[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 23, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H737]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE SUCCESS OF STIMULUS I

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Garamendi) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I keep hearing this discussion that the 
stimulus didn't work. I don't know what people are looking at, because, 
in my district in California and in the State of California, the 
stimulus has been of utmost importance in maintaining at least a base.
  California received some $63 billion from the stimulus. Where did the 
money go? Well, $9 billion went to the school systems in California so 
we didn't have to lay off teachers and janitors and bus drivers. Those 
people continue to be employed, and they continue to do an extremely 
important piece of work. That is investing in our children.
  Along the way, we also invested in those schools. In my district, 
some nearly $100 million went into repairing schools--painting, fixing, 
improving their energy efficiency.
  $197 million backfilled money that the State of California couldn't 
put up to build a tunnel through the Caldecott mountains. Six thousand 
jobs will be underway now and into the years ahead as people work on 
building the tunnel, and we are going to eliminate one of the great 
traffic jams in the Bay Area. It goes on and on and on.
  The University of California and the State university system, instead 
of laying people off, received stimulus money, so they were able to 
continue to provide classes.
  I don't know where all of this talk that the stimulus doesn't work 
comes from. It certainly doesn't come from the reality of what is 
taking place in California.
  I've also noticed on television many of my Republican colleagues, who 
come here on the floor and say the stimulus does no good, who then go 
home and show some huge checks, taking credit for the stimulus money's 
providing jobs in their districts. So perhaps there is a speech on the 
floor, and then there is the reality out in the country.
  Yes, we do need a second stimulus, and we need it to be a big one. 
People want to work. They don't want to take unemployment insurance. 
They don't want to have to be tax takers. They want to be taxpayers. 
The first stimulus did that. A second stimulus should do that.
  I would also point out that, around the world, every industrialized 
Nation in the world, including China and India, did the same thing that 
we did in America, and they did far more. They actually put up a larger 
percentage of their GDP. Most of them borrowing as we did here in 
America. It is required that we put people to work. Otherwise, you are 
going to have tax takers. You are going to have greater unemployment. 
Let's give people a chance to have a job. Yes, it is deficit financing, 
but the second stimulus is going to be paid for fully by taking back 
the money that was given to the Wall Street rip-off.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I think we need to understand that the stimulus, 
which is 1-year- and 1-week-old, actually worked. The second one is 
desperately needed because there is a world of hurt out there. If you 
are listening to your constituents, you know that they want to work. 
That is what the stimulus I did, and jobs for Main Street will do the 
same, using Wall Street money for Main Street jobs.

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