[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 65 (Friday, May 10, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E763]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        U.S. HOUSING ACT OF 1996

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                               speech of

                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 8, 1996

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2406) to 
     repeal the United States Housing Act of 1937, deregulate the 
     public housing program and the program for rental housing 
     assistance for low-income families, and increase community 
     control over such programs, and for other purposes:

  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Chairman, I stand here in the well today in disgust. I 
am outraged at what we are about to do to our Nation's low income, 
elderly, and disabled.
  Forty percent of Chicago public housing residence are my 
constituents. And there are thousands more waiting to get a place to 
shelter their families.
  This Republican-led Congress has been attacking poor people with 
every breath they breathe and every word they speak.
  There is no help for those in need in our cities--only a boot on 
their neck.
  We are not giving these people incentive to work, we are not helping 
them to a transition to a self-sufficient lifestyle--this Congress is 
not even giving them a reason to live.
  People in our Nation's public housing do not want to live there--they 
don't want to be reminded that they haven't obtained the American dream 
of owning a home.
  They don't want a Federal Government to house them. They don't want 
the local governments to house them.
  They need programs to help transition these neighborhoods to 
encourage residents to make their lives better.
  The Republican proposals are answers that don't answer, explanations 
that don't explain, and solutions that don't solve.

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