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Hello, everybody.
Before I begin, I just want to thank my outstanding Secretary
of Transportation, Ray LaHood, who's with us today.
And I want to thank the folks at Cherry Hill Construction
for having me here today.
We just took a look at this construction site
and I had a chance to talk to all the outstanding men
and women who are working here.
Talking with them was a reminder
of just how hard they work every single day,
just how hard they fight on behalf of their families,
and just how hard these times have been
for working men and women like them.
Hardworking Americans have borne the brunt of this recession.
They've been laid off in historic numbers;
they've seen their hours trimmed and their wages cut;
they've lived in fear of being the next ones to be let go.
And that's not right.
Middle class Americans are the ones who built this country,
made it great, and keep it going each and every day.
And they deserve leaders in Washington who are willing
to work as hard as they work; who are willing to fight
for their futures as hard as they fight for their families.
We need to all live up to our responsibilities as faithfully
as these workers here are living up to theirs.
And that's why our goal is not just to rebound
from this recession, but to start building an economy
that works for all Americans; where everyone who's looking
for work can find a job -- and not just a temporary job,
but a permanent job that lasts from season to season;
where our stock market isn't only rising again
but our businesses are hiring again.
That's our goal.
And I know that we have a lot of work to do to meet that goal.
But I also know that thanks to the governor here in Virginia,
Tim Kaine, thanks to two outstanding senators,
Mark Warner and Jim Webb, and a great congressman,
Congressmen Jim Moran and as well
as Congressman Gerry Connolly, and thanks to the work
of Ray here and the rest of my administration,
we've made some meaningful progress
over the last few months.
Because the fact is, as difficult as these times are --
and they're profoundly difficult for a whole lot of people all
across the country -- we are moving in the right direction.
Our economy is in better shape today than it was
when I took office; when we were hemorrhaging 700,000 jobs a
month; when our financial system was on the brink of collapse;
and economists from just about every part
of the political spectrum were predicting
that we might be sinking into a Great Depression.
And one of the reasons our economy is
in better shape today is because we voted to move forward boldly
and swiftly to pass a Recovery Act that's being carried
out under the outstanding leadership of people like Ray,
as well as my Vice President Joe Biden.
It's a Recovery Act that has spurred job creation
and economic growth with projects like the one
that I'm talking about here today.
Back in February, Governor Kaine and I came here,
and work was just getting underway.
This project -- the Fairfax County Parkway Project --
is designed to be completed -- to complete the original version
of this parkway by connecting both ends of Fairfax County.
The current phase
of construction will create new private sector jobs --
and that won't just make a difference to all the people
who get these jobs, it will make a difference
to all those communities where they spend their paychecks.
Businesses of all size will be fueled by their paychecks --
in Fairfax Country, in Virginia, and beyond.
This project is the largest of its kind in this state.
But it's just one of more than 60
that are being planned all across Virginia.
And it's one of 8,000 highway projects that have been approved
under the Recovery Act across this country --
nearly 5,000 of which are already under construction.
To put this another way, roughly three-quarters
of Recovery Act highway funding is already being invested
as part of the largest investment
in the nation's infrastructure
since President Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System
back in the 1950s.
And because so many of these projects are being managed well
-- and I want to thank the team that's been working so hard
out here -- these projects are coming in, on average,
10 to 20 percent under budget.
That's unheard of, 10 to 20 percent under budget.
And that means we can do more -- we can create more jobs
and launch more projects -- with every taxpayer dollar.
It's important to note that the jobs we'll create are not
government jobs, but private sector jobs.
Cherry Hill Construction was able to put people to work
because of this project, just
as other private contractors are doing
because of similar projects across the country.
And ultimately, that's the engine of our economy --
businesses, large and small, getting back on their feet.
And that's the focus of our efforts.
But what makes these kinds of projects so important isn't just
that we're creating so many jobs.
It's that we're putting Americans to work doing the work
that America needs done.
We're rebuilding our crumbling roads,
our bridges, our waterways.
We've already approved nearly a thousand transportation projects
to upgrade airports, railroads,
mass transit systems, and shipyards.
We're strengthening our nation's infrastructure in ways
that will leave lasting benefits to our communities,
making them stronger, making them safer,
and making them better places to live.
Now, this is just one part of what we're doing
through the Recovery Act to create jobs
and spur economic growth.
We've also provided the middle class --
95 percent of working families --
a tax cut, including nearly 3 million families here
in Virginia.
We've increased and extended unemployment insurance
for 12 million Americans to help them weather this economic storm
-- and that's benefited over 220,000 Virginians.
We've made COBRA 65 percent cheaper,
so if people are looking
for work they still have health coverage.
We've offered emergency relief to more than 1 million seniors,
veterans, and other Virginians who need it most.
We've provided assistance to states like Virginia
to help prevent police officers and teachers
and firefighters from being laid off.
And we've supported over $250 million in lending
in Virginia -- and 30,000 loans to small businesses
across America -- that have helped to create
or save thousands of jobs.
And every American can track how their dollars are being spent
by going to Recovery.gov --
because I'm committed to upholding the highest standards
of transparency and accountability
for how we spend taxpayer money.
So here's the bottom line.
We're moving forward on a number of different economic fronts.
And we're going to continue to explore each and every avenue
that I can think of that will lead
to job creation and economic growth.
But it all starts with projects like this.
Because if we can put Americans
to work rebuilding the Fairfax County Parkway,
we can help get the economy moving again in Fairfax County.
And if we get the economy moving in Fairfax County,
we get it moving across Virginia.
And if we get it moving across Virginia,
we're getting it moving all across America.
That's what we committed ourselves to doing
when I took office; we are moving forward.
I'm grateful to the outstanding work of the people
who are standing behind me, as well as all the contractors
and private businesses that are involved.
And we are going to keep on going until we make sure
that every single American in this country who's looking
for work is going to be able to get the kind of well-paying job
that supports their families.
Thanks very much, everybody.