Dave Obey

Mr. OBEY

Mr. OBEY. Would the gentleman like an answer to that question?

Mr. OBEY. We have none. I reserve my time.

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, could I ask the gentleman how many speakers he has remaining.

Mr. OBEY. May I inquire as to how much time remains.

Mr. OBEY. I yield myself 7 minutes. Mr. Speaker, I'm bringing a resolution to the floor that I have minimum high regard for, to say the least. America is facing serious problems, the most depressing is that we have the biggest divide between the haves and the have-nots since the Great Depression. Over the last decade, 80 percent of the growth in our economy has gone to the luckiest 10 percent out there. Meanwhile, the economy is sputtering along, and families are hurting. And what has been Washington's response? Apparently, it is to spend nearly $80 billion over the next 2 years to give supersized tax cuts to millionaires and another $24 billion to give families worth $10 million a pass on paying taxes on their good fortune. This occurs at the same time that Washington politicians are singing pious songs about the need for deficit reduction. I hope that the Congress is not too ``offended'' to recognize that, yes, we must deal with long-term budget deficits; but if this country is to grow for everybody, we also need to confront our investment deficits in jobs, in education, in infrastructure, and in science and technology. That is the context in which this bill, to keep the government functioning for a year, is being considered. This bill freezes discretionary appropriations at the 2010 level for the rest of the fiscal year, spending $46 billion less than the President asked for this year. It adjusts last year's priorities in three main ways: It funds the current shortfall in Pell Grants for college students; it meets the increased medical needs for our veterans; it makes adequate adjustments to meet military pay and health costs. It provides the Department of Defense $513 billion, which is $4.9 billion more than last year with corresponding cuts on the domestic side of the ledger, I'm sorry to say. Now I'm sure we'll hear a lot of talk about a number of changes in the bill, the number of hard choices we had to make in this package to try to keep Uncle Sam from being Uncle Scrooge this holiday season. John Wesley admonished us to ``do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.'' This product falls embarrassingly short of that goal. But I make no apologies for the fact that the committee has done its dead level best within the constraints under which we are operating to make some modest adjustments, to salvage some investments which over the long haul just might create more jobs than tax breaks for millionaires and adjustments that might ease the financial desperation faced by so many families today who cannot afford to send their kids to college, to find decent child care, or to provide adequate medical attention to their needs. So we have had the unmitigated gall to shift additional funds to the Social Security Administration to ensure that people get their benefits without undue delay. In an outrageously socialistic attempt to provide some additional health safety protections for miners who have all too often been the victims of the mindset of owners who put more emphasis on profitability than they do on miner safety, we shifted about $50 million into that account. I hope that the Congress is not so penny-wise and pound foolish that they will object to our decision to shift funding to further our efforts to ferret out waste, fraud, and abuse in Social Security and Medicare. And on a day when temperatures are dropping to 5 above zero in my hometown, and we were a balmy 23 degrees here in Washington last night, I hope this Congress isn't too offended that we have recommended $190 million above last year for homeless assistance grants to combat the growing number of families who are living on the streets, thanks to the ``brilliance'' of political leaders in Washington in managing this economy. Those are a few of the modest changes that we have made in what would otherwise be an automatic pilot course of action in a straight continuing resolution. Within the same dollar limits, this legislation attempts to make modest adjustments that recognize that needs and conditions change over a year's time. I hope it does not represent too great an ``inconvenience'' to those Members of this body who are much more comfortable providing budget-busting tax gifts to the economic elite in this country rather than making even the tiniest government investment in programs that will help the lives of the unlucky by making their lives a little bit better with investments that might run the unholy risk of making the economy work nearly as well for average families as it does for the American elite who can afford to make large contributions to those fortunate enough to be honored by our constituents with the stewardship of the national interest. I want to say one other thing. There are at least 50 decisions in this bill that I am flatly opposed to. There are many arguments in this bill that I have lost. But the fact is, sooner or later, if you're going to be responsible, you have to set aside your first preferences and simply do what is necessary in order to keep the government open so that Congress doesn't become the laughingstock of the country. The only responsible vote to cast on this proposition is an ``aye'' vote. I urge support for the resolution, with all of its shortcomings. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the pending legislation.

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1755, I call up the bill (H.R. 3082) making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes, with the Senate amendment thereto, and I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. OBEY. I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Speaker, I happen to agree with the gentleman from Virginia on the substance of the issue. But the fact is that the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee voted in open session with open debate to adopt the Cole amendment. Now, as chairman of the full committee, I don't have the luxury of producing bills that represent my own priorities. It is my obligation to try to find the center of gravity that enables us to represent the views of the House. That's what we did on this issue. And for the gentleman to suggest that there is anything corrupt about it is scurrilous. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. OBEY

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I made a mistake here today. I assumed that because the election was over that we would have at least a temporary suspension of election-year rhetoric. But evidently I was wrong. It's not the first time, but nonetheless I had hoped it would be otherwise today. Let me simply say that I will take a lot of lectures from a lot of people on a lot of subjects, because I have made more than my share of mistakes in the years that I have served in this place. But the one thing that I will not take is lectures from the other side about fiscal responsibility. I mean, these are the folks who managed to turn $6 trillion in expected surpluses when Bill Clinton left office into a $1 trillion deficit. These are the same folks who insisted on passing two tax cuts primarily targeted at the wealthiest people in this country, all paid for with borrowed money. These are the same folks that have insisted that we fight two wars on borrowed money rather than paying the bills. And these are the same folks who attacked President Obama for the so-called bailouts when, in fact, the mother of all bailouts, TARP, was brought to this Congress by the previous Republican administration. While I don't like the way they implemented that bailout, I happen to think that that administration did what was necessary under the circumstances, circumstances created in large part by previous policies that were pursued by the folks running Washington, D.C. I don't want to go any further than that. I didn't intend to get into the political side of the debate, but neither am I going to sit by and have these comments go unanswered. With that, I would simply say this, again, is a very simple proposition. It extends the budget for 2 weeks at existing levels so that the Congress can make an attempt to finish its work so that we do not do what was done to us 4 years ago, because when we took over 4 years ago, we had to clean up all of the last year's fiscal mess before we could turn to next year's problems. I would think that it is worth trying to finish action on our budget this year so that our friends, as they assume majority status in January, can start with a clean slate and be looking forward rather than backwards, and this resolution is an attempt to facilitate that. I urge passage of it. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. Mr. Speaker, this legislation is one page long. It does only one thing: It changes the date so we can keep the government running from this Friday, December 3 to Saturday, December 18. Otherwise, the government would shut down. For the 2 weeks we are extending the current CR, it will provide us and the Senate time to consider the full year CR and the nominees that the administration should be sending us today. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H.J. Res. 101.

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the rule, I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 101) making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2011, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. OBEY

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

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. Mr. Speaker, this continuing resolution is designed to keep the government open and running. We have an obligation to do this. We've got enough problems in the economy right now without adding to uncertainty. The Senate passed this continuing resolution by a vote of 69-30. The House ought to pass it. It is a relatively straightforward and unadorned CR which simply keeps the government open for 64 days. As far as the funding levels are concerned, in total this CR is a bit below what was enacted in 2010. The CR allows agencies to continue fiscal 2010 levels, with three exceptions. First, it provides additional funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration at the President's requested level of $7 billion. This is for weapons security, included at the request of Senate Republicans. Second, the CR provides less funding for the Census and Defense BRAC activities because less is needed for 2011. Third, the CR provides funding equal to last year's security assistance for Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, and the State Department operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. This exception is needed because some of last year's funding was provided in the 2009 supplemental. It also extends a number of authorizations that would otherwise expire, such as TANF. It also extends higher mortgage loan limits, stop-loss payments to our troops, and other programs. Frankly, I had hoped that this CR would do a few other things, but the Senate would not accept them. For example, I had hoped that the CR would allow continuation of the emergency job program through which 37 States provide subsidized jobs for nearly 250,000 otherwise unemployed parents and youth. The Senate would not allow this program to continue. I urge an ``aye'' vote on the legislation. And I would simply note that, given the calendar, a vote against this proposition would be a vote to shut down the government.

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the pending legislation.

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1682, I call up the bill (H.R. 3081) making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes, with the Senate amendments thereto, and offer the motion.

Mr. OBEY

Mr. OBEY. Madam Speaker, it is the highest priority of the Appropriations Committee to ensure that the American people are well served by sound investments in federal programs and services. To this end, the Committee has been working to produce fiscal year 2011 appropriations legislation in a fiscally disciplined manner. The Committee conducted more than 160 hearings this year in order to thoroughly review the President's fiscal year 2011 budget request and to conduct vigorous oversight of ongoing programs. In keeping with an overall discretionary funding level of $14.5 billion below the President's request, two fiscal year 2011 appropriations bills have passed the House and the remaining 10 bills have been approved at the subcommittee level. In the coming weeks, the Committee will continue its work to produce fiscal year 2011 appropriations that meet Americans' highest priority needs within this fiscally responsible framework. In the two fiscal year 2011 appropriations bills that have passed the House thus far--Transportation/HUD and Military Construction/VA--the Committee has made some significant cuts below the Administration's request. Among these reductions, the Committee cut $500 million below last year and $1.36 billion below the request for ill-defined or duplicative programs of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Transportation. The Committee also cut $545 million below the request for military construction projects due to bid savings and ill-defined plans for the realignment of forces to Guam. In recent years, the Appropriations Committee has also eliminated or cut hundreds of wasteful and duplicative programs. Last year alone, the Committee terminated 60 programs and significantly cut funding for another 660 programs. Since 2007, the Appropriations Committee has strengthened contract oversight and independent audits to make programs across federal agencies more effective and efficient. As an example, the Committee has led an initiative to double enforcement capacity to end improper payments, fraud and other abuses at the Social Security Administration and the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services. These efforts are projected to save more than $48 billion over the next 10 years. Furthermore, the Appropriations Committee has ended unnecessary no- bid contracts and strengthened competition, management and oversight in government contracts across the federal government. Most notably, the Committee has worked to impose discipline and strengthen accountability for Department of Defense, (DOD), contracted services. From 1997 to 2007, DOD contracted service costs grew 143 percent from $125 billion to $299 billion. Yet, DOD had no system of accountability for contract services, and couldn't even identify the number of its contractors. At the Committee's direction over the past three years, the Pentagon is now implementing reform efforts to strengthen contracting and clarify rules prescribing when outsourcing is and is not appropriate. The Army can now identify the number of its contractors (213,000) and is working to bring in house inherently governmental functions. The Defense Department estimates that these actions will result in a $4.5 billion savings by 2015. Last year, the President followed the Appropriations Committee's lead and announced government-wide contracting reforms based on the Committee's direction to DOD over the past 3 years.

Mr. OBEY

Mr. OBEY. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1586 and the motion to concur.

Mr. OBEY

Mr. OBEY. Madam Speaker, I would simply say yes, this bill spends money. Yes, it saves money. It saves more than it spends to the tune of $1.3 billion, according to CBO. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. OBEY. Could I inquire how many speakers the gentleman has?

Mr. OBEY. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1606, I call up the bill (H.R. 1586) to modernize the air traffic control system, improve the safety, reliability, and availability of transportation by air in the United States, provide for modernization of the air traffic control system, reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration, and for other purposes, with the Senate amendment to the House amendment to the Senate amendment thereto, and offer the motion at the desk.

Mr. OBEY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes. Madam Speaker, today we have heard from our friends on the minority side an ample amount of sarcasm and cynicism and partisan hyperbole mixed in with fiscal fiction. I hope we can cut through that today. Today, we can either sit frozen in the ice of our own indifference, as Franklin Roosevelt once said, or we can take action to help States meet their safety net obligations and to protect our children's education by keeping teachers in the classroom while we continue to claw our way back from the most devastating economic crisis since the Great Depression. Last year, in the first job recovery package, we recognized two reasons for providing Federal aid to States and school districts. The first was to reduce the human carnage that occurs when we take kids off health care coverage or let their education suffer because of teacher layoffs. The second was that standing by while States, localities, and school boards cut essential investments in services and impose significant new taxes will cripple the ability of the economy to grow and cause additional job weakness in both private and public sectors. It is important, Madam Speaker, to remember how we got here. The failed economic policies of the previous 8 years obliterated hard-won budget surpluses inherited from President Clinton. Federal oversight of Wall Street banks was gutted, allowing them to morph into casinos, and drive the economy into catastrophic collapse. That produced monthly losses of 750,000 jobs in each of the last 3 months of the Bush administration. We now know that the economic crisis was even deeper and more broad than we initially expected. While the economy has improved, the effects of the recession are still not behind us. They are still affecting people's lives and livelihoods. Three times before today, in December, in May, and in July we tried to take additional actions to ease the problems, and three times we were blocked. Now, today we have this much-reduced bill to provide $10 billion in funding to save somewhere around 160,000 education jobs and $16 billion in health assistance to the States. Our friends in the minority accuse us of including job-killing tax increases to pay for it. That's ridiculous. The bill closes a tax loophole that encourages companies to ship jobs overseas. Not only will that help pay for this package, it will fix a hole in the tax code that is rewarding companies for sending American jobs elsewhere. Still others, including the leadership of the minority, call this a special interest bailout. To that I say since when do we regard America's kids as a special interest group?

Mr. OBEY. I reserve the balance of my time.