David Obey: “I think everybody here remembers this fellow, President Reagan. He once stood before this body. This is a picture of him…”

“I think everybody here remembers this fellow, President Reagan. He once stood before this body. This is a picture of him doing it. He pointed to an appropriations conference report and he said this: ``This is the conference report, a 1,053-page report weighing 14 pounds.'' Then he said, ``Congress should never send me another one of these.'' Do you know how much this thing weighs today? Do you know how much this weighs? This is over 3,000 pages, and it weighs over 32 pounds. Now, President Reagan was talking about how bad it was when he had a 14-pound document. This is 2 rac{1}{2} times as big. And then we have another outrage. I will get into the rest of the substance later, but I want to mention one thing especially. This bill, for first responders, this bill in terms of the aid we provide to firemen and policemen across the country, is $456 million below even President Bush's request. Does this House really want to vote to cut it that low? Now we are being told that the answer to our security problems is duct tape and plastic sheeting. With all due respect, rather than duct tape and plastic sheeting, I think our firemen would rather have more aid so they can buy the protective equipment that they need to protect their communities. That is just one of the shortcomings of this bill.”