David Obey: “Frankly, there is, in the human situation, always a lot of leeway. The Congress does not have the ability to serve as a…”

“Frankly, there is, in the human situation, always a lot of leeway. The Congress does not have the ability to serve as a nanny in dealing with every agency of government who might get out of hand to do something illegitimate. The language of this amendment is pretty clear. The agency is expected to provide education, not advocacy. I would think that any time that the agency engages in an activity which goes beyond the line of the objective of providing information, I would think that people on the side of the issue who think that they have been skewered by it would bring it to the attention of the Congress, and I would think the Congress would react accordingly. I am not in the business of censorship, and I cannot be in the business of defining ahead of time whether some idiot in some agency is going to do something which they are not supposed to do under the law. All I can say is that the language is quite clear. My comments in explaining the amendment are quite clear. And if the agency goes across the line into advocacy, it does so at its peril.”