2nd UPDATE: Obama Confident Congress Will Pass Recovery Bill

President Barack Obama took the case for his economic-recovery package to corporate America on Wednesday, telling a group of 13 corporate chieftains that he's confident the $825 billion legislation will make it through Congress.

"I'm confident we're going to get it passed," Obama told reporters at the start of his meeting with chief executives in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the bill later Wednesday. The legislation is expected to pass. At issue, however, is the amount of support it will win from House Republicans, who have balked at the bill's size and complained it doesn't focus enough on tax relief.

Wednesday's meeting was part of Obama's effort to appeal to GOP critics and big business.

Attendees included Steve Appleton, CEO of Micron Technology Inc. (MU); David Barger, CEO of JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU); Greg Brown, co-CEO of Motorola Inc. (MOT); John Bryson, retired CEO of Edison International (EIX); David M. Cote, CEO of Honeywell International Inc. (HON); Debra Lee, CEO of BET Holdings Inc.; Anne Mulcahy, CEO of Xerox Corp. (XRX); Sam Palmisano, CEO of International Business Machines Corp. (IBM); Antonio Perez, CEO of Eastman Kodak Co. (EK); Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google Inc. (GOOG); Michael Splinter, CEO of Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT); Wendell Weeks, CEO of Corning Inc. (GLW); and Ron Williams, CEO of Aetna Inc (AET).

"These are people who make things, who hire people," Obama said. "They are on the front lines in seeing the enormous problems in our economy right now. Their ideas and their concerns have helped to shape our recovery package, and I'm grateful that they're here today to talk about why it's so important that we act, and act swiftly, in order to get this economy back on track."

In a speech later Wednesday, Obama said the meeting with CEOs was "sober," given the recession and thousands of layoffs across a swath of industry. He said policy makers and industry will be responsible for lifting the country out of its funk.

"We must each do our share. Part of what led our economy to this perilous moment was a sense of irresponsibility that prevailed from Wall Street to Washington," Obama said, adding that "corporate America will have to accept its own responsibilities to its workers and to the American public."

Ahead of Obama's meeting with CEOs, Applied Materials' Splinter said action on solar energy could create jobs and boost economic growth. Specifically, Splinter called for short-term refundability of the federal solar investment tax credit, the adoption of renewable and solar energy sources for federal properties, and enhancement of the renewable technology loan guarantee program, according to a company release.

IBM's Palmisano said a $30 billion stimulus investment in healthcare technology, smart electric grids and broadband could yield almost one million new jobs within a year.

"In the end, it's businesses - large and small - that generate the jobs, provide the salaries, and serve as the foundation on which the American people's lives and dreams depend," Obama said. "All we can do, those of us in Washington, is help create a favorable climate in which workers can prosper, businesses can thrive, and our economy can grow. And that is exactly what the recovery plan I've proposed is intended to do."

-By Henry J. Pulizzi, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9256; [e-mail]

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