David Obey: “Mr. Speaker, the House has a decision to make today which in the real world would have a real effect on virtually every…”

“Mr. Speaker, the House has a decision to make today which in the real world would have a real effect on virtually every American. We have to face this question: Are we going to provide money now to tighten security on our borders, in our ports, on our airplanes, or are we going to wait? Are we going to provide the public health services and local governments with money now to defend against bioterrorism, or are we going to wait? Are we going to accelerate our efforts to protect nuclear, biological and chemical weapons from falling into the wrong hands in the former Soviet Union now, or are we going to wait? Are we going to clean up our mail, or are we going to wait? Are we going to give the Nation's Federal, State and local law enforcement officials the additional resources they need to find al Qaeda cells operating in this country, or are we going to wait? There are people downtown who would like us to wait. They want to take the time to study these problems. They want to participate in these decisions. Perhaps they want credit for being part of the solution. That is all fine. We need their thoughts. We need their input. We need them both. Now. We are glad to give them credit, but we cannot wait. We are in a race against time.”