Rep. Lofgren Releases Statement on Final Passage of Economic Recovery Package

Washington, D.C. -Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) today released the following statement in response to the final passage of H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Faced with the single greatest economic crisis this country has seen in over a generation, Congress today passed a compromise economic recovery package that will put Americans back to work. This package is far from an economic cure all, but it is a strong move in the right direction. Less than a month into a new Obama Administration, America has begun moving down the road to recovery. It's not going to be an easy journey. It took years of neglect and greed to get us here and it will take time to get us out. But, it's a journey that we as Americans have made before and can make again.

This package, which I expect will be making its way to the President's desk shortly, will help put more than 3.5 million Americans back to work and will give 95 percent of working Americans an immediate tax break. In California alone, it's estimated that this recovery package could generate nearly 400,000 new jobs. It provides for substantial investments in our national infrastructure, funding new roads, bridges, mass transit, energy efficient buildings, flood control, water treatment, schools, and laboratories. It will focus research into the technologies that will power our new green economy and help lead our nation to energy independence. At home in California, we'll see laboratories expand, new high speed rail lines laid, roads and levies repaired, schools upgraded, health care access expanded, and new green collar jobs created.

We will turn this crisis into an opportunity. We'll put Americans to work, emerging stronger and better prepared for future. This package is an invest in our future prosperity.