David Obey: “I rise in support of the Castle amendment. Mr. Chairman, first of all, let me say that there is virtually no Member of…”

“I rise in support of the Castle amendment. Mr. Chairman, first of all, let me say that there is virtually no Member of this House, certainly on that side of the aisle, for whom I have more respect than the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hyde]. I have a great deal of fondness for him personally as well. I want to say that I very much enjoyed the opportunity to work very closely with him just a couple of weeks ago in fashioning a new compromise on this bill which expands the effect of the Hyde amendment to cover HMO situations. I think that the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hyde] correctly indicated that there was a problem with HMO's who tried to get around the Hyde amendment, and I am pleased that we were able to work with him to expand that amendment. I think that should help unify the House behind this bill. In this instance, however, I differ with the gentleman's judgment, although I did not on the other question, because I think here the issue is not what we want our children to do but how we think we can best affect what it is they do. This is not a question about goals. It is a question about approaches. It is a question of what you think works, at least in my view.”