WASHINGTON (AP) ? A day after Senate Republicans blocked action on his much-touted jobs bill, President Barack Obama said he isn’t taking no for an answer.
Obama said Wednesday that he will keep rallying public support and pushing Congress to vote on the $447 billion jobs plan that he says independent economists have said would help grow the economy and create nearly 2 million jobs next year.
Senate Republicans defeated the jobs bill on Tuesday. But Obama said the story won’t end there.
“Now a lot of folks in Washington and the media will look at last night’s vote and say, ‘Well, that’s it. Let’s move on to the next fight.’ But I’ve got news for them: Not this time. Not with so many Americans out of work,” he said. “Not with so many folks in your communities hurting. We will not take no for an answer.” It was his first public comments on the bill’s defeat.
“We will keep organizing and we will keep pressuring and we will keep voting until this Congress finally meets its responsibilities and actually does something to put people back to work and improve the economy,” said Obama, who spoke at a government event recognizing Latino contributions to American history.