House Fails To Override Bush SCHIP Veto; Boren Voted To Override, 4 Republicans Voted Against

UPDATED 4:13 PM ~ With Congressman Dan Boren, D-2nd District, voting for and the state's four Republican congressmen voting against, the U. S. House failed today to override President Bush’s veto of legislation that would have expanded the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). For the past two weeks, Democratic leaders had hoped that they would be able to convince enough Republicans to reach the 289-vote threshold needed to override the veto. However, the Democrats fell short when the GOP opposition to the bill did not crack.

Following the House vote, Senator Jim Inhofe said he has joined other senators in sponsoring a new SCHIP measure: “Congressional Democrats have been playing politics with their SCHIP re-authorization bill, using it as a vehicle to advance their long-standing agenda of socializing healthcare and creating a new middle-class entitlement. Congress needs to pass a reauthorization of SCHIP that maintains the original intent of the program by providing health insurance for the millions of uninsured, low-income children across the country, not middle-class adults. Our legislation is supported in both the House and the Senate, and gives Congress a viable alternative to reauthorize this important program quickly, without unnecessary government-run healthcare expansions.”

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