David Obey

I have supported this bill for years, but I do not believe that I can any longer do so. Since 1989 we have really had euphoria in this country. The Iron Curtain collapsed, democracy was restored in a good many countries in central Europe…

I think the House has an obligation here to think not about whether we like or dislike the North Korean regime, but what will most protect the interests of the United States. There is no regime in the world that is one-tenth as crazy, as…

In Russia, within a period of three months, people have lost 85 percent of the value of their investments, 85 percent of the value of the stock market. If that had happened in this country today, we would be in the midst of a revolution…

It still dropped a huge amount that day. And I would simply say this Congress has a responsibility to take any action necessary to try to stabilize the situation rather than continuing to contribute to its destabilization.

first of all, let me apologize for keeping you here after 10 o'clock at night. Also, let me apologize to the staff. I do not ordinarily talk to myself in an empty room, as the other two gentlemen have been doing for an hour. But there is…

I have not even yet seen the motion of the gentleman from Maryland. I trust his judgment on it, and I understand the thrust of it, and I agree with it. But there are some other fairly important issues that all of us have to tend to these…

I would simply say that with respect to housing in general, this Congress is going to have some severe problems in the coming 2 or 3 years because of some severe shortfalls that are going to occur in that account. I am happy that OMB and…

I note that there are stories that continue to appear in the press to the effect that we are facing a possible government shutdown. The fact is that, in my view, there is virtually no chance whatsoever that we will experience a government…

all that demonstrates is what Will Rogers meant when he said, when two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary.

I just do not understand why he thinks it is a waste to spend $110 million to produce such a beautiful example of modern art. This, as has been indicated in the debate before, is a picture of the channel 50 as it is being jammed by Cuban…

So that is why the gentleman from California said, in essence, that if this amendment is passed, it would shut down the ability of the FHA to function without these services to American homeowners.

I would like to simply point out that there is no statutory authority for the agency to continue to do this through mandatory spending. If there were, then they would simply be spending the same amount of dollars in mandatory spending as…

The fact is I cannot get into the head of OMB or anybody else around here. All I know is that we have a choice. The choice is whether or not we are going to tell Members that things are so that are not so. The fact is, Members are being…

And is it not true that those services are, for instance, appraisals that FHA is required to obtain and computer services, without which FHA could not function and could not cut checks that they are supposed to cut?

And so you would not be saving one dime. You would simply be adding in the real world as opposed to the green eyeshade accounting world, you would simply be adding more money to the budget. What you are suggesting is that there is a way…

I would suggest what you are saying is if this causes heartburn to all of the people who we supposedly helped in the Neumann amendment last week on FHA housing, you are saying: ``So be it.'' I do not think you ought to treat homeowners…

let me simply say that the only use of any colloquy, if they have any use at all, is to explain legislative history. If readers of the Record want to know what the legislative history is, they need to read more than the comments of two…

the rule under which this bill was considered contains a self-executing provision, the effect of which was to delay from anywhere between 2 and 5 years the Consumer Product Safety Commission's adoption of a rule protecting consumers from…

I simply want to, on this side of the aisle, express our congratulations to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hefner) for the wonderful service he has provided this institution. He has worked for as long as he has been here for decent…

I simply want to suggest that I do not think that the juxtaposition that the gentleman from Indiana laid out between spending in space and spending here on the planet is at all illegitimate, as the gentleman seemed to suggest. I remember…

But I am worried that Vice President Gore has sent a signal to the agencies that regardless of whether Kyoto is implemented or not, he and the President expect them to move forward in addressing this problem. And I think we have to correct…

since the day I came here, Sid Yates, more than anyone else, has been associated with this bill year after year. I think it is safe to say that, without Sid Yates' leadership, there would be no funding for the arts and humanities in this…

Frankly, there is, in the human situation, always a lot of leeway. The Congress does not have the ability to serve as a nanny in dealing with every agency of government who might get out of hand to do something illegitimate. The language…

Thirty seconds is all I need. I would simply point out that money was taken from the fire fighting account because that was where money was intentionally parked by the committee, which they knew was above the amount that they were going to…

I take the floor today not so much in anger as in bemusement. This rule is the most blatantly partisan manipulation of the House rules that I have seen in my 29 years' service here. And I guess what I feel more than anything else is simply…