Obama Will Sign Stimulus Bill Tuesday
Economic recovery package passes on close vote in Senate.
Compiled by staff
Published: Feb 17, 2009
President Barrack Obama will sign the stimulus bill on Tuesday. On Friday it passed the House of Representatives easily on a 246 to 183 vote, although no Republicans voted for the package. The bill faced a harder road in the Senate. It took a government plane sent by the White House to pick up Senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, so he could cast the final vote. His vote gave the Senate the 60 vote super majority needed for passage.
Obama, in his Saturday weekly radio and internet address, said this step won't be the end of what has to be done to turn our economy around, but rather the beginning.
Senate Ag Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, says the economic recovery package contains key provisions that will direct crucial funding toward rural development, nutrition and conservation initiatives, many of which were included in the farm bill.
"The economic downturn has cut across all sectors of our country, further straining the rural and agriculture economies and increasing food insecurity," said Harkin. "This bill sends urgently needed aid to these targeted communities, and it comes in the form of grants and loans and services like broadband. At the same time, it creates jobs and puts food into the hands of those who need it most - one of the best economic stimulators."
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Tagged: farm, farm bill
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