SCHIP veto puts 2 under pressure

Politicians and advocates yesterday mounted a frenzied campaign to pressure two Philadelphia-area congressmen to defect from President Bush and override his veto of a major children's health insurance bill.

U.S. Reps. James Saxton (R., N.J.) and Joseph Pitts (R., Pa.) were on the short list of House members being targeted nationwide by lobbyists trying to build support for a Democratic bill to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

"It is almost inconceivable - I would use unconscionable - to be on the wrong side of this issue, not standing for children," Gov. Corzine, a national leader in the SCHIP reauthorization fight, said during a news conference in Cherry Hill.

Corzine stood alongside Saxton's likely Democratic challenger in next year's congressional elections, State Sen. John Adler of Camden County, who chose the site because it is his son Oliver's pediatrician's office.

"I'm genuinely angry that we have a chance to help children and we're going to fail," said Adler, who organized the event. "We're going to fail unless a few people in Congress stand up for children."

Saxton and Pitts are being targeted because they are considered GOP moderates who have fought for children's issues.

Despite the intense pressure, which has included protests at their offices in Burlington County and Lancaster County, neither man appeared ready to change course in today's showdown in the nation's capital.

"I'm not going to reverse my vote," Pitts said by telephone. "I am going to sustain the president's veto."

Instead, Pitts echoed the president's remarks from earlier in the day, saying he'd prefer to hash out a deal on a new bill.

"We would like to continue with the SCHIP program, and maybe even expand it," Pitts said. "We must be part of the people sitting at the table and the negotiations."

Saxton, who was tied up for much of the day with House votes, said through a spokesman that the campaign targeting him was part of a purely political strategy by Democrats to unseat him next year.

"What happened at the Governor's press conference," Saxton said in a prepared statement, "was a political rally."

Democrats, who passed the SCHIP reauthorization bill with a veto-proof majority in the Senate several weeks ago, still needed 12 to 15 more House votes to achieve a two-thirds override majority.

The SCHIP bill has created perhaps the biggest domestic-policy confrontation between Democrats and Republicans this year. It would renew a program launched in 1997 under a GOP-controlled Congress with President Bill Clinton's approval.

SCHIP provides federal money to states so they can jointly subsidize health insurance to uninsured children whose families cannot afford private plans or do not qualify for Medicaid. But in many states, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the program has evolved to also offer coverage to children in families that are middle class but still struggling to make ends meet.

In fact, New Jersey leads the nation in offering SCHIP to children in families whose incomes reach as high as $72,275 for a family of four.

States expanded eligibility upward by obtaining waivers from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In Pennsylvania's case, a waiver was issued as recently as this year.

Currently, 124,000 children receive SCHIP in New Jersey and 164,485 in Pennsylvania.

In August, however, President Bush issued a directive that sharply rolls back enrollment. States would be forced to strip coverage from thousands of children - or continue funding the subsidy with only state revenue.

The congressional bill, passed in late September, fought back against the Bush rollbacks. The bill would increase SCHIP spending by $60 billion over five years.

About 45 House Republicans voted with the 265-159 majority that approved the measure.

It would expand the rolls from six million children to 10 million children, and income limits would uniformly be raised to include families earning up to $61,950 for a family of four.

Republicans who oppose the bill, including the president, said the program should return to its original focus of helping the working poor before expanding even further.

Bush said yesterday that he would like to "work with Congress" on a compromise.

"I'm confident we can work out our differences," he said.

A deepening partisan divide, however, was acutely evident yesterday.

In Harrisburg, the House of Representatives spent more than three hours debating a resolution urging Congress to overturn Bush's veto. The state lawmakers passed it only after labored political finger-pointing.

The crux of the debate: Was the resolution a political move by Democrats to "embarrass" Bush?

"This is a political statement," said House Minority Leader Sam Smith (R., Jefferson). "This is more about the politics of spin than it is about the policies of Pennsylvania."

The resolution was sponsored by three dozen Democrats - and a single Republican.

While Corzine has gone so far as to sue Bush over SCHIP, Gov. Rendell has taken a lower-key approach.

Rendell has "made his wishes clear to the delegation," said his spokesman, Chuck Ardo. But as vice chairman of the National Governors Association, Rendell remains cautious for a reason.

"He believes if the override fails he's in a unique position to try to work out a compromise with the White House," Ardo said of Rendell.