David Obey: “Mr. Chairman, this bill is an absolutely wonderful bill unless my colleagues think that the Congress ought to spend our…”

“Mr. Chairman, this bill is an absolutely wonderful bill unless my colleagues think that the Congress ought to spend our time responding to the legitimate needs of the American people. If they do, then it turns out to be a bit of a turkey. I do not blame the chairman of the subcommittee for that fact. He is a good man, and he is doing the best that he can under a ridiculous budget situation. But let me tell my colleagues what is wrong with this bill and why I intend to vote against it. First of all, the bill is $2 billion below the request and $1 billion below last year for housing. It is $1 billion below last year for science at NASA. It is $275 million below the request of the National Science Foundation. The administration's budget for veterans was totally inadequate. Everybody knows that. I do not know of any Member of the Congress who supports it. This bill itself is $1.3 billion below what the veterans groups regard as necessary to fund veterans' health care. The rule under which this bill is being considered denied us the opportunity to add $750 million to take care of at least half of that shortfall by delaying for 1 year the capital gains give-away that was in the recent tax bill that just passed. That alone is reason enough to vote against this bill. The bill also zeros out funds for Americorps, which is a high Presidential priority.”