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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Date: July 23, 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Government Budget and Spending


AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT -- (House of Representatives - July 23, 2009)

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Ms. HIRONO. Rather than emulate the laissez faire strategy of the previous administration, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act less than a month after taking office. Now, just 5 months after its passage, some on the other side of the aisle are proclaiming it a failure.

In January 2009, before passage of the Recovery Act, the economy lost 741,000 jobs, foreclosures were at record highs, and the economic growth rate had hit negative 6.3 percent. Some $10 trillion in wealth had been lost in the stock market.

The Recovery Act provided our States with vital funds, allowing thousands of teachers, law enforcement officials, and firefighters to stay on the job, to educate our children, and to protect our public. To call this a failure is putting rhetoric over people.

More than $20 billion has been made available to fund over 6,000 shovel-ready transportation construction projects, over 2,500 of which are already under way.

The Recovery Act is not a cure-all to our economy's problems, but it has and will continue to make a difference for the better.

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