WASHINGTON – Congressman Vernon J. Ehlers made the following statement today regarding his “no” vote on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1).

      “The United States is in the midst of extremely difficult economic times, and Michigan has felt more economic pain than any other state in the nation. Unfortunately, the stimulus package that passed in the House of Representatives today will do little to alleviate the suffering anytime soon, and it will add hundreds of billions of dollars to the federal deficit in the coming years.

      “The main reason I decided to vote against this bill is the incredibly high cost it poses to Americans who are already financially strained. The spending in this bill costs each American household around $6,700, which will be added to our national debt.

      “People in Michigan desperately need jobs, and, while there are some things in the bill that could help our state, it is not the solution we need for our nation’s economic troubles. There is far too little funding that would go toward creating jobs. Only around three percent of the $825 billion bill would go toward job-creating, “shovel-ready” road and highway construction spending. Supporters of this bill claim it will produce three to four million jobs, which means it will cost $200,000 for each job it creates. Furthermore, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, only 15 percent of the funding in this bill will be spent during this year, when we need it most. Clearly we need a much better plan than this.

      “I look forward to the opportunity to work with President Obama to create legislation that better addresses our immediate economic concerns, especially the situation in Michigan. I am optimistic that the president and Congress will be able to work together to write better legislation that will provide real and immediate stimulation to our economy and create good jobs.”