In latest "Voices of the Recovery Act" installment, Bill Montgomery tells his story: "Recovery--that's what it's all about."

"Before this Congress and President Obama took decisive action, our nation was losing more than 750,000 jobs a month. It is clear that without the Recovery Act, our nation would be still dealing with an economic catastrophe."

Those are the words of California Congressman George Miller, Chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, after a recent jobs report. And one worker whose experience demonstrates the Recovery Act's record of creating good jobs is California's Bill Montgomery.

Today, Bill--a field superintendent at Swinerton Builders--and his crew are hard at work on a new control tower at Palm Springs International Airport. "I'd be unemployed," he says, "The Recovery Act is fueling the next job."

Bill's story is the newest featured video in our series, "Voices of the Recovery Act."

Now, I appreciate Bill's praise of the Recovery Act, but the project Bill and his crew are working on also has important safety benefits for air passengers flying through Palm Springs. The new tower will be nearly three times taller than the existing one, allowing controllers an unobstructed view of the entire airport.

But despite the many successes of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we cannot rest.

The good news? Far from resting, the Obama Administration is working harder than ever during this Summer of Recovery to put America back to work and renew our infrastructure. As President Obama said, "If we're going to rebuild America's economy, we have to rebuild America."

For example, last July, we were pleased to have 1,750 road projects under construction. This July, we have nearly 11,000 projects working to improve nearly 30,000 miles of roadway. And, overall, we have 13,000 transportation projects underway.

These projects mean jobs. In fact, we expect the total number of stimulus-funded jobs--transportation and non-transportation--to rise from 2.5 million in May to 3 million by September and 3.5 million by the end of the year.

Hardly winding down, the Recovery Act continues to pay dividends for American infrastructure and for American workers. Workers like Bill Montgomery. Workers like Alison Barber. Workers like Keith Miller.

These and others have kindly shared their stories with us in our "Voices of the Recovery Act" series available on YouTube. And, while we still have a way to go, these videos remind us of how far we've come in less than 18 months.

Comments

[Biciclete]

i hate all politicans ....

[Michael E. Bailey]

The Recovery Act has contributed hugely to the country's economy and its infrastructure and will continue to do so. A few would deny all the benefits of the Recovery Act. They should let the record of the Recovery Act speak. The Recovery Act has proven itself in rescuing the economy and in rebuilding and adding critical pieces of infrastructure. In fact, the Association of State Transportation and Highway Officials has just come out with a new study saying we need a second Recovery Act to provide at least $1 billion more for road, rail, merchant marine, and port improvements to create a first rate second to none transportation system. So they think the Recovery Act is working. And economists including the most conservative ones think the Recovery Act was not onljy good but necessary. Those few who don't like the Recovery Act never had a recovery plan of their own and they don't have one now. But they do think if they attack the Recovery Act long enough, they will get enough peoplhe to believe them that they can win elections in November. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.

[Boom Trucks]

I'm in construction and I'm just hoping and praying the Recovery Act makes it's way to me for some work fast. We are hurting pretty bad up here. Everyone is broke and scared. If my wife weren't a nurse I think we'd be homeless and the kids would be in state homes.