| 00:00:00 | REALISTIC IN TERMS OF WHAT OUR HUSBANDING NEEDS, WHAT OUR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH NEEDS ARE AND WHAT OTHER -- SOME OTHER BASIC NEEDS ARE THAT ARE FUNDED BY THIS BILL. |
| 00:00:18 | I ALSO WANT TO CON -- CONGRATULATE THE MEMBERS ON THE OTHER SUBCOMMITTEE IN THE BILL, THE ENERGY AND WATER SUBCOMMITTEE FOR THE WORK THAT THEY'VE DONE. |
| 00:00:27 | I MUST CONFESS SOME DISQUIET IN SUPPORTING THAT PORTION OF THE CONFERENCE REPORT, NOT BECAUSE I OBJECT TO THE WORK DONE BY THE SUBCOMMITTEE BUT BECAUSE WE ARE PROCEEDING IN A VERY STRANGE WAY AND BECAUSE OF THAT FACT, WE ARE IN A SITUATION WHERE WE ARE GOING TO BE VOTING ALMOST $900 MILLION MORE THAN THE PRESIDENT REQUESTED FOR THAT BILL. |
| 00:00:54 | WITHOUT HAVING ANY KNOWLEDGE OF HOW MUCH WE ARE GOING TO BE ALLOWED TO PROVIDE FOR WHAT I CONSIDER TO BE EVEN MORE CRITICAL PROGRAMS SUCH AS EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE. |
| 00:01:08 | WE HAVE BEEN STYMIED HERE FOR MONTHS, FRANKLY, OVER THE RESISTANCE OF THE MAJORITY PARTY LEADERSHIP TO PROVIDE THE SAME KIND OF FINANCIAL LARGESSE FOR EDUCATION THAT WE ARE PROVIDING IN THE ENERGY AND WATER BILL, FOR THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, OR IN SOME OF THE OTHER BILLS THAT HAVE GONE THROUGH THIS PLACE. |
| 00:01:39 | AGAIN, I SAY -- 30 MORE SECONDS. |
| 00:01:43 | I WOULD SIMPLY SAY I CONGRATULATE EVERYONE FOR THE WORK THEY'VE DONE ON THESE BILLS. |
| 00:01:47 | IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT THAT THE BILLS ARE BEING CONSIDERED IN THIS CONTEXT. |
| 00:01:51 | I WANT TO MAKE THAT CLEAR. |
| 00:01:54 | BUT I DO OBJECT TO HAVING TO VOTE FOR THIS KIND OF A PACKAGE WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT THE PLANS ARE IN THE END TO MEET WHAT OUGHT TO BE THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY OF THIS COUNTRY, EDUCATION. |
| 00:02:09 | THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: THE GENTLEMAN FROM NEW YORK. |
| 00:02:12 | MR. |
| 00:02:13 | WALSH: MR. |
| 00:02:14 | SPEAKER, AT THIS TIME I WOULD YIELD TO THE DISTINGUISHED CHAIRMAN OF THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE FOR A COLLOQUY. |
| 00:02:22 | MR. |
| 00:02:23 | GILMAN FROM NEW YORK. MR. |
| 00:02:24 | GILMAN: I THANK THE GENTLEMAN FOR YIELDING, AND MR. |
| 00:02:27 | CHAIRMAN, I RISE TODAY TO ENGAGE IN A COLLOQUY WITH OUR FRIEND FROM |
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I am going to vote for the conference report. I think that, after being lost in wonderland territory for over 8 months, that the committee has finally been allowed to be realistic in terms of what our housing needs are, what our scientific research needs are, and what some other basic needs are that are funded by the bill.
I also want to congratulate the members on the other subcommittee in the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development for the work that they have done. I must confess some disquiet in supporting that portion of the conference report, not because I object to the work done by the subcommittee, but because we are proceeding in a very strange way. Because of that fact, we are in a situation where we are going to be voting almost $900 million more than the President requested for that bill without having any knowledge of how much we are going to be allowed to provide for what I consider to be even more critical programs such as education and health care.
We have been stymied here for months, frankly, over the resistance of the majority party leadership to provide the same kind of financial largesse for education that we are providing in the Energy and Water bill for the Army Corps of Engineers or in some of the other bills that have gone through the place.
I would simply say I congratulate everyone for the work they have done on these bills. It is not their fault that the bills are being considered in the context. I want to make that clear. But I do object to having to vote for the kind of package without knowing what the plans are in the end to meet what ought to be the number one priority in the country, education.