FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Today President Bush announced a legislative package that will encourage continued consumer spending to boost the economic recovery, promote investment by individuals and businesses to grow the economy and create jobs, and deliver critical help to unemployed citizens.

This initiative will spur real overall economic growth, yet it is disciplined and tailored to address specific challenges.  The American economy is strong, but it must be stronger.  The President’s plan is a focused effort designed to remove the obstacles standing in the way of faster growth and greater progress.

President Bush will not be satisfied until every American who wants a job can find one; until every business has a chance to grow; and until we turn our economic recovery into lasting prosperity that reaches every corner of America. 

We have been through a recession, a terrorist attack, a breach of corporate confidence, and yet the economy has demonstrated its resilience by growing.  It appears we have just completed our fifth consecutive quarter of growth.  

Many economists agree that President Bush’s 2001 tax cut was the right policy at the right time and helped to make the recession one of the shortest and shallowest in modern history.  This new package will build on the success of the 2001 tax cut by making the tax rate reductions effective now when they can do the most for individuals and the economy.   This is the right plan at the right time.