US Senate moves ahead on Obama plan
Güncelleme Tarihi:
AFP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 09, 2009 00:00
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate late Saturday wrapped up debate on a pared-down plan to pump at least $780 billion into the troubled economy, as President Barack Obama called for urgent action to stem rising unemployment. The senators held a rare weekend session that lasted nearly three and a half hours ahead of a vote early this week. Obama hailed the compromise deal and said a wave of job losses required an immediate response.
"The scale and scope of this plan is right. And the time for action is now," he said in his weekly radio and Internet address. Obama on Saturday called the breakthrough "positive," though the deal so far has generated scant Republican support.
The price tag of the compromise proposal would be far smaller than the $937 billion previously under consideration, a reduction aimed at winning over elusive Republican support entirely absent from the $820 billion version of the measure passed by the House of Representatives last week. If the measure clears the Senate with a handful of Republicans in support, both chambers of Congress would reconcile their rival bills, and then vote on the resulting final product. Obama has said he wants the bill on his desk by Feb. 16.
The price tag of the compromise proposal would be far smaller than the $937 billion previously under consideration, a reduction aimed at winning over elusive Republican support entirely absent from the $820 billion version of the measure passed by the House of Representatives last week. If the measure clears the Senate with a handful of Republicans in support, both chambers of Congress would reconcile their rival bills, and then vote on the resulting final product. Obama has said he wants the bill on his desk by Feb. 16.