WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Bush lambasted Congress Saturday for not passing spending bills before the fiscal year ended, and signed emergency legislation to keep the government running for the next seven weeks.
"Congress failed in its most basic responsibility: to pass the spending bills that fund the day-to-day operations of the government," Bush said in his weekly radio address.
"I do thank the Congress for passing this temporary measure, and for passing it without any new spending, new policies or new projects," the president added.
Earlier this week, House Appropriations Chairman Dave Obey, D-Wis., responded to similar criticism from the president, saying he had already talked to the White House about a "clean" continuing resolution and accused the president of manufacturing "a disagreement when there is none."
"This is the time when we ought to be sitting down to work out reasonable compromises with each other instead of issuing phony challenges or posing for political holy pictures," Obey said in a statement.
The president warned yet again that he would veto congressional plans to expand state-administered children's health programs, calling the increase in funding and coverage of State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, "irresponsible."
The congressional plans "would dramatically expand this program beyond its original intent," Bush said. "And they know I will veto it."
However, the president also said Saturday that he appreciated how the emergency spending bill he signed handled the disagreement over SCHIP. "It is good that they kept the program running while they try to work out a more responsible approach," he said of Congress.
The program provides federal money to states to provide health insurance coverage for children, and is set to expire Sunday, the end of the fiscal year. However, both the White House and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have said that if Bush vetoes the bill, the program will be funded at its current level until the impasse can be resolved.
On Thursday night, the Senate vote 67-29 to expand the program, increasing its budget of $5 billion to $12 billion for the next five years. Two days earlier, the House defied Bush's threats of a veto, and passed its version 265-159, short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.
Also on Saturday, a 12-year-old boy, Graeme Frost, delivered the Democratic weekly radio address, discussing his experience with SCHIP. Frost said he and his sister were severely injured in a car accident three years ago.
"The hospital bills were huge," Frost, of Baltimore, said. "We got the help we needed because we had health insurance for us through the SCHIP program."
"I just hope the president will listen to my story and help other kids be as lucky as me."