David Obey: “I wonder if anybody remembers these words: ``Whatsoever you do for the least of your brethren, you do for Me.'' I wonder…”

“I wonder if anybody remembers these words: ``Whatsoever you do for the least of your brethren, you do for Me.'' I wonder if anybody remembers those words? This amendment is truly amazing to me. This amendment is offered by a Member of the House, who, like me, any time he has an ache or a pain or a toothache or is having a bad day, can trot down to the Attending Physician and have the doctors and the nurses check us over to make sure that we are in peachy keen shape. But what does this amendment say? This amendment says to some of the poorest people in the country, our migrant and our farm workers, sorry, you can't have vocational rehabilitation services if you've got a physical problem. I would like to ask every Member of this House, have you ever picked cucumbers during the summer? Have you ever picked beans? Well, I have. I can tell you it is darn hard work. I used to represent a county by the name of Waushara County--wall to wall irrigation and crops like cucumbers and beans. I used to watch those migrant workers come in and work their tails off to get a few bucks. Are we really so stingy? Are we really so utilitarian that we are willing to say to workers like that, sorry, Members of Congress are important, so they can get taken care of whenever they have got a physical problem. But oh no, don't you dare waste the taxpayers' money when it comes to some poor devil in the migrant stream or when it comes to their family or kids.”