Prepared Remarks for Secretary Ray LaHood
Detroit Economic Club
Detroit, MI - October 13, 2009

I’m here today to talk about the future and not the past.

While it’s true that the current economic crisis was many years in the making, the issue before us now is how we can all work together – government and industry, management and labor, Democrat and Republican – to carve a new path to prosperity.

There is no question that the people of Michigan are being sorely tested by the recession.

As Vice President Biden has said, “One job lost is one job too many, and it’s still too much pain.”

But the current situation is not just about loss. It’s also about transformation – about identifying and seizing new opportunities wherever and whenever they arise.

Make no mistake: President Obama and Vice President Biden’s first priority is to put Americans back to work.

I can tell you for a fact that every member of the President’s Cabinet, including me, is focusing on this goal every single day.

And Michigan is fortunate to have such a strong leadership team in these challenging times.

I want to thank Congressman Dingell, Congresswoman Miller, Senators Levin and Stabenow, and the rest of the delegation for advocating so effectively for the state, and fighting so hard for new jobs.

Governor Granholm also deserves a lot of credit for aggressively pursuing new opportunities to re-build Michigan’s economic foundation and convince employers around the world that this state is brimming with talent and skill.

And in fact, Michigan’s economic picture has begun to brighten a bit.

The pace of job losses has slowed, efforts to stabilize many low-income neighborhoods are under way, and new home-building permits are on the rise in the southeastern part of the state.

I also think credit is due to the U.S. auto industry, which has begun to confront its own major challenges with more innovation and fresh thinking than we’ve seen in years.

That new attitude will be very much on display at the North American International Auto Show in January, which I hope to attend.

I’m looking forward to seeing the new electric-powered vehicles the automakers plan to show off.

I’m proud to be part of an Administration that believes it’s important to give the auto industry a chance to grow stronger, and lay the foundation for a new future.

The wildly successful Cash for Clunkers program has certainly sparked the industry’s engine by spurring production increases and generating the equivalent of 21,000 year-round full-time jobs.

Here in Michigan, 31,000 auto dealers are collecting more than 130 million dollars in reimbursements through this program.

I want to thank the delegation for supporting this effort, and Congresswoman Miller for her leadership in the House on this important legislation.

At the very least, these signs of activity remind us that the downturn will not last forever – and Michigan will get back on its feet.

In the meantime, we must recognize that at this moment in our history, we need to find new ways to stimulate economic growth – and we need to tackle this enormous challenge on many fronts at once.

We should begin by reforming health care.

This is essential to laying a new foundation for our economy so that small businesses – which create roughly half of all new jobs in the U.S. -- can grow.

Rising health care costs are undermining our businesses, exploding our deficits, and costing our nation more jobs with each passing month.

We know that reforming our health insurance system will be a critical step in rebuilding our economy so that entrepreneurs – and all working families -- can pursue the American Dream again.

Second, we need to transform energy policy: We can remain one of the world's leading importers of oil, or we can make the investments that would allow us to become the world's leading exporter of renewable energy.

And third, from my perspective, we need a new outlook on transportation: We should empower communities to prioritize their investments in roads, bike paths, public transit, airports, and other infrastructure – provided they make choices that connect people and employers, improve regional mobility, and make our neighborhoods as livable and sustainable as possible.

These three goals are connected. Taken together, they point the way toward a future for Michigan and the United States that will enable us to redirect and reinvest trillions of dollars in the activities and services we need to succeed – from jobs, education, and affordable health care, to cleaner, healthier communities with plenty of transportation choices.

I’m proud to be part of an Administration that has already, within the first 9 months, set this transformation in motion, beginning with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The stimulus program is responsible for saving or creating 1 million jobs so far – with millions more jobs in the pipeline.

As bad as things are, they would be far worse without this historic program.

Here in Michigan, the roughly 18 billion dollars available to the state translates into two years of lower taxes for the middle class; extended unemployment benefits for workers who have lost jobs; grants for community health centers; more cops on the beat; new business opportunities for companies of all sizes; and much more.

The program also reaches out to small business -- raising the guarantees on federal small-business loans to 90 percent, eliminating costly fees for borrowers and lenders, and providing tax cuts and incentives to encourage investments.

The Recovery Act is a down payment on Michigan’s future, with a billion dollars for car battery and electric vehicle projects that will generate 40,000 more jobs in the state by 2020 -- and more than 1.6 billion dollars for long-term investments in transportation and infrastructure projects.

More than 400 stimulus-funded highway projects are already under way in the state today.

And yesterday, I was down at the Detroit docks with Senator Levin and Congressman Kilpatrick. We saw the work under way on a new ferry terminal building that’s going to help Detroit reclaim its waterfront, introduce new ferry service, and invite cruise ships to call.

This is an exciting project and a great use of recovery funds.

It’s also a great example of the public and private sector working together to revitalize downtown Detroit.

And the really good news is it’s creating 450 construction jobs.

Over the next 9 months, we’re going to accelerate the recovery spending across the board and get all the money out the door on schedule, so that more good projects like this one can move forward.

That spells more jobs, and more investments in critical infrastructure and services.

The bottom line is that from Day 1, the Obama Administration has been proactive to get our economy moving again.

We all recognize this isn’t going to happen overnight.

But I’m confident that working together, we’ll not only pull through this.

We’ll use our good old-fashioned American know-how to take our economy and our nation in new directions.

And we will build a brighter future for our children and grandchildren.

Thank you very much.