The New York Times
Thursday 18 October 2007
Washington - Supporters of a bill to provide health insurance for 10 million children failed this afternoon, as expected, to muster enough support in the House to override President Bush's veto.
The vote to override the veto was 273 to 156, or 13 votes short of the necessary two-thirds majority of those present and voting; the bill was originally approved by a 265 to 159 vote on Sept. 25.
The main suspense before today's vote was over how many Republicans would side against President Bush. Forty-four House Republicans voted for the bill today, compared to 45 on Sept. 25.
Democrats had anticipated defeat, and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate majority leader, immediately issued an angry statement.
"Each Republican who voted to uphold President Bush's heartless veto should be embarrassed that he chose to stand in the way of improving the lives of millions of America's poorest children," Mr. Reid said. "While we appreciate those who voted to override his veto, there unfortunately remain too many who are all too willing to rubber-stamp President Bush's shameful policies and succumb to his misinformation campaign."
Most of the Democratic leadership has shown little inclination to negotiate with the White House, beyond offering to make "tweaks" in the State Children's Health Insurance Program so the president could "save face," Mr. Reid put it recently. Democrats in Congress said Wednesday that they would pass a new bill, but were willing to adjust it to address some White House concerns.
Mr. Bush had seemed confident that the House would uphold his veto of a bill to renew and expand the S-chip program, as it is commonly known. He has named three administration officials to "seek common ground" with Congress.
But Democratic leaders, believing they have public support for expanding the program, said they saw no urgent need to negotiate the central elements of the bill.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said Democrats in Congress would not compromise on their goal of providing health insurance for 10 million children - 6.6 million already on the rolls and nearly 4 million who are uninsured.
When he vetoed the bill quietly on Oct. 3, Mr. Bush said he was open to compromising with Congress. The bill approved by both Houses would expand the S-chip program by $35 billion over the next five years. Mr. Bush has proposed to spend $5 billion more over the same period.
Many Republicans argue that the vetoed bill would allow coverage of children from middle- and upper-income families and of adults and some illegal immigrants. Democrats reject such criticism, but say they will consider revising the bill to make its restrictions and prohibitions clearer.
"We will type it in bigger, bolder letters, but we will not compromise on the goal of insuring 10 million children," Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said on Wednesday.
The last-minute debate today followed the same path, as Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the Democratic whip, parodied what the president has said about the campaign against terrorism. "You're either for American children or you're not," Mr. Clyburn said. "It's just that simple."
No, it is not, said Representative Greg Walden, Republican of Oregon. He said he wonders if the government could pay for the S-chip program as embodied in the bill. "I spent 21 years in small business," he said. "I never signed a contract I couldn't keep my word on."
The bill would increase tobacco taxes, with the levy on cigarettes increasing to $1 a pack from the current 39 cents.
If Mr. Bush vetoes a second version of the bill, Democrats say they will send him a third version just before Election Day 2008.
In the Senate, which passed the bill 67 to 29 on Sept. 27 with the help of 18 Republicans, supporters already have a two-thirds majority.
Representative Judy Biggert, Republican of Illinois, said the next step is "to get back to the drawing board and fix the bill."
"It won't take much," she said. "For example, we need to make sure that poor kids are covered before adults. If Democrats really care about kids, they will have to negotiate."
Mr. Reid was asked Tuesday whether he would be willing to negotiate with the White House if Congress upheld the president's veto. "No, no, no," he replied. "We have negotiated."
To win support from Republicans, Mr. Reid said, Democrats had "compromised and compromised and compromised." The secretary of health and human services, Michael O. Leavitt, said Wednesday that the child health program "ought to be focused on poor families."
But the latest CBS News poll, released on Wednesday, found overwhelming support for expansion of the program to include some middle-class uninsured children.
Eighty-one percent of respondents, including 70 percent of Republicans, supported expanding the program. Three-quarters of those who supported expansion said they would be willing to pay higher taxes to finance it. The poll was conducted nationally by telephone Oct. 12-16 with 1,282 adults, and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
"This legislation will haunt him again and again and again," Mrs. Pelosi said of the president. "It's not going away, because the children are not going away."
Robert Pear contributed reporting.
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment