Tuesday February 10, 09:38 PM
US lawmakers seek stimulus endgame
By Olivier Knox
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WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama on Tuesday hailed Senate passage of an 838-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan and pushed for lawmakers to work through their differences and send him a final bill in days.
"That is good news," he cheered during a town-hall stop in an economically hard-hit area of Florida, part of a public relations offensive to pressure the US Congress to act quickly to help end a paralyzing global recession.
Obama spoke after senators voted 61-37 to approve the package, touching off difficult negotiations aimed at forging a compromise package with the House of Representatives, which last week approved a rival 819-billion-dollar plan.
"We've still got to get the House bill and the Senate bill to match up before it gets sent to my desk, so we've got a little more work to do over the next couple of days, but it's a good start," said the president.
Hand-picked delegates from the House and Senate were to huddle to work out a final package that would go to each chamber for final approval, with Democrats looking to meet Obama's self-imposed February 16 deadline.
As the bill's fierce Republican foes vowed to fight to the bitter end, leaders of the Democratic majorities in both houses said they would work as long as it takes to get a deal and expressed optimism about swift progress.
"The difference we have are very minor," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters, adding that he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hoped to "get a lot of the work done in the next 24 hours."
"This is an emergency and we have to move as quickly as possible," said Reid, who underlined: "The only deadline I have is that we gonna move this legislation before we have a recess."
Outnumbered Republicans, who say the plan is bloated with wasteful government spending and that they would have liked to see significantly more tax cuts, stuck to their guns.
"The president was right to call for a stimulus, but this bill misses the mark. It?s full of waste. We have no assurance it will create jobs or revive the economy," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The Senate vote came after a small group of swing-vote senators crafted a smaller alternative to what had ballooned to a 940 billion dollar package, securing support from three moderate Republicans: Maine Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, and Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter.
Their critical support -- Democrats can count on 58 votes and need 60 to thwart any parliamentary delaying tactics -- may be an obstacle to making major changes to the Senate version of the legislation.
House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters that he hoped to make changes to the Senate version, but acknowledged concerns in Congress and the Obama White House about vital votes "jumping ship."
Hoyer also said that the House would keep at the compromise talks until there was agreement and left open the possibility of work stretching well into what is scheduled to be a week-long break starting at close of business Friday.
He also signaled his hope that the House-Senate "conference" further dilutes a "Buy American" clause after Senators softened restrictions that had angered major US trading partners like Canada and the European Union.
Hoyer signaled that Democrats may have a problem with some of the funding stripped from the Senate's compromise version, like 14 billion dollars for school construction and 40 billion in direct aid to US states, many of which are facing painful cuts to meet legal bans on running budget deficits.
Obama has said he would like to see some of the education funding return to the bill, which blends tax cuts and government spending to battle the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Asked whether he thought the final bill could swell past 838 billion dollars, Hoyer replied: "No, I don't."
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