiations that should have started six or seven months ago," said Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and a leader of the GOP victory.

After the 373-156 House vote fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to overturn the veto, Texas Republican Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn also urged Democratic congressional leaders to compromise with the president.

"It is unthinkable for us to get our feet ground into the dirt and say we're not moving — either side," said Hutchison.

"This Congress — this Senate — badly needs an accomplishment," said Cornyn, urging the Democratic majority to negotiate to extend the program that now covers about 6 million children at a cost to the federal government of about $5 billion a year. Within guidelines set by Congress, each state operates up its own program and contributes about one-third of the funding while the federal government pays two-thirds.

In Texas, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or S-CHIP, insures about 600,000 children whose parents earn too much to be covered by Medicaid but not enough to pay for private insurance.

The legislation that Bush vetoed would have increased the federal funding for the program by $35 billion over five years to a total of $60 billion. Supporters said it would cover 4 million more children from low-income families — bringing the total to 10 million — and be financed by an additional tax of 61 cents on a pack of cigarettes, raising the total federal tax to $1 a pack.

The decade-old program had been scheduled to expire on Oct. 1 but was extended at its current levels through Nov. 16. If legislation that Bush would sign or a veto-proof bill is not negotiated, Congress can continue to approve temporary extensions and leaders from both parties say S-CHIP is unlikely to die.

However, a compromise could be hard to find.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said expanding the program to cover 10 million children "is not negotiable."

The House originally wanted to increase federal spending by $50 billion to a total of $75 billion over five years and many liberal Democrats were reluctant to cut back to the Senate levels.

"In the coming days, Democrats will not back down and we will insist on providing health care coverage to these 10 million children," Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., told Reuters.

Senate Majority Harry Reid, D-Nev., issued a statement saying Republicans who "voted to uphold President Bush's heartless veto should be embarrassed."

Meanwhile, the Bush administration claimed victory and urged negotiations.

"We won this round on SCHIP," said presidential press secretary Dana Perino.

Anticipating that the veto would be sustained, the president has named three negotiators, including Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, to try to craft a deal with Congress.

A major difference has been the eligibility requirements. Medicaid covers children living below the poverty level — about $21,000 for a family of four. Bush has proposed an S-CHIP cut-off at twice the poverty level — so the program would cover kids in a family of four earning up to about $42,000 a year.

"Now once you get above 200 percent of poverty, we have a difference of opinion. The original House bill said go to 400 percent of poverty. That bill's dead," said Barton. "The bill before us goes to 300 percent. It's a legitimate policy argument if you want to go above and expand the program, how much do you expand it above 200 percent? Do you go to 300 percent? Do you go to 250 percent?"

Hutchison suggested that 250 percent of the poverty level — around $53,000 for a family of four — could be an acceptable compromise.

Asked about how the increase could financed, she said the higher tobacco tax "is not being discussed as a deal breaker."

The House vote was mostly along party lines. Only two Democrats — Jim Marshall of Georgia and Gene Taylor of Mississippi — voted to sustain the veto. Forty-four Republicans voted to override the veto.

Democratic House leaders had delayed the vote by two weeks since the legislation passed. During that period, labor unions and liberal advocacy groups ran TV spots and lobbied in districts of Republican congressmen that they hoped could be persuaded to vote to override it.

The effort failed, however, and liberal groups Moveon.org Political Action and USAction said they are launching a new TV campaign targeting six Republican members who had sided with Bush.

Although the outcome had been expected, tempers flared on the House floor when Democratic Rep. Pete Stark of California linked the vote to the Iraq war.

Stark said Republicans didn't want to spend money to provide health insurance but will spend it "to blow up innocent people — if you can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."

Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said Stark's remarks "crossed all lines of decency and decorum" and, later, Barton sought unsuccessfully to have another Stark comment ruled inappropriate.