[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 92 (Thursday, June 18, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6753-S6754]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE RECOVERY ACT

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam President, this February, Congress passed and the 
President signed a historic recovery package, setting the stage for the 
creation of 3\1/2\ million jobs and making critical investments to 
strengthen the 21st-century economy. We all agree that legislation has 
not ended the most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression. 
Americans know what this administration inherited and the time it will 
take to get out of it. Hundreds of thousands of Americans continue to 
lose their jobs every month, quality health care is still far from 
affordable for far too many, and we still have a dangerous dependence 
on foreign oil that threatens our safety, our wallets, and our planet 
at the same time.
  But the optimism we feel is real. Quick action on our part has 
contributed to bringing the economy back from the brink of absolute 
collapse. There are green shoots in this economy, and the Recovery Act 
has fertilized them. It has cut taxes for working Americans; it has 
made education more affordable; it has jump-started urgent investments 
that will make our commutes faster and our air cleaner, investments 
such as repairing crumbling bridges and highways and building high-
speed transit and light rail, investments that will pay off over the 
course of generations. The hundreds of thousands of Americans who are 
going to work this morning because of the Recovery Act can tell us in 
no uncertain terms that the legislation is working. It is creating 
jobs, making responsible investments, helping workers damaged by this 
crisis.
  But in the face of these tremendous efforts, some are questioning the 
effectiveness of these investments. They have decided to attack the 
entire recovery process by jumping to conclusions, distorting the 
facts, and spreading outright falsehoods--all because of their failed 
George Bush-style ideology that created this crisis in the first place.
  There have been some who have commissioned their own report, a report 
which picked a conclusion first and

[[Page S6754]]

then attempted to seek out facts later. The old saying goes, if the 
only tool you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail. 
That is the case here. The radical conservative ideology that led to 
this report is like a steam hammer that its operators would like to use 
at all times, even if it means bashing away at the foundation of 
economic growth we are trying to build.
  I notice this report did not mention any projects from my home State 
of New Jersey, and I guess, because the conclusion they wanted to draw 
was failure, that would make sense not to include projects in New 
Jersey because, in fact, if you look at the issue of how New Jersey is 
handling this among many other States in the Nation, you would have to 
take issue with the thousands of New Jerseyans who will owe their jobs 
to this act.
  The report would have to take issue with an immediate tax cut for the 
average working family of up to $800, money that helped New Jerseyans 
pay their bills and support their families, or the over 1.5 million New 
Jerseyans who avoided the alternative minimum tax as a result of that 
law as well--more money in their pockets, less money going to the 
government.
  You would have to take issue with the college students and parents of 
college students in New Jersey who are finding their term bills just a 
little easier to pay because of the increased Pell grants in the 
Recovery Act. In addition to higher education, it would have to take 
issue with all the ways public elementary and secondary schools are 
being improved with $957 million in funding that they would not 
otherwise have for critical needs ranging from up-to-date textbooks to 
better technology in the classroom.
  It would have to take on all the teachers, police, and firefighters 
who have been able to keep their jobs and the individuals with 
disabilities who are now getting the support they need at school--made 
possible by the Recovery Act.
  The Recovery Act was intended to create jobs fast, pump money into 
the economy quickly. How well has it done that in New Jersey? I saw 
firsthand how the funding created 250 construction and engineering jobs 
improving Route 46 in Lodi. It is a project that is going to reduce 
traffic congestion, cut down on the time it takes to commute, make it 
easier to do business, and protect the roadway against flooding so 
parents can feel just a little safer as they drive their kids in heavy 
rain.
  I saw firsthand that the Recovery Act finally let us break ground on 
the Mass Transit Tunnel under the Hudson River that will ultimately 
create 6,000 jobs for several years and, at the end of the day, when 
that project is finished, over 50,000 permanent jobs. I met children 
who will be the future riders of that train and whose parents and 
neighbors are employed in its design, planning, and construction as we 
speak. In terms of infrastructure, you can see these results statewide.
  The Recovery Act required our State Department of Transportation to 
get enough projects ready for bidding so that 50 percent of that 
funding could be set aside within 120 days to get people to work. New 
Jersey met that requirement and plans to allocate the funding for all 
of its projects by the end of this month. The Recovery Act has been a 
lifeline for New Jersey and, for that matter, for millions of people 
across the country.
  I could not agree more that accountability is crucial. We understand 
that every dollar in the Recovery Act belongs to the American taxpayer. 
They deserve assurances that their money is being invested wisely. We 
have to ensure unprecedented transparency, oversight, and 
accountability so Americans can see not only how their money is being 
spent but also the results of their investments.
  That is why this act is being personally overseen by the Vice 
President of the United States. And it is why the Act provides for so 
much transparency, such as a Web site with all of the information about 
it readily available to the public. Ironically, the fact that there is 
so much transparency is the reason an individual Senator can issue a 
report about it at all, and it is the reason we can figure out so 
easily that many of the assertions in that report are wrong.
  Accountability means making sure our investments are smart and making 
corrections as need be. What accountability does not mean is attacking 
the job that hard-working men and women are doing, that the legislation 
made possible, because your ideology does not square with the facts.
  That is not accounting, that is undermining. Frankly, after 8 years 
of undermining, the American people are ready to build up this country 
again. And with the Recovery Act, with health care reform, so not only 
those nearly 50 million Americans who have no health care coverage in 
the greatest Nation in all of the world, but at the same time millions 
more who are one paycheck away from losing it, and so many who have 
health insurance, but have told me that, in fact, after listening to 
their insurance company and following all of the rules, they still get 
denied for claims of coverage they need.
  That is part of the reform we seek. With additional steps to make us 
energy independent, we are going to, in essence, rebuild this country. 
That is the process of saying ``yes'' to America, not ``no'' to 
America.
  Madam President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 10 minutes 
as in morning business on the Republican side.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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