David Obey: “Mr. Speaker, what I want to say is directed to one simple question: How much self-respect does each and every individual…”

“Mr. Speaker, what I want to say is directed to one simple question: How much self-respect does each and every individual Member of this body possess? Does every one of the 435 Members who belongs to this body believe that they have a right to participate in the process by which major decisions are made, or do they believe that year after year these major decisions, especially if they are politically difficult, will be made by a few people in a room somewhere? That is the issue. Now, the way this place is supposed to do business is that the President's budget comes down to the floor each year, it is divided into 13 appropriation bills for discretionary spending, and one by one those subcommittees containing members who specialize in these issues and actually, lo and behold, know something about them, are supposed to deal with these issues on a bill-by-bill basis.”