House Proceeding 07-23-09 on Jul 23rd, 2009 :: 3:57:45 to 4:02:55
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3:57:41 to 3:58:03( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: there wanting money. mine want to keep a lot more of theirs, rather than sending it to washington so washington can decide, well, i'm going to spend a little on a roadway in wisconsin. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. obey: mr. chairman, the project under discussion is a transportation project and this

3:57:45 to 4:02:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: David R. Obey

3:58:04 to 3:58:24( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: is a transportation bill. until 10 years ago, my state, wisconsin, was a donor state to highway trust funds, at one time getting 70 cents on the dollar return on our federal gas taxes. as the delegation -- as a delegation we fought like the devil over 30 years to turn that around.

3:58:25 to 3:58:45( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: we finally have. despite the fact that -- despite that fact, and the changes we've been able to make, wisconsin alongith other great lakes states ranks way down the list, 45th, 46th, 47th on its per capita return on federal dollars. in contrast, the gentleman's

3:58:46 to 3:59:07( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: state, arizona, does much better. compared to arizona, for example, wisconsin receives about $759 less from the federal government per capita. arizona does very ll, for instance in federal procurement dollars, getting about $866 per capita more than wisconsin. in grant programs, such as

3:59:08 to 3:59:29( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: highway funds, arizona gets about $130 per capita more from the federal government than does wisconsin. when i came to congress, wisconsin and arizona -- wisconsin had 10 members in the house, arizona, i believe, had three. arizona has had a huge growth in population during that -- during the subsequent 40 years

3:59:30 to 3:59:52( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: and it's been financed in large part by federal dollars. i don't remember how much the central arizona project cost, but it was billions. and i think what the gentleman is suggesting is that now that arizona has got his, that he begrudges somebody else trying to get pennies by comparison. let me point out that in this

3:59:53 to 4:00:13( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: bill, arizona gets $13 million in earmark funds. he says, wasa isn't the community where it's being repaired, it's not on the interstate. why should we confine federal responsibility only to communities lucky enough to be on interstate roads? why tell small, rural towns,

4:00:14 to 4:00:35( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: sorry go off in the corner, you don't have the right to participate in federal support. with respect to this particular project, we are trying to help the community of rib mountain, part of the warsaw metropolitan area, fix -- part of the wasau metropolitan area, fix some problems.

4:00:36 to 4:00:57( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: on july 4, two 15-year-old girls were hospitalized by an accident in the very location where this road is to be modernized. i make no apology whatsoever for trying to improve that situation. i would also point out if you want to talk about need, the unemployment area right now in

4:00:58 to 4:01:18( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: the wasau area is well over 12%. the last time i checked, the unemployment level in mesa is 7.3%. the gentleman from utah also was commenting on the previous earmark complaining about that, the unemployment level in utah 5.9%. about less than half of what it

4:01:19 to 4:01:39( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: is in my community. i don't see why i should apologize for trying to get a few items for my district. i would also note one other thing. if you want to talk about earmarks, as the gentleman knows, they make up less an 1% of the discretionary part of the federal budget.

4:01:40 to 4:02:00( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: that 1%, i have never seen a congress change any president's budget by more than 3%. that 3% difference in congressional decisions versus presidential decisions, is the difference between having a president and having a king. i make no apology whatsoever for the congress trying to

4:02:01 to 4:02:21( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: occasionally exercise its responsibilities in terms of the power of the purse. i would also point out one other thing. if you take a look at the real cause of the deficit, the gentleman goes after these very small projects, and then suggests they have a major

4:02:22 to 4:02:42( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: impact on the deficit. i don't know where the gentleman was when the previous administration was turning $6 billion in projected surpluses into a -- a trillion dollars in projected surpluses into a trillion dollar receive deficit.

4:02:43 to 4:02:59( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: i don't know where the gentleman was when the administration was spending a trillion dollars on a misguided war in iraq. those are the items that raise the cost of government, those are the item this is a add to the deficit. those are the item this is a