Van Hollen Statement on President Obama Signing Economic Recovery Legislation

Statement

Van Hollen Statement On President Obama Signing Economic Recovery Legislation

Today, Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Assistant to the Speaker, issued the following statement on President Obama signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (HR-1):

"Today, with the signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, President Obama and Congress spoke with a unified voice: inaction, gridlock and the status quo are no longer welcome in Washington. Eight years of bad policies have left America mired in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, with over 3.6 million jobs lost in the last 13 months alone.

"This bold new plan will help create or save 3 to 4 million jobs, make critical investments in our country's aging infrastructure, provide the largest tax cut to low and moderate income workers ever, modernize our schools, and transform our economy to compete in the 21st century. All of this was accomplished in the four weeks since President Obama was inaugurated, marking the swiftest passage of a president's economic vision in history and done with a level of transparency and accountability not seen before.

"The American people demanded action and Congress and the President responded, working efficiently and in a bipartisan manner to pass the best possible plan that will provide much needed relief to America's workers and small businesses. This won't happen overnight, but doing nothing or enacting the same failed ideas that got us into this fix would have done far greater harm to our economic security. A crystal clear message was sent last November when the country voted for change and a New Direction, and today President Obama and Congress began to chart that course."

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