David Obey: “Mr. Speaker, as everyone knows, we are supposed to have our appropriation bills done by the beginning of the fiscal year…”

“Mr. Speaker, as everyone knows, we are supposed to have our appropriation bills done by the beginning of the fiscal year on October 1. Right now, even if we pass the Interior bill today, the bill to which the distinguished gentleman from Florida has just referred, we will still have 9 of 13 appropriation bills that are pending, and only God knows when we are going to finish them. This continuing resolution keeps the government open until November 7. It is a very short CR, highly unrealistic in my view, if people have any expectation that this is going to be the last CR that we need. That means that the good news is we are going to get to do this all over again next week and the following week and probably the following week. I distinctly hope that we can be finished here by Thanksgiving. I desperately hope that we can, but my experience and my instincts are beginning to tell me that that is not at all likely.”