David Obey: “I am offering a motion to instruct to the conferees to defend what would have been considered a core Republican value…”

“I am offering a motion to instruct to the conferees to defend what would have been considered a core Republican value when I first came to this body. When I came to this body, the Republican Party was a very strong internationalist party, and it recognized that the best way to defend our own economic interests was to make certain that our economy was operating in a world which was as stable as possible. We are being asked to appoint conferees tonight on a bill which is supposed to contain not only supplemental appropriations for Bosnia and for Iraq and for flood victim relief, it is also supposed to contain, at least the administration asked us to include in this proposition, full funding for the IMF replenishment and funding, as well, for the United Nations arrearages so that we can eliminate our debt status in that organization. I have a motion here tonight which would instruct the conferees to at least accept, as an add-on to the bill passed by this House, to accept our obligation to fully fund the administration request for the IMF.”