David Obey

I think House Members would be interested in what I consider to be an egregious anomaly in this bill. Today, administrative assistants in the other body are paid, on average, $118,000. In this institution they are paid approximately…

I would simply observe for the gentleman from Florida that many of my constituents would say that the Republic has never yet been harmed when a Member of Congress has been hoarse, but let me simply make some points about the issue at hand…

I think this bill is a perfectly reasonable bill and I intend to support it. I am especially pleased with the fact that the new conservation initiative known in some corners as the Lands Legacy Variation, I am very pleased with the funding…

our Founding Fathers created the Bill of Rights not so they would be there in easy, convenient times; but so they would be enforceable in tough times. This is one of those tough times. We have had a bipartisan bill developed in the…

the account that the gentleman is asking that we increase has been increased in this bill by 100 percent. The account that the gentleman would cut in order to finance the increase that he is asking for is the account that funds infectious…

let me point out that the President will send to this Congress tomorrow a request for $2 billion, not 12 million dollars but $2 billion to combat disease-related potential attacks from any source. I would urge the House not to fall into…

I think the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) and I would rather have less thanks and more support. I have two things I would like to say, Mr. Chairman. First of all, with respect to the duty that I think individual Members owe the…

let me simply say to the gentleman, he has talked to me about his concern about providing additional funding for autism. I very much agree with that; and, as a matter of fact, I agree with some of the comments he just made about some of…

I simply want to thank the gentleman for his interest in this program. I know he has been most interested in seeing that we appropriate as much money as possible for the inspection of nursing homes and I appreciate his leadership on this…

I would simply respond by relating this story. I announced the opening of a dental clinic in a four-county area in my district last year. When I was at that clinic, one woman told me that she had a son who was very, very sick. Her husband…

What do all of those names have in common? They are the people who really put together this bill. Every Member of the House will have an opportunity to vote on this bill, and I think we can do that proudly, because I think it is a good…

That again illustrates what Will Rogers said when he said when two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary. The gentleman's opinion may very well be the sound one; ours may very well be the sound one. But in this instance…

I have, as I said earlier, opposed the idea of compacts for years. I think they have been divisive; I think this ought to be one country. I do not think we ought to have a Balkanized milk marketing arrangement. What the gentleman from…

Mr. Chairman, no one in this Chamber has been more opposed to regional dairy compacts than have I. The gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) and I have exchanged many a strong word about that subject. But I participated in several meetings…

I think this issue is extremely important for farmers all over the country, because with this kind of a nationalized arrangement, we would, for the first time, enable the gentleman's farmers in his area of the country to receive a higher…

I find it quaint that somehow the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) is being questioned for the lack of hearings held by the Committee on the Judiciary, when in fact the entire compact arrangement was imposed on the country…

the problem that the gentleman has now is that each region has a different differential payment. If you have one uniform price that is paid all across the country, then in effect farmers are not getting the same benefit if they live in a…

Chairman Knollenberg has done a good job with this bill, and I thank him. He has approved the overall budget for the use of local funds, judiciously used the Federal allocation to fund required services and boost several local initiatives…

I have had the privilege for most of the years of my service here to serve with the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hamilton); and, in my view, he is one of the most distinguished persons ever to occupy this body. He has a solid understanding…

That may be perfectly reasonable because this country cannot operate without a functioning airline system. We understand that. But we want to know whether or not the administration is in support of this or not. Secondly, I want a clear…

two additional questions I would like to have answered. What is the position of the administration? Are they recommending this or are they not? Secondly, what is the budget scoring associated with this proposal? My understanding is that…

Are they willing to ask for it so we know they have run the trap lines and think this is fiscally sound?

I think if this is to be considered tonight, and I think, obviously, there are other Members with other concerns, and I still have not heard an answer to the Federal Reserve question, which I think the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr…

I do not think anyone who is raising questions tonight is trying to do anything except meet our constitutional responsibilities to know what we are doing before we spend taxpayers' money. Now, the gentleman from Alaska is a good friend of…

Mr. Speaker, this bill is a response to the worst attack on U.S. soil in the history of our republic. That attack requires a response which is focused, strong, mature, and lasting. That attack requires a response that is based on solid…