On the recordFebruary 2, 2010
after holding 20 townhall meetings in my home State of Oregon over the past month, I can certainly report that people are hungry for good economic news, particularly news about job creation growing our economy. Our people want fresh ideas that work, and clearly they are saying, and saying passionately, that it is time to set aside government that doesn't work for them. That is why I am proud to come to the floor this afternoon and talk about a positive economic development--a development that has far exceeded the projections and the hopes of those who advocated for it-- and that is the Build America Bonds program. Build America Bonds works, and it works because it puts our people to work at good-paying, family-wage jobs. Mr. President, when I started working on Build America Bonds about 6 years ago with a number of colleagues on the other side of the aisle, it was because I believed there was bipartisan support for shoring up our Nation's crumbling infrastructure and, at the same time, getting our economy back to work. It is a fact that investing in infrastructure, dollar for dollar, is one of the best economic multipliers we have in our country, and it is a way to jump-start economic growth.
