The bill does not encourage or prohibit coverage of children with family incomes at that level.
Representative Jeb Hensarling, Republican of Texas, said the debate over coverage of children was "a proxy fight" between advocates for two competing visions.
In his budget this month, President Bush proposed reducing federal payments to the states for coverage of children with family incomes exceeding twice the poverty level.
For example, they said, rather than requiring all Americans to carry health insurance, Congress might start by requiring coverage of children, or families with children.
Without a fresh infusion of federal cash, a dozen states are expected to run out of money for coverage of children next month.
Mr. Bush has proposed reducing federal payments to the states for coverage of children with family incomes exceeding twice the poverty level.
Martha Tod Dudman, in her July 7 Op-Ed article about successfully finding help for a troubled daughter, put a real-life face on the news coverage of children experiencing abuse and even death in treatment programs.
The result was "the greatest prosperity" in America's history, "the greatest reduction in poverty" since Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, "the greatest public health insurance coverage of children, and the greatest budget surplus ever".
Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, said Friday that the president would request $19.7 billion in additional federal allotments to the states for coverage of children from low-income families in the next five years.
Apple has been the chief whipping boy in media coverage of children overspending on in-app purchases, largely because at the time – 2012 and early 2013 – iOS was still the key platform for children's apps.
But on the night of Aug. 10, when she saw television news coverage of children being led to safety after a gunman's shooting rampage at a Jewish community center in Granada Hills, Calif., she was deeply shaken.
