Senators say joint jobs bill has best chance of passing

(CNN) - As Congress continues to wrangle over jobs legislation, two senators from opposite sides of the aisle are introducing a more modest, bipartisan bill they hope will gain support from their colleagues.

Republican Marco Rubio of Florida and Democrat Chris Coons of Delaware, appearing on CNN’s “The Situation Room,” said the AGREE Act incorporated ideas from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, as well as from President Barack Obama.

“We hope they're going to come on board,” Rubio said when asked if he expected fellow senators to sign on to their proposed legislation. “These ideas are borrowed from them. These are ideas that many of our colleagues have offered.”

The senators said they had not yet contacted the White House about their proposal.

The AGREE Act - which stands for American Growth, Recovery, Empowerment and Entrepreneurship - includes provisions for encouraging manufacturers to hire American workers, and for helping veterans create businesses.

Coons said the main goal was crafting a proposal that stands a chance of passing the Senate and the House of Representatives, which is why the AGREE Act includes fewer provisions than Obama’s American Jobs Act or jobs bills proposed by Republicans.

“In some ways, I think the most important thing we've worked on was a common-sense bill that has proposals that both houses ought to be able to pass,” Coons said.

Rubio, whose successful 2010 election was fueled partly by backing from tea party groups, said he wasn’t worried about backlash from his base of supporters.

“I don't think that's going to be the issue,” Rubio said. “People want to see jobs being created. Most importantly, people look at us and say, ‘At least work together on the things you agree on.’ There's plenty to fight over. There's plenty to disagree on. That's why we have elections, but these are the things we agree on. The people deserve us to be working for them.”