David Obey: “Mr. Speaker, we are here long after we should be because the Republican majority is saying no to the President's request…”

“Mr. Speaker, we are here long after we should be because the Republican majority is saying no to the President's request to target funding for reducing class sizes in America. We are here because the Republican majority is saying no to helping the poorest school districts in the country repair broken down and dangerous school buildings. We are here with the Congress having passed no real HMO reform legislation, only sham reform legislation. We are now even told by one of the previous speakers that the majority party is happy that they have not passed a minimum wage increase. We are here because the Republican Party is saying no to insurance coverage for women for basic contraceptive services. There are some who would like to blame the President for everything, including the pitiful shape of the Washington Redskins. I would simply say that I have in my hand, as someone from Wisconsin used to say it, a little booklet called 'How Our Laws Are Made.' Even Members of Congress, I think, have sufficient reading ability in the English language to understand what the book says. And what that book says is that it is the job of the Congress to pass appropriation bills, and then it is the job of the President to decide whether he is going to sign them or veto them. The fact is, out of the 13 appropriation bills that are supposed to be sent to the President, only four have been sent, and two of those four have been signed.”