[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 15 (Monday, January 26, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H510]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ECONOMIC STIMULUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, the current economic crisis requires bold 
solutions that address the magnitude of our economic woes, and the 
American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will do just that. The $825 
billion recovery package that we will vote on this week will create or 
save an estimated 4 million jobs and will make key investments in our 
future.
  First and foremost, the economic recovery package focuses on blunting 
the effects of the recession and helping families in need by increasing 
food stamps for some 30 million Americans, expanding unemployment 
benefits, and preserving health care benefits.
  Our plan protects health care coverage for nearly 20 million 
Americans during this recession by increasing the Federal Medicaid 
Assistance Percentage, FMAP, so that no State has to cut eligibility 
for Medicaid and SCHIP, the Children's Health Insurance Program, 
because of budget shortfalls.
  I am encouraged that in my home State of New York, where we have an 
unemployment rate of 7 percent, the State would qualify for an 
additional 6 percent FMAP on top of the 4.9 percent base FMAP increase, 
for a total of 10.9 percent, resulting in roughly $10.4 billion over 
nine quarters. This is critical funding for our State which is seeing 
an increase in caseloads as a result of the recession.
  We will also provide health care coverage for nearly 8.5 million 
Americans through a tax credit that would allow newly uninsured and 
unemployed Americans to keep their health insurance through COBRA, as 
well as a new option in Medicaid for low income people who lack access 
to COBRA.
  The recovery plan also invests in important needs that have been 
neglected over the past 8 years. America's schools, roads, bridges, and 
water systems are in disrepair, and this is creating a drag on economic 
growth. We will embark on the most ambitious public investment agenda 
since the 1950s, when we created the Interstate Highway System, which 
provided an important engine of economic growth.
  We have an historic opportunity to make the investments necessary to 
modernize our public infrastructure, transition to a clean energy 
economy, and make us more competitive in the future.
  Our plan will modernize our transportation infrastructure, and repair 
thousands of miles of roadways; enhance security at 90 major ports; 
renovate 10,000 public schools, and improve the learning environment 
for about 5 million children; launch thousands of clean drinking water 
and wastewater initiatives; computerize every American's health record 
in 5 years, reducing medical errors and saving billions of dollars in 
health care costs; undertake the largest weatherization program in 
history, modernizing 75 percent of Federal buildings and 2 million 
homes; and, double our renewable energy generating capacity over the 
next 3 years, creating enough energy to power 6 million American homes.
  Our plan also supports working families by providing a $1,000 Making 
Work Pay tax cut for 95 percent of workers and their families. In 
addition, we will expand the child care tax credit, providing a new tax 
cut for parents of more than 6 million children, and increasing the 
benefit of the existing credit for more than 10 million young people.
  By including major fast-spending provisions like tax cuts for middle-
class families, measures to avoid State health care cuts, and temporary 
expansions of unemployment insurance, food stamps, and health care for 
unemployed Americans, the package will spend out at least 75 percent of 
its total commitment within the first 18 months after passage. The plan 
will spread job creation out over the next couple of years, which will 
soften the downturn and foster a solid economic recovery. This is a 
balanced stimulus plan that benefits all Americans by creating jobs 
across a variety of sectors.
  As President Obama recently said, ``This is not just a short-term 
program to boost employment. It's one that will invest in our most 
important priorities, like energy and education, health care, and a new 
infrastructure, that are necessary to keep us strong and competitive in 
the 21st century.''
  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke voiced optimism for the 
recovery plan, stating that, if enacted, it would ``provide a 
significant boost to economic activity.'' It is time to get our economy 
back on track. I urge my colleagues to support this important measure.

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