WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Friday he would sign a $152 billion economic stimulus package into law next week.
The Senate and House of Representatives on Thursday approved the measure, a series of tax rebates and business incentives aimed at staving off an election-year recession in the struggling U.S. economy.
“We are in a period of economic uncertainty and we’ve acted again,” Bush told a conservative conference in Washington. “I want to thank the members (of Congress) for passing a good piece of legislation, which I will sign into law next week.”
“This bill reflects our principles. It is robust, it is pro-growth, it stimulates business investment and it puts money into the hands of American consumers,” he added.
The legislation will provide one-time rebates of up to $600 for individuals or $1,200 for couples, plus $300 for each child. Low-income people, including retirees on Social Security and disabled veterans who pay no income taxes, would receive checks of $300.
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The final bill was broader than the original package backed by Bush. The Senate added the benefits for elderly and disabled veterans, who had been left out of the House bill.
To win more Republican support in the closely divided Senate, Democrats had to drop proposed benefits for long-term unemployed workers and other provisions that would have helped low-income people pay heating bills and home builders write off current year losses against previous tax years.
The Senate also added language to ensure illegal immigrants did not receive rebate checks.
With the latest economic date suggesting the U.S. economy is stalling, the bill will inject nearly $152 billion into the economy this year and more than $16 billion next year.
Some economists have said, however, that while the measures will buy time, they may not be enough to avert recession.
The United States Capitol 
The United States House of Representatives has passed the bipartisan 152 billion economic stimulus package that gives one-time rebates to United States citizens, US$600 for individuals or US$1,200 for couples plus US$300 for each child. US$300 checks would be sent to people on low-income including retirees on  which was not included in the original bill backed by President George W. Bush. The plan would begin to decrease rebates for citizens with taxable incomes of US$75,000 for individuals and US$150,000 for couples. The checks would go out to more than a 130 million Americans according to Treasury secretary .

The House overwhelmingly approved the more broad Senate amended bill which included the low-income portion mentioned above along with provisions that would keep  from receiving a rebate check. Despite some opposition from some Congressmen, such as  of , the plan passed overwhelmingly 380–34.

Campbell called the plan "wealth redistribution" and noted it did not have safeguards to prevent illegals from receiving these rebates and also claimed that stimulus plan would increase the deficit more and noted the cause of the looming recession was because of "credit problems."

The United States Senate voted hours earlier on the bill which passed in the Senate, 81–16. after having to shed some incentives included by Senate  which caused the bill to fail. Some of the incentives that were left out of the plan in a compromise to gain  support were demands for benefits for long-term unemployed workers and stipulation that would allow low-income citizens to pay off heating bills and let home builders pay off losses off the current year against previous tax years. 

President Bush approved of the package, noting in a statement, "This plan is robust, broad-based, timely, and it will be effective, this bill will help to stimulate consumer spending and accelerate needed business investment."