On March 12, 2009, leaders from across the country descended upon Washington with one mission in mind: implementing the Recovery Act.

Vice President Joe Biden invited implementation 'czars' and representatives from all U.S. states and territories to take part in the White House Conference on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Implementation. The conference was a chance for state officials to bring forward ideas and share best practices, as well as hear presentations from a number of Cabinet Secretaries and Administration officials, including Earl Devaney, Chairman of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board.

"States have a huge responsibility in partnering with us to ensure that dollars spent as part of the Recovery Act are spent wisely, with transparency and accountability," said Vice President Joe Biden, who has been tasked by the President to oversee the implementation of the Recovery Act. "Our hope for this conference is to meet face-to-face with the state officials and streamline this implementation process so we can get our economy running again."

During the conference, President Obama stopped by to share a few words of encouragement:
"So my main message to all of you is I think you're up to the task; I think you guys will do extraordinary work with using these precious tax dollars that the American people have given up in order to deliver on the kind of economic growth -- short-term and long-term -- and job creation that's going to be so important.

But we're going to need to work really hard and we're going to have to make sure that every single dollar is well spent. We've got to go above and beyond what I think is the typical ways of doing business in order to make sure that the American people get the help that they need and that our economy gets the boost that it needs."

The White House Recovery and Reinvestment Act Implementation Conference is part of a large effort to ensure that dollars invested and spent as part of the Recovery Act are effective, transparent, and efficient. To learn more about today's event, read the President's and Vice President's full remarks.