http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Recovery_and_Reinvestment_Plan
The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1, S. 1)
Is a federal public law passed by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by the President. Its legislative history had three versions, the first approved by the House of Representatives, a second version approved by the Senate. The final version, a conference version resulting from negotiations of House and Senate leadership was approved by both houses of Congress on February 13, 2009, and signed on February 17 by President Barack Obama. [1]
Congressional negotiators announced on February 11, 2009, that they had completed the conference report of the bill.[2] The 1,071 page Conference Report with final handwritten provisions was made available to the public late Friday the 13th. [3] Reportedly, very few, if any, lawmakers read the final version before their vote was cast. [4][5]
On February 13, 2009, at 2:24 p.m., the Conference Report was voted on and passed as Roll Call Vote 70 by the House with 246 Yeas and 183 Nays.
The vote was largely along party lines with all 246 Yea votes given by Democrats and the Nay vote consisting of 176 Republicans and seven Democrats.[6] No Republicans in the House voted for the bill. At 10:48 p.m., the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 60-38, with all Democrats and Independents voting for the bill along with three Republicans.[6]
The remaining thirty-eight Republican senators voted against the bill. (Due to his illness, Senator Edward M. Kennedy-D Massachusetts was unable to vote; there is one Senate vacancy, for Minnesota.)[7][8]
Based largely on broad proposals made by President Barack Obama, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is intended to provide a stimulus to the U.S. economy in the wake of the economic downturn brought about by the subprime mortgage crisis and the resulting credit crunch.
The bill includes federal tax cuts, expansion of unemployment benefits and other social welfare provisions, and domestic spending in education, health care, and infrastructure, including the energy sector.
The 1,071 page new law also includes numerous non-economic recovery related items that were either part of longer-term plans (e.g. a study of the effectiveness of medical treatments) or desired by Congress (e.g. a limitation on executive compensation in federally aided banks added by Senator Dodd and Rep. Frank).
The proposed government action is much larger than the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, which consisted primarily of tax rebate checks. President Obama signed the bill into law at an economic forum he was hosting in Denver, Colorado, on Tuesday, February 17, 2009.[1]
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