Dec 21, 2010
Over 20 years, David Obey has become one of my dearest friends, my mentor, and, yes, we do conspire to try to do good things. He has shown me the power of this great institution and how it can change people's lives, to make opportunity…
David Obey
The Public Record
Most widely reported
by number of sources- I would simply like to point out that despite all of the rhetoric that we have heard on this floor today, there are three appropriations bills which have still not even made it to the President, the first being the District of Columbia bill which we are discussing right now; the second being the Foreign Operations bill which is hung up because of differences between Republicans in the Senate and Republicans in the House on the issue of family planning and abortion; and third, the Labor, Health, Education and Social Services appropriations bill, a huge share of the Federal Government. All of those programs at this point are in limbo because we still have not had resolutions worked out between the House and the Senate. So it seems to me that there is a high degree of congressional culpability for the fact that this Government is not operating under regular appropriations bills; and it also seems to me that it comes with considerable ill grace to blame the President for the fact that he has not even been able to consider whether to veto bills, because three of them have not gotten to him yet.7 sources1996govinfo.gov
- I yield myself 10 minutes. Mr. Chairman, this bill is the clearest demonstration that I can think of of what happens when Congress puts $140,000 tax cuts for people who make $1 million a year or more ahead of our investment needs in our children, ahead of our investment needs in our health care system, and ahead of supporting programs that will help our workers compete in world markets. This bill, make no mistake about it, is a prescription for a second-class economy. I know most of the discussion today will be focused on public broadcasting. I will be offering an amendment to add back $100 million that the committee cut out. Previously in the committee, I offered another amendment which added $400 million for this year's funding. We are simply trying to get it back up to last year's level. That is an important issue, and I hope that the House will vote for the amendment. I want to make clear that even though the press has focused 90 percent of its attention on public broadcasting, in one sense that is fortunate because at least the people who pay attention to public broadcasting do have a megaphone of sorts, and they can get their message known. I believe our amendment today will pass, but even if it does, I would hope that the Members of this House and the members of the press would understand that that is far from the most important issue in this bill.…7 sources2005govinfo.gov
- Mr. Chairman, I simply want to say I think this amendment indicates just how ludicrous the proposal is which is before us. The bill recommended by the Republican majority eliminates $482 million for drug-free schools, and then it tries in this amendment to restore $10 million of that $482 million reduction. It pretends that it is going to restore the money for D.A.R.E. But in fact, this amendment cannot restore the money for D.A.R.E. because this money goes out by formula, goes to States and local school districts, and the school districts have the authority to decide how the money is spread out. So we can pretend, by restoring a tiny $10 million fig leaf, that we are restoring D.A.R.E., but in fact this amendment does no such thing. It merely pretends to do that. And I guess it is sort of in the context of eliminating the entire drug-free school program; it is sort of like burning down the House but keeping the front doormat there as a souvenir; that is about all we have left of the drug-free school program.6 sources1995govinfo.gov
- Mr. Chairman, let me simply say that I support the Kasich amendment. I think the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Livingston] does as well. Let me simply say, I think we need to recognize that an awful lot of people have been involved in the reform of these institutions. I would say, frankly, that the process began with the Bush Administration in 1991 and 1992, when they dealt with IDA negotiations and pushed for reforms during those negotiations. We also had the Wapenhans report which was, I think we should remember, asked for by Mr. Preston, the bank president himself. And, we have had a variety of actions taken by the Congress dealing not only with the World Bank and IDA, but with the European Development Bank, which we discussed earlier today. I would simply say that I think the Kasich amendment is a constructive amendment. It continues pressure on the bank to implement reforms, without putting the U.S. further in arrears. That, in my view, is the way to do it. I think we have had bipartisan pressure on the institutions for a number of years to try to reform the way they do business, and accompanied with some chain pulling along the way, I think we have largely been successful so far.5 sources1994govinfo.gov
- continuing under my reservation, I would like to ask the gentleman several questions. It is my understanding that the defense appropriations bill, and I do this because I think there are a lot of unrealistic expectations which are being directed at this committee by people who I do not think have sufficient appreciation for the detailed work that is required in order to produce legislation on, for instance, something as complicated as the defense bill. My understanding is that that bill is 197 pages long and is expected, by the time the Senate is finished deliberating on it, to contain literally thousands of differences between the House and the Senate; is that not correct?5 sources2001govinfo.gov
- let me simply say to the gentleman, he has talked to me about his concern about providing additional funding for autism. I very much agree with that; and, as a matter of fact, I agree with some of the comments he just made about some of the wasteful uses of some of the funds in the program that he is discussing cutting. About 4 years ago, I made a similar objection myself. I would urge the gentleman to withdraw the amendment, with the assurances that both the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) and I and the rest of the conferees will try in conference to gain additional financial support for programs directed at autism, and a number of others, for that matter. I think the gentleman is correct in bringing it to our attention. I hesitate to support the proposal as the gentleman is offering it, because in addition to the limitations on the AIDS program that he is talking about, we would also be reducing funding that would go for dealing with diseases such as TB. That almost got out of the bottle a few years ago. I do not want to see that happen again. I would just urge the gentleman to respect the agreement that the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) and I have to oppose all amendments, no matter how meritorious we might find parts of them. We would both be happy to work with the gentleman in conference to try to accomplish what the gentleman is trying to accomplish.3 sources2001govinfo.gov
govinfo.gov
Dec 21, 2010
He tells the truth fearlessly, and he is a patriot in every sense of the word. I will miss David's commitment, his dedication, and his integrity. And though soon no longer to be a colleague, he will always be my friend, and I think I know…
Dec 8, 2010
This amendment was a Republican amendment offered by Mr. Cole from Oklahoma. It was not slipped in. It was voted in in the subcommittee appropriation bill 5 months ago.
Dec 8, 2010
I happen to agree with the gentleman from Virginia on the substance of the issue. But the fact is that the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee voted in open session with open debate to adopt the Cole amendment. Now, as chairman of the…
Dec 8, 2010
When I came here, I don't think there were very many Members who would reach a conclusion that if someone disagreed with them on substance that somehow they were morally defective. In a civilized, adult, legislative body, Members would…
Dec 8, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I'm bringing a resolution to the floor that I have minimum high regard for, to say the least. America is facing serious problems, the most depressing is that we have the biggest divide between the haves and the have-nots since…
Aug 10, 2010
You don't get a second chance to educate kids. We should not fool ourselves into thinking that this package will do as much as we ought to be doing to ease the squeeze on the national economy. We will have partially offset with this bill…
Jul 29, 2010
The way I see it, we're watching a let's pretend attack on the deficit tonight by singling out these items that cost about a million bucks. If Members are concerned about the deficit, I would ask, why did they vote for two tax cuts…
Jul 29, 2010
To hear the gentleman talk, you would think that this bill is being gobbled up by a huge number of earmarks, causing the deficit to explode. The gentleman used a chart. I've got a chart too. This bar represents the total spending in this…
Jul 29, 2010
I would describe this bill as a fiscally responsible jobs bill. It is below the President's request by $1.3 billion, and below last year by one-half billion dollars. Last year, the Recovery Act demonstrated that investments in…
Jul 28, 2010
I also want to congratulate the gentleman from Texas for the superb job he has done in putting this bill together. It is a well-balanced bill, and everyone understands the gentleman's convictions and his passionate desire to defend the…
Jul 27, 2010
Madam Speaker, after nearly 10 years, thousands of American troops killed or wounded, and hundreds of billions of dollars of borrowed money, I believe we must radically change our policy in Afghanistan. Of all the disturbing things in the…
Jul 27, 2010
I have the highest respect and appreciation for our troops who have done everything asked of them, but they are being let down by the inability of the governments of Afghanistan and, in some instances, Pakistan to do their parts. I would…
Jul 22, 2010
Thank God finally there will be a cease-fire for the moment on the yap-yapping and the talk-talking while the Congress actually takes some action to restore unemployment benefits for nearly 85,000 people in my State and over 2 2 million…
Jul 1, 2010
As was pointed out earlier, those who suggest that any efforts to add any items to what is called a military supplemental are somehow out of line are simply wrong. This legislation started out as a disaster relief bill. It went to the…
Jul 1, 2010
Somehow we are being told that we are committing a mortal sin because we are trying to attach some material to the bill sent to us by the Senate. I would simply point out that just a few weeks ago, as the gentleman from Massachusetts…
Jul 1, 2010
I demand a recorded vote. A recorded vote was ordered. The SPEAKER pro tempore. This will be a 5-minute vote. The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 25, noes 376, answered ``present'' 22, not voting 10, as follows…
Jul 1, 2010
I demand a recorded vote. A recorded vote was ordered. The SPEAKER pro tempore. This will be a 5-minute vote. The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 162, noes 260, not voting 11, as follows: [Roll No. 433] AYES--162…
Jul 1, 2010
Let me simply say that our Republican friends are running true to form tonight. In the past 2 weeks, they have voted against funding unemployment insurance for people who have been laid off in the most excruciating recession in 70 years…
Jun 29, 2010
I loved Robert Byrd. For one thing, he and I shared a love of bluegrass music. I daresay he was the finest fiddler in the history of the Congress, but that's not the real reason that I hold him in such high esteem. He began as a product of…
Apr 21, 2010
41 years ago my friend and mentor, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, had a surprisingly simple idea. At the time, the country was fighting an unpopular and unwinnable war, and students were rising up in protest and holding teach-ins on…
Mar 24, 2010
This bill also provides for a 1-month extension of the Recovery Act Small Business Lending program and provides an additional $60 million for that program. Through March 12 of this year, the Recovery Act Small Business Lending program has…
Mar 24, 2010
I would point out that more than half of all disaster relief since 1993 has gone to just four States: Louisiana, Florida, California--the gentleman's home State--and Mississippi; and 80 percent of all disaster relief since 1993 has gone to…
Mar 24, 2010
I would simply say, Mr. Speaker, that the White House submitted this request for disaster relief over a month ago. Everyone in this institution has known about it; in addition to which, the gentleman's staff has known for a good 2 weeks…
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