House ready Thursday to retest Bush's veto clout on children's health bill

WASHINGTON — House Democrats pressed for a vote Thursday on a revised children's health proposal despite President Bush's renewed veto threat and Republicans' warnings that the changes may not attract more supporters.

The White House said Thursday Bush will veto the bill if it reaches him because it places too little emphasis on covering low-income children, and because it includes a tax hike on tobacco. The House last week narrowly failed to override Bush's veto of a similar bill to add $35 billion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Democrats said the modest changes to the bill should be enough to attract about a dozen more House Republicans, which would provide a veto-proof margin. But leaders of both parties said they were unsure that would happen.

As before, the bill would add would $35 billion over five years to the program, aimed at families that do not qualify for Medicaid but cannot nevertheless afford medical insurance. The program, which now covers 6 million children, would enroll 4 million more. The increase would be paid for with a 61-cent increase in the federal excise tax on a pack of cigarettes.

Under the revisions, the program would exclude families earning more than three times the federal poverty rate. Low-income childless adults, which some states cover, would be phased out in one year. And states would have to be more rigorous in checking the validity of applicants' Social Security numbers, an effort to exclude illegal immigrants.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt says lawmakers have not justified the need for a $35 billion expansion to cover 10 million children.

Democrats and their GOP allies are targeting 38 House Republicans who voted to sustain Bush's veto and later outlined their concerns in a letter.

The revised bill "addresses all the concerns that were expressed by our colleagues and by the president," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters Wednesday night. "This is a clarification of the legislation" vetoed by Bush.

But Republicans were angry that Pelosi insisted on a vote Thursday, rather than giving lawmakers more time to study the bill and seek GOP converts.

"Bringing the bill up today, with no time to even read it, is either a terrible mistake or an intentional partisan maneuver," said Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., who supported the vetoed bill. "I think it will fail to garner the two-thirds majority."

Pelosi said the House needs to act this week because of other pressing matters. Some Republicans, she said, are simply looking for an excuse to oppose the bill.

Democrats said Thursday's vote is important, but not the crucial test, because both parties agree the bill will easily receive a simple majority. If Bush vetoes the measure, after House and Senate passage, the showdown will occur when its supporters again seek the two-thirds House majority needed for an override.

A veto-proof margin in the Senate is considered assured.

On Oct. 18 the House voted 273-156 to override Bush's veto, 13 votes short of a two-thirds majority. Forty-four Republicans joined 229 Democrats in voting to override.