The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the bill could increase employment in a range of 800,000 to 2.3 million jobs by the fourth quarter of 2009 and 1.2 million to 3.6 million by the fourth quarter of 2010.

    Republicans have fought for more tax relief and less spending, but House Minority Leader John Boehner complained, "all the talk we've heard about bipartisanship ... has gone down the drain."

    Former Trade Representative Carla Hills welcomed the package. "I think what we should do is to give our economy a jolt, and importantly, give our consumers and our businesses a vote of confidence, so consumers come back to the market, and the businesses are able to produce for that market," she told Xinhua.

    Despite a growing sense of urgency, many economists across the political spectrum still believe the massive bill might reduce the damages caused by the current economic crisis, but could not quickly pull the U.S. economy out of its downward spiral.

    Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist at Columbia University and former chief economist at the World Bank, said that the stimulus package was "probably too little, especially given that it is badly designed (and) we haven't yet fixed the mortgage problem so the financial sector is likely to continue bleeding."

    Leading U.S. business groups also scolded the "Buy American" provisions, which prohibit the purchase of foreign iron, steel and manufactured goods for any stimulus-funded infrastructure project, warning it would delude the bill's impact and lead to a global trade war.

    "The 'Buy American' provisions ... will signal to our trading partners around the world that the U.S. is returning to the bad old days of protectionism and economic nationalism," Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association, said in a statement.

    Obama also knew the difficulty, warning the bill is only the beginning of his efforts to revive the ailing American economy.

    "Passing this plan is a critical step, but as important as it is, it's only the beginning of what, I think, all of you understand is going to be a long and difficult process of turning our economy around," said Obama.

    "To truly address this crisis, we will also need to address the crisis in our financial sector to get credit flowing again to families and businesses," said the president.

    "We need to confront the crisis in the housing sector, that has been one of the sources of our economic challenges, I will discussing that extensively soon," he added.

Despite challenges, Obama scores significant victory as Congress approves stimulus package

    WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama has scored a significant victory as the Congress on Friday finally approved his massive stimulus package, an unprecedented attempt to jump-start the ailing American economy.

    The 787-billion-dollar package was approved by a vote of 246-183 in the House of Representatives but with no Republican support. Hours later, the bill advanced in the Senate by a vote of60-38, three centrist Republicans joined Democrats to move the legislation forward. Full story

Stimulus package only beginning of efforts to save economy: Obama

    WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday that his 789- billion-U.S.-dollar stimulus package is only the beginning of his efforts to revive the ailing American economy.

    "Passing this plan is a critical step, but as important as it is, it's only the beginning of what, I think, all of you understand is going to be a long and difficult process of turning our economy around," said Obama in an address to business leaders at the White House.   Full story