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Remarks By The President At Signing Of The American Ecovery And Reinvestment Act
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Denver, Colorado
The President: Thank you, everybody. Please have a seat. You guys can sit down, too. (Laughter.)
Let me begin by saying thank you to a few people -- first of all, your outstanding Governor, Bill Ritter. Please give Bill a big round of applause. (Applause.) Lieutenant1 Governor Barbara O'Brien. (Applause.) Secretary of State Bernie Buescher. (Applause.) Your outstanding Mayor, John Hickenlooper. (Applause.) Your new Senator, Michael Bennett. (Applause.) Your old senator, now my Secretary of the Interior, Ken2 Salazar. (Applause.) Mark Udall is not here, but give him a round of applause anyway. (Applause.)
One of the outstanding leaders who helped shepherd this process through in record time -- please give Max Baucus of Montana a big round of applause. Thank you, Max. (Applause.) To Secretary Federico Pena, one of my national co-chairs -- I would not be here if it were not for Federico. Thank you. (Applause.) To Representative Diana DeGette, who is a -- we are in her district. So, thank you so much. (Applause.) Representative Betsy Markey. (Applause.) Representative Jared Polis. (Applause.) Representative Ed Perlmutter. (Applause.)
To all the other elected officials and outstanding leaders who are here. And to the whole Namaste family and Mr. Jones for outstanding work, congratulations. Give them a big round of applause. (Applause.) And to the best Vice3 President that we've had in a long time -- Joe Biden. (Applause.)
It is great to be back in Denver. (Applause.) I was here last summer -- we had a good time -- (laughter) -- to accept the nomination4 of my party and to make a promise to people of all parties that I would do all that I could to give every American the chance to make of their lives what they will; to see their children climb higher than they did. And I'm back today to say that we have begun the difficult work of keeping that promise. We have begun the essential work of keeping the American Dream alive in our time. And that's why we're here today. (Applause.)
Now, I don't want to pretend that today marks the end of our economic problems. Nor does it constitute all of what we're going to have to do to turn our economy around. But today does mark the beginning of the end -- the beginning of what we need to do to create jobs for Americans scrambling5 in the wake of layoffs6; the beginning of what we need to do to provide relief for families worried they won't be able to pay next month's bills; the beginning of the first steps to set our economy on a firmer foundation, paving the way to long-term growth and prosperity.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that I will sign today -- a plan that meets the principles I laid out in January -- is the most sweeping7 economic recovery package in our history. It's the product of broad consultation8 and the recipient9 of broad support -- from business leaders, unions, public interest groups, from the Chamber10 of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, as well as the AFL-CIO. (Applause.) From Democrats11 and Republicans, mayors as well as governors. It's a rare thing in Washington for people with such diverse and different viewpoints to come together and support the same bill. And on behalf of our nation, I want to thank all of them for it, including your two outstanding Senators, Michael Bennett and Mark Udall, as well as all the members of your congressional delegation12. They did an outstanding job and they deserve a big round of applause. (Applause.)
I also want to thank Joe Biden for working behind the scenes from the very start to make this recovery act possible. I want to thank Speaker Pelosi and Harry13 Reid for acting14 so quickly and for proving that Congress could step up to this challenge.
I have special thanks to Max Baucus, who's the Chairman of the Finance Committee. Without Max, none of this would have happened. He had to work overtime15, and push his committee to work overtime. And I want to thank all the committee chairs and members of Congress for coming up with a plan that is both bold and balanced enough to meet the demands of this moment. The American people were looking to them for leadership, and that's what they provided.
Now, what makes this recovery plan so important is not just that it will create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years, including 60,000-plus here in Colorado. It's that we're putting Americans to work doing the work that America needs done –- (applause) -- in critical areas that have been neglected for too long; work that will bring real and lasting16 change for generations to come.
Because we know we can't build our economic future on the transportation and information networks of the past, we are remaking the American landscape with the largest new investment in our nation's infrastructure17 since Eisenhower built an Interstate Highway System in the 1950s. (Applause.) Because of this investment, nearly 400,000 men and women will go to work rebuilding our crumbling18 roads and bridges, repairing our faulty dams and levees, bringing critical broadband connections to businesses and homes in nearly every community in America, upgrading mass transit19, building high-speed rail lines that will improve travel and commerce throughout our nation.
Because we know America can't out-compete the world tomorrow if our children are being out-educated today, we're making the largest investment in education in our nation's history. (Applause.) It's an investment that will create jobs building 21st century classrooms and libraries and labs for millions of children across America. It will provide funds to train a new generation of math and science teachers, while giving aid to states and school districts to stop teachers from being laid off and education programs from being cut.
In a place like New York City, 14,000 teachers who were set to be let go may now be able to continue pursuing their critical mission. It's an investment that will create a new $2,500 annual tax credit to put the dream of a college degree within reach for middle-class families and make college affordable20 for 7 million students -- (applause) -- helping21 more of our sons and daughters aim higher, reach further, fulfill22 their God-given potential. (Applause.)
Because we know that spiraling health care costs are crushing families and businesses alike, we're taking the most meaningful steps in years towards modernizing23 our health care system. It's an investment that will take the long overdue24 step of computerizing America's medical records to reduce the duplication and waste that costs billions of health care dollars, and medical errors that cost thousands of lives each year.
Further, thanks to the actions we've taken, 7 million Americans who lost their health care along the way will continue to get the coverage25 they need, and roughly 20 million more Americans can breathe a little easier knowing that their health care won't be cut due to a state budget shortfall. And a historic commitment to wellness initiatives will keep millions of Americans from setting foot in the doctor's office in the first place -- because these are preventable diseases and we're going to invest in prevention. (Applause.)
So taken together with the enactment26 earlier this month of a long-delayed law to extend health care to millions more children of working families -- (applause) -- we have done more in 30 days to advance the cause of health care reform than this country has done in an entire decade. And that's something we should be proud of. (Applause.)
Because we know we can't power America's future on energy that's controlled by foreign dictators, we are taking big steps down the road to energy independence, laying the groundwork for new green energy economies that can create countless27 well-paying jobs. It's an investment that will double the amount of renewable energy produced over the next three years. Think about that -- double the amount of renewable energy in three years. (Applause.) Provide tax credits and loan guarantees to companies like Namaste, a company that will be expanding, instead of laying people off, as a result of the plan that I'm about to sign.
And in the process, we will transform the way we use energy. Today, the electricity we use is carried along a grid28 of lines and wires that date back to Thomas Edison -- a grid that can't support the demands of this economy. This means we're using 19th and 20th century technologies to battle 21st century problems like climate change and energy security. It also means that places like North Dakota can -- that can produce a lot of wind energy can't deliver it to communities that want it, leading to a gap between how much clean energy we are using and how much we could be using.
The investment we're making today will create a newer, smarter electric grid that will allow for broader use of alternative energy. We will build on the work that's being done in places like Boulder29 -- a community that's on its -- that's on pace to be the world's first Smart Grid city. (Applause.) This investment will place Smart Meters in homes to make our energy bills lower, make outages less likely, and make it easier to use clean energy. It's an investment that will save taxpayers31 over $1 billion by slashing32 energy costs in our federal buildings by 25 percent; save working families hundreds of dollars a year on their energy bills by weatherizing over 1 million homes. And it's an investment that takes the important first step towards a national transmission superhighway that will connect our cities to the windy plains of the Dakotas and the sunny deserts of the Southwest.
Even beyond energy, from the National Institutes of Health to the National Science Foundation, this recovery act represents the biggest increase in basic research funding in the long history of America's noble endeavor to better understand our world. And just as President Kennedy sparked an explosion of innovation when he set America's sights on the moon, I hope this investment will ignite our imagination once more, spurring new discoveries and breakthroughs in science, in medicine, in energy, to make our economy stronger and our nation more secure and our planet safer for our children.
Now, while this package is composed mostly of critical investments, it also includes aid to state and local governments to prevent layoffs of firefighters or police recruits in -- (applause) -- recruits like the ones in Columbus, Ohio, who were told that instead of being sworn in as officers, they were about to be let go. It includes help for those hardest hit by our economic crisis like the nearly 18 million Americans who will get larger unemployment checks in the mail. About a third of this package comes in the forms of tax cuts -- by the way, the most progressive in our history -- (applause) -- not only spurring job creation, but putting money in the pockets of 95 percent of hardworking families in America. (Applause.) So unlike the tax cuts that we've seen in recent years, the vast majority of these tax benefits will go not to the wealthiest Americans, but to the middle class -- (applause) -- with those workers who make the least benefiting the most.
And it's a plan that rewards responsibility, lifting two million Americans from poverty by ensuring that anyone who works hard does not have to raise a child below the poverty line. So as a whole, this plan will help poor and working Americans pull themselves into the middle class in a way we haven't seen in nearly 50 years.
What I'm signing, then, is a balanced plan with a mix of tax cuts and investments. It's a plan that's been put together without earmarks or the usual pork barrel spending. It's a plan that will be implemented33 with an unprecedented34 level of transparency and accountability.
With a recovery package of this size comes a responsibility to assure every taxpayer30 that we are being careful with the money they work so hard to earn. And that's why I'm assigning a team of managers to ensure that the precious dollars we've invested are being spent wisely and well. We will -- (applause) -- Governor Ritter, Mayor Hickenlooper, we're going to hold governors and local officials who receive the money to the same high standard. And we expect you, the American people, to hold us accountable for the results. And that's why we've created Recovery.gov -- a web site so that every American can go online and see how this money is being spent and what kind of job is being created, where those jobs are being created. We want transparency and accountability throughout this process. (Applause.)
Now, as important as the step we take today is, this legislation represents only the first part of the broad strategy we need to address our economic crisis. In the coming days and weeks, I'll be launching other aspects of the plan. We will need to stabilize35, repair, and reform our banking36 system, and get credit flowing again to families and businesses. We will need to end the culture where we ignore problems until they become full-blown crises instead of recognizing that the only way to build a thriving economy is to set and enforce firm rules of the road.
We must stem the spread of foreclosures and falling home values for all Americans, and do everything we can to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes -- something I'll talk more about tomorrow. And we will need to do everything in the short term to get our economy moving again, while at the same time recognizing that we have inherited a trillion-dollar deficit37, and we need to begin restoring fiscal38 discipline and taming our exploding deficits39 over the long term.
None of this will be easy. The road to recovery will not be straight. We will make progress and there may be some slippage along the way. It will demand courage and discipline. It will demand a new sense of responsibility that's been missing from Wall Street all the way to Washington. There will be hazards and reverses. But I have every confidence that if we are willing to continue doing the critical work that must be done -- by each of us, by all of us -- then we will leave this struggling economy behind us, and come out on the other side, more prosperous as a people.
For our American story is not -- and has never been -- about things coming easy. It's about rising to the moment when the moment is hard, and converting crisis into opportunity, and seeing to it that we emerge from whatever trials we face stronger than we were before. It's about rejecting the notion that our fate is somehow written for us, and instead laying claim to a destiny of our own making. That's what earlier generations of Americans have done, that's what we owe our children, that's what we are doing today.
Thank you, Colorado. Let's get to work. Thank you. (Applause.)
收听单词发音 |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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ken
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| n.视野，知识领域 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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nomination
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| n.提名，任命，提名权 | |
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scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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layoffs
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| 临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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recipient
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| a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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democrats
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| n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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delegation
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| n.代表团；派遣 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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overtime
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| adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地 | |
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lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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infrastructure
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| n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施 | |
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crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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transit
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| n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过 | |
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affordable
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| adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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fulfill
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| vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意 | |
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modernizing
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| 使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法 | |
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overdue
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| adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的 | |
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coverage
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| n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖 | |
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enactment
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| n.演出，担任…角色；制订，通过 | |
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countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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grid
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| n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅 | |
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boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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taxpayer
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| n.纳税人 | |
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taxpayers
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| 纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 ) | |
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slashing
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| adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
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implemented
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| v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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unprecedented
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| adj.无前例的，新奇的 | |
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stabilize
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| vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定 | |
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banking
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| n.银行业，银行学，金融业 | |
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deficit
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| n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差 | |
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fiscal
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| adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的 | |
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deficits
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| n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损 | |
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