[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 18843]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT

  (Ms. HIRONO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  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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