White House hails progress of jobs bill

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- The White House Thursday hailed the progress on a long-waited jobs bill that would aid struggling U.S. families.

"The President is gratified to see the Senate moving forward in a bipartisan manner on steps to help put Americans back to work," said a statement released by the White House.

Earlier Thursday, senators unveiled the 87 billion dollar bipartisan bill, which includes several of President Barack Obama' s top priorities for job creation.

The entire bill would cost 125 billion dollars and would be offset by 38 billion dollars in new tax revenue from paper mills and offshore tax havens.

The White House urged the Senate to approve the bill as soon as possible.

"The American people want to see Washington put aside partisan differences and make progress on jobs," said the White House.

"The President looks forward to working with members from both parties on this bill and on the additional job creation measures he has identified, including incentives for energy efficiency investments and increased access to credit for small businesses," it added.