David Obey: “this place is really something else. We just had a debate on an amendment that doesn't do ``nothing'' to or for…”

“this place is really something else. We just had a debate on an amendment that doesn't do ``nothing'' to or for ``nobody''. The Dubai deal is already dead, and so it is irrelevant whether this House votes for the Gilchrest amendment or not. Because the Dubai deal is already dead, the Lewis Amendment is eviscerated; it does not do anything. It leaves the country with the same problem that we had before we discovered the Dubai controversy. What Mr. Sabo is doing today is what he usually does, which is to try to bring a bit of objectivity and concern for substance into a political pit. And what Mr. Sabo is saying in his amendment is ``Let's fix the process so that we do not have the future spectacle of a President to the United States being clueless when a transaction like Dubai is about to take place.'' So what Mr. Sabo is saying is, ``Look, the problem with the process is that, right now, it is voluntary, whether or not the people with an economic interest in such a transaction ever notifies our government or not.'' What the Sabo Amendment would do is to say, ``Let's make sure our government always knows what is happening with these kind of transactions.'' And the second thing the Sabo Amendment does is to make certain that Congress can have a role, if it chooses, in this process. Because right now the only time Congress is ever informed is if the President turns down a transaction. They are not informed if the President goes ahead with it.…”