Oberstar: History's lessons tell us how to stimulate economic revival by Congressman Oberstar Appearing in Duluth News Tribune on 2009-02-10. Click here to watch a video of this statement. When the economy slows down, Northeastern Minnesota gets hit hard. That’s because we mine the iron and harvest the timber that builds the roads, bridges and buildings across our nation. In a recession, that building slows to a stop. Plants close, mines shut down and hard-working men and women lose their jobs through no fault of their own. We are in a deepening recession. During the past 13 months, 3.6 million men and women have lost their jobs. We haven’t seen a reduction in the work force this big since the end of World War II, when Rosie the Riveter hung up her coveralls and America switched from a wartime to a peacetime economy. But today, there is no post-war economic boom on the horizon. We have to act quickly and decisively to keep this recession from deepening or becoming an all-out depression. And the way to do that is to put people to work with jobs that pay living wages. This week, Congress is expected to give final passage to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. I want to see that bill on President Obama’s desk to be signed into law by Monday, Presidents Day. By June, that final stroke of the president’s pen will have men and women going to work building and maintaining roads and bridges, upgrading schools and modernizing public buildings. In Minnesota, the department of transportation has a backlog of 200 shovel-ready road and bridge projects. This legislation will speed $477 million to the state to start work on those projects, creating nearly 17,000 jobs. A recent economic analysis by Moody’s concluded that the recovery bill could put a total of 91,000 Minnesotans to work by 2010, holding the state’s unemployment rate down by nearly2 percent. Americans will know how their tax dollars are being put to use. I pushed hard for a tough “use-it-or-lose-it” clause. If states don’t start using that money on road-and-bridge projects in 90 days, funds will go back to the treasury to be redistributed to states ready to start creating jobs. Every 30 days, states will have to report to Congress on how the money is being spent and how many jobs are being created. History teaches us that inaction and timidity can have dire consequences. In the spring of 1929, President Herbert Hoover ignored a number of critical warning signs. Despite a slowing economy, rising consumer debt and a small stock market crash, his administration took no action to reign in Wall Street and stabilize a flagging economy. By October of 1929, it was too late. The market crashed and the Great Depression began. We are heeding the lessons of history and looking to the future. This week, Congress and President Obama will take bold action to stimulate our economy, creating jobs in the short term and laying the foundation for economic growth in the future. One bill will not solve all our problems. There are still some trying times ahead. But the journey to economic recovery must begin with a single step. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is that step, and the time to take it is now. Congressman Jim Oberstar

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