HARRISBURG, November 1, 2011 – State Sen. Vincent J. Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) participated in the American Jobs Act Working Group Meeting held at the White House earlier today.

The meeting was a wide-ranging and in-depth discussion of job creation strategies among 200 of leaders from around the nation. The Secretaries of Transportation and Labor also participated in the meeting.

“Job creation is the single most important issue that we face and should be our number one priority,” Hughes said. “Working with this group and exchanging ideas will be helpful as we continue to look for innovative strategies to boost job creation in Pennsylvania. I welcomed this opportunity for a serious discussion on how we can move forward.”

Hughes said that the highlight of the meeting was when President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden spoke to the group.

Hughes said that Obama encouraged the group to continue working hard to create jobs and that action was needed now.

The West Philadelphia lawmaker said that the president indicated that the fight for jobs is a “long term fight” and predicted that his job creation plans will ultimately prevail despite congressional roadblocks.

Vice-President Biden, according to Hughes, said that “middle class folks are being crushed” and need jobs now.

Pennsylvania Senate Democrats recently announced their jobs plan called PA Works Now which uses targeted investments in infrastructure to create jobs and leverage private dollars as a means to jump start economic activity.

Hughes serves as Democratic Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

For more information, visit www.senatorhughes.com or Facebook and Twitter (SenatorHughes).

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