David Obey: “as Members of this House know, when I have objections to the content of a bill, I am not shy in stating them. There are…”

“as Members of this House know, when I have objections to the content of a bill, I am not shy in stating them. There are certainly portions of this bill with which I do not agree, but I want to say that it is very unusual and it is a very pleasant experience to see a piece of legislation brought to the floor which is not so much a product of politics as it is a product of legislative craftsmanship. I think that is the case with this bill. I think that the gentleman from Ohio and the gentleman from Indiana working together in an absolutely bipartisan fashion have produced a bill which is obviously based on some intellectual decisions about how to approach problems rather than being based simply on political judgments, and that means that this place is performing as it should perform. It is not just being a political institution; it is also being a legislative institution. That is happening in no small measure because of the leadership of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hobson). That does not mean that I do not think this bill does not fall short in some areas. I think that the budget resolution has made it impossible for this committee to do a number of things that it ought to be doing in the area of energy research. Lord knows, that is important these days with rising gas prices and all of the rest; but I just want to say in my view, despite those shortcomings, this bill demonstrates that good government is good politics.…”