House Proceeding 01-28-09 on Jan 28th, 2009 :: 0:22:10 to 0:24:35
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0:22:06 to 0:22:27( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: accomplishment in such a short time in this congress. i must say that many of us feel a little sorry for what this work has done to our so i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from wisconsin. barack obama i yield myself -- mr. obey: i yield myself one minute.

0:22:10 to 0:24:35( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: David R. Obey

0:22:28 to 0:22:50( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: the chair: the gentleman is recogniz for one minute. mr. obey: the minority spouts the myth that the minority was not involved in the development of this legislation. here are the facts. in september when we developed our first recovery package, i specifically asked the rankin minority member of this committee to please let us know what he thought ought to be in that package and what shouldn't.

0:22:51 to 0:23:13( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: . in tees we issue of a stimulus or recovery package. the ranking minority member urged republican members of the committee not to show up at that hearing. only three did. in december again i sent a letter to every member of the appropriations committee --

0:23:14 to 0:23:37( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: republican and democratic alike -- asking them for their input. we got a lot of suggestions from both sides of the aisle although obviously a number of the republican members preferred to provide their information on a confidential basis because they evidently felt -- i yield myself one additional minute. the chair: the gentleman is re mr. obey: they felt they were being discouraged from

0:23:38 to 0:23:59( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: participating so that this -- it would be easier for them to vote no on the final package. on january 11 i sat down with the ranking member of this committee and discussed in general terms where i thought the bill was going. again urged that we be given any information about what program levels they thought were appropriate.

0:24:00 to 0:24:21( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: got no real indication of interest. on january 13 i met and went over what we were thinking about doing in detail with the ranking member of this committee. again we got very little indication that there was any real interest at the top of the power ladder in the republican caucus in having the republicans

0:24:22 to 0:24:37( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: participate in this process. so if someone says i'm sorry i was shut out, but it is they who turn the key in the lock that kept them on the outside, that certainly isn't our fault. we have tried to welcome any