Asia-Pacific

Obama urges Senate to pass new law to create jobs

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-18 06:18

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama Thursday called for Senators to pass a new bill to create jobs by helping small business lending and providing small business credit initiative.

Related readings:  Senate to take up unemployment insurance extension  January unemployment rate drops to 9.7 percent  Unemployment up in Germany  Eurozone unemployment rate remains high in March

After months of debate, US House of Representatives passed a bill by a vote of 241-182 Thursday to establish a 30-billion- dollar fund that can leverage up to 300 billion dollars in loans to small businesses, helping to loosen tight credit markets.

The bill now goes to the Senate before President Obama can sign it into law.

"The Small Business Lending Fund would provide our nation's community banks with capital and incentives to ensure that small businesses on Main Street can get the loans they have too often struggled to access since the onset of the financial crisis," Obama said in a statement.

"The State Small Business Credit Initiative would help ensure that innovative state partnerships -- today constrained by budget cuts -- can better meet the credit needs of small businesses and manufactures."

"I want to urge the Senate to act quickly to pass these initiatives into law," Obama said.

However, Republicans called the bill another bank bailout that would do little to increase lending to small businesses. They believe that the new stimulus package will add additional burden to the country's already alarming fiscal challenge.

US unemployment rate, currently at 9.7 percent, is not expected to fall significantly this year.

Analysts say that under the political pressure of the mid- election year, job creation has become the top priority of the President's agenda.