U.S. President Barack Obama pushed Congressional leaders today to pass energy, financial reform and jobs measures, even as they grapple with the devastating BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to Reuters. "Even as we deal with that crisis, we've still got an economy that's on the mend, but there are a lot of people out there who are still out of work," Obama told reporters after meeting with the Republican and Democratic leaders. He said he wanted Congress to pass during its current session his measures to boost the economy and generate jobs, aid small businesses and his financial regulatory reform bill. "The financial markets I think deserve certainty, but more importantly in my mind consumers and the American people deserve to know that there's a regulatory framework that is in place," Obama said. Obama's met with Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Republican leader John Boehner, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House. Obama said he had discussed with the Republican and Democratic leaders the Gulf crisis, and all had agreed on the importance of considering how to update U.S. law to ensure victims of the Gulf oil spill are protected. U.S. pollution legislation was written before the industry developed ultra-deep water exploration and ought be brought up to date to ensure the people of the Gulf "are made whole," he said. "That was a prominent part of the discussion, and I was pleased to see bipartisan agreement that we have to deal with that in an aggressive, forward-looking way," Obama said. Obama said the leaders had also talked about how to deal with debt and deficits, and control spending. And he pushed for passage of a law to fight climate change and ramp up production of renewable fuels. "Although obviously our immediate task is to deal with a crisis that is affecting millions of people down in the Gulf, we can't keep our eye off the importance of having an energy policy that meets the needs of the next generation and ensures that the United States is the leader when it comes to energy policy," Obama said.
