November 3, 2011Obama urges Congress to pass transportation bill
Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday pressed Congress to pass a 50-billion-dollar transportation bill, a piece of his stalled jobs bill proposed earlier in September.
The White House said the bill also includes a 10-billion-dollar investment to create a bipartisan National Infrastructure Bank, which will attract private money to help finance construction of roads, rails and runways.
Obama said it "makes absolutely no sense" that construction workers are sitting around idle when there's work to be done.
Aiming to tackle near double digit unemployment and to spur the sluggish economy, Obama laid out on September 8 the American Jobs Act to provide tax cuts and credit, extend unemployment benefits and increase investment in infrastructure.
But the Republicans blocked the 447-billion-dollar bill to pass as a whole piece. They also rejected Obama's request for more federal spending and a tax on millionaires to help pay for it.
The Senate is expected to vote Thursday on whether to take up the 50-billion-dollar transportation measure.
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