WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a House vote today, Third District Representative Walter B. Jones (R-NC) voted against H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The more than $800 billion economic stimulus legislation passed the House by a vote of 244 to 188 and now moves to the Senate.

Congressman Jones’ statement on the bill follows below:

“Problems that have been caused by too much spending and too much debt simply can’t be solved by more government spending and more federal debt. While there is no doubt that our nation’s economy is suffering a severe downturn, this so-called economic ‘stimulus’ bill is a borrow-and-spend plan with no guaranteed benefits for our economy. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), this legislation will increase the federal budget deficit by more than $800 billion, with additional interest costs of $347 billion. This brings the total cost of the package to an astounding $1.2 trillion.”

“Economists agree that real fiscal stimulus must be ‘targeted, timely, and temporary,’ yet that is not the kind of remedy this bill provides. Our economy is said to need immediate help, yet the CBO estimates that less than 21 percent of the funds in this bill would be spent in 2009. This legislation also outlines new government spending in at least 150 different federal programs – including $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, $600 million for federal cars and $7.7 billion for federal buildings. The package even calls for spending $54 billion on 19 programs that the Office of Management and Budget has already deemed ‘ineffective.’”

“I was hopeful that Congress could consider an alternative package that would focus on job creation and cost the taxpayers less. Today’s passage of this massive new spending legislation is not the proper relief for our nation’s ailing economy. Our nation’s budget deficit is already estimated at $1.2 trillion for the current year. This ‘stimulus’ package merely saddles the American people with even more federal debt. With each citizen’s share of the national debt at $34,000 before this legislation, the American taxpayer cannot afford to be put on the hook for new government spending like the $335 million for sexually transmitted disease education and $400 million for global warming research that’s in this bloated bill.”