Remarks on Signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in Denver, Colorado February 17, 2009

Feb. 14 / Administration of Barack Obama, 2009 White House on February 13 for broadcast on made available by the Office of the Press Sec- February 14. In his address, the President re- retary on February 13 but was embargoed for ferred to H.R. 1, the “American Recovery and release until 6 a.m. on February 14. Reinvestment Act of 2009.” The transcript was Remarks on Signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in Denver, Colorado February 17, 2009 Thank you, everybody. Please have a seat. alive in our time. And that’s why we’re here to- You guys can sit down too. [Laughter] day. Let me begin by saying thank you to a few Now, I don’t want to pretend that today people: First of all, your outstanding Gover- marks the end of our economic problems, nor nor, Bill Ritter, please give Bill a big round of does it constitute all of what we’re going to applause; Lieutenant Governor Barbara have to do to turn our economy around. But O’Brien; Secretary of State Bernie Buescher; today does mark the beginning of the end: the your outstanding mayor, John Hickenlooper; beginning of what we need to do to create jobs your new Senator, Michael Bennet; your old for Americans scrambling in the wake of lay- Senator, now my Secretary of the Interior, offs; the beginning of what we need to do to Ken Salazar. Mark Udall is not here, but give provide relief for families worried that they him a round of applause anyway. won’t be able to pay next month’s bills; the be- One of the outstanding leaders who helped ginning of the first steps to set our economy on shepherd this process through in record a firmer foundation, paving the way to long- time—please give Max Baucus of Montana a term growth and prosperity. big round of applause. Thank you, Max. To The American Recovery and Reinvestment Secretary Federico Pena, one of my national Act that I will sign today, a plan that meets the cochairs—I would not be here if it were not principles I laid out in January, is the most for Federico. Thank you. To Representative sweeping economic recovery package in our Diana DeGette, who is a—we are in her dis- history. It’s the product of broad consultation trict, so thank you so much; Representative and the recipient of broad support, from busi- Betsy Markey; Representative Jared Polis; ness leaders, unions, public interest groups, Representative Ed Perlmutter; to all the other elected officials and outstanding leaders who from the Chamber of Commerce, and the Na- are here; and to the whole Namaste family and tional Association of Manufacturers, as well as Mr. Jones for outstanding work, congratula- the AFL–CIO; from Democrats and Republi- tions. Give them a big round of applause. And cans, mayors as well as Governors. It’s a rare to the best Vice President that we’ve had in a thing in Washington for people with such di- long time, Joe Biden. verse and different viewpoints to come togeth- It is great to be back in Denver. I was here er and support the same bill. And on behalf of last summer—we had a good time—[laugh- our Nation, I want to thank all of them for it, ter]—to accept the nomination of my party including your two outstanding Senators, Mi- and to make a promise to people of all parties chael Bennet and Mark Udall, as well as all the that I would do all that I could to give every members of your congressional delegation. American the chance to make of their lives They did an outstanding job, and they deserve what they will; to see their children climb a big round of applause. higher than they did. And I’m back today to I also want to thank Joe Biden for working say that we have begun the difficult work of behind the scenes from the very start to make keeping that promise. We have begun the es- this recovery act possible. I want to thank sential work of keeping the American Dream Speaker Pelosi and Harry Reid for acting so 106 Administration of Barack Obama, 2009 / Feb. 17 quickly and for proving that Congress could to continue pursuing their critical mission. It’s step up to this challenge. an investment that will create a new $2,500 an- I have special thanks to Max Baucus, who’s nual tax credit to put the dream of a college de- the Chairman of the Finance Committee. With- gree within reach for middle class families and out Max, none of this would have happened. He make college affordable for 7 million students, had to work overtime, and push his committee helping more of our sons and daughters aim to work overtime. And I want to thank all the higher, reach further, fulfill their God-given po- committee chairs and Members of Congress for tential. coming up with a plan that is both bold and bal- Because we know that spiraling health care anced enough to meet the demands of this mo- costs are crushing families and businesses alike, ment. The American people were looking to we’re taking the most meaningful steps in years them for leadership, and that’s what they pro- towards modernizing our health care system. vided. It’s an investment that will take the long over- Now, what makes this recovery plan so im- due step of computerizing America’s medical portant is not just that it will create or save 3½ records to reduce the duplication and waste million jobs over the next 2 years, including that costs billions of health care dollars, and 60,000-plus here in Colorado. It’s that we’re medical errors that cost thousands of lives each putting Americans to work doing the work that year. America needs done—[applause]—in critical Further, thanks to the actions we’ve taken, 7 areas that have been neglected for too long; million Americans who lost their health care work that will bring real and lasting change for along the way will continue to get the coverage generations to come. they need, and roughly 20 million more Ameri- Because we know we can’t build our eco- cans can breathe a little easier knowing that nomic future on the transportation and infor- their health care won’t be cut due to a State mation networks of the past, we are remaking budget shortfall. And a historic commitment to the American landscape with the largest new in- wellness initiatives will keep millions of Ameri- vestment in our Nation’s infrastructure since cans from setting foot in the doctor’s office in Eisenhower built an Interstate Highway System the first place, because these are preventable in the 1950s. Because of this investment, nearly diseases, and we’re going to invest in preven- 400,000 men and women will go to work re- tion. building our crumbling roads and bridges, re- So taken together with the enactment earlier pairing our faulty dams and levees, bringing this month of a long-delayed law to extend critical broadband connections to businesses health care to millions more children of work- and homes in nearly every community in Amer- ing families, we have done more in 30 days to ica, upgrading mass transit, building high-speed advance the cause of health care reform than rail lines that will improve travel and commerce this country has done in an entire decade. And throughout our Nation. that’s something we should be proud of. Because we know America can’t outcompete Because we know we can’t power America’s the world tomorrow if our children are being future on energy that’s controlled by foreign out-educated today, we’re making the largest dictators, we are taking big steps down the road investment in education in our Nation’s history. to energy independence, laying the groundwork It’s an investment that will create jobs building for new green energy economies that can create 21st century classrooms and libraries and labs countless well-paying jobs. It’s an investment for millions of children across America. It will that will double the amount of renewable ener- provide funds to train a new generation of math gy produced over the next 3 years. Think about and science teachers, while giving aid to States that: double the amount of renewable energy in and school districts to stop teachers from being 3 years; provide tax credits and loan guarantees laid off and education programs from being cut. to companies like Namaste, a company that will In a place like New York City, 14,000 teach- be expanding, instead of laying people off, as a ers who were set to be let go may now be able result of the plan that I’m about to sign. 107 Feb. 17 / Administration of Barack Obama, 2009 And in the process, we will transform the State and local governments to prevent layoffs way we use energy. Today, the electricity we of firefighters or police recruits in—[ap- use is carried along a grid of lines and wires plause]—recruits like the ones in Columbus, that date back to Thomas Edison, a grid that Ohio, who were told that instead of being can’t support the demands of this economy. sworn in as officers, they were about to be let This means we’re using 19th and 20th century go. It includes help for those hardest hit by our technologies to battle 21st century problems economic crisis like the nearly 18 million like climate change and energy security.

Load more