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

Published August 1, 2011 Updated August 1, 2011 07:21pm

1 min

By Abdul Ahad

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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.

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