Yesterday, the House of Representatives failed to override President Bush’s veto of the legislation that would have expanded the state Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). House Democrats and supporters of the bill were 13 votes short of overturning the veto.
When President Bush vetoed the bill, House Democrats pushed back the vote to overturn by two weeks. But in those weeks, they were unable to change the vote of a single Republican — despite multi-million dollar ad campaigns around the country to put pressure on them.
But they were able to sway eight Democrats who previously voted against the bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to meet with Republican lawmakers soon and get another bill passed within two weeks, reported the Washington Times.
“The president and his allies in Congress today may have stopped the SCHIP bill today, but we still will not allow that to deter us from our goal, which is to insure 10 million children in America, ” said Pelosi.