Biden confident of debt deal approval

WASHINGTON: US Vice President Joe Biden said Monday he was confident that Congress would aprove a major austerity plan to avoid a debt default as he met with skeptical members of his Democratic Party.

Speaking on Capitol Hill as the clock ticked toward Tuesday's deadline to raise the US debt ceiling, Biden said: "I feel confident that this will pass."

"My sense is that they expressed all their frustration," Biden told reporters. "I'd be frustrated if I were sitting there as well, being taken down to the wire like this."

Biden, a 36-year veteran of the Senate, was dispatched to Capitol Hill to defend the sweeping deal approved in marathon weekend talks.

A number of liberal Democrats have voiced anger at the deal, saying that the United States should not be considering nearly $2.5 trillion dollars in spending cuts without efforts to raise revenue.

Republicans, who won control of the House of Representatives in November elections, have held firm against tax increases.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011