David Obey: “I yield myself 12 minutes. Madam Speaker, well, I guess I would say that this debate, as did the debate 2 days ago, also…”

“I yield myself 12 minutes. Madam Speaker, well, I guess I would say that this debate, as did the debate 2 days ago, also reminds me of Yogi Berra's statement, ``This is deja vu all over again,'' and again and again and again. We are in a situation in which we are now 14 days past the beginning of the fiscal year. This is certainly not the first time this has ever happened in the Congress. We have often seen the Congress not complete its budget work on time. But I think we are in a unique position in terms of why and a unique position in terms of what it is that still divides us. Madam Speaker, in my discussions this morning with the White House and with leadership, as I understand the situation, we are essentially down to a number of issues. The gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Livingston) and I have been able, along with our Senate counterparts, to wade through many, many dollar issues. But at this point, we are still divided because the President and the Democratic membership of this House still wants to see movement on the President's proposal for school construction so that we can help some of the poorest districts in the country who simply do not have the bonding resources to modernize their school buildings with Federal help. There are literally some schools, as the President said the other day, that are in such falling-down shape that if they were a prison, they would be condemned by a Federal judge. We cannot allow that disgrace to continue in our view.…”