David Obey: “I find it quaint that somehow the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) is being questioned for the lack of…”

“I find it quaint that somehow the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) is being questioned for the lack of hearings held by the Committee on the Judiciary, when in fact the entire compact arrangement was imposed on the country without ever having had a hearing in either House, and, in fact, without having a vote in this House. The history demonstrates that the only vote that occurred was in the other body, and the other body turned down the proposition of compacts. Then somehow, through the process of immaculate conception, we wound up getting dairy compacts in a conference report in violation of the rules of both Houses. So it seems to me it is time to uphold the rule of the House. After that has been done, Mr. Chairman, then I would hope that we could bring the regions of the country together on this issue, as we are trying to bring all parties in this country together on a wide variety of issues in light of what happened the last 3 weeks. And I would hope that we could actively pursue some kind of a compromise on this issue.”