Catholic leaders who had urged an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program expressed disappointment at the House's Oct. 18 vote that fell short of overriding President George W. Bush's veto but said efforts to reach a compromise must not stop now.

The House vote was 273-156, 13 fewer than the two-thirds majority needed to override. The Senate had already passed the legislation by a veto-proof majority.

Father Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA, decried the fact that "there were not enough House members willing to stand up for children and vote to override this ill-conceived veto of a bill that would have helped so many children without health insurance."

The veto and the 156 House members who supported it "put the health of many of our nation's children at risk," he said in a statement.

The legislation would have expanded funding for the program known as SCHIP by $35 billion over five years. Bush said the bill would have been a step toward socialized medicine and could have led many families to drop their private health insurance in favor of coverage by SCHIP.

But Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who is president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, said it was tragic that the debate over the legislation "has been clouded by so many false assertions and misconceptions."

"While we welcome the intentions of President Bush and congressional opponents of the bill to continue working for SCHIP reauthorization, we should begin those discussions by being clear and forthright about what the current legislation does and does not do," she said in a statement. "Continuing to obfuscate the issue is not the way to reach an agreement, much less the way to achieve the president's stated goal of ensuring health coverage for low-income children."

Sister Carol said the vetoed legislation, which had been the result of a bipartisan compromise, represented "the best opportunity to ensure that millions of children remain covered under SCHIP and extend coverage to millions more who are eligible but not enrolled."

Although more than 6 million children currently are enrolled in SCHIP, another 6.5 million children in families making less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level are eligible for SCHIP or Medicaid but are not enrolled. Funding for the program is due to expire Nov. 16.

Alexia Kelley, executive director of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, said in a statement that it was "truly sad that this great nation cannot ensure basic health care coverage to its weakest and most vulnerable citizens."

"Ensuring that sick children receive adequate health care is a profound moral issue and essential to the common good," she added. "Congress and the president must end their partisan bickering and quickly pass legislation that reauthorizes SCHIP and gives health care coverage to uninsured low-income children."

Father Snyder of Catholic Charities USA also called on Congress and the White House "to work together to find agreement on a bill that provides this critically needed coverage to more poor children."

-- CNS