WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts called on his colleagues to amend the stimulus bill to offer a real economic recovery that creates jobs and growth in the private sector instead of growing the size of government and wasting taxpayer dollars. Senator Roberts intends to vote against the bill should it not reflect these principles.

Roberts made the following remarks in a speech on the Senate Floor late last night:

"There is no question that putting money back in the pockets of American families and businesses stimulates the economy. When they have additional money in their pocket, they can use that money as THEY see fit – to save, to purchase a home or a car, to make an investment, or hire workers.

"Do the programs in this bill truly promote economic stimulus? Do they create jobs? Do they put meaningful dollars directly in the pockets of families and businesses to encourage economic growth?

"Or, does the bill simply spread the money around to many federal programs, or members requests, in the hope that such spending will solve our economic problems? If we cannot honestly demonstrate the stimulative effect of the programs in this bill, than it is clear that taxpayer dollars would best be spent elsewhere, or better yet, returned to the taxpayer.

"The economic stimulus mantra from last year – targeted, temporary and timely – which should also apply to this year’s effort, seems no longer to be the drumbeat of the majority.

"Rather this nearly $940 billion omnibus spending bill represents a long-standing majority wish list -- the focus being to increase government spending and to grow the size of the federal government. Speaker Pelosi summed up the process of crafting this bill. She said, ‘Yes, we wrote the bill. Yes, we won the election.’

"One estimate is that the cost of this bill amounts to roughly $2,700 for every man, woman and child in the United States. And, while this bill is touted as creating or preserving jobs, some of the costs of proposed job creation in this bill are truly astounding.

"A program at the State Department would create 388 jobs at a cost of $524 million. There are others that create jobs at a cost of $480,000 per job and $333,000 per job.

"Kansans are outraged at this reckless spending, when the vast majority of them live within their means, paying their bills and making their mortgage payments. Where is their benefit under this bill? Where is their $333,000 or $480,000 job?

"Many constituents who have contacted me say, "Just send me a check". They are very concerned that their tax dollars are not being used wisely here and that this bill won’t get the job done.

"It is not targeted. The appropriations portion of this bill spends taxpayer dollars on everything from smoking cessation programs, All Terrain Vehicle trails, and $600 million to buy new cars for government employees.

"As the spending in this bill grows, it has become a honey pot for every conceivable special interest group. In this unprecedented environment, I am concerned that we are well on our way to federalizing state and local governments, as many elected officials are setting up bucket commissions and are coming to Washington to fill the buckets.

"You want a new county jail? Don’t pass a bond issue. Ask for it in the stimulus. You want a frisbee park? Don’t ask local taxpayers to foot the bill. Ask for it in the stimulus.

"And, while some funding requests may be worthy of federal dollars, such decisions should be made as part of the annual appropriations debate, rather that circumventing that important process by adding funding to a bill that is intended to provide short term stimulus to the economy.

"Nor is this bill temporary. The bill provides $140 billion in new mandatory spending – spending that I’m very concerned will become permanent. The bill also creates 34 new federal programs. I repeat, 34 federal programs.

"This bill is not timely. CBO estimates that only 15 percent of this stimulus package will be spent in 2009, and just another 37 percent would be spent in 2010. The remaining will be spent in 2011 and beyond. That means less than half of the money will be spent by the end of next year. This is not the immediate relief families and businesses desperately need now to help get the economy back on track.

"Rather than looking to more federal spending and programs to fix our economy, we need to redirect this spending to tax relief. We need to return to families more of their hard-earned dollars and allow business to keep more of the money they earn so they can reinvest and grow their businesses.

"For individuals, they need know what their tax liability will be, on more than a temporary basis. Providing immediate tax relief for families by reducing the income tax rates for all taxpayers, would put money into the pockets of Americans so they can make purchases and help revitalize our economy.

"If the purpose of this stimulus bill is to get money back into the hands of consumers, I ask my colleagues, what better way to do this than providing an immediate reduction in income tax rates?

"The same is true for businesses. If we want to get money back into the economy, lets lower the tax rates for businesses of all sizes, so that during this economic crisis, they have more capital available to put into their businesses and to retain and hire employees.

"Mr. President, we have before us well thought out alternatives that meet the common sense test. We have amendments to strip out billions in spending in this bill that will not stimulate the economy.

"We have amendments to provide permanent tax relief for middle-income taxpayers – taxpayers like many of the hardworking Kansans who have contacted me, upset and outraged about the spending in this bill.

"We have amendments to address the problems in the housing market. All of these suggestions to improve this bill deserve our attention. We can improve this bill to provide the right incentives to stimulate the economy and create private sector jobs. We owe it to the taxpayers."

Senator Roberts is a member of the Senate Finance Committee where he voted against this legislation when the Committee considered the bill.

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