David Obey: “I do appreciate very much the initiatives that are being taken by this subcommittee with respect to the climate change…”

“I do appreciate very much the initiatives that are being taken by this subcommittee with respect to the climate change problem facing the globe. These are small initiatives; they are nonetheless important. They are not nearly sufficient to deal with the long-term problem, but we will have to mount a much greater effort on this front in the years to come. I would like to comment on what has happened with respect to local law enforcement assistance over the past 3 years. We have had a Kabuki dance going on for years between the White House and the Congress of the United States. Each year, the President proposes very deep cuts in the law enforcement assistance grants to localities, and each year the Congress only partially restores those cuts. It then pats itself on the back, says, 'Oh, what a good boy am I. Look how much we added to law enforcement,' when, in fact, all they did is restore a small portion of the President's reductions. As a result, these programs, which were funded at the $4.4 billion level in fiscal 2001, are now funded at about $2.8 billion, $1.6 billion below the high watermark. That is ill-advised, in my view. I appreciate the fact that this bill provides a substantial increase in that funding for local law enforcement, $1.7 billion, or 53 percent, above the President's request.”