Senator Clinton Urges President Bush to Move Quickly on New Stimulus Package to Jump Start Economy and Aid Those Hardest Hit by Recession

Statement

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has renewed her call for a new economic stimulus package to respond to the deepening recession. In a conference call with reporters, Senator Clinton said she had spoken with President Bush Tuesday in New York and delivered a letter outlining measures to help those Americans hit hardest by the current downturn and spur economic growth. Senator Clinton called for major investments in infrastructure projects and clean energy jobs in New York and across the country that could quickly put hundreds of thousands of Americans to work, as well as facilitate long-term economic growth. She also urged the President and Congressional leaders to extend unemployment insurance benefits, provide assistance to cities and states to prevent cuts to critical services, and establish a mortgage modification program that would keep American families in their homes and address the underlying cause of the financial crisis.

"I think that we are in a recession and it demands decisive action. That's why I'm strongly in support of a stimulus package that I hope we can act on next week when the Congress reconvenes. I met with the President briefly today when I saw him at the Intrepid event. I asked him to work with the Congressional leadership so that we could get a stimulus package, and gave him a letter both making this request and outlining what I thought we should be doing," Senator Clinton told reporters.

In her comments and in her letter to President Bush, Senator Clinton underscored the seriousness of the economic crisis, especially for New York. More than one million jobs have been lost across the country in the past year and New York State estimates that more than 160,000 New Yorkers may lose their jobs as result of the economic downturn. One recent analysis estimated that New York City alone will lose almost 30,000 construction jobs by 2010, in addition to the tens of thousands of jobs already lost because of the Wall Street turmoil.

A transcript of Senator Clinton's comments on the proposed stimulus package follows and the text of Senator Clinton's letter to President Bush is available here: http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=304894&&. Audio of Senator Clinton's opening statement is available here: http://clinton.senate.gov/audio/11_11_08_stimulus.mp3.

Senator Clinton: I want to thank you for joining this call because the scope and scale of the economic challenges facing New Yorkers and Americans are so significant, and I hear about it and see it every day. The economy has lost more than one million jobs this year alone, and New York City and New York State are at the epicenter of the crisis so that it's projected that about 160,000 New Yorkers will lose their jobs as a result of this economic downturn. I think that we are in a recession and it demands decisive action. That's why I'm strongly in support of a stimulus package that I hope we can act on next week when the Congress reconvenes. I met with the President briefly today when I saw him at the Intrepid event. I asked him to work with the Congressional leadership so that we could get a stimulus package, and gave him a letter both making this request and outlining what I thought we should be doing. Obviously we have a long way to go but we need to speed investments in infrastructure including $410 million in New York roads, bridges, transit systems. We also should be investing money in training for new jobs in the clean energy economy, something I've talked about and legislated on, the so-called green collar jobs. I would like to see us also do more on home foreclosures and I've proposed a program that I think would save so many homes and begin to turn the housing crisis around. And we have immediate needs we have to act on. We really cannot wait until President-elect Obama takes office. The expansion of the unemployment insurance and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would provide relief to those hardest hit by the economic downturn. It would also obviously put money into the economy and begin to spur some consumption. We also have to help our states with the overwhelming cost of Medicaid, and I'd like to see an increase in the Medicaid FMAP rate, and do more to begin to stabilize this situation. So I gave the letter with my ideas - I think you have a copy of it - to the President. I know that President-elect Obama has also talked about this, and I hope that we'll see some action next week because I don't believe we can wait.

Reporter: Could you please spell out or outline how this will impact the upstate region, the economic pain?

Senator Clinton: Well, it will have a direct impact on upstate, and it will both deliver additional resources for hard-pressed communities to help people who are unemployed, who need nutritional assistance, an expansion of food stamps, who need medical care and may have lost their health insurance by expanding Medicaid and increasing the Federal share. It will also help us with some of the infrastructure projects that are Upstate that are, you know, sitting ready and on Go, but don't have the Federal funding, so we want to accelerate that. That will be putting people to work. You know, for every billion dollars that you spend on infrastructure, it obviously has a big payoff in terms of employment of at least 35,000 new jobs. And if we could even fund the $410 million that I have specifically identified, that would put people back to work Upstate. So it would have a direct impact on our residents of Upstate.

Reporter: I was wondering what your thoughts were on including a bailout for the auto industry in a stimulus package and what you thought the prospects for that were next week.

Senator Clinton: I think that there are some steps we can take, but it should not be unconditional money. There should be some conditions attached for whatever we do for the auto companies. But the American auto companies are in some way or another connected to at least ten percent of all the jobs in America, when you think about all of the suppliers and the dealers and the people who depend upon the sales of American autos. So I think it would be an important step to take but I don't want to be just handing anybody a blank check. You know, they should use this money to accelerate the production of the electric car. They should, you know, be willing to take a hard look at both salaried and hourly employees so that we know, you know, that we're getting the maximum return, maybe with changes in work rules or forbearance on salaries and bonuses. There's just a lot that I would want to make sure was part of any effort. But it's important for New York. You know, we have thousands of jobs tied to the well being of the Big Three in Detroit. We've got Delphi workers in Lockport and Rochester, and I fought to keep those plants open last year. So I think we've got to try to offer some smart, effective help, but with appropriate conditions attached.

Reporter: New York having an ally at the Federal Highway Administration, I wonder if there's any need to work with them in terms of what kind of money would be coming back to New York as part of this? Have you reached out to them? Is that necessary?

Senator Clinton: Yes, well, you know, my staff has been working with the administration, and that of course includes the Department of Transportation, because we wanted to find those projects that were ready. And there are a bunch of them that are, you know, awaiting approval and awaiting funding, and I'm glad you mentioned that we have a New Yorker at the department because, you know, certainly he's been, you know, very understanding and helpful to us as we try to, you know, figure out what we can do to generate economic development and get this economy moving again. So in the process of looking at all of this, we have tried to identify projects that we literally thought could come, you know, off the shelf, and that's where the $410 million in my letter to President Bush comes from. And if you want specifics, we'd be obviously happy to provide additional specifics.

Reporter: I'm wondering how you calculate the amount of this new stimulus package you're proposing, and how is the federal government going to afford it?

Senator Clinton: Well, we're in such a deep hole now that it's heartbreaking, you know, when I think about where we were just eight short years ago. There isn't any doubt that we're going to be adding to our debt and our deficit to pay for any package in the short term and we'll have to pay that back over the longer term. But given the economic conditions we face I think the answer is pretty clear based on everything I know about economics, is that we've got to try to stimulate the economic growth and shorten the effects of this recession. But it's equally important that we be careful about the scope and composition of the package. And ordinarily, you know, people, you know, talk about tax breaks and rebates, and I don't think that's the way to go. We tried that back in the spring, and it didn't have much effect at all. I think we need to be making investments that will make us stronger and richer when we emerge from this recession, and address the short-term needs of people. What do people need? They need to get back to work. You know, that's why taking these, you know, forty shovel-ready projects that are all set to go in New York and getting them moving will put people back to work. They need to have incomes supplemented, or, to get through the tough times with unemployment insurance and health care and food assistance. But I think it would be a mistake if we didn't make some investments today that would show results later. You know, I'm sitting here in New York looking around me and I see the results of investments that were made in New York City during the Great Depression when unemployment was, you know, 25 percent. We were building bridges and tunnels and subways, and we're still living off a lot of the investments that were made at that point in our history. I regret deeply that we have this deficit which I think was totally unnecessary and we have doubled the national debt in the last eight years but unfortunately we cant come to a screeching halt and refuse to spur growth. We've got to get a little deeper in the hole before we can find our way out of it.

Reporter: But Senator, how much money? Can you put a specific dollar amount on it?

Senator Clinton: Well, you know we're talking about a package that may be in the range of about $300 billion. I am willing to look at that amount of money depending upon on what's actually proposed. I do not want to be throwing good money after bad. We've done enough of that under the Bush Administration."

Reporter: You said you talked to President Bush today. What kind of commitment, if any, did he make on helping get this done before he leaves office and helping Obama hit the ground running when he takes office?

Senator Clinton: Well he told me that he had discussed it, as we know from the press, with Senator Obama yesterday. And he is well aware that I and others are equally determined that we should have some kind of stimulus package sooner instead of later. I don't think he was prepared to negotiate over the terms of it. But he's hearing it from everywhere and I think we have to keep the pressure up. Now it's clear that if he's opposed, and if the Republican minority in the Senate are opposed, we're not going to be able to get it done. So like anything in Washington, we're going to have to try to come up with some convincing argument to get the votes that we need, and obviously I'm hoping that we'll be able to do so and I know that there are a lot of people who share that opinion.

Reporter: One more quick question. You were very helpful last year when we had the floods here in Westchester and getting us back on our feet. Does your plan include the kinds of infrastructure projects that would help us here and would these kinds of projects be put on the back burner at all because of the financial crisis?

Senator Clinton: Great question. Under my plan it would include water projects because we have such a huge backlog of water projects. And I think that we've got to make a very significant investment in infrastructure going forward if we're going to expect to emerge from this economic downturn in a stronger position. And I certainly think water projects, which are very important to New York, not only around the Long Island sound area but all the way upstate. We have a lot of flooding in New York as people who are listening know, and so we've got to put those on the list and we've go to get them funded. And it will pay off if we do it. What bothers me is that we have doubled our national debt and are living with the biggest deficit we've ever had and we have so little to show for it. We haven't built anything under George W. Bush. In fact we've had to fight for every single penny we got to keep our maintenance budgets barely afloat and it just is heartbreaking that we have spent all this money on a war that he wouldn't pay for and on expenditures that don't necessarily have a big payoff, instead of being smart about how we're going to build today for a stronger and smarter and richer tomorrow. And that's what I intend to do. And water projects are a big part of it on behalf of our state.

Reporter: I have a question about the package that the House passed in September, the $60 billion package. You're talking about $300 billion. Is the House package off the table or is that something the Senate might take up? And also there're reports that the President is asking for free trade agreements to be included in any package. What do you think of that strategy from the White House?

Senator Clinton: Well I think that the House tried to do what it could do under the circumstances it faced before the election, but there is a sense that a package in the range of $300 billion is what's needed to actually spur economic growth and shorten the effects of the recession. I have been following some of the discussions going on in the House as well as obviously in the Senate and so I do believe there's going to be a bigger package put forth. I heard yesterday that the President was essentially offering a trade off on the Columbian free trade deal. You know I have opposed it because I didn't think it adequately addressed the problems with oppression and violence toward labor organizers and other continuing interference by government-sponsored entities and even death squads in the country side and the work of civic-minded people. So we'll see, we'll see whether the President makes that as a demand, and then like every legislative argument or debate or negotiation that I've ever been in, we'll see what the trade off is.

Reporter: Another question about the stimulus package. We heard yesterday that China is planning on spending nearly $600 billion on infrastructure, so the stimulus package you're proposing, is there an element of maintaining our competitive status internationally?

Senator Clinton: Well, certainly as part of what I'm proposing, I think infrastructure, construction, maintenance, I think green collar jobs, those are all part of our maintaining a competitive position. And I think we're going to have to do a lot more of that, and I hope not only our physical infrastructure, but our virtual intangible infrastructure like broadband and electronic medical records. So yes, it's part of what I'm proposing and I hope it's part of any stimulus package that goes forward.

http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=304915&&

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