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Reid urges infrastructure spending

Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2001 | 8:46 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., urged President Bush on Tuesday to approve new spending programs to spur the economy.

Lawmakers and Bush are debating the best way to stimulate the ailing economy in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and Bush has advocated $60 billion in new tax cuts, plus $15 billion in new spending to help workers.

Reid supports more new spending: $12 billion for high-speed rail development; $5 billion for additional highway work; $5 billion for mass transit and public transportation; $3.2 billion for emergency security for Amtrak; $1.5 billion for airport construction; $300 million for marine ferry and terminal construction.

Construction jobs, not tax cuts, put people to work, Reid said.

"For every billion dollars we spend on infrastructure improvement projects, 42,000 jobs will be created," said Reid, No. 2 Senate Democrat. "These are long-term jobs that will help hundreds of thousands of Americans pay their bills while also investing in our nation's aging infrastructure."

Reid along with three key senators on transportation issues on Tuesday sent a letter to Bush outlining their spending priorities.

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