President Obama Speaks in Virginia on the Recovery Act

SPEAKER: PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

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OBAMA: ... secretary of transportation, Ray LaHood, who's with us today. And I want to thank the folks at Cherry Hill Construction for having me here today.

We just took a look at this construction site and I had a chance to talk to all the outstanding men and women who are working here.

Talking with them was a reminder of just how hard they work every single day, just how hard they fight on behalf of their families, and just how hard these times have been for working men and women like them.

You know, hardworking Americans have borne the brunt of this recession. They've been laid off in historic numbers, they've seen their hours trimmed and their wages cut, they've lived in fear of being the next ones to be let go. And that's not right.

Middle-class Americans are the ones who built this country. They made it great and they keep it going each and every day. And they deserve leaders in Washington who are willing to work as hard as they work, who are willing to fight for their futures as hard as they fight for their families.

And we need to all live up to our responsibilities as faithfully as these workers here are living up to theirs, and that's why our goal is not just to rebound from this recession, but to start building an economy that works for all Americans, where everyone who's looking for work can find a job; and not just a temporary job, but a permanent job that lasts from season to season; where our stock market isn't only rising again, but our businesses are hiring again.

That's our goal. And I know we have a lot of work to do to meet that goal. But I also know that thanks to the governor here in Virginia, Tim Kaine, thanks to two outstanding senators, Mark Warner and Jim Webb, and a great congressman in Congressman Jim Moran, and as well as Congressman Gerry Connolly, and thanks to the work of Ray here and the rest of my administration, we've made some meaningful progress over the last several months.

Because the fact is, as difficult as these times are, and they're profoundly difficult for a whole lot of people all across the country, we are moving in the right direction. Our economy is in better shape today than it was when I took office, when we were hemorrhaging 700,000 jobs a month and when our financial system was on the brink of collapse and economists from just about every part of the political spectrum were predicting that we might be sinking into a great depression.

And one of the reasons our economy is in better shape today is because we voted to move forward, boldly and swiftly, to pass a recovery act that's being carried out under the outstanding leadership of people like Ray, as well as my vice president, Joe Biden. It's a recovery act that has spurred job creation and economic growth with projects like the one that I'm talking about here today.

Back in February, Governor Kaine and I came here and work was just getting under way. This project, the Fairfax County Parkway project is designed to be completed -- to complete the original version of this parkway by connecting both ends of Fairfax County. The current phase of construction will create new private sector jobs. And that won't just make a difference to all the people who get these jobs, it will make a difference to all those communities where they spend their paychecks.