CNN — Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday chided Senate Republicans for blocking a vote on a bill that would give tax breaks to companies that bring back jobs to the U.S. from overseas.

"They prevented us from even being able to get a vote on that. So it's dead. It's dead," Biden said in a campaign speech in Ohio.

The item, which was a top priority in the president's "to-do list" for Congress, also had a provision that would eliminate tax deductions for companies that outsource.

"They maintained a tax cut to take your company abroad and refused to give a tax cut to bring your company home," he said.

Opposing the bill, Republican aides pointed to opposition by business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, who generally support Republicans.

In a letter to senators this week, the Chamber of Commerce called the bill "misguided" and said it "would hamper American worldwide companies' competitiveness, increase complexity in the Internal Revenue Code, and threaten economic growth."

Biden on Thursday used the blocked bill to fault Republicans, including presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney, for being on the wrong side of the issue, and emphasized a need to bring jobs back to the United States.

"We're not betting on anybody else. We're betting on Ohio. We're betting on the United States of America," Biden said. "That's not just political talk. That is a natural fact."

The issue of outsourcing has not only been a hot policy topic of late, but also a major attack line on the campaign trail. Obama's campaign hammered Romney for weeks over reports that his former private equity firm Bain Capital was tied to the practice of outsourcing.

Hitting back, Romney's team this week launched a new offensive accusing the president of outsourcing jobs through his administration's trade policies and loan guarantee program--the latter of which gave federal funds to a green automotive company that held a factory in Finland.

Responding to Biden's attacks on Thursday, Romney's campaign described them as "misleading."

"No misleading campaign speech can hide the truth that President Obama's policies have not helped the struggling middle class. While this administration puts their faith in government, Mitt Romney puts his faith in the American people and their entrepreneurial spirit," said Ryan Williams, a spokesman for the Romney campaign.

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CNN Senior Congressional Producer Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

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