U.S. President Barack Obama has promised to keep pressuring Congress to pass his $447 billion jobs plan, one day after the Senate rejected the measure.

In a speech Wednesday to a Hispanic forum in Washington, Mr. Obama criticized Republicans for not supporting his American Jobs Act, which is aimed at creating millions of new jobs through government work programs and tax breaks for businesses.

He said his plan will put many teachers, police and construction workers back on the job.

The president, noting very high unemployment in the Hispanic community, said millions of Latinos in the United States, along with many other Americans, will benefit from the bill.

Mr. Obama urged the audience to contact members of Congress and remind them “who they work for” and “what’s at stake.”

On Tuesday, the Senate voted 50 to 49 to begin debate on the American Jobs Act, short of the 60 votes required under Senate rules. The plan received no Republican backing and was opposed by three senators in Mr. Obama’s Democratic Party.

President Obama has been demanding that Congress act on his jobs bill, which is designed to lower an unemployment rate hovering around nine percent.