David Obey

I would like to ask one question. I have just been told that one Member of the leadership of the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Regula] has indicated that if this bill goes down on final passage, that all Democratic projects are going to be…

I think the amendment of the gentleman from California is a constructive amendment because it both attempts to target some of the high priority items that ought to be purchased and, second, it does not attempt to put this committee in an…

the gentleman from New York just said that this is about saving taxpayers money. That is not what it is about at all. Just last week, I would point out, this House voted for enough B-2 bombers, which the Pentagon did not want, to pay for…

I would simply note that I am going to vote for this amendment because it does not do nothing to nobody. The outlay savings from this amendment are exactly zero. This money is never going to be spent, it is there simply as a cushion…

the issue is not whether there is going to be a tax cut. It is who going to get most of it. Under the Republican tax bill, you have the biggest transfer of wealth out of the pockets of low- and middle-income families to the most well-off…

this amendment cuts $331 million, a down payment on 9 B-2 bombers that we do not need, and it moves the money to the guard and reserve. It is simply that simple. But this is not about just $330 million. This will remove a $27 billion time…

The fact is that before the government was shut down 2 years ago, on 14 separate occasions the leadership of the majority party was quoted as saying it intended to shut the government down if that was necessary in order to require the…

I would like to discuss my understanding about the intentions of the conferees regarding section 4001 on assistance to Ukraine. Mr. Speaker, the language indicates that the President may waive the minimum funding requirements in subsection…

This is the same bill as the conference agreement: $8.6 billion in disaster relief and funding for Bosnian reimbursement to the Pentagon, minus three controversial riders. The rider dealing with rights-of-way on public lands has been…

90 days ago the President sent the Congress an emergency message asking that we appropriate supplemental funds to help flood victims and to help meet the costs of our activities in Bosnia. Last week, instead of responding to that request…

it is hard for me to tell today whether I am participating in a session of the House of Representatives or a national seance. I mean this bill is going absolutely nowhere. It reminds me of the fellow who was so unlucky that he ran into…

Let me simply make a point and ask a question. As the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations just indicated, we have been working very hard over the last 2 days in conference to try to get a bill that this House can vote on before we…

I think this is a time for pity in the House. What is happening to this supplemental reminds me of what my favorite philosopher, Archie the cockroach, said once. He said, now and then, somebody is born who is so unlucky he runs into…

this amendment is not about big government. It is about good government and fair government. This amendment as far as I am concerned is far superior than that brought forth by the committee. It does more in deficit reduction. It does a…

let me simply say that I think we need to understand, if I can get the attention of the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Kingston], using the term ``administrative uses'' is a very tricky way to go about this. We do not want in any way under…

I would just like to take 30 seconds to reiterate, this motion to instruct is a motion to instruct on the amendment as it passed the House last night, period, with no games played on the question of administrative costs which in any way…

again I want to make the point that we did not have government shutdowns the last 2 years because of an unhappy accident. We had it because of this kind of a mind-set: One of your Members last year said, ``I believe the short-term problems…

I think this rule is considerably improved from yesterday for the following reasons: First of all, it no longer contains the extraneous and, in my view, extremely misguided provisions which would have dragged this emergency proposal into a…

if the gentleman is going to quote me, I wish he would use my words rather than his. That is not what I said. I never indicated that this would apply at all to legislation which had already passed. My point is that with the bills that have…

Mr. Chairman, when this bill came to the floor, it was in shape to be supported on a bipartisan basis and it was in shape that was going to be signed by the President. At least that was my understanding. Now, with the adoption of the Gekas…

the comments just made by the gentleman in the well were absolutely, totally incorrect. I would point out that one of the objections we have to this permanent CR provision is that it would also allow for the continuation of programs at 100…

Mr. Chairman, this is not a liberal issue. This is not a conservative issue. This is an issue of values. Who are we and what do we stand for in the United States of America? We are talking about cereal, we are talking about milk, and we…

Mr. Chairman, as I told the gentleman earlier, we tried in the full committee to provide funding for CDBG. We were asked to withhold, and we have been. I will not press this issue to a vote as well, but let me simply suggest I do think…

Mr. Chairman, the Government did not shut down 2 years ago because of some unhappy accident of governance. The Government was shut down because a number of willful Members indicated well ahead of time that it was their intention to do just…

I had not intended to do this at this time, but since the gentleman from South Dakota [Mr. Thune] is here, I would like to get his attention to express a point of concern on his amendment. I do not intend to oppse the amendment of the…