Senate Panel Adds Billions for Health

Defying a veto threat from President Bush, the Senate Finance Committee approved a major expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program on Thursday, with a majority of Republicans joining all Democrats on the panel in supporting the legislation.
The vote, 17 to 4, sends the measure to the full Senate, which is expected to take it up within two weeks. Mr. Bush has repeatedly denounced the bill as a step toward “government-run health care for every American,” describing it as a “massive expansion of the federal role” in health care, financed by “a huge tax increase.”