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Senator Reid began the press conference saying that this Sunday is the Superbowl and the stadium holds 75,000 people, however in one day 85,000 people got laid off in America. He is confident that they are going to get support for the bill and that they will take up the package on Monday and there will be no recess until the President has a bill to sign.

Then Senator Durbin (D- IL) said that Caterpillar has laid off 18% of its workforce which is approximately 20,000 employees. The stimulus bill contains 140 billion dollars in infrastructure which will translate into 1.5 million jobs and that there will be 51 billion dollars in energy infrastructure, translating into 350,000 to 500,00 jobs.

Senator Schumer (D- NY) pledged to work with his Republican colleagues. He said a third of the bill is tax cuts, and that whether alternative minimum tax (AMT) is part of this bill or not, it will get done.

Senator Reid, in response to a question about non stimulus type money in the bill, said this is a very large package. “Is everything perfect? Of course not. But it is a good package.” He also said if we did nothing else but energy, it would be good for America, and that what stimulus really is is in the eye of the beholder.

Senator Schumer concluded with the fact that they have bent over backwards to be bipartisan.