David Obey: “I would like to say that for the vast majority of us on this side of the aisle, our concern is not with the amount that…”

“I would like to say that for the vast majority of us on this side of the aisle, our concern is not with the amount that is cut. Our concern is where those cuts fall. I honestly believe, as the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Pastor) has said, the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations is a very fair-minded and balanced person. I think that if the committee had been allowed to work out on a bipartisan basis where these cuts were made, we could have come up with a far more equitable distribution than the one that is before us tonight. I would also say that I think the leadership on both sides has an obligation to treat rank and file Members the way they would like to be treated themselves. That has not happened in the way these cuts have been laid out tonight. I would make one other point. If we compare the salaries that are paid to staff persons for rank and file Members of the House versus salaries paid to persons with those same responsibilities in the Senate, Members will see that on average the Senate pays people for those same salaries about 20 percent more for a legislative director or a legislative assistant and for other positions of high responsibility. I think there are severe implications to that differential that do not adequately represent the interests of this body, and I would urge that when these actions are taken, that we remember the context in which they are taken.”