David Thomas: “one of the items, of course, that is being considered and has, in fact, been considered and passed in the House is the…”

“one of the items, of course, that is being considered and has, in fact, been considered and passed in the House is the economic stimulus--doing some things now that will encourage and get more activity in our economy. We, of course, through the last couple of years have seen some decline in the economy, and now with the September 11 attacks, we have seen substantial change. We are faced with the challenge to do that which will have an impact--hopefully an immediate impact--on the economy. It has been very difficult to define exactly what is best to do. We have met several times with Chairman Greenspan and Bob Rubin, the former Secretary of the Treasury, to talk about what would have the most impact on the economy in the short term. There are very many ideas out there. Quite frankly, among professional economists there is not unanimity as to what would have the most impact. Certainly, most people agree that it needs to be a large movement. Some think it ought to be $100 billion, which is a huge amount--however, a relatively small amount of the gross national product. It is difficult to know. This Congress has already passed $50 billion or more that has to do with defense and with repair in New York City. I question, of course, whether those expenditures will be made soon enough to have an impact on the economy and whether they, indeed, fit in as part of the economic package. I, frankly, am inclined to think they do.”