USA

Obama: Congress Should Back Plan to Hire Teachers

U.S. President Barack Obama says 300,000 education jobs have been lost since 2009, and Congress has done nothing about it.

Obama said Saturday in his politically charged weekly address "almost every Republican in Congress" rejected his jobs bill that would have rehired teachers and prevented additional layoffs. He said the Republicans voted instead for an economic plan to give tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires.

The president said the White House has launched initiatives to improve schools, including investing in math and science programs and increasing financial aid for millions of college students.

Watch President Obama's weekly address:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/ndkUaQ5HsBk

In the Republican address, Representative Vicky Hartzler from the Midwestern state of Missouri criticized Democrats and Obama because Congress failed to restore disaster programs for farmers suffering from the worst drought in 25 years.

The legislation passed in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, but the Democratic-controlled Senate failed to vote on the legislation before shutting down for its August vacation.

Watch weekly Republican address:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/aEzr29dEa2E


Some information for this report was provided by AP.