Bruce L. Braley: “I have made this statement before, that my family wound up in Iowa because of one of the greatest Federal economic…”

“I have made this statement before, that my family wound up in Iowa because of one of the greatest Federal economic stimulus packages in history, something called the Homestead Act. One of my great great grandfathers, George Washington Braley, walked to Iowa from Northfield, Vermont, because of the Homestead Act. My other great great grandparents, John and Nancy, left Ireland during the potato famine and went there because of the Homestead Act. One of the first things they did was found a Presbyterian Church, which they named the Homestead Church because of the importance of that stimulus package in creating opportunity and hope for that generation of Americans. So my question to you, my friend, is as you look at your State now and the people that you have the privilege of representing here in Congress, what type of real world benefits are they going to receive from this stimulus package we are talking about to give hope and opportunity to the next generation of people from the Green Mountain State?”