Dave Obey

Mr. OBEY

Mr. OBEY. So the chairman has a subcommittee chairman who wants to make a comment?

Mr. OBEY. In that case, we will have a subcommittee ranking member who wants to make a comment, and then I will be prepared to yield back. Mr. YOUNG OF Florida. And then I will reserve the balance of the time for closing. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds to emphasize what the majority leader said. If Members will recall that long list of projects that he referred to that the other body came to conference with, that first long list, we took them out. We did not accept them. It was quite a battle, but we took those out. So in case there was any doubt as to what was on the list he was reading, they are gone. They are not in this bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh), the chairman of the Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations.

Mr. OBEY

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, let me simply say that I think it is fair to say that there have been virtually no political differences between either side of the aisle on this side of the Capitol; and I think it is fair to say that the House conferees are virtually unanimous in their view about what has to happen in order for us to get out of here. I do not know yet whether we are going to get the full cooperation that we are going to need from the other side of the Capitol, but it is certainly our intent on both sides that we come out of here as one. It would be very good for the House if we had a bill that had 100 percent support. We could go home with a feeling of unity, and I know that both sides are going to try to accomplish that.

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. OBEY

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, this does not belong on the House floor tonight. This budget belongs on ``Laugh In.'' This is not a budget. It is two-headed tax cuts. It is a two-headed flim flam. The economy is in crisis. The economy has lost 70,000 jobs per month every month of the Bush Presidency, and the Republican Congress tonight abdicates its responsibility to lead. A few years ago, the Committee on the Budget Chair came to this House floor with a bag on his head. If I brought this budget to the floor tonight, I would ask where is that bag when I really need it? This budget is a disgrace to this institution. It fails its responsibilities to this institution, to the country, and to every person who is out of a job looking for economic leadership to put this country back together again.

Mr. OBEY

Mr. OBEY. Madam Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct.

Mr. OBEY. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the distinguished minority leader.

Mr. OBEY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 8 minutes. Madam Speaker, American citizens often hear Members of Congress talk in terms that they do not understand. They hear us talking about Blue Dogs, Blue Dog Democrats, they hear us talking about Yellow Dog Democrats. Sometimes they see us acting like lap dogs, and today I am afraid that the House may wind up genuflecting to Top Dogs, because that has been the general pattern on the issue that I am raising this afternoon. After 9/11, the Congress passed a $15 billion airline assistance package, $5 billion in direct cash payments and $10 billion in direct loans and loan guarantees. The Congress was asked at the same time, and a number of us have tried to get it done, but Congress had asked at the same time that we were bailing out the airline industry to also recognize workers within that same industry who were also losing their jobs and should have some help from the government. The Congress responded by saying, no, thank you. Now, the bill that the House passed last week contained $3.2 billion in cash payments for the airline industry on this go-round and the Senate bill contained a figure of slightly over $2 billion. We are here today again to ask that if we are going to be bailing out the airline industry that we also provide some $275 million in assistance to the workers in that same industry by providing an additional 26 weeks of temporary extended unemployment benefits for displaced airline-related workers. Now, the administration has let it be known what their position is, and essentially they are opposed to this proposal. And what they are telling Congress is that, instead, we should work with the administration to make sure that any aid package is appropriately scaled and ``appropriately based on free market principles.'' Well, I guess I am kind of new around here and naive around here, and I am not quite sure what those ``free market'' principles are when it comes to the airline industry. To me, I think that the airline industry is a let's pretend industry, run by let's pretend capitalists who are on the public dole, and I do not mean Bob. They are out here once again asking the taxpayers to help finance their survival. Now, we have had some of those airlines go bankrupt not once, not twice, but three times. I asked on the House floor last week how many times Continental Airlines had to go bankrupt before they were bankrupt. I still have not received an answer. Now, I will fully grant that given the serious nature of the war, given the impact of 9/11, and given the fact that the airlines are a crucial part of our economy and our transportation system, I would fully grant that some kind of cooperative relationship between us and the airlines will be necessary in order to keep this economy healthy. But it seems to me that we ought to have some systematic way to assure that when we are bailing out the airline industry and its executives, that at least some of those taxpayers' dollars wind up trickling down to the workers who keep those airlines moving in the first place. So that is the purpose of this amendment. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. OBEY. Madam Speaker, if the gentlewoman would yield to me briefly, let me explain that I thought we had an understanding that I would explain the motion, that the gentlewoman would make her comments, and then the gentleman would close and we could yield back the balance of our time.

Mr. OBEY. Fine. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi).

Mr. OBEY. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. OBEY. I assume that does not come out of my time, Madam Speaker.

Mr. OBEY. Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. OBEY. So, as I was saying, lest anyone think that it is not needed, the airline industry itself estimates that we have had a 15 percent increase in unemployment in that industry since 9/11, and since January 1, we have seen another 15,000 layoffs. So I would ask the Members of this House today to, for a change, let us not institutionally genuflect to the top dogs in this society. Let us keep in mind the needs of the underdogs and provide at least some modicum of assistance to the workers I am talking about. Let me also explain that there will be a rollcall on this vote. I know that it may be possible that this motion could be adopted on a voice vote. But frankly, if we were to simply have a voice vote, it would not mean anything to anybody. It would be very easy to jettison this language in conference. So I think to assure that this vote is a meaningful vote, let the chips fall where they may in terms of passage. To assure that it is a meaningful vote and not just a sleight of hand so Members can say, ``Well, do not worry, airline worker, I voted with you. Of course, it was not a rollcall vote, and of course the leadership made us turn around in conference so that there would not be any.'' But I would urge Members to vote for the motion. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer). (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. OBEY

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield my remaining time to the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller).

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa).

Mr. OBEY. Reserving the right to object, Mr. Chairman, I know that there are a number of people on this side of the aisle who want to participate in debate on this amendment. So I would ask whether the time arrangements could be adjusted so we would be guaranteed some time on this side of the aisle.

Mr. OBEY. Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Chairman, if you follow the logic of the last speaker, what you are saying is that we should provide in this bill $3.25 billion to the airline industry, which we do not owe, but that we should not provide the funds in the bill to reimburse the volunteers for services, for which we do owe. I find that that makes no sense whatsoever. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) is absolutely right. This is an obligation which government has. We should not blame the recipients, we should not blame the participants in this program for the screw-ups of the agency on their bookkeeping balances. The fact is that this is totally defensible at a time when we are trying to encourage volunteerism, at a time when we are trying to encourage a sense of self-sacrifice. It would be a strange message indeed to say that we are not going to meet our obligations to the volunteers under this program.

Mr. OBEY. I yield to the gentleman from Florida.

Mr. OBEY. Could I suggest that we cut it to 20?

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, we used to have a Member of this body by the name of Jimmy Burke, and Jimmy Burke said once to the freshman class incoming, he said, oh, I understand your problem; you think this place is on the level. Well, I want to tell you that does not matter what you do on this amendment. This amendment ain't on the level. This amendment is consumer fraud masquerading as legislation, and it ain't going to do nothing to nobody and let me tell you why. If you look at the language carefully, the language purports to send the message that what we are doing is, oh, oh, look at the muscles. We are telling those Frenchies and those German companies, you cannot participate; but if you look at the actual language, the language allows those companies to get around this limitation by doing the same thing that corporate expatriates have done in this country by simply setting up a mailing address in Bermuda or any other offshore place. So it is what I call a holy picture amendment. The politicians pause for holy pictures, boy, we really did something. But you have got language that does not do nothing to nobody. This language has absolutely no effect whatsoever except that it makes the job of the White House and the State Department more difficult, which is I assume why we have the letter from the State Department which says that such an amendment would jeopardize the type of support we are attempting to build within the United Nations, support which aims to unite the international community in a forward- looking effort to build a better future for the people of Iraq. Now, if we were wise, and I know that is beyond reasonable expectations often in a legislative body, but if we were wise, what we would, in fact, be doing is looking at tomorrow rather than yesterday. We are going to, whether we like it or not, need to rebuild the alliances which have been temporarily shaken by our divisions in this war. We are going to have to rebuild the United Nations and rebuild NATO so that we are more unified in dealing with postwar Iraq and the rest of the world; and we are going to have to overcome the fact that because of divisions we have right now, pro-U.S. responses in public opinion polls throughout Europe have dropped by about 20 percent. Now, to me, the way that we overcome that, the way we overcome the world's cynicism is by demonstrating traditional American magnanimity, which is what we did in the Marshall Plan and what we have done so many times in our country's history. So I would simply say, Mr. Chairman, who am I to stand in the way, if majority party members want to make life a little more difficult for a Republican administration? Now, I stand here, I hope as a patriot; and I believe that this amendment does cause the administration additional problems. I am so proud of the chairman of this committee because this committee produced legislation which guaranteed that the executive branch could not cross the line and trample on legislative prerogatives, and I congratulate and I honor the chairman for having the guts to do that. But we also, we also as legislators from time to time have to restrain ourselves and recognize that sometimes we do the Nation no good when we impinge upon executive branch prerogatives, as this amendment I believe does. So I am standing here as a Republican who has a minimum of, as the Democrat, as my friends know, I started out life as a Republican but then when I learned to read I switched parties. But let me simply say, I stand here, I hope, as a patriot, and I think that this is one place where George Bush needs some running room. If you do not have enough confidence in him to let him make the right choice, then by all means vote for this amendment; but you know, it does not do nothing to nobody except enable politicians to pose for political holy pictures. What is new around here?

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word, and I yield to the gentleman from Florida for a time request.

Mr. OBEY

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, did the Clerk read two or three amendments to be potentially offered by the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters)?

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.