php insert problem

<snip>

$database = pg_connect ("host=localhost dbname=rbak user=nobody") or die("database connection failed");
$result = pg_exec ($database, "INSERT into employees (emp_name, emp_email) VALUES ('$emp_name','$emp_email')";

if (!$result) {
echo "query died\n";
exit;
}

</snip>

the above code produces a parse error. "parse error, unexpected ';' in blah.php on line X"

line X is the $result = pg_exec ($database, "INSERT into employees (emp_name, emp_email) VALUES ('$emp_name','$emp_email')"; line. I've started at this long enough, and it's time for other eyes to look. any ideas? similar SELECT queries work just fine.

dan