David Obey

Madam Speaker, let me say that in the handling of this supplemental appropriation, the Republican majority in this House has given us a case study in how not to proceed. It seems that virtually every time we have an emergency which this…

I regard Mr. Milosevic as a sociopath. If I had my way, NATO would have gone after him a long time ago. I think he ought to be tried as a war criminal. I think he is one of the most useless leaders to ever walk on the face of the earth…

I think it is ironic that on a day when we are swearing in a new colleague, the House is losing one of its best Members. I have known the gentleman from Louisiana a long time. He came here a little over 20 years ago. He served as my…

I honestly believe this is the worst day for this institution in this century, and history will see it as such. The tool of impeachment was inserted in the Constitution to protect the country from irreparable harm, not to punish the…

I would simply say to those Members on the other side of the aisle, if you do not like the process that produced this bill, I would simply point out that your party runs this place. It was your party that set the schedule that provided…

this bill is here because of a massive institutional failure on the part of the Congress. Now, it is true that there are some major victories for the President and for my party in this package. In my judgment, those major victories are…

I am most reluctantly going to vote yes for this bill, because in contrast to the Republican bill which gutted the President's education budget, this bill is $2.6 billion above the President's education budget. This bill restores the fuel…

Madam Speaker, what I have just heard is absolute total nonsense. The administration does not want to shut down the government. The administration is asking for one thing, full funding of the census. You are holding those programs hostage…

I do simply want to say that when the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hamilton) retires, this institution will have lost one of the most thoughtful human beings who has ever walked the floor of this House. Of all of the relationships that I…

I yield myself 12 minutes. Madam Speaker, well, I guess I would say that this debate, as did the debate 2 days ago, also reminds me of Yogi Berra's statement, ``This is deja vu all over again,'' and again and again and again. We are in a…

It is simply false to say that the difference between the President and the Republican majority on the issue of class size is that the administration wants to run this program through Federal bureaucracy and the Republicans want to make…

Mr. Speaker, we are here long after we should be because the Republican majority is saying no to the President's request to target funding for reducing class sizes in America. We are here because the Republican majority is saying no to…

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Speaker for making my point. The gentleman simply indicated in his remarks that one of the reasons that the Congress has not finished its work is because the President was out of town too often. I would point out…

But I kind of feel like Yogi Berra. This is deja vu all over again. And I think we really do need to understand why we are here and what the practical steps are that must be taken if we are to get out of here in a reasonable length of…

I guess that means that he feels we should not have passed the Nation's student loan programs which we would not have had without a Democratic Congress. I guess that means he feels we should not have Pell grants that helped the kids from…

I would also remind the gentleman from Arizona, he says that when the Democrats controlled Congress, we did not take up campaign finance reform. The fact is we passed campaign finance reform three times in this House. I was the sponsor of…

Let me say, Mr. Speaker, there is not an increase in the LIHEAP program in the manager's amendment. There is an increase from zero. But the program level last year was over a billion dollars. So it is an 85 percent reduction. Thanks for…

this is a fairly important issue. It seems to me that if Members are going to vote on it the least they could do is be here in the chamber when it is debated, and I would hope that the leadership of both parties would be sending out…

I hope that we are not about to spend another couple of fruitless hours. Excuse me, but I have laryngitis, so probably everybody will be happy about that. But the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. McInnis) is nodding yes. Mr. Speaker, I want to…

I would simply say to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson) that that speech simply will not wash. If you really believe that contraceptive coverage should be provided in this bill, there is only one way to get it: turn the bill…

I believe that that issue should be discussed before the House votes, because I think it is ridiculous for any Member of this House to vote for a rule that makes this bill in order. I want to make clear, first of all, that the bill this…

I want to express my affection for the gentleman from New Mexico and my great respect for the gentlewoman from Ohio, and I regret that I have to oppose their bill, but I want to explain why I am doing that. Mr. Speaker, I think there are…

again, in the interest of fact, I am required to correct the gentleman's previous statements. He says that no one on this side of the aisle has tried to cut unneeded spending. It was not people on this side of the aisle who decided that we…

this rule should not be before us tonight and neither should this bill. The conference report was just signed about an hour ago, and now under a martial law approach it is before the House. No Member has had a chance to examine what is in…

let us not kid ourselves: This does not have diddly-squat to do with term limits. What you want to do is to make sure that you can dismiss whoever is the general counsel of the FEC by a simple party line vote. That is what the proposal…