David Obey

This amendment says, instead of spending $700 billion dollars on tax cuts, instead of spending $90 billion in tax cuts for people who make more than $300,000 a year, instead of giving $200 billion in tax cuts to the richest 400 people in…

This bill originally contained an emergency designation for funding for the Center for Disease Control to respond to bioterrorism attacks, as only that institution has the capacity to do. The committee designated it as an emergency. But…

On this side of the aisle, because this bill has not been on the floor for 3 years, we want to see this bill voted on. Speaking very frankly, politically, we would be delighted to finally see this House vote on this bill, and substantively…

I would simply then observe, Mr. Chairman, that the unanimous consent agreement was agreed to with the understanding that is stipulated in the Record. There is no question about being willing to work, but it is not the fault of the…

this is the first of 160 amendments that we intend to offer to this bill. This amendment adds $1,000 to the Child Care and Development Block Grant. I am offering this amendment because it is the only way under the rule under which this…

I told you, I am perfectly willing to put limits on every amendment, but I cannot control which amendments are going to be offered on your side of the aisle. We have done our work on this side of the aisle and identified Members who were…

Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I would note that I have no objection to this arrangement with the understanding that when the House returns to this bill it will not be at a time when Members are still flying back to Washington…

The gentleman full well knows what conversations took place both publicly and privately. If we cannot count on the majority to keep their word, then we might as well know it now.

All I would say is that if we cannot work it out, we are not going to make very much progress on that bill on Monday.

just 2 weeks ago, the Congress passed the China trade legislation. There were a lot of reasons why a lot of Members voted against that bill. One of the reasons is that a lot of us are concerned about the prospect of putting American…

So we have evidence right here in this amendment, Mr. Chairman, to verify our fears. We do not even yet have the block grant put into law and already this amendment is trying to cut it by $450 million. Then it cuts Indian education. It…

I find it ironic to consider how this bill has been handled today. We started out to deal with this bill this morning to try to provide Federal funding for education and health and job training programs. And then this bill was knocked off…

I would simply like to welcome the gentleman aboard. I know it has been a long road on the road to Damascus, but I have been here long enough to remember when the majority party was singing hosannas because Ronald Reagan was trying to zero…

I just want to use this time to respond to a couple of claims made by our friends on the other side. One of the speakers said they have had a big increase in the National Institutes of Health budget. What they are trying to do is have it…

This Republican bill puts irresponsible tax breaks before critical funding for education. We need to invest in our schools so that our children receive the best education in the world and are prepared for working in a 21st century economy…

we have heard a lot of talk here today from people who understand the cost of everything and the value of nothing. When someone says that we do not have cuts in this bill for education and health care and job training, what they ignore is…

I would like to say, look what this Congress did just a few weeks ago in taking the lid off of Social Security income because employers all over the country were telling us there are not enough skilled workers. Look at what we are doing…

Mr. Chairman, the only repetitive motion injury that some Members of Congress are likely ever to endure will come from the routine genuflecting to special interests that so often goes on around here. We ought to have an exception to that…

Mr. Chairman, the cost of this development program has doubled since 1985 to $24 billion. Only 15 percent of the testing program has been accomplished since the engineering manufacturing development program began in 1991. The conference…

is that the team where the best player is still the guy on the bench doing the coaching?

I would not have done this but for the words uttered by the gentleman from California. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from California who just spoke attacked those who were supporting this amendment as being ``leftists and socialists and the…

I wondered how long it would take the gentleman from California before he gets to his usual accusation that those who disagree with him are socialists or worse. I would simply say that the assertion that amendments like this have somehow…

I welcome the gentleman's conversion to support B-2 bombers. It is the first time I have ever known he has been for that program.

I want to get some things off my chest, nonetheless, about this bill and the context in which it is being presented. The President presented to the Congress a defense bill which had a hefty $16 billion, 6 percent increase. It contained the…

The Washington political establishment is looking down its collective elitist nose at those of us who are saying no to legislation that would provide permanent Most-Favored-Nation trading status for China. In their newspaper columns and at…