Stimulus Package

Floor Speech

STIMULUS PACKAGE -- (Senate - February 12, 2009)

Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the economic recovery package on which we will soon vote. We are in the midst of the most severe recession since the Great Depression. Families and small businesses across this country and in my home State of New Hampshire are hurting. As a former Governor and small business owner, I know it is business and not government that creates jobs and drives new ideas and innovation. But I believe government has a vital role to play in helping business create jobs, especially in these very difficult economic times.

These are very difficult economic times. New Hampshire is a small State. We have just over 1.3 million people. Yet, in December alone, nearly 73,000 weekly claims were filed for unemployment compensation. As you can see on this chart, that is more than double the number of unemployment claims of a year ago and almost triple what the unemployment claims were 2 years ago. Nationally, we lost almost 600,000 jobs in January alone. We are shedding jobs at an alarmingly fast rate in New Hampshire and across this country. That is why it is critical that we pass a robust economic recovery package and that we do it immediately.

The economic recovery bill we are going to vote on is not perfect. I would have preferred more investment for roads and bridges, for water treatment plants, for K-12 and higher education buildings. Over the past year in New Hampshire, we lost almost 10 percent of our construction jobs, and investing in infrastructure creates good-paying construction jobs now, with the money earned by these workers generating a multiplier effect of economic activity so that it strengthens our economy, not just now but in the future. If it were up to me alone, we would be investing more heavily in infrastructure. But, as President Obama said the other day, we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

This economic recovery bill is good. For example, with this bill, over $132 million in highway funding will come to New Hampshire for road and bridge construction. Monday, I toured the construction site for a long planned access road to our major airport in New Hampshire, the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. The highway funding in this economic recovery package will expedite the completion of that access road to our major airport in Manchester. It will create 1,000 construction jobs, and it will unleash the full potential of the Manchester Airport.

Almost $60 million will come to New Hampshire for water and wastewater treatment plants. That will create good construction jobs. It will enable cities and towns to move forward with long overdue projects.

The economic recovery package will also help small businesses obtain the financing they need to retain and create good jobs. This is critically important in New Hampshire, where 94 percent of our businesses have fewer than 100 employees, yet they employ half of the State's workforce.

The credit crunch has hit small businesses particularly hard. By temporarily waiving the Small Business Administration fees and increasing the loan guarantee cap, this economic recovery package is estimated to stimulate up to $20 billion in small business loans.

We may need to do more in the coming months to help small businesses access the working capital they need to survive during the recession. Too many small businesses today are relying on credit cards and they are paying exorbitant interest rates to obtain working capital. As a member of the Small Business Committee, I will be vigilant at monitoring whether the actions we are taking now in this economic package are sufficient to provide small businesses with access to financing.

This economic package will also put us on the path to energy independence by doubling our renewable energy-generating capacity over the next 3 years. By passing this legislation, we will make it possible for great projects across the country to get up and running.

I had the opportunity to talk to some people behind one of those projects in our capital city of Concord, NH. A company called Concord Steam has a fully permitted 20-megawatt biomass plant that is ready to go right now. Their challenge is getting the financing they need. If they are able to go forward, this combined heat and power plant will be built on a restored brownfields site. It will employ over 100 construction workers for the next year and a half, and it will create 25 permanent jobs at the plant. Because its fuel will be New Hampshire forest waste, this renewable powerplant will also create about 100 jobs in the timber industry. This project will benefit every single American because the steam heat and power that it produces will displace 12 million gallons of foreign oil each year.

We need to pass this economic recovery package, not only because it will put people back to work and lay a foundation for long-term economic growth but also because we need to restore confidence in our economy. The American people have always risen to meet every challenge. They need to see their Government is ready to meet this economic challenge as well.

I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for this economic recovery package and doing it as soon as possible.

I suggest the absence a quorum.

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