美国总统奥巴马说，他对国会通过他的经济刺激计划抱有信心。奥巴马今天(星期三)在白宫会见若干美国大公司高层主管讨论经济刺激计划时发表了以上讲话。美国国会众议院今天对奥巴马总统提出的8千250亿美元经济刺激计划进行表决。
众议院的民主党人有足够的票数可以通过议案，但是奥巴马希望议案能够得到广泛的跨党派支持。奥巴马星期二前往国会游说，希望说服那些持怀疑态度的共和党人。在国会占少数的共和党议员说，方案中的开支过大，没有提出足够减税。
与此同时，国会参议院的一个小组通过了参议院版本的议案，追加了700亿美元减税，使经济刺激方案的总成本接近9千亿美元。参众两院必须统一经济刺激方案的两个版本，然后才能递交给奥巴马总统签署成为法律。民主党议员希望在2月中旬之前通过这项方案。
U.S. President Barack Obama says he is confident his economic stimulus package will pass in Congress. Mr. Obama spoke today (Wednesday) as he began a White House meeting with chief executive officers of major companies to discuss the stimulus plan. The U.S. House of Representatives is voting today on Mr. Obama’s 825-billion-dollar plan to stimulate the economy.
Democrats in the House have enough votes to pass the bill, but Mr. Obama wants broad bipartisan backing for the measure. The president went to Capitol Hill Tuesday and lobbied skeptical Republican Party members. Republicans, who are in the minority in Congress, say the plan spends too much and does not offer enough tax cuts.
In other news, a key Senate panel approved its version of the bill after adding another 70 billion dollars in tax cuts, bringing the total cost of the plan close to 900-billion dollars. The House and the Senate will have to reconcile their versions of the stimulus plan before Mr. Obama can sign it into law. Democratic lawmakers hope to have the plan approved by mid-February.