By Bill Scanlon

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Denver's congresswoman said she will lead the fight to override President Bush's veto of an expanded children's health insurance program.

In the meantime, Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, said Congress will keep extending the current funding to make sure kids already covered by the State Children's Health Insurance Program don't suffer.

DeGette, in charge of lining up votes for the contentious SCHIP reauthorization, headed a chorus of voices Wednesday from political and health leaders in Colorado condemning the veto.

"We're about 15 votes short right now" of overriding the veto, said DeGette. But with nearly three of four Americans supporting the expansion of health care for children, that is going to "give some Republicans in swing districts some real pause."

Joanne Lindsay, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, said the state has three years to spend federal dollars, so it has enough money to continue to cover the currently enrolled children even if Congress doesn't extend funding. And it has enough for the next year, too, provided the state legislature appropriates the state's share of the program cost.

The Colorado delegation split on party lines, with the four Democrats voting for expansion, and three Republicans against it.

In Colorado, 56,000 children from low- and modest-income families are enrolled in CHIP-plus, the state's version of SCHIP. Another 60,000 are eligible but not enrolled.

"We're disappointed in the president's -veto," said Lorez Meinhold of the Colorado Health Foundation, a partner in the 35-organization Colorado SCHIP Coalition.

Gov. Bill Ritter, one of 43 governors who supported expansion of SCHIP - in which the feds contribute $2 for each $1 the state throws in - said "President Bush's priorities are just plain wrong . . . at a time when the entire country is focused on finding ways to provide health coverage to the uninsured."

But Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., applauded Bush's veto, saying he's opposed to entitlements and tax increases.

And Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., said the expansion - $35 billion over five years - is too generous.