House and Senate Will Come Together on Comprehensive Economic Recovery Package

WASHINGTON, DC — House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) released the following statement in response to Senate passage of H.R. 1 the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 earlier today. Chairman Rangel has been named a conferee on House – Senate conference negotiations:

"Today the Senate overcame a significant hurdle, passing their version of the economic recovery legislation. Bipartisan leadership from the House and Senate will now come together to finalize a recovery package that will help create and save millions of jobs, provide relief to families and businesses, and deliver critical investments to our communities so that we can improve our infrastructure and get our economy back on track. There are some differences between the House and Senate packages, and I am confident that we can move forward with a bipartisan approach to resolve those differences and deliver this bill to President Obama in the coming days.

"President Obama clearly outlined the priorities of this recovery package; creating and saving jobs, providing relief directly to struggling families and businesses, and making critical investments in infrastructure, education, energy and health information technology to keep our economy competitive in the 21st Century. We must ensure that the final recovery package responds directly - and forcefully - to the challenges facing State and local governments, and families back home.

"We need to stand up for working families, especially the working poor, who are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet during this recession. The House package provided significant benefits to families through a landmark expansion of the child tax credit, extended and enhanced unemployment benefits and critical assistance to help workers maintain health coverage after they lose their jobs. We cannot lose sight of these goals and I am confident that the final package will deliver the relief these families need.

"We also need to understand the toll that budget shortfalls have taken on our State and local governments, preventing them from making critical investments in our infrastructure to improve roads, bridges and schools, and hurting their ability to provide basic services, such as health care and education for families in need. As a conferee on the House-Senate legislation, I will reinforce the value of these investments, and the importance of providing Federal assistance directly to our local communities to spur investments and economic growth. We must not shy away from the challenges we face at every level. I look forward to resolving the differences between the House and Senate so that we can deliver this recovery package to families, businesses and local governments so desperately in need of relief."

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