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Obama urges Congress to rise above political fray

Other News Materials 29 July 2011 20:19 (UTC +04:00)
US President Barack on Friday called on congressional leaders to stop "holding our economy captive" and rise above politics
Obama urges Congress to rise above political fray

US President Barack on Friday called on congressional leaders to stop "holding our economy captive" and rise above politics to reach a deal to lift the nation's debt limit, as crisis loomed dpa reported

"The power to solve this is in our hands," Obama said in a statement from the White House.

Congress must reach an agreement to raise the debt limit - which currently stands at 14.3 trillion dollars - by August 2 or the United States could default on debt payments and suffer a downgrade of its credit rating.

Obama warned such a scenario would further damage an already "fragile" economy and cause a interest rates to spike. Obama said the Democrats and Republicans are getting closer to a deal but said more compromises are needed.

"This is not a situation where the two parties are far apart," Obama said

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