The 110th House, 1st Session - U.S. Congress Votes Database

September 25, 2005

 

(Vote 906)

In this 265 to 159 vote the House passed an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The bill also passed the Senate by a vote of 68 to 31.

The bill increases total funding for the program to $60 billion over the next five years and provides health insurance for 9 million currently uninsured American children.

The $7 billion yearly expansions were a major sticking point for the White House and ultimately lead to the fourth presidential veto from the Bush administration.

The measure is a key agenda item for the Democratic majority in Congress, and Democratic leaders have vowed to push for a veto override, which would require a two-thirds vote.

White House press secretary Dana Perino criticized Democrats for sending the president a bill she said they knew would be dead on arrival.

“They made their political point,” Perino said.

The White House contended that the 61-cent increase in the federal tobacco tax would not be able to recoup the required funds needed to fund the bill. White House officials also argued the measure would push millions of children already covered by private health insurance into publicly financed health care program