2nd UPDATE: Obama Confident Congress Will Pass Recovery Bill
January 28 2009 - 1:13PM
Dow Jones News
President Barack Obama took the case for his economic-recovery
package to corporate America on Wednesday, telling a group of 13
corporate chieftains that he's confident the $825 billion
legislation will make it through Congress.
"I'm confident we're going to get it passed," Obama told
reporters at the start of his meeting with chief executives in the
Roosevelt Room of the White House.
The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the bill
later Wednesday. The legislation is expected to pass. At issue,
however, is the amount of support it will win from House
Republicans, who have balked at the bill's size and complained it
doesn't focus enough on tax relief.
Wednesday's meeting was part of Obama's effort to appeal to GOP
critics and big business.
Attendees included Steve Appleton, CEO of Micron Technology Inc.
(MU); David Barger, CEO of JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU); Greg
Brown, co-CEO of Motorola Inc. (MOT); John Bryson, retired CEO of
Edison International (EIX); David M. Cote, CEO of Honeywell
International Inc. (HON); Debra Lee, CEO of BET Holdings Inc.; Anne
Mulcahy, CEO of Xerox Corp. (XRX); Sam Palmisano, CEO of
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM); Antonio Perez, CEO of
Eastman Kodak Co. (EK); Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google Inc. (GOOG);
Michael Splinter, CEO of Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT); Wendell
Weeks, CEO of Corning Inc. (GLW); and Ron Williams, CEO of Aetna
Inc (AET).
"These are people who make things, who hire people," Obama said.
"They are on the front lines in seeing the enormous problems in our
economy right now. Their ideas and their concerns have helped to
shape our recovery package, and I'm grateful that they're here
today to talk about why it's so important that we act, and act
swiftly, in order to get this economy back on track."
In a speech later Wednesday, Obama said the meeting with CEOs
was "sober," given the recession and thousands of layoffs across a
swath of industry. He said policy makers and industry will be
responsible for lifting the country out of its funk.
"We must each do our share. Part of what led our economy to this
perilous moment was a sense of irresponsibility that prevailed from
Wall Street to Washington," Obama said, adding that "corporate
America will have to accept its own responsibilities to its workers
and to the American public."
Ahead of Obama's meeting with CEOs, Applied Materials' Splinter
said action on solar energy could create jobs and boost economic
growth. Specifically, Splinter called for short-term refundability
of the federal solar investment tax credit, the adoption of
renewable and solar energy sources for federal properties, and
enhancement of the renewable technology loan guarantee program,
according to a company release.
IBM's Palmisano said a $30 billion stimulus investment in
healthcare technology, smart electric grids and broadband could
yield almost one million new jobs within a year.
"In the end, it's businesses - large and small - that generate
the jobs, provide the salaries, and serve as the foundation on
which the American people's lives and dreams depend," Obama said.
"All we can do, those of us in Washington, is help create a
favorable climate in which workers can prosper, businesses can
thrive, and our economy can grow. And that is exactly what the
recovery plan I've proposed is intended to do."
-By Henry J. Pulizzi, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9256;
henry.pulizzi@dowjones.com
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