Economic Challenges

Floor Speech

ECONOMIC CHALLENGES -- (Senate - January 08, 2009)

Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I rise to discuss the urgent need to address our Nation's economic challenges and to suggest that a major part of our approach should be to invest in clean alternative energy and energy efficiency.

Before I get into my remarks, it has been a very exciting few days for me. Since being sworn in as the junior Senator from New Hampshire, and as this is my first speech on the Senate floor, I want to begin by thanking Majority Leader Reid, Minority Leader McConnell, our senior Senator from New
Hampshire Judd Gregg, and the entire Senate leadership for their warm welcome and support.

On November 4, voters in my State of New Hampshire went to the polls and demanded a new direction, just as voters did across the country. I am eager to work with my fellow Senators and with our next President, Barack Obama, to fulfill that promise of change. The challenges before us are great. For 11 months in a row, the number of jobs in our Nation has declined. More and more families across the country are losing their homes to foreclosure, and too many Americans watched their retirement savings evaporate last year.

It is no exaggeration to say that this 111th Congress and President-elect Obama will face some of the most difficult challenges in our country's history. These problems were created over many years, and they will not be solved quickly. But Americans have always united to meet great challenges, and I have no doubt that we will do so once more.

Our first task is to get our economy back on track by putting middle-class families first again and creating good jobs. As the recession continues, it has become clear that a bold economic recovery package is necessary. This package must focus investment in areas of the economy that will provide the recovery we need and lay the foundation for long-term economic growth.

Investing in our Nation's infrastructure will both create needed jobs in the short term and foster economic development in the long term. There are critical capital projects throughout the State of New Hampshire and the country--projects such as repairing and upgrading our roads and bridges, modernizing our public schools and higher education facilities, and replacing outdated water treatment plants, and other municipal projects. These investments will create jobs and lay the groundwork for sustained economic growth.

We also need a bold investment in energy efficiency and clean alternative energy. These investments in new energy will create millions of 21st century green-collar jobs, begin to reverse global warming, and start on the path to energy independence.

New Hampshire small businesses already are leaders in the new energy economy, making everything from wood pellets to ethanol, from forest byproducts to solar panels and biofuels. We have seen firsthand how investment in clean energy creates good jobs up and down the economic ladder--advanced manufacturing jobs, highly skilled construction jobs, jobs installing solar panels and energy-efficiency systems, jobs selling and delivering new fuels. These are good jobs. They are jobs that cannot be outsourced overseas. I am honored I will be joining the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources to work on these very issues as we develop a real energy policy for the future of this country.

These investments are necessary to get our economy moving again. But as we must invest, we also must develop a comprehensive plan to address the Nation's ballooning budget deficit and the enormous national debt we have inherited. Our Nation's financial strength tomorrow depends on our careful planning and prudent investments today.

In November, Americans cried out for a new way of doing business in Washington. I applaud President-elect Obama for leading the way with the most open and transparent transition process in our Nation's history and believe we must continue that transparency. We must recommit to accountability and oversight, and we must end the partisan gridlock that has stymied progress for too long. I am committed to working across the aisle to make Washington work again for middle-class American families.

Tuesday, when I took the oath of office as a Senator, I made a commitment to embrace the opportunities that lie ahead and to help lead our Nation in a new direction. I am eager to begin.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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