On the recordMarch 10, 2010
This is an opportunity. What we have made is the down payment on America's future. We know that jobs of the future are going to come in the energy sector and that they are going to come in research and development. We need the strong universities, and we need the strong infrastructure. A year ago, we made a down payment, which is starting to pay off now in the kind of rebound that we are starting to see; but we cannot be satisfied, and we cannot take that foot off the gas. This is the time. Americans are ready to build. Again, this should not be a partisan idea. We all have construction companies in our districts. We all have roads and bridges and water and sewer systems in our districts. We all have small businesses that help supply that construction sector. We must see that this can be a chance to come together and to understand the urgency of this moment. We have made that down payment. Now it is time to start seeing that growth. We are going to do that, not by saying 'no' to everything but by saying 'yes' to America's future, by saying 'yes' to America's competitive advantage. There are many in the top echelon of this country who have stopped believing that America can manufacture, that it can grow things, that it can be strong again. Those include elites on the left and elites on the right. Well, they are wrong. America's working and middle class is still strong. If we invest in them, they will outcompete every country on Earth.
