David Obey

This bill falls far short of the administration's request in meeting basic community needs for courthouses and the rest. I also am concerned, as the committee knows, with the nongermane provision which was added to this bill in committee…

Mr. Chairman, if we can eliminate the bloviating, let me simply say that I oppose this amendment for two reasons: Number one, it is my understanding, we do not have the facts in this case. We do not have the facts in this case, and we…

I see things quite differently than the gentleman who just spoke. What I find amazing about this bill is that just the increase in the budget for the Department of Defense over the last 18 months, just the increase, is larger than the…

I think the Burton amendment is a well-meaning amendment that will do little to help ethics, but it will do irreparable harm to vaccine development. The amendment blows up a carefully balanced process proposed in 1989 by President Bush…

I would simply emphasize again the Office of Government Ethics itself opposes this amendment, saying that the Government would be deprived of much of the best and most relevant outside expertise in many areas. This amendment is well…

Mr. Chairman, as we draw to the conclusion of this bill, I just want to remind Members of the shortcomings which will still lead people like me to vote against it on final passage, even though I fully recognize that the gentleman from New…

I would also appreciate it if the chairman would also help us to explore the possibility of helping growers through the current difficult times with direct payments. The Cranberry Industry estimates that $20 million will improve income by…

Mr. Chairman, I will certainly support this amendment, but I must say that I will be amused to see those persons in this Chamber who will today vote for this amendment who just a short time ago voted to prevent us from being able to…

I am concerned that the USDA is not being aggressive enough in encouraging dairy exports through the Dairy Export Incentive Program, or DEIP, which allows us to compete in world markets with highly subsidized exports in the European Union…

Mr. Chairman, let me simply take some time right now to indicate that I think the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Skeen) has done a lot of hard work trying to essentially squeeze a small amount of dollars into an even smaller bag. I think…

Cranberry growers, as we know, like all farmers today, it seems they are in dire straits due to overproduction, massive overproduction and lower prices. It costs about $35 per barrel to produce cranberries. Some growers in my district are…

Mr. Chairman, as we know, the Senate bill provides direct payments to dairy farmers estimated at $443 million to offset the record low prices we have seen for much of the past year. I would simply ask the chairman if he would be willing to…

at this point, I think it is important for people to understand that we consider those items to be merely deferred, not eliminated, because people are smoking something that is not legal if they think we are going to be able to get out of…

Mr. Chairman, we have had one of the wonders of congressional history plaguing every farmer in this country the past few years; it has been called the Freedom to Farm Act. And under that act, farmers have had the freedom to experience…

That is fine, but this is an institution that makes collective judgments. With all due respect to the gentleman, I think the committee spent more time examining this problem than the gentleman has.

I mean, the gentleman's comments I think simply do not accurately reflect what Members have said. What we are saying is that it is nice if there are people in this place who recognize the value of something as well as its cost. That goes…

I would simply say this, we have an economy that is second to none in the world. We have an agricultural community which is second to none in the world. We did not get that way by putting green eyeshades ahead of our own judgment…

Mr. Speaker, the drug companies vigorously support the Republican plan, because they understand that the Republican plan is like the wolf giving Little Red Riding Hood a roadmap through the woods. It is a phony deal. The Republican…

I think it is fitting that, at the end of a daffy day we should be discussing a daffy deal on a daffy rule that will bring a daffy bill to the floor. Let me first say that I am mystified by the way the leadership of the House is proceeding…

I simply, Mr. Chairman, wanted to say that I think that the gentleman from California (Mr. Packard) is one of the people who have added to the decency of this institution. In the years that he has been on the committee, I think he has been…

the 21st century in terms of American lives lost was the bloodiest in our history and the meanest, except for the 19th, in which we conducted an American Civil War which put brother against brother and from which we are still suffering…

the fact is those salaries are a whole lot less than every other branch of government. They still are. And it seems to me that one of the ways for people to judge Members of Congress is to judge them by whether or not they deal with their…

this gentleman is not sure what the right way to proceed is on that issue. This gentleman is sure that the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers) was not elected to be Secretary of State and neither was the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr…

I do not necessarily endorse any individual peacekeeping operation. I do not believe that is my role. But when the committee says and the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers) says that, no matter what happens in the world, that the United…

Mr. Chairman, this debate demonstrates just how dumb this bill is. We have the people who are offering the amendment, justifiably pointing out that the Patent Office ought to be fully funded because that office is key to innovation, it is…