By SPA
Washington : U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday urged the U.S. Senate to approve a billion-dollar economic stimulus bill and addressed the state of global trade initiatives.
Speaking at the Robinson Helicopter Company in Torrance, California, Bush again pushed the Democratically-controlled Congress to pass the $145 billion dollar stimulus bill into law.
Calling the bill a “smart policy out of Washington,” that will “help deal with the uncertainty” of the economy, Bush said that the aim of the bill was to put “$145 billion into your [American’s] pockets, so that you can spend it.”
Reiterating his selling points for the package, Bush said that the stimulus plan also emphasizes providing business incentives, which in turn helps boost employment numbers.
The plan, aimed at being an immediate solution to the economic downturn, has to be “robust enough… temporary enough… simple enough to be effective,” he said. But, Bush is concerned that the additives that the U.S. Senate has promised to make will harm the efficiency of the plan.
Bush said he welcomes different “points of view…but whatever the Senate does, they should not delay this package.” As far as the current state of the economy, Bush made clear that sooner is better than later to act.
In the address, Bush also spoke about the importance of advancing international trade agreements.