[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 41 (Monday, March 6, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H2656-H2657]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


         DANVILLE HOUSING AUTHORITY: DEMOLITION OF CARVER PARK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 1995, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Ewing] is recognized 
during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. EWING. Mr. Speaker, I come here today to discuss an example of 
the stranglehold on our society by the Government in hopes that by 
discussing it we can find a better way outside of extremely big 
government and bureaucracy to address some of our problems.
  What is the problem I want to talk about? It is a problem dealing 
with the Carver Park Housing Authority project in Danville, IL. This 
poses a very immediate and serious risk to both human health and 
safety.
  The project itself was poorly built in an area, in a flood plane, and 
the subsoil is unstable and has caused considerable damage to these 
public housing buildings.
  Some years back the project was abandoned and has been for some years 
totally deserted. But the local housing authority cannot get permission 
to tear it down.
  The city of Danville has even come in and condemned the property, and 
yet the project stays there, standing there as a beacon, really, of 
poor government and poor management, costing the city, costing the 
Federal Government, costing the taxpayers for years and years to keep 
this crime-ridden area as safe as possible for the citizens of 
Danville.
  We know now what the problem is. but why? Why has this Government not 
come through and allowed the local housing authority to tear this down? 
Well, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has failed to 
authorize the demolition of these structures because of bureaucratic 
redtape.
  To remove the 130 units in this complex, Federal law requires that 
the Federal Government must replace these 130 units. But Danville does 
not need these units. They have no demand for these public housing 
units. But they do need another type of housing unit, section 8 
housing. But they cannot get that because they have these other units 
on the books.
  In addition, the Danville Housing Authority has requested section 8 
housing several times, but to no avail.
  Now, there is a solution to this problem, and we are probably going 
to take care of it in the next week when we take up the title III of 
section 302 of the appropriations. There, we are going to allow for 
specific language which will allow the Department to give waivers so 
that under 200 units can be destroyed without replacing them.
  But this is only a stopgap measure, only a partial solution. But with 
this, HUD will be allowed to bypass their regulations and rules and 
tear down these abandoned, crime-ridden structures in this housing 
development.
  But I believe the American taxpayers are really tired of Government 
that is so bureaucratic, so tied up with its own rules and regulations 
that we have to pass additional legislation to do something that common 
sense dictates we should have done.
  Now, the long-term solution is that we should be able to devise here 
in this body a type of government that is not so bureaucratic, big 
government that is not so big, government that is responsive to the 
taxpayers and to local government needs.
  The bureaucratic arm of this Government, in this case the housing and 
human services department, should have been able to use enough common 
sense to come forth with legislation, enactments which would give them 
the discretion to take care of the matters such as this.
  [[Page H2657]] I hope that we will pass the language on the 
appropriations bill next week and be able to move this particular 
incident out of the way. But we ought to learn from it.


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