[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 24, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H3751-H3752]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Connolly) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. I rise today to highlight the critical 
investments in America made by this Congress and by the Obama 
administration through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 
2009 to turn our economy around.
  We are embroiled in the worst economic crisis since the Great 
Depression. Our economy remains in a recession that dates back to 
December, 2007. Our gross domestic product decreased 6.2 percent in the 
fourth quarter of last year. Housing prices have declined for 24 
consecutive months. Unemployment is at a 25-year high--and rising.
  More than 4.4 million Americans lost their jobs, including a 
staggering 651,000 jobs lost last month. In my district, one of the 
wealthiest in the Nation, applications for food stamps increased 79 
percent over the previous year.
  In the past 12 months, Americans have lost 4 years of wealth, 
upending the carefully planned retirement strategies for millions of 
our fellow Americans. Over the next 2 years, if we do nothing, as some 
propose, our economy and the American people will suffer an estimated 
$2 trillion in lost potential, lost productivity, and lost earnings.
  We know the price of inaction. The last 8 years left us a dire legacy 
we won't soon forget: Trillions of dollars of budget surpluses 
squandered; critical infrastructure repairs and improvements ignored; 
alternative energy research and development placed on the back burner; 
regulations neutered and the financial sector allowed to run amok; 
poverty ignored and allowed to grow; middle-class Americans saw their 
purchasing power decline dramatically while a privileged few saw theirs 
grow and soar; and millions of jobs and trillions of dollars of 
economic progress lost.
  Mr. Speaker, we can no longer afford the inaction of the last 8 
years. That's why this Congress acted, in concert with President Obama, 
to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It was a bold 
stroke to put people back to work and make critical investments in our 
Nation's infrastructure that have been so neglected in the last 8 
years.
  We acted to ensure the future prosperity of our country. The Recovery 
Act will save or create 3.5 million jobs, including 9,300 in my own 
district, and provide needed investment in education, energy 
independence, health care reform, transportation, infrastructure, and 
tax relief for the middle class.
  While no one action we can take will instantly fix all of our 
economic troubles, our investments are showing progress. Thanks to the 
Recovery Act, shovel-ready projects throughout the Nation are breaking 
ground, putting people to work planning, constructing,

[[Page H3752]]

and managing these projects. Highway construction projects nationwide 
receive $30 billion, with an additional investment of $10 billion in 
transit and rail projects.
  Thanks to the Recovery Act, those firms that were in fact put out of 
business or had to delay work are now being put back to work and 
putting people back to work repairing and improving roads and bridges, 
building schools, modernizing street light systems and water treatment 
plants, and building many other needed but neglected capital projects 
in my district and across the Nation. These are real jobs building real 
projects that are helping real Americans.
  In the 4 weeks since the legislation was signed into law, Mr. 
Speaker, $175 billion has already been allocated, including $77 billion 
for education throughout the country, $27 billion for highways, and $15 
billion in new Medicaid funding badly needed by our States.
  The economic crisis has caused shortfalls for virtually every State 
and local government in the Nation. Our State and municipal governments 
are among the country's largest economic engines, performing everyday 
functions that Americans rely on daily, from public safety, to public 
health, to local education, to public libraries.
  The Recovery Act provided $53 billion in State stabilization funding 
badly needed by our States that are hemorrhaging red ink right now. 
Specifically, the investment in education, for example, will pay 
immediate long-term dividends for our economy. Enhanced educational 
support includes $40 billion for local school districts and $21 billion 
for higher education, and will create increasing opportunities to 
prepare our children to enter the workforce.
  In addition, our investments in education are paying off immediately 
by stemming the loss of tens of thousands of jobs for teachers and 
custodians and bus drivers and nurse's aides and teacher's aides all 
across school districts in the United States.
  One of the primary drivers for economic recovery will be our 
investment in the technology field as well, Mr. Speaker. The world is 
changing and it's critical America stay at the forefront. In order to 
reduce our reliance on foreign oil, we will move towards a cleaner, 
greener economy. The stimulus addresses both of these areas.
  The Recovery Act provided $30 billion to transform our existing 
energy systems and $8 billion in weatherization and energy efficiency 
funds that will create 87,000 new jobs weatherizing 2 million 
households across the United States.
  The cost of health care continues to rise dramatically, Mr. Speaker, 
and it's incumbent upon us to reduce costs without harming existing 
coverage. The Recovery Act included almost $20 billion to accelerate 
the switch to health information technology systems by doctors and 
hospitals to modernize health care systems. It's estimated that this 
reform ultimately will yield an annual saving of $77 billion in health 
care costs to average Americans all across the country.
  This act is only one piece of the economic mosaic, and I know it's 
going to succeed.

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