David Obey: “Mr. Chairman, this Labor, Health and Education bill is supposed to be that portion of the budget which invests in our…”

“Mr. Chairman, this Labor, Health and Education bill is supposed to be that portion of the budget which invests in our children, which opens the door of opportunity for young people, which opens the door to the doctor's office or to the hospital for people who live life on its underside and do not have access to regular health care. It is supposed to protect the interests of workers. This bill falls far short on all fronts. This bill does nothing to help workers, to protect workers against the efforts of employers to chisel on overtime pay. It falls billions of dollars behind the No Child Left Behind legislation in terms of meeting our obligations to support the education of our children. It brings to a screeching halt the healthy expansion of after-school programs. It does, in so many ways, fall short of where we ought to be; and it does that because the majority, as I said earlier, has made a decision that its top legislative priority is ever more and always to provide very large tax cuts to people who are already very well off.”