Pelosi urges Republican committee chairmen to take action on Obama jobs plan

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) urged House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to encourage congressional committee chairmen to push for passage of President Obama’s recently outlined American Jobs Act.

“I have asked each Democratic Ranking Member to urge his or her Committee chair to schedule immediate hearings and legislative action on legislation proposed by the President that lies within the jurisdiction of the Committee,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to Boehner on Friday. 

“It would be a sign of our unified commitment to acting quickly, and to acting in a bipartisan way, if you would similarly urge your chairmen to move expeditiously to pass this legislation and begin creating jobs, assisting small businesses, supporting veterans, and promoting economic growth.”

Thursday night, President Obama outlined a $447 billion job-creation plan that includes payroll-tax cuts, infrastructure spending and extending unemployment insurance benefits for an additional year.

Earlier on Thursday, Pelosi called on the senior Democrats on Republican-led committees to push the GOP chairmen to legislative action on Obama’s plan.

“We all look forward to the president’s proposals and share a sense of the urgency that Congress act quickly and on a bipartisan basis to support the creation of jobs,” Pelosi wrote in a letter sent to each senior Democrat. 

Shortly after Pelosi’s letter to Boehner, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, petitioned the committee’s chairman, Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) to move forward on Obama’s plan.

“It is well past time for this Congress to refocus on jobs and take action to grow and strengthen America’s middle class. The President’s plan deserves to be heard. Our Committee should schedule hearings on his proposals as soon as possible,” Miller wrote to Kline. 

Read Pelosi’s letter to Boehner below: