President Barack Obama urged lawmakers in the House of Representatives to pass a bill that would extend funding for infrastructure and transportation projects, warning that failure to do so would hurt US economic recovery. The US Senate recently passed a transportation bill, but a similar measure is stalled in the House.
"In a matter of days, funding will stop for all sorts of transportation projects. Construction sites will go idle. Workers will have to go home. And our economy will take a hit," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address, broadcast on Saturday.
"This Congress cannot let that happen. Not at a time when we should be doing everything in our power - Democrats and Republicans - to keep this recovery moving forward." Obama noted that 52 Democrats and 22 Republicans had supported the Senate version. "Now it''s up to the House to follow suit; to put aside partisan posturing, end the gridlock and do what''s right for the American people," he said. House Republicans say they want measures included in the bill to address rising energy costs.
The previous multi-year US transportation law expired in September 2009. Since then, programs that fund road, bridge and transit projects and gas tax collections have been kept alive by a series of temporary extensions. With long-term transportation legislation stalled for now, House Republican leaders plan another temporary extension of federal highway and transit funding that would keep construction projects and gas tax collections on track.
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