David Obey: “no Member of this House in the last 2 years has offered more amendments to cut military spending than I have. I think…”

“no Member of this House in the last 2 years has offered more amendments to cut military spending than I have. I think that we spend an obscene amount on military spending. I think it ought to be cut back deeply. Last year I offered an amendment to this bill to cut a number of projects out which were not on the administration's 5-year plan. I had originally expected to oppose this resolution because I felt that justice might best be served by making the White House and the Congress live with the consequences of their action on the line-item veto. But I think the manner in which the White House has handled these line-item vetoes in recent weeks is an affront to responsible government and deserves the type of public repudiation that this resolution provides. It is true that Members of Congress sometimes add items to legislation that are inconsistent with the overall purposes of that legislation and items that serve purposes too narrow to warrant the use of public funds. The same I would say can be said of many of the proposals contained in each of the budgets of each of the six Presidents I have served under. The question which the line-item veto raises was whether or not wiser decisions about the use of public funds could be made if the executive were given significant additional powers with respect to Government spending. I believe the experience we have had with the Clinton White House this fall answers the question.”