On the recordMarch 5, 2010
I wish to talk a little bit about the House of Representatives yesterday passing our jobs bill. That was very important. We had a bipartisan jobs bill here. They have already sent us a message. We can work on that. Even though there may be people objecting to it, we can do that with one cloture vote. We will do that and interrupt the work we are doing when that message gets here. It is important because even though we have a short-term extension of the highway bill, this would extend it for 1 year, saving 1 million jobs. It is very important. Build America Bonds--the Governors I met with, as I mentioned, a few days ago also really love our Build America Bonds, which is part of the American Recovery Act. The money is gone there. We are going to replenish that. This is important to Governors and local officials because it has done great things for creating jobs. We also have a provision to allow people to be hired by employers if they are out of work for 60 days. They hire them for 30 hours a week. They do not have to pay their FICA tax, and at the end of the year they get a $1,000 tax credit. This is going to create thousands and thousands of jobs across America.
