WASHINGTON —  Two Republican senators said Thursday the Bush administration should pull back from talk about vetoing legislation that would renew a health insurance program for children.

Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Orrin Hatch of Utah said President Bush first should give the Senate Finance Committee a chance to offer its proposal. They are the committee's top two Republicans.

"It's disappointing, even a little unbelievable, to hear talk about administration officials wanting a veto of a legislative proposal they haven't even seen yet _ because it isn't even finalized yet," the senators said in a joint statement.

At issue is the State Children's Health Insurance Program. About 6 million participants are children and 600,000 are adults. The program subsidizes the cost of health coverage for families whose incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance.

Democrats originally proposed adding $50 billion over five years, which would bring total spending to $75 billion. Bush recommended adding $5 billion.

Recently, lawmakers have indicated that a proposal being negotiated among senators on the committee would produce an increase of $35 billion.

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Grassley and Hatch said they could support such an increase, paid for with higher tobacco taxes. They said the administration needs to understand that without bipartisan input, Democrats could get the additional dollars they seek simply by attaching the measure to must-pass legislation at the end of the year.

Bush has not said he would veto the bill coming from the Senate. Bur Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and other officials have made clear their dislike for the spending increase under consideration and referred to the program as government-run health care.

If a huge expansion were proposed, the president's senior advisers certainly would recommend a veto, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

"We intend to reauthorize this important program in a way that adheres to the program's mission _ helping poor children," he said.

Bush said this week he objects to government providing incentives for people to leave their private insurance coverage. "I will resist Congress's attempt to federalize medicine," he said.

Grassley and Hatch said they would like to consider the president's proposals to change how tax law treats health insurance. Such changes could make insurance more affordable for many families, but now is not the time, they said.

"Not taking that (tax proposal) on is a missed opportunity, but it's not realistic given the lack of bipartisan support," the senators said.

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