U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday held talks with congressional Republicans and urged them to quickly approve an 825 billion U.S. dollar stimulus package.
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US President Barack Obama speaks to reporters during his visit to the Capitol in Washington January 27, 2009. |
"The statistics every day underscore the urgency of the economic situation. The American people expect action," said Obama after meeting with Republicans.
"As I explained to the Republican House Caucus and I will explain to my former Senate colleagues, the recovery package that we've proposed and is moving its way through Congress is just one leg in a multi-legged stool," said the new president.
House will vote on the package Wednesday, and Senate committees began their own deliberations over it on Tuesday.
However, many Republicans turned against the large stimulus package. And after the meeting with Obama last week, House Republican Leader John Boehner said he and his colleagues told the president they feel the stimulus package is too expensive and too slow.
During Tuesday's meeting, Obama urged Republican lawmakers to keep politics to a minimum and try their best to save the American economy which has been in a recession since December 2007.
"I don't expect 100 percent agreement from my Republican colleagues, but I do hope that we can all put politics aside and do the American people's business right now," said Obama after his first visit to the Congress since his inauguration a week ago.
After the meeting, White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters that Obama might get support from the Congress for the stimulus package.
"I think we will have Republican support for this bill," said Gibbs, declining to elaborate on the details.
(Xinhua News Agency January 28, 2009)