David Obey

I doubt that I will take the full time. But let me simply observe, we have had a budget deal announced by the President of the United States and the leadership of this Congress. That has been met with varying degrees by enthusiasm by…

I simply note that this rule also denies to the Republican chairman of the Committee on Appropriations the right to offer a very thoughtful and fair-minded substitute on the amendment to be offered on Bosnia. I think that alone is a very…

I would simply point out his leadership is not on the floor. Where are they? It would be nice if they were providing some help in getting us together rather than pulling us apart again.

I voted for the ban on partial-birth abortions last year. I expect to do it again. But I am against this rule because it prevents me from voting in a way that fully expresses my own conscience. My conscience tells me that this procedure…

I would like to invite Members of the House to join me in sending a letter to the Director of the FBI asking that he consider appointing our colleague, the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Burton], as the new head of the FBI forensics lab…

I do not agree with the administration policy on Mexico. I certainly do not agree with their policy on NAFTA. But I am going to support the committee proposition because I think this entire process is ridiculous. Under the certification…

today I am introducing the Let the Public Decide Campaign Finance Reform Act. Two developments over the last year have demonstrated that for all practical purposes there are no longer any campaign finance rules in this country. One…

I have been at the center of virtually every effort to reform campaign finance since the day I walked into this institution, but this exercise today is absolutely useless. It is going to produce a useless bill, which is an absolutely…

let me simply make a few brief observations. I have some concerns about a number of items in this bill, including the international nuclear issues, the squeeze which is created on fusion research by earmarking, which means that you have…

First of a kind funding is limited to 4 years. The first of a kind funding, which is the subject of this amendment, is limited to 4 years. If we do not pass this amendment, we are providing it for a fifth year without authorization.

I would simply say that I do not think the point of order should be determined on the basis of a judgment that the Durbin amendment would in fact narrow the scope of what is happening here. In fact, the language in the committee bill would…

let me simply say on this side of the aisle I will be willing to accept the gentleman's amendment. I think it is a good public interest amendment.

Let me simply suggest, I know the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Porter] is probably trying to get a bite to eat just like I am going to be trying to get a bite to eat. I am sure that both of us would like to see additional funding for Pell…

I do believe that the way to deal with this is in the authorization process. I think that if this amendment were adopted into law in its present form, it would in fact create perverse incentives which would have the effect of encouraging…

Mr. Chairman, whatever amendments Democrats offer to try to help people, we get the same response from the Republican side of the aisle: "It is all going to the bureaucracy." Let me tell the Members where the money is going. We are trying…

I do not want to see illegal aliens in this country. I want our laws enforced. I do not want illegals to undercut the pay of U.S. workers. There is enough of that going on already. But I frankly am not at all sure that I like the idea of…

without this amendment, this committee bill is the first step in a 6-year process that will reduce the investment that we make in our kids by 20 percent in real dollar terms. I do not think, and I do not think that the country thinks, that…

The gentleman referred to Hmong refugees. For those people who do not understand who they are, during the Vietnam war, the Hmong did our CIA's dirty work in Laos. They took a lot of guff. They suffered a lot of casualties. When the war…

that is absolute, total nonsense and baloney. I absolutely totally resent the implication. Anyone who knows me knows I have been around here long enough to write my own amendments. I wrote this amendment in the full committee. I discussed…

I find the comment ironic, because for the last 2 weeks Planned Parenthood has been lobbying against my amendment, and only after they reached the rational conclusion that they could not win by following their own whim did they finally…

we are adding that by moving, just as the committee bill did on title I, we are moving a significant amount of money from title I expended in this year, moving it to the October payment, must as the committee has provided for an October…

This year the committee has done the same thing for the following school year, which means the school districts will get one check in July and another in October. We in this amendment simply propose to do the same thing. We propose to…

if the gentleman would bother to look at the size of DOE going back to 1980, he would discover that Department has declined in size already by 20 percent.

again trying to separate symbol from substance, the bill language already clearly says that none of the funds made available for injury prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control, courtesy of the Livingston-Obey amendment…

I am of a mixed mind on this amendment. The gentleman and I had a conversation earlier today, as he knows, and I indicated at that time that because he had described his amendment to me as being one which made clear that this was a matter…