The U.S. House of Representatives has voted 224-204 to approve a major expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) -- a bill that calls for a 39-cent-per-pack hike in the federal tobacco tax to help pay for the program.

The New York Times reported Aug. 2 that the Democrat-designed bill passed despite strong opposition from many Republicans. The measure would see the SCHIP program provide healthcare coverage to an additional 4 million low-income children.

Besides the tobacco tax, funding for the expansion would come from reductions in subsidies for private Medicare insurance firms.

President Bush has threatened to veto the measure, and the margin of victory this week was not enough to override a veto. Bush also has threatened to veto a bipartisan bill in the Senate that is less ambitious in its scope.

Republicans cast the bill as creeping nationalized health care. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) said the measure represented "socialized medicine and Washington-run health care.

"The bill uses children as pawns in a cynical attempt to make millions of Americans completely reliant on government for their health care needs," he said.

But Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) said, "Today's debate comes down to this: Do you favor big tobacco or children?"