WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins made the following statement after voting against H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The legislation passed by a vote of 244 to 188.

“This legislation will grow the national debt, fund a long liberal wish-list, but its $825 billion price tag will not stimulate our economy. American taxpayers know best how to do that.

“Americans are counting on Congress to take action to get our economy moving again. That requires innovative ideas that are missing from this legislation. H.R. 1 turned into a pork-filled bill that costs as much as the annual discretionary budget for the entire federal government. Spending $50 million for the National Endowment of the Arts, $400 million for National Treasurers and $150 million for repairs at the Smithsonian will not stimulate the economy and will not provide relief to Kansans.

“The stimulus proposal was supposed to focus on investment in transportation and infrastructure and job creation. Unfortunately, that message seemed to be lost along the way. Only three percent of the package would fund highway investment and many of the government jobs created merely divert resources from the private sector. In the long run, this bill will require tax increases to support this higher level of federal spending.

“I voted for an alternative that would provide $444 billion in tax relief to small businesses and to American workers. It would immediately provide tax relief to workers and small businesses, create 6.2 million jobs over the next two years and reign in government spending. In all, the alternative I supported cost $570 billion less than H.R. 1.

“We had an opportunity today to turn our economy around. There is a fundamental difference in the way I believe we should stimulate our economy and the way Nancy Pelosi does. H.R. 1 is a disservice to hard working Kansans.”