Congress to send children's health bill to Bush

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After waiting a month, Democratic leaders in Congress said on Friday they would formally send a bill expanding a popular children's health-care program to the White House despite a veto threat.

The bill would provide health insurance to about 10 million children in low-income families unable to afford private insurance but who earn too much to qualify for the federal Medicaid program for the poor. It would raise taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco taxes to pay for the aid.

President Bush vetoed an earlier version of the bill. The latest bill passed by a large margin in the House but not by the two-thirds majority that would indicate a veto would be overridden.

"Our bipartisan negotiations on extending health insurance to 10 million children are ongoing," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said in a statement.

Hoyer said leaders wanted to avoid a "pocket veto," in which a bill dies from inaction by the president while Congress is out of session.

Congress is scheduled to convene next week for the final three weeks of this year's session. The health-care bill was passed at the end of October,

(Reporting by Charles Abbott; Editing by Peter Cooney)