Readout from Vice President's Meeting with Directors of the National Security Laboratories on the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Stockpile

Today, the Vice President was briefed on the state of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile by the Directors of the three national security laboratories.  Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman, National Nuclear Security Administrator Tom D’Agostino, and officials from the Departments of State and Defense were also present.  The briefing was provided by Mike Anastasio from Los Alamos National Laboratory, George Miller from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Tom Hunter from Sandia National Laboratory.  The Vice President hosted the briefing as part of the Administration’s ongoing commitment to maintain a safe, secure and effective nuclear arsenal, to the President’s vision of a world without nuclear weapons and to ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

Readout of Vice President Biden's Calls with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki

The Vice President spoke to both Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki earlier today. The Vice President conveyed the condolences of the American people to those Iraqis killed and injured in today's bombings in Baghdad.  The United States strongly condemns these attacks on the Iraqi people and their elected government.  The perpetrators of today’s bombings will not succeed.  The Iraqi people have repeatedly made clear they embrace a future of promise and progress and reject extremism and destruction.  The United States will stand with the Iraqis and their government as a partner and a friend as they build national unity.

Vice President Biden Presses Agencies to Increase Extent and Transparency of Recovery Act Recipient Reports

Federal Agencies Will Identify Non-Filing Recipients, Assess Possible Actions

WASHINGTON, D.C. – At the direction of Vice President Biden, the Administration is taking new steps to improve the extent of detail in reports submitted by recipients of federal recovery funds. 

“More than 90 percent of all Recovery Act funding recipients reported on the use of their funding.  While this level is remarkably high for a first-of-its-kind nation-wide effort, missing information is unacceptable.  We will work to make sure that recipients fully meet their legal obligation to report,” said Vice President Biden.  “Our direction emphasizes the extraordinary responsibility that falls on all government workers to prove to the American people that we are spending their dollars well – to inform citizens how, when, and where Recovery Act dollars are being spent.”  

Congress required that Recovery Act funding recipients report quarterly on the use and economic impact of those funds at the local level.  The Recovery and Accountability Transparency Board published the first report data on October 31, 2009.  A recent analysis from the Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) noted the effort to educate recipients and encourage reports provided unparalleled access to data about the use of federal dollars at the local level.

However, the Vice President was not satisfied with the data, both in terms of data quality and of the incomplete set of reports from funding recipients, and pressed for steps that would work to close the gaps on the level and detail of reporting. 

The Vice President’s team and the White House Office of Management and Budget already are working with the Recovery Board to address data quality concerns.  Now, in a memorandum to department and agency heads, OMB Director Peter Orszag is requiring federal agencies to identify each non-compliant recipient, learn about the circumstances of the non-compliance, and determine the need, if any, for future action regarding each non-filing recipient.

“At no other time, with no other federal program, has the government ever attempted to provide this level of transparency on the use of federal funds,” Vice President Biden said.  “Our actions today continue the Administration’s commitment of going beyond ‘business as usual’ to develop an unprecedented system of obligating, disbursing, tracking, and reporting on the use of Recovery funds.”

The OMB guidance deems recipients of Recovery Act funds who failed to submit a Section 1512 report, as required by the terms of their award, to be non-compliant.  Federal agencies are directed to consider a range of actions based upon the severity of non-compliance.  For less serious instances, such as those involving recipients who experienced technical challenges, agencies are to help recipients avoid similar problems in the next reporting cycle.  In more serious cases, existing funds could be revoked or the recipient could be barred from receiving any further federal funds after repeatedly failing to file required reports.  If the non-compliance appears to be fraudulent, agencies are to refer the matter to appropriate officials for criminal investigation.

To follow the Recovery Act’s progress, visit www.whitehouse.gov/recovery. 

Letter from Ed DeSeve to Representative Boehner on Recovery Act

The Honorable John Boehner
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative Boehner:

As the official who coordinates the day-to-day implementation of the Recovery Act, Vice President Biden asked that I respond to your letter of November 24th regarding the jobs that the Act has created or saved.

I understand from your letter that you continue to have concerns about whether jobs have been created or saved by the Recovery Act. I would first note that it seems those concerns are not shared by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office or other economic expelis. As you know, just yesterday the non-partisan CBO released a repOli estimating that 600,000 to 1.6 million jobs had been created or saved by the Recovery Act as of two months ago. Economist Mark Zandi, who advised John McCain's presidential campaign, recently said "there are little over 1.1 million more jobs out there as of October than would have been without the (Act)." And just this morning, the Wall Street Journal's front page featured a headline "Job Cuts Loom as Stimulus Fades." Indeed, having heard the Congressional Budget Office cited frequently in your speeches and statements, it seems their repOli should be a patiicularly reliable and independent answer to any questions you may have about Recovery Act job impact. As your colleague, Senator Cornyn rightly said, CBO does "an impOliant service by telling us the facts" and Dr. Elmendorf, Director of CBO, is to be commended for "his integrity and commitment to the truth."

If you still have concerns about whether the Recovery Act has created or saved jobs, though, allow me to take on some of the specific questions raised in your recent letter.

First, your letter repeats the previous questions you have raised about the idea of "saved" jobs. As you have in the past, you once again express doubt about whether such jobs should "count" as part of the results of the Recovery Act. There is nothing mysterious, ephemeral or unceliain about the important role the Recovery Act has played in saving the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Americans. All across the country, there are teachers, construction workers, firefighters, and Letter to Represenfaf;ve Boehner police officers who had gotten pink slips, who were on lists of potential cuts, who had been told by supervisors that their "days were numbered," or who otherwise would have been let go - all of whom are still on the job today because of the Recovery Act. Governors and mayors of both parties along with thousands of private sector employers have validated that the Recovery Act has saved hundreds of thousands of jobs of Americans who would otherwise have been let go. But don't take their word for it - these "saved" jobs were not only rep011ed by both Republican and Democratic governors, recipients of Recovery Act funds and independent economists, but by CBO as well in its evaluation that the Recovery Act is responsible for saving and creating as many as 1.6 million jobs as of September 30th.

Second, you suggest that the inevitable adjustments and revisions in the measure of direct jobs saved and created, as rep011ed on Recovery.gov, call into doubt the validity of this measure. As you know, all economic measures are subject to revision. In fact, 2008 monthly job losses that were originally released by BLS as 157,000 were eventually revised to 230,000 - a nearly 50% revision. We believe the direct jobs created and saved measure on Recovery.gov, though subject to revision, will not change dramatically - and, importantly, will see both upward (as late reports come in) and downward revisions as additional data is collected and reviewed. However, while the recipient-reported data may be naturally imprecise, the overall confirmation it provides that the Recovery Act is responsible for at least 1 million jobs is irrefutable. In fact, CBO notes it considers its own estimates "more comprehensive than the recipients' reports."

Finally, you suggest that we should "stop using" the 640,000 direct jobs created and saved figure because of its umeliability. Here, we do agree that the 640,000 figure is approximate, and it is not the best representation of the job creation activity of the Recovery Act because it only reflects a portion of what the Act has done (leaving out direct payments, tax cuts, and indirect job creation). In fact, even CBO says "the recipients ' repol1s cover only certain appropriations made under ARRA, which encompass only about one-guat1er of the total amount spent by the government or conveyed through tax reductions in ARRA through September 2009." Because, as CBO rightly notes, the 640,000 number is based on only a fraction of Recovery funds spent to-date, it only serves to confirm what CBO and other independent experts have already said about job impact to-date.

I hope that this response is helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have further questions.

Sincerely,
G. Edward DeSeve

cc: The Honorable Darrell E. Issa