Nothing is more important than giving every American child every opportunity to succeed in life, and that's why 10 years ago I was proud to support the creation of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. This program aimed to help those low-income children who needed health care the most. It is imperative that Congress continue to fund this important program, but doing so at the expense of health care for our seniors (Medicare), while providing taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal immigrants, is the wrong approach.

Under the Democrat-backed plan known as the CHAMP Act, a family of four earning $82,000 a year in New York would be eligible for a program that was supposed to be aimed solely at children who came from low-income families. To pay for this massive expansion, Democrats proposed what the Congressional Budget Office estimates to be a $200 billion cut in Medicare benefits and tax increases. That means hospitals lose billions for inpatient care and seniors who need rehabilitation services to recover from strokes or heart attacks won't be able to afford it.

As someone who has cared for an elderly parent, I don't understand how you could choose to reduce Medicare funding for our neediest seniors in order to expand SCHIP for people who are anything but low-income, uninsured and here illegally. To put into perspective, the costs of this expansion would be the equivalent to the federal government giving every San Diegan $16,206. Is this really the time for another government handout to people who don't need it?

Also consider that in order to pay for this massive expansion of government-run health care, the Heritage Foundation estimates that we would need to recruit 22 million new smokers by 2017. That's because the CHAMP Act calls for a doubling of federal tobacco taxes, always popular politically, but considering that the Heritage Foundation estimates that "around half of smokers are in families earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line," the result is that we're left with a massive financial obligation with no long-term way to pay for it.

This while provisions to eliminate proof-of-citizenship requirements for anyone applying for Medicaid and SCHIP were put into the bill, meaning the American taxpayers will be footing the bill for health care benefits that most Americans don't even qualify for. It is wrong to put the welfare of 12 million to 20 million illegal immigrants ahead of the millions of seniors who rely on the very programs that are going to be cut.

Ultimately, the so-called CHAMP Act means less care, fewer choices and higher bills for most Americans. The health care problems we face will not be solved by ignoring the needs of seniors while providing taxpayer-subsidized health care for illegal immigrants. As someone who was there when SCHIP was created in 1997, I'm hopeful Congress will do the right thing and pass a proposal that will actually help more children get quality care.

Editor's note: The House voted 225-204 on Aug. 1 to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The Senate voted 68-31 to approve its version on Aug. 2. President Bush has said he will veto the bill.

Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Escondido, represents the 50th Congressional District of California.