U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole says a proposed expansion of a popular health care program hurts tobacco farmers unnecessarily.

At a meeting of the Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina today at the N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, Dole said Congress doesn't understand the importance of tobacco to North Carolina.

She argued that the proposed $35 billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program should not be paid for with an increase on the tobacco tax.

"It's all being done on the backs of one state's economy," Dole said. "A 156 percent increase in tax on tobacco and all related aspects affects 255,000 people. Why should one state be paying for something that affects 50 states?"

She said she supports better health care for children, but not the recent bill.

"I think any elected official saying they were for that provision ... they just really don't get it in terms of how much it would hurt the economy," she said.