Barack Obama's incoming administration is nearing agreement with congressional leaders on huge emergency spending legislation intended to stimulate the weak U.S. economy and create 3 million jobs over two years, Vice President-elect Joseph Biden said Tuesday. Asked whether an agreement on the size and scope of a massive economic stimulus package would be reached this week, Biden replied, “I think we're getting awful close to that.” “It's clear that we're all [near agreement], including our Republican colleagues. This has to be substantial. It has to create jobs immediately,” Biden told reporters in Washington. Biden would not say how much the stimulus package would cost taxpayers. “We're all getting very close to an overall number, and we're getting close to the specific kinds of investment,” he said. Biden reaffirmed that Obama wants the new Democratic-led Congress to make the economic legislation its top priority when it convenes in early January, calling it “the most urgent order of business for the new administration.”
