CUMBERLAND - When it comes to providing health care for children, it's worth challenging a veto by the president.

U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, in Cumberland Monday to open his field office, said he doesn't hold out much hope for an override concerning the State Children's Health Insurance Program, but an attempt to do so is essential.

"We need to override the president's veto," he said. "I think an override is challenging, but it is possible."

This private health insurance allows working families to provide preventive care for their children by taking them to a doctor instead of visiting the much more costly emergency rooms, he said.

Vowing to do everything he could to protect the program as it stands today, he said he'd continue to work for its expansion as well.

Should an override not be successful, he said a new administration will be in place come 2008 and SCHIP again will come to the table. Whether it is a Democrat or Republican administration, Cardin expects to see "much more sensitivity" regarding the issue.

Republicans have called on Democrats to compromise further, but Cardin said the bipartisan measure already is a compromise. The president's proposal, he said, calls for a reduction in the number of children eligible for the program.

On. Sept. 27, the Senate voted to approve the measure 67-29, a veto-proof majority. The House approved it 265-159, but will need a two-thirds majority vote to override President Bush's veto. That vote is to be taken Thursday.

According to Cardin's office, more than 100,000 children in Maryland receive health care through SCHIP. Western Maryland alone accounts for nearly 10 percent of those children at 10,400.

The federal and state program was enacted in 1997 and offers low-cost health insurance to children in low-income families. In the last decade, it has provided coverage to about 6.6 million children.

What the House and Senate approved would not only reauthorize the program, but also increase the spending for it from about $5 billion to $12 billion annually for the next five years.

Bush said the increase was too much and vetoed the bill.

If the program is expanded, an additional 42,000 uninsured children in Maryland would be eligible.

Maryland's representatives, including Cardin along with U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, voted for the program, while U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett did not.

Rallies will be held today across the 6th District, which Bartlett represents, to encourage him to vote in support of the program. He already has said he will vote in favor of the veto.

Reps. Shelley Moore Capito and Alan Mollohan, who represent West Virginia in Congress, as well as U.S. Sens. Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller also approved the measure.

Following his stop in Cumberland, Cardin was headed to Hagerstown where he was to meet with members of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce. He then held a press conference concerning SCHIP at the University System of Maryland's office there.

Maria Smith can be reached at msmith@times-news.com.