President Obama and Vice President met with Cabinet officials on June 8th to discuss the wide-ranging effects of the Recovery Act. During the meeting, Vice President Biden presented to President Obama an Administration-wide effort to accelerate implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the next 100 days called the “Roadmap to Recovery.”
“We’ve laid a good foundation in the first 100 days of the Recovery Act and in the next 100 we plan to build on that foundation and accelerate our efforts so we can accomplish even more,” said Vice President Biden. “We’re going to get more dollars out the door, more shovels into the ground and more money into the pockets of workers and families who need it most.”
The Roadmap spotlights ten (10) new major projects that will define the next three months of the Recovery Act and provides graphical illustrations of the activity that will be underway across the United States. As a result of this accelerated pace of activity, over 600,000 jobs are expected to be created or saved by the Recovery Act in the second 100 days - four times the number created or saved in the first 100 days.
“We have a long way to go on our road to recovery but we are going the right way,” said President Obama. “Our measure of progress is the progress the American people see in their own lives. And until that progress is steady and solid; we’re going to keep moving forward. We will not grow complacent or rest. Surely and steadily, we will turn this economy around.”
The ambitious effort follows an initial 100 day period of the Recovery Act focused on providing immediate relief to hard-hit families and communities, jump-starting shovel-ready projects and laying the foundation for large-scale infrastructure improvement programs.
In the first 100 days, the Recovery Act provided immediate relief with a tax break for 95 percent of Americans, expanded unemployment insurance and food assistance programs, and launched more than 4,000 infrastructure improvement projects, which will continue to create jobs in the next 100 days. The Recovery Act has also provided record investments in new technologies, which will lay the foundation for the future economy.
Building upon that early work, the President and Vice President asked Cabinet Members to set key targets for the second 100 days of the Recovery Act, including the following spotlighted in the Roadmap to Recovery:
- Enable 1,129 Health Centers in 50 States and 8 Territories to Provide Expanded Service to Approximately 300,000 Patients - Department of Health and Human Services
- Begin Work on 107 National Parks - Department of the Interior
- Begin Work on Rehabilitation and Improvement Projects at 98 Airports and Over 1,500 Highway Locations throughout the Country - Department of Transportation
- Fund 135,000 Education Jobs Including Teachers, Principals and Support Staff - Department of Education
- Begin Improvements at 90 Veterans Medical Centers across 38 States - Department of Veterans Affairs
- Hire or Keep on the Job Approximately 5,000 Law Enforcement Officers - Department of Justice
- Start 200 New Waste and Water Systems in Rural America - United States Department of Agriculture
- Begin or Accelerate Cleanup Work at 20 Superfund Sites from the National Priority List - Environmental Protection Agency
- Create 125,000 Summer Youth Jobs - Department of Labor
- Initiate 2,300 Construction and Rehabilitation Projects at 359 Military Facilities across the Nation - Department of Defense
Maps detailing the broad swath of activity planned across the United States in the second 100 days of the Recovery Act because of these ten commitments can be found on WhiteHouse.gov/Recovery, a new webpage that will allow the public to follow America’s Recovery story and hear from people across the country whose lives are being influenced by the Recovery Act. The new site provides snapshots of Recovery Act dollars at work, the latest Recovery news and opportunities for visitors to share their Recovery stories through comments, photos and videos, while Recovery.gov remains the go-to site for tracking Recovery Act spending.
In the just over 100 days since it was enacted, over 150,000 jobs have been created or saved by the Recovery Act and over $135 billion has been obligated to programs and projects that create jobs and lay the foundation for a secure economic future. In the White House Recovery Report “100 Days, 100 Projects” issued by the Administration, a “snapshot” of the recovery is detailed.
Read White House Roadmap to Recovery
Read full text of White House Recovery Report 100 days, 100 projects
View White House Powerpoint Presentation on Recovery Act Implementation by Jared Bernstein, the Vice President’s chief economist
PHOTO: President Barack Obama listens as Vice President Joe Biden (left) presents the report on the Roadmap to Recovery as he meets with his Cabinet in the State Dining Room of the White House June 8, 2009. Looking on at right are Attorney General Eric Holder and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza.
