This afternoon, The Senate-House conference committee created a single bill from the House and Senate versions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. At 15:04 EST today, the White House blog reported the effort was complete.
According to the White House, the bills were approximately 90 percent alike, before the conference.
In his official statement, the President said,
“I want to thank the Democrats and Republicans in Congress who came together around a hard-fought compromise that will save or create more than 3.5 million jobs and get our economy back on track. Just today, the CEO of Caterpillar said that if this American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan is passed, his company would be able to rehire some of the employees they’ve been forced to lay off. It’s also a plan that will provide immediate tax relief to families and businesses, while investing in priorities like health care, education, energy, and infrastructure that will grow our economy once more. I’m grateful to the House Democrats for starting this process, and for members in the House and Senate for moving it along with the urgency that this moment demands.”
The President made it clear that he was disappointed with some of the changes from his original proposal, but he said that saving and creating jobs is the most urgent priority.
Some jobs should begin to materialize before the money starts flowing, because businesses know that help is on the way and restarting their work is a way to gain a competitive advantage.
See: Caterpillar to Rehire Some Workers If Recovery Package Passes
