David Obey: “I think this bill is a mixed bag. There is much in it to commend it, and I especially want to express my appreciation to…”

“I think this bill is a mixed bag. There is much in it to commend it, and I especially want to express my appreciation to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Taylor) for the way that he has fairly involved the majority and minority in the fashioning of this bill, and also for the fact that he has treated Members with great fairness in my judgment. There are two problems that I see with the bill that I find troublesome. First, there are a number of what I consider to be antienvironmental riders involving Alaska and other areas. I would say, frankly, that these are not the worst antienvironmental riders I have seen in an Interior bill, but I guess that is damning, by faint praise, from my perspective. I think the basic problem is that the bill falls $447 million short of measuring up to the agreement that this committee signed on to 3 years ago.”