Senators voted in favor of the Nelson-Collins bill, the amendment that will allow President Obama’s $838 billion stimulus plan to go into effect.

The bill passed in the Senate by a vote of 61-37 on Tuesday afternoon. Senator Arlen Specter, (R-Pa.) and Susan Collins (R-Me.) were crucial swing votes enabling the measure to pass.

The vote consisted of two procedural votes: a procedural role call vote and a voice vote, before the final passage roll call vote of the entire bill as amended was passed.

On Monday night, the Senate held a procedural vote in which the bill passed by a vote of 61 to 36. Now that the bill has passed, it will need to be reconciled with the House version. There are several key measures upon which the two bills differ -- measures which, if included could add tens of millions of dollars. 

Senate leaders will set up negotiations with the House of Representatives, holding a House-Senate conference to attempt a compromise. Senators Baucus, Reid and Grassley will go to conference on behalf of the Senate.

Senate Democrats have heavily pushed the stimulus plan, decrying Republican opposition.

“We are hemorrhaging jobs; the middleclass is losing dollars,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). The country could edge over into a recessionary spiral downward that actually turns into deflation, which could -- God forbid -- turn into a depression. And yet, while President Obama shows leadership the other side is adamantly sticking to policies that don’t work.”

President Obama has brought the issue directly to the people in a campaign-style series of addresses. Monday night, he held a news conference in prime-time to publicly voice his support for the stimulus and Tuesday afternoon, he addressed a crowd in Fort Myers, Fla., which had the highest rate of foreclosures in the nation last year. There, the president stressed the importance of a quick response to the economic crisis:

“I can tell you with complete confidence that a failure to act in the face of this crisis will only worsen our problems. Doing nothing is not an option; you didn’t send me to Washington to do nothing.”

President Obama has said he would like the bill on his desk by Feb. 16.