Why I Support the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Floor Speech

Why I Support the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- (House of Representatives - January 27, 2009)

No one today would challenge the assertion that we are in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The U. S. economy is shedding jobs at a staggering rate; unemployment and homelessness are soaring; families are losing their homes and their health insurance. The 50 states are facing staggering budget shortfalls as they seek to provide basic public services. Working families are experiencing the greatest reduction in living standards in generations. No industry, no geographical region, is exempted from this economic storm.

President Barack Obama and the Congress have been working to put together a recovery package as the first crucial step in a concerted effort to create and save 3 to 4 million jobs, jumpstart our economy, and set a path for investment and growth over the next years. This plan will address the needs of low and middle class families hard hit by events out of their control and will, in the process, transform our economy to meet the environmental, energy, infrastructure, health and information demands of our era.

The process to craft this critical legislation has been open, inclusive, and transparent. I have worked hard to ensure that issues of special concern to our community are addressed. The legislation contains no Earmarks but does include strong accountability measures for accountability, oversight, and transparency including a dedicated website, recovery.gov, which will allow citizens to track every penny.

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