David Obey: “I would like, if I could, in a calm atmosphere to simply walk Members of the House through some of the facts so that…”

“I would like, if I could, in a calm atmosphere to simply walk Members of the House through some of the facts so that they understand exactly what it takes for the staff to prepare earmarks for consideration by the Congress. Yesterday, we were told in the Appropriations Committee by our Republican friends, at least by some of them, they would ask me, what is the hurry? Why can't you slow down these bills until you can attach the earmarks? Today, our colleague from Georgia, Mr. Price, said on the floor, these bills are already 1 month late, implying that the Republicans last year were able to move the bills to the floor faster. That is right. They did. I want Members to understand why if we started tonight it would take a good 3 to 4 weeks to prepare all of the earmarks that Members are requesting. Let me explain why. Our staff doesn't just have to wade through these requests. Some of these requests that we receive propose to place earmarks on programs such as the National Institutes of Health, for instance, which have never before been earmarked, earmarks which the Members on both side of the aisle strongly oppose. So we have to work with those Members to reshape those earmarks. Some requests come in, but they are duplicative. You may have four or five Members propose the same earmark, but they describe it differently, and the staff has to wade through and reconcile them so they understand it is really the same item.”