Facing the floor in Congress this week are two crucial healthcare proposals. One is a goal that America should work toward; the other, a necessary compromise if we hope to achieve that goal. The president has vowed to veto both.

For a decade, the State Children's Health Insurance Program has used federal-state partnerships to provide healthcare insurance for 6 million children in families who don't qualify for Medicaid but are too poor to pay for private insurance. That program must be reauthorized by Sept. 30, or it will expire.

While a House bill admirably aims to improve numerous aspects of our healthcare system, a Senate bill focuses solely on health insurance for low-income children.

The House legislation proposes expanding coverage to 5 million more children than are currently covered through SCHIP. But it also includes improving preventative care for Medicare patients, and boosting financial aid to low-income seniors in the Medicare prescription plan.

Right intentions, wrong timing. Including the politically charged issue of Medicare reform in this legislation all but obliterates its chances.

If there is any hope of keeping these uninsured children insured and adding funds to sustain the program, an incremental approach, such as the Senate bill, is needed.

This legislation would expand coverage to 3 million more children and add $35 billion over five years to expand the program. That would leave some 6 million children uninsured in the country. This is simply a disgrace, but it's better than doing nothing.

The president insists that $5 billion in additional SCHIP funding over five years is adequate. It's not. Critics argue that isn't enough to cover children currently insured in the prorgam.

If the president refuses to budge, he will rob these children of health insurance.

The legislation is not all it could or should be, but it's a necessary compromise for the sake of millions of children in America.