US Congress Democrats say they will pass an economic stimulus plan by early February as Obama urges the swift passage of the massive plan. In the weekly Democratic radio address on Saturday, President-elect Barack Obama discussed the need for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, which would aim to create 3 million new jobs.
"We certainly want to see this package passed through the House of Representatives no later than the end of this month, get it to the Senate and get it to the president before we break" for holidays in 'early February', House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told Fox News on Sunday.
The Democrat acknowledged that the package could be worth between 775 billion and a trillion dollars.
"We've been talking in that neighborhood. I'm not going to set a figure on it," Hoyer said, according to AFP.
"Clearly, it needs to be very substantial. Every economist from right to left, Republican, Democrat, advises that it has to be a very substantial package if, in fact, we're going to accomplish the objective which is, of course, to stabilize the economy and try to start bringing it back."
Some Republicans in the Congress are against the swift approval of an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan. Republican Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell has already voiced that he wants to slow the process down.
Republicans argue that slowing down the process is to give due consideration to the plan.
Hoyer said it was unlikely lawmakers would get the recovery package passed in the House before Obama's inauguration on January 20 as initially hoped.
"It's going to be difficult to get the package put together that quickly to have sufficient time to be reviewed, debated and passed," he said, adding that he hoped the House would pass the plan by the end of January.
Obama wants Congress to act swiftly so that shortly after he is sworn in on Jan 20th - within hours, in fact - he can sign into law a stimulus plan, a just-came-to-power action that would be both symbolic and seriously substantive and hinting the change he has promised to American voters.
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