The Denver Post: Stimulus' Big Stage is Denver
Stimulus' Big Stage is Denver
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
By Virginia Culver
President Obama will come to Denver to sign the landmark economic-stimulus bill.
Stimulus' Big Stage is Denver
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
By Virginia Culver
President Obama will come to Denver to sign the landmark economic-stimulus bill.The bill-signing, an unusual event outside of Washington, will beTuesday at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science in City Park. Thepresident also will give a speech about the economy.
Attendance at the midday event is by invitation only, and all invitations have been distributed.
CNN reported that a senior administration official cited a desire to get "away from the politics of Washington."
Another unnamed official described Denver as "a place that will see the benefits of the bill in hiring workers."
"This is like a dream," said George Sparks, director of the museum. Hesaid he doesn't believe a sitting president has ever visited theinstitution.
"The White House advance team just called usThursday and asked if they could come here," said Sparks, adding thatmembers of the Secret Service made a first visit Thursday afternoon andreturned Friday.
He doesn't know why the museum was chosenexcept that it strives to save energy. The building has thesecond-largest roof-mounted solar array in the state, behind theColorado Convention Center, Sparks said. The array produces 100kilowatts, he said.
Sparks said he doesn't yet know where the signing will take place in the museum or where the president will speak.
Obama's last Colorado visit was to Pueblo the weekend before he was elected.
The bill, officially named the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan,will give $787 billion to a variety of programs designed to stimulatethe economy. It was passed Friday by both houses of Congress.
In his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, Obama called the bill a "major milestone on our road to recovery."
"I am thrilled President Obama has chosen to showcase our state withits historic signing," said U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, a Boulder Democrat.
He said the growing green-energy industry and "cutting-edge scientificinstitutions" in Colorado make the state "uniquely situated" tohighlight the bill's investment in renewable energy, science andtechnology.
Signing the bill here is "fitting" becauseColorado "is a leader in renewable-energy development," said U.S. Sen.Mark Udall, an Eldorado Springs Democrat.
"The West has alwaysbeen the land of opportunity, a place where anything is possible," saidDemocratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, of Denver. "It is fitting thatPresident Obama has chosen Colorado as the site where our long anddifficult road to economic recovery will begin."
InteriorSecretary Ken Salazar, who left the Senate to join Obama's Cabinet,will fly on the president's plane to Denver. Salazar said through aspokesman Saturday that Obama "couldn't have picked a better place tohighlight how the bill will create jobs and build the type ofclean-energy economy that is already growing in Colorado."
U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Golden Democrat, said in a statement, "Bysigning this bill in Denver, the president is signaling the importancethat investments in alternative- and renewable-energy infrastructurewill have in creating 60,000 new jobs in Colorado and transforming ournation to a new-energy economy."
U.S. Rep. Betsy Markey, aFort Collins Democrat, said the signing of the bill here sends amessage that the road to recover "begins right here at home."
Catherine Mortensen, spokeswoman for Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lambornof Colorado Springs, said that while Lamborn "regrets" passage of thestimulus bill, "it is a great honor for the president to sign a bill inthis state."
Colorado "is the perfect place to put the country back on track," said U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper called the Denver bill-signing "a great compliment" to the city and state.
Obama will fly into Buckley Air Force Base on Tuesday morning. He is spending the long Presidents Day weekend in Chicago.
Sonny Jackson, spokesman for the Denver Police Department, said security will be handled by the Secret Service.