[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20065]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              THE CONGRESSIONAL AGENDA REFLECTS ITS VALUES

  (Mr. OBEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, we have heard a lot of talk on this House 
floor about values. I would suggest that how we spend our time reveals 
our values in many ways. This Republican-controlled Congress was able 
to take the time to debate the fate of horses. They were able to take 
the time to provide $290 billion in tax relief for 7,500 of the richest 
people in the country each year.
  They were able to take the time to provide new tax breaks for oil 
companies. But there was no time, apparently, for providing 
comprehensive health care reform, and there was certainly no time, 
apparently, to provide an increase in the minimum wage, which has been 
frozen for 9 years.
  The CEOs from your wealthiest corporations in this country earn more 
in 4 hours than a minimum wage worker earns in an entire year. And yet 
the Republican majority found the time to make life easier for the most 
well-off 1 percent of people in this country, but no time at all to 
help those who need it most. What kind of values does that represent?

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