David Obey: “let me explain what this is. We have had a steady stream of Members for weeks now decrying the fact we just do not have…”

“let me explain what this is. We have had a steady stream of Members for weeks now decrying the fact we just do not have enough resources to do the job we ought to be doing in homeland security or in transportation or in education or in health care or any other endeavor of the Federal Government. The fact is that we do not have those needed available resources because the Members of this House have put themselves in a box. They have done that by, in essence, saying that their number one priority above all others is to provide very large tax cuts for people very high up on the income scale. Example: This year if you make over $1 million you will get, on average, about a $140,000 tax cut. What I am trying to do here today is to do two things. I am trying to, first of all, help the Congress keep the promises that it made just 6 months ago. Therefore, this amendment would provide an additional $500 million to the Department of Homeland Security to meet the staffing and detention bed space increases that were called for in the Intelligence Reform Act and to allow States to meet the driver's license standards that were just imposed on those States by this Congress 2 weeks ago. So my amendment is simple. First of all, it adds 500 more people to the Border Patrol. Second, it adds 600 people to the immigration inspector workforce. And thirdly, it adds 4,000 more detention beds so that we can keep the promises laid out in the Intelligence Reform bill.…”