President Bush today turned his back on the millions of children across the country who lack health insurance by vetoing a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Now all eyes in Oregon are on Representative Greg Walden, the only member of Oregon’s congressional delegation to vote against the compromise bill crafted by the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. Representative Walden voted against the compromise, even though it dropped the Medicare provisions he had objected to in a previous version of the bill.

The House is expected to take up a vote to override the veto next week. In order to override, no more than 25 of the representatives who voted against the compromise bill would need to change their stance. Already some previous “no” voters have declared their intention to switch and vote to override the veto.

OCPP hopes that Representative Walden will turn away from the president’s irresponsible action and reach out to the thousands of uninsured children in Oregon by voting to override the veto.

The Oregon Center for Public Policy is a non-partisan research institute that does in-depth research and analysis on budget, tax, and economic issues. The Center’s goal is to improve decision making and generate more opportunities for all Oregonians.