Statement on House of Representative Passage of the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget April 2, 2009
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Administration of Barack Obama, 2009 / Apr. 2 Statement on House of Representative Passage of the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget April 2, 2009 Tonight the House of Representatives took es, and government alike. And by making hard another step toward rebuilding our struggling choices and challenging the old ways of doing economy. This budget resolution embraces our business, we will cut in half the budget deficit most fundamental priorities: an energy plan we inherited within 4 years. With this vote that will end our dependence on foreign oil and comes an obligation to pursue our efforts to go spur a new clean energy economy, an education through the budget line by line, searching for system that will ensure our children will be able additional savings. Like the families we serve, to compete in the economy of the 21st century, we must cut the things we don’t need to invest and health care reform that finally confronts the in those we do. back-breaking costs plaguing families, business- The President’s News Conference in London April 2, 2009 The President. Good afternoon, or good eve- Now, just keep in mind some historical con- ning; we’re running a little bit late. Earlier to- text. Faced with similar global challenges in the day, we finished a very productive summit that past, the world was slow to act, and people paid will be, I believe, a turning point in our pursuit an enormous price. That was true in the Great of global economic recovery. By any measure, Depression, when nations prolonged and wors- the London summit was historic. It was historic ened the crisis by turning inward, waiting for because of the size and the scope of the chal- more than a decade to meet the challenge to- lenges that we face and because of the timeli- gether. Even as recently as the 1980s, the slow ness and magnitude of our response. global response deepened and widened a debt The challenge is clear. The global economy is crisis in Latin America that pushed millions into contracting. Trade is shrinking. Unemploy- poverty. ment is rising. The international finance system Today, we’ve learned the lessons of history. I is nearly frozen. Even these facts can’t fully cap- know that in the days leading up to the summit, some of you in the press, some commentators, ture the crisis that we’re confronting, because confused honest and open debate with irrecon- behind them is the pain and uncertainty that so cilable differences. But after weeks of prepara- many people are facing. We see it back in the tion and 2 days of careful negotiation, we have United States. We see it here in London. We agreed on a series of unprecedented steps to re- see it around the world: families losing their store growth and prevent a crisis like this from homes, workers losing their jobs and their sav- happening again. ings, students who are deferring their dreams. Let me outline what I think has been most So many have lost so much. Just to underscore significant. this point, back in the United States, jobless Number one, we are committed to growth claims released today were the highest in 26 and job creation. All G–20 nations have acted to years. We owe it to all of our citizens to act and stimulate demand, which will total well over $2 to act with a sense of urgency. trillion in global fiscal expansion. The United In an age where our economies are linked States is also partnering with the private sector more closely than ever before, the whole world to clean out the troubled assets, the legacy has been touched by this devastating downturn. assets that are crippling some banks, and using And today the world’s leaders have responded the full force of the Government to ensure that with an unprecedented set of comprehensive our action leads directly to loans to businesses and coordinated actions. large and small, as well as individuals who 399 Apr. 2 / Administration of Barack Obama, 2009 depend on credit. And these efforts will be suffered greatly in this crisis. And the United amplified by our G–20 partners, who are States is ready to lead in this endeavor. In the pursuing similarly comprehensive programs. coming days, I intend to work with Congress And we also agreed on bold action to sup- to provide $448 million in immediate assis- port developing countries, so that we aren’t tance to vulnerable populations from Africa to faced with declining markets that the global Latin America and to double support for food economy depends on. Together, the G–20 is safety to over $1 billion so that we are giving tripling the IMF’s lending capacity and pro- people the tools they need to lift themselves moting lending by multilateral development out of poverty. We will also support the United banks to increase the purchasing power and Nations and World Bank as they coordinate expand markets in every country. the rapid assistance necessary to prevent hu- We’ve also rejected the protectionism that manitarian catastrophe. I have to say, though, could deepen this crisis. History tells us that that this is not just charity. These are all future turning inward can help turn a downturn into markets for all countries and future drivers of a depression. And this cooperation between world economic growth. the world’s leading economies signals our sup- Let me also underscore my appreciation to port for open markets, as does our multilateral Prime Minister Brown, his entire team, and all commitment to trade finance that will grow my colleagues from around the world who our exports and create new jobs. That’s all on contributed to the summit’s success. You the growth front. know, it’s hard for 20 heads of state to bridge And next, we made enormous strides in their differences. We’ve all got our own na- committing ourselves to comprehensive re- tional policies; we all have our own assump- form of a failed regulatory system. And togeth- tions, our own political cultures. But our citi- er, I believe that we must put an end to the zens are all hurting. They all need us to come bubble-and-bust economy that has stood in together. So I’m pleased that the G–20 has the way of sustained growth and enabled abu- agreed to meet again this fall, because I be- sive risk-taking that endangers our prosperity. lieve that this is just the beginning. Our prob- At home, back in the States, our efforts be- lems are not going to be solved in one meet- gan with an approach that Secretary Geithner ing; they’re not going to be solved in two proposed last week, the strongest regulatory meetings. We’re going to have to be proactive reforms any nation has contemplated so far to in shaping events and persistent in monitoring prevent the massive failure of responsibility our progress to determine whether further ac- that we have already seen. Today, these princi- tion is needed. ples have informed and enabled the coordinat- I also want to just make a few remarks about ed action that we will take with our G–20 part- additional meetings I had outside of the G–20 ners. context. While here in London, I had the op- To prevent future crises, we agreed to in- portunity to hold bilateral meetings with lead- creased transparency and capital protections ers of Russia, China, South Korea, Saudi Ara- for financial institutions. We’re extending su- bia, and India, as well as Great Britain. And pervision to all systemically important institu- these discussions were extraordinarily valuable tions, markets, and products, including hedge and productive. Of course, we spoke about ad- funds. We’ll identify jurisdictions that fail to ditional steps to promote economic recovery cooperate, including tax havens, and take ac- and growth. But we also discussed coordinated tion to defend our financial system. We will re- actions on a range of issues: how we could re- establish the Financial Stability Forum with a duce the nuclear threat; how we could forge a stronger mandate. And we will reform and ex- coordinated response to North Korea’s pand the IMF and World Bank so they are planned missile launch; how we can turn back more efficient, effective, and representative. terrorism and stabilize Afghanistan; how we Finally, we are protecting those who don’t can protect our planet from the scourge of cli- always have a voice at the G–20, but who have mate change. I’m encouraged that we laid the 400 Administration of Barack Obama, 2009 / Apr. 2 groundwork for real and lasting progress on a principles that we had developed prior to com- host of these issues. ing here. Ultimately, the challenges of the 21st century We felt that it was very important to can’t be met without collective action. Agree- strengthen our international financial institu- ment will almost never be easy, and results tions because developing countries, emerging won’t always come quickly. But I am committed markets are threatened. Even though they may to respecting different points of view and to not have been the cause of this crisis, they are forging a consensus instead of dictating our threatened by capital flight. They’re threatened terms. That’s how we made progress in the last by reduced trade finance, drops in consumer few days. And that’s how we will advance and demand in developed countries that were their uphold our ideals in the months and years to export markets, and so we knew that it was go- come.