House Sends Stimulus Package to President Bush

The House has just voted 380-34 to adopt the Senate Amendments to the bipartisan economic stimulus legislation (H.R. 5140) and sent it to the White House. The package will help hardworking Americans who are struggling with the high costs of gas, health care and groceries, and to jumpstart our slowing economy and create jobs here at home. It will:

" Put hundreds of dollars into the hands of more than 130 million American families including seniors and disabled veterans -- who will spend it immediately to reinvigorate the economy;

" Build on the child tax credit by offering a one-time rebate of $300 per child;

" Expand financing opportunities for Americans in danger of losing their homes because of the mortgage crisis;

" Promote small business investment in plants and equipment; and

" Help create 500,000 jobs by the end of the year.

Getting this bipartisan bill done quickly is a victory for the American people that will inject confidence and consumer demand, promote economic growth, and create jobs. We will take additional action to help American workers and help our economy recover and grow.

This measure represents the House bill, with 2 additions from the Senate: expanding recovery rebates to an additional 20 million seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans and clarifying that undocumented workers are prohibited from receiving rebates.

Speaker Pelosi: "For the first time those who don't make over a certain income are able to participate in recovery rebates and the child tax credits. In fact, 40 million Americans, 40 million families will be... receiving those rebates and tax credits who have never received a rebate or a refundable child tax credit before. That's just astounding.

"It's different than the bill the President originally proposed because his proposal did not have a cap, so some of the wealthiest people in the America could get this rebate. We said God bless them for their success, we need to put it in the pockets of those who are living paycheck to paycheck, who are finding it hard or struggling to make ends meet, with the price of gasoline, the price of groceries, the price of health care, the price of education, anything you can name that costs were going up and the pruchasing power of their income was not. And so we believe that the stimulus, the way it is targeted, will put money in the hands of those who will spend it immediately, injecting demand into the economy and therefore creating jobs..."