On the recordMarch 10, 2010
Grazie to my paisan from Ohio. I appreciate that, and I appreciate your remarks on where we are with this economy, both with where we have come and with where we have to go. I think both the present statistics in the history books will make clear that we have prevented a depression, which is no small feat; but I am not satisfied until we see robust economic growth that reemploys America. We should be willing to look back and say, Here is an opportunity, when we were going off a cliff into a depression, where we said, No, we will not allow that, not on our watch. We will make sure that that depression is prevented. Yet I'm not satisfied until we see the kind of job creation we need to see back on Main Street. We need to shift our focus from that speculation on Wall Street to that job creation on Main Street. These ideas are not Republican ideas or Democrat ideas. These are ideas about putting people back to work. You know, in Ohio and I know in Virginia that we are right on the cusp of the summer construction season. We have an opportunity to start building again. Americans are ready to do it. Small businesses are ready to do it. Unfortunately, we are not going to see the housing starts pick up which many would like to see, but we know we can still build things. We can build our infrastructure, and we can retrofit our existing building stock. We have had a tool belt recession, and it is time to see growth in the tool belt sector.
