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WASHINGTON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday night said he would ask Congress to approve a plan to invest 1 trillion U.S. dollars in the infrastructure of the United States to create millions of new jobs.
"We've spent trillions of dollars overseas, while our infrastructure at home has so badly crumbled," Trump said in his first address to a joint session of Congress since inauguration, noting that "the time has come for a new program of national rebuilding."
Trump said the investment plan would be financed through "both public and private capital" and create "millions of new jobs."
He also said the infrastructure investment would be guided by two core principles: "Buy American, and Hire American," which would benefit America-based construction, engineering and architecture companies and U.S. workers.
In terms of tax reform, Trump said his economic team was developing "historic" tax reform that would cut corporate tax rates and provide "massive tax relief" for the middle class at the same time. But he did not offer any concrete details of the proposal.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said last week that he wanted to see "very significant" tax reform passed before Congress's August recess.
"We've been working closely with the leadership in the House and the Senate and we're looking at a combined plan," Mnuchin said.
