[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 29, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S779-S784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 NOMINATION OF ANDREW M. CUOMO OF NEW YORK TO BE SECRETARY OF HOUSING 
                         AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

  The assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Andrew M. 
Cuomo of New York to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The able Senator from New York is 
recognized.


                         Privilege of the Floor

  Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Melody 
Fennel and David Hardiman be permitted privileges of the floor during 
consideration of the pending nomination.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I rise today to support a native New 
Yorker, a fellow New Yorker, Andrew Cuomo, to be Secretary of the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development. I am pleased that the 
Senate Banking Committee reported Mr. Cuomo's nomination yesterday by a 
unanimous vote. I am privileged to support the confirmation of a native 
New Yorker, particularly one who has done so much in the area of 
housing in such a relatively short period of time. I commend Mr. Cuomo 
for his record of public service, first as an advocate for the 
homeless, and second in terms of his stewardship as Assistant Secretary 
for Community Planning and Development at HUD.
  Since 1993, the Secretary has successfully presided over an annual 
budget of nearly $10 billion, encompassing a wide diversity of housing, 
community, and economic development programs. He has shown innovation, 
insight, and tireless efforts to serve our cities, suburbs and rural 
areas. He has done so in a way that has avoided partisanship with an 
eye toward giving to many of those who would otherwise not have the 
opportunity for good, safe, affordable housing. That is his record as 
it relates to the private sector in providing transitional housing for 
the homeless.

[[Page S780]]

  It is not good enough, Mr. President, to simply say, ``Let's build a 
shelter, temporary, for the homeless,'' and bring them off the streets 
and leave them in a situation that during the day, or when the weather 
is not inclement, they go back out into the community and wander around 
aimlessly. We cannot then think the community has met its obligation, 
its moral and ethical responsibilities to those people--when we take 
them back in during inclement weather but again discharge them.
  Mr. Cuomo, as a young man in 1986, founded and served as president of 
Housing Enterprise for the Less Privileged, known as HELP. HELP is a 
provider of housing which uses a strategy to move homeless people from 
the streets to transitional housing with supportive services to deal 
with the number of problems that these families may have, like drug 
addiction and alcohol addiction. HELP was a model for his approach to 
homelessness that he utilized at the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development. HELP is providing assistance for over 4,000 people each 
year.
  His grassroots background working in communities, not coming in 
opposition and thrusting a program upon the community, but working with 
the community and the private sector, has helped provide him with the 
insights that I think are so necessary in order for us not to have a 
department that looks down upon the cities and the States and the 
communities, but instead works with them in partnership.
  Mr. President, let me suggest the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development needs a lot of work. It needs to be improved. There are 
some very serious problems. Indeed, unless we address those problems we 
could face a very difficult situation with hundreds of thousands of 
people being in a position that they are unable to live in a decent 
place. We are now approaching a situation that has built up over the 
years. Our section 8 program's current renewal budget is something in 
the area of $3.4 billion. That is what we are going to spend to help 
people who live in this section 8 assisted housing pay for the 
differential in terms of what they can afford to pay and what the rent 
is established at. Mr. President, 38 percent are senior citizens. That 
budget need will rise this October from $3.4 billion to over $10 
billion.
  The total HUD budget is only $20 billion. And we have an increase of 
approximately $7 billion. Where will that money come from? Are we going 
to increase? Is the administration and the Congress going to increase 
by $7 billion the HUD budget? I do not think so.
  This is going to take innovative leadership. It is going to take a 
husbanding and directing of resources in the way they should be 
directed to maximize our spending. I believe it will take a more 
enlightened approach by the administration and Congress to deal with 
the insufficiency of resources that HUD presently has.
  I do not think it is going to be an easy job to get additional 
resources given the fact that the inspector general has indicated that 
there are some very severe problems that exist at HUD. There are 
serious problems ahead that the new Secretary and the Congress are 
going to have to deal with. HUD faces a fiscal crisis. Hard choices are 
going to have to be made.
  This really calls upon all of us, including the Secretary under his 
leadership, to work together to ensure that our Nation's most needy, 
particularly our senior citizens, are not going to be jeopardized as a 
result of this fiscal crisis that we are facing. Again that crisis is 
going to be upon us sooner rather than later. It will be with us this 
coming October.
  In conclusion, Mr. President, I again say that after a very thorough 
nomination hearing, and Mr. Cuomo meeting with just about every Banking 
Committee member, the committee unanimously voted for his confirmation. 
I look forward to a successful confirmation of Andrew Cuomo so that we 
can begin to work toward our mutual goals of improving access to 
housing in all of our Nation's communities.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to approve this confirmation, and I 
applaud the President for choosing Andrew Cuomo and designating him to 
be our next Secretary of HUD.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. SARBANES addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The able Senator from Maryland is 
recognized.
  Mr. SARBANES. I thank the Chair.
  Mr. President, I join my colleague, the chairman of the Banking 
Committee, Senator D'Amato of New York, in strong support of the 
nomination of Andrew Cuomo as the next Secretary of the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development.
  In my judgment, Mr. Cuomo is well qualified for this position. In 
addition to his background, experience, and record of significant 
achievement, Andrew Cuomo will provide the Department with stability 
and continuity since he has been an Assistant Secretary at the 
Department over the past 4 years.
  As HUD's Assistant Secretary for Community and Planning Development, 
Andrew Cuomo played a significant role in this administration's efforts 
to revitalize America's distressed communities and a significant role 
in their efforts to restructure the Department itself. In that regard, 
outgoing HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros--who I think deserves the thanks 
of all of us for the very stellar service he has given to the Nation--
made significant progress in addressing the management difficulties 
that confronted the Department at the beginning of his tenure. Andrew 
Cuomo was part of that team, and his familiarity with the way the 
Department works and the reforms now underway will provide for a smooth 
transition that will allow this progress to move forward.
  Mr. Cuomo's activities in the realm of housing and urban development 
prior to his joining the Department at the beginning of the first 
Clinton administration demonstrated the initiative and innovation that 
he has brought with him to the Department. He created HELP, a homeless 
assistance organization that is now the Nation's largest provider of 
transitional housing for the homeless. He also developed the 
alternative approaches to urban revitalization and community 
development that led to the founding of the Genesis project, a program 
that has created partnerships between State and local governments and 
the private sector to provide affordable housing.

  Mr. Cuomo has put this past experience and the vision connected 
therewith to work over the past 4 years as HUD Assistant Secretary for 
Community Planning and Development. His achievements during this period 
in that office were many. This morning, I want to underscore three 
achievements, in particular, that indicate his promise as he takes on 
the larger challenge of stewardship of the entire Department of Housing 
and Urban Development.
  First, I want to commend Mr. Cuomo's administration of the HOME 
Investment Partnership Program. Chairman D'Amato and former housing 
subcommittee chairman, Senator Alan Cranston, were very much involved 
in establishing the HOME program. When the Clinton administration 
arrived, the relatively new HOME program was moving slowly, seemingly 
mired in regulation. Mr. Cuomo took the initiative in eliminating those 
regulations that were obstructing the program's progress. He worked 
closely with State and local governments and the private sector--both 
for-profit and nonprofit--to identify the features of the HOME program 
that needed to change in order to allow the program to function better. 
The result of his hard work is the effective housing program that HOME 
has become today. State and local governments, in conjunction with 
private for-profit and private not-for-profit partners, are producing 
significant results using HOME funds for activities ranging from 
housing rehabilitation to home ownership assistance.
  Mr. Cuomo has also earned praise for his tireless work on behalf of 
the homeless. After 4 years as Assistant Secretary, he can take the 
credit for changing the way that our Nation's homeless programs are 
administered at the local level. Under his leadership communities have 
now instituted a continuum of care approach. The continuum of care is a 
phrase that Andrew Cuomo coined for a comprehensive system of 
assistance that provides prevention, outreach and screening, emergency 
shelters, transitional and supportive housing, and permanent housing 
with services to the homeless where needed. I have seen the 
effectiveness of the service delivery that comes

[[Page S781]]

with the local planning and coordination that are at the core of the 
continuum of care approach. Andrew Cuomo has made these happen.
  Third, Mr. Cuomo deserves recognition for his direction of the HUD 
programs that assist local economic development. He has worked hard to 
make the Community Development Block Grant Program a more effective 
tool for local communities pursuing new economic development 
opportunities. He has also expanded the section 108 loan guarantee 
program, greatly improving that program's use by local government. And, 
he has served ably as the principal Federal official charged with the 
implementation of the Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community 
Programs. All of these activities will become increasingly important as 
the Nation struggles with its commitment to move families from welfare 
to work.
  Andrew Cuomo reiterated his commitment to his role as HUD Secretary 
in his statement before the Banking Committee last week, and I quote 
him:

       Our goal must be to create a future unlike any that has 
     come before--a future open to all--in which no person is left 
     behind and in which no community is forgotten. A future in 
     which everyone willing to do his or her part will be 
     empowered with the tools to reach as high as their talents 
     and hard work will take them.

  Mr. President, it is clear why President Clinton has selected Andrew 
Cuomo as the next Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development. I urge my colleagues to join with me in supporting this 
very fine nomination.
  Mr. President, I yield to the Senator from Connecticut whatever time 
he may require.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Roberts). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of the 
nomination of Andrew Cuomo for the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development.
  Those of us who have worked closely with Andrew Cuomo over the years, 
and have witnessed his remarkable range of skills, know that he will 
become an outstanding leader for the Department. He has a remarkable 
record of achievement in both the public and private sectors.
  I commend President Clinton for selecting him to help our communities 
prepare for the next century.
  For a number of years, Andrew Cuomo worked on the frontlines of 
community development. Although he could have lived a comfortable life 
as a partner at an established law firm, he answered the call to public 
service. In 1986, he started an organization called HELP, that worked 
to improve the lives of homeless people.
  Under his leadership, HELP grew to 500 employees, and used its $30 
million annual budget to build more than 120 million dollars worth of 
housing and help thousands of homeless people move off the streets.
  While developing HELP, Andrew Cuomo realized that it was not enough 
to simply build housing. Although shelter was a key part of the formula 
for success, homeless people could not move to productive lives without 
additional support. Consequently, HELP also provided opportunities 
designed to make the homeless self-sufficient, including substance 
abuse treatment, mental health care, job training, education, and child 
care.
  This experience at the local level, the hands-on effort to build 
housing and transform lives, gave Andrew Cuomo invaluable experience. 
He met a payroll. He dealt with Government bureaucracies. And he 
learned that public-private partnerships will only work if everyone 
performs efficiently.
  Andrew Cuomo brought those lessons to HUD, when he was confirmed as 
Assistant Secretary of Community Planning and Development in 1993. His 
consolidated planning effort merged 12 bureaucratic processes into a 
streamlined system.
  This system reduced paperwork and redtape. Now communities can use 
Government programs more effectively. We need more efforts like this--
where the Federal Government is not the problem, but part of the 
solution.
  Additionally, Andrew Cuomo helped make HUD's homeless programs work 
better. With the knowledge gained from his experience at HELP, he 
implemented a new continuum of care strategy. This strategy addresses 
each part of the homeless problem--from the emergency situation where 
someone is sleeping on the street, to the drug and alcohol problems 
that must be treated when a person is in transitional housing, to the 
final job-training efforts that are necessary to help someone become a 
productive and member of society.
  This comprehensive approach to complex problems will be critical in 
the years ahead. Welfare reform will have a dramatic effect on cities 
across this country. We must all work to ensure that efforts to solve 
one problem do not create new problems.
  In the years ahead, we must do much more to rebuild our cities. Too 
many families are trapped by poverty and despair. We have to free their 
talents with better educational and job-training opportunities. And 
most importantly, we must help people find work, because a good-paying 
job--and the respect and self-esteem that come with it--provides the 
foundation for a better life.
  Andrew Cuomo's dedicated efforts to expand economic opportunity will 
play a critical role in helping to meet this challenge. At HUD, he 
helped strengthen job creation tools, including the Economic 
Development Initiative which provides low-interest loans to cities. 
With these tools, communities have leveraged over $8 billion from 
private sources, and helped put thousands of Americans to work.
  In short, Andrew Cuomo offers the talent, dedication, and leadership 
that HUD needs to help communities meet the challenges of the next 
century.
  During the Banking Committee hearing on his nomination, he 
demonstrated a keen understanding of the problems facing HUD, including 
staffing issues, expiring section 8 contracts, and the need to 
revitalize our cities. I am confident he will be an outstanding 
Secretary, and I urge my colleagues to support his nomination.
  Before closing, I would also like to commend the outgoing Secretary, 
Henry Cisneros, for his outstanding work. When he took the reins back 
in 1993, the future of HUD looked bleak. The Department was still 
struggling to recover from years of corruption, mismanagement, and low 
morale. The turnaround has been remarkable.
  Under the leadership of Secretary Cisneros, HUD is now a stronger 
partner in the national effort to build better communities. With a 
smaller work force, HUD is running more efficiently. Around the 
country, people are regaining confidence in the department.
  The changes in public housing are a good example of the changes. 
Every Member of this body knows how badly conditions had deteriorated 
in some public housing developments.
  I have been through too many buildings that were covered with 
graffiti, where the ceilings and walls were falling apart, and where 
families were afraid to go out after dark because gangs controlled the 
neighborhood.
  Secretary Cisneros saw this national disgrace, and took action. HUD 
is well on its way to tearing down 100,000 units of decayed and 
dangerous housing. Working with the resilient residents who want to 
build a better neighborhood, he has brought not only better living 
conditions, but a sense of hope to families across this Nation.
  In my home State of Connecticut, these efforts are helping to 
transform urban neighborhoods. At the Charter Oak Terrace development 
in Hartford, residents will soon have better housing, educational 
programs, and job opportunities. In New Haven, the redevelopment of the 
Elm Haven apartments will also help lift families out of poverty.
  Working together, Henry Cisneros and Andrew Cuomo have already 
accomplished a great deal. With that experience, Andrew Cuomo will hit 
the ground running and build upon that record of success. I look 
forward to working with him in the years ahead.
  Let me say in summation for those of us who have worked with and 
known Andrew Cuomo, this is going to be a

[[Page S782]]

very fine appointment. He understands the agency now, having been there 
for 3 years in a major capacity. He knows the personnel. He has 
demonstrated abilities, as I mentioned, in developing the kind of 
efficiencies in HUD that are absolutely critical.
  My hope is that the housing issues and related subject matters will 
once again become what they were initially, and that is a bipartisan 
subject. When housing initiatives were identified and supported back in 
the late 1940's, it was through the efforts of Republicans and 
Democrats who said that decent, affordable shelter ought not to be 
something that divides people based on politics or party. I think it is 
vitally important we get back to that.
  We have a wonderful opportunity, in my view, with the chairman of the 
committee, Senator D'Amato, and the ranking member, Senator Sarbanes, 
who understand these issues, and a very fine staff that wants to work 
on them. The fact that Andrew Cuomo comes from New York, the home State 
of the chairman of the committee, can only strengthen the excellent 
relationship between the Senate Banking Committee and HUD. I look 
forward to a new era of cooperation and bipartisanship in seeing to it 
that decent, affordable shelter and economic development are given the 
attention they deserve.
  With that in mind, I am delighted to join my colleague from New York 
and my colleague from Maryland and others in strongly endorsing the 
nomination of Andrew Cuomo to be the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today I would like to stress my unambiguous 
support for President Clinton's nomination of Andrew Cuomo to serve as 
the next Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
  In my opinion, Mr. Cuomo has the potential to be one of the strongest 
HUD Secretaries in the agency's 30 years of existence. Not only does 
Andrew Cuomo bring strong and relevant skills to this job, but Mr. 
Cuomo will inherit an agency that is moving in the right direction.
  HUD is in much better shape than the agency was in when Henry 
Cisneros arrived. HUD had suffered greatly during the 1980's from 
mismanagement and scandal. Secretary Cisneros applied his boundless 
energy and unique vision to a very difficult task. Those who oppose 
HUD's important mission tried to use the management difficulties at HUD 
as an excuse for eliminating the agency. The success of Secretary 
Cisneros' stewardship has deflated calls for HUD's elimination and has 
instead changed the national conversation about HUD and housing policy.
  In this new conversation on housing programs, we can talk about the 
transformation of public housing. You can easily witness this 
transformation at many sites across the country. In my state, you can 
see public housing changing at the Orchard Park redevelopment site in 
Boston and at the Jackson Parkway HOPE VI site in Holyoke, MA. These 
HOPE VI sites have become the lifeblood for thousands of people and 
whole communities.
  We can also talk about HUD's positive role as a partner with our 
States and cities: In Massachusetts, HUD is a partner with the State 
housing agency in a property disposition demonstration. In the 
neighborhoods of Roxbury and Allston-Brighton, HUD is a partner with 
the city and the nonprofit community development corporations using 
CDBG and HOME funds to revitalize distressed neighborhoods.
  And, we are able to change the way we talk about cities: Violent 
crimes in the Nation's 50 largest cities have declined by an average of 
13 percent, unemployment has been cut by 3.1 percent in the past 4 
years, and home ownership has expanded with nearly 700,000 central city 
residents having become homeowners since 1990.
  Andrew Cuomo has played an important role in these changes. He has 
helped to change this agency and its role in America's communities. 
And, because he has been a major player at HUD over the last 4 years, 
he will be able to capitalize on the progress that he and his 
predecessor have made.
  We can be confident that Andrew Cuomo will be successful over the 
next 4 years because he has been extremely successful over the last 4. 
Mr. Cuomo has directed the empowerment zone and enterprise community 
programs for the Federal Government, he has made major changes in the 
administration of HUD's homeless assistance programs, he has nurtured 
and supported the highly successful YouthBuild Program, and he has 
expanded and improved upon the role that HUD plays in assisting the 
economic development of distressed communities. He has already made a 
major mark. He is well prepared to take over the reins at HUD.
  In closing, Mr. President, let me reiterate my strong support for 
this nominee. Most importantly, he comes from one of the major urban 
centers in the country and from a tradition of paying attention to and 
assisting our communities. Over the course of the next few years, HUD 
could face some very tough choices and we need to understand what the 
consequences of those choices will be. Andrew Cuomo is wholly qualified 
to meet the challenges that he will face. As the ranking member of the 
subcommittee with primary responsibility for HUD and its programs, I 
pledge to do all that I can to aid Mr. Cuomo in succeeding as HUD 
Secretary. I look forward to working with him over the next 4 years to 
restore the agency, reinforce its mission, preserve affordable housing, 
and make significant progress in meeting the housing needs of our 
people and in revitalizing our distressed communities.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I offer today my strong support for the 
confirmation of Andrew Cuomo as the new Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development.
  I want my colleagues to know that Mr. Cuomo is a proven leader in the 
housing and community development field. For the past 4 years, he has 
served as the assistant secretary for HUD's Office of Community 
Planning and Development. While managing a $10 billion portfolio that 
has doubled over the last 4 years, he helped reduce administrative 
overhead by 20 percent--helping us to get more bang for the taxpayers 
buck. Mr. Cuomo's efforts in merging 12 bureaucratic processes into one 
streamlined system known as consolidated planning won him the 
Innovations in American Government award for 1996 from Harvard 
University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. His goal of 
streamlining, decentralizing, and consolidating programs is one that I 
have advocated for years as chairman and ranking member of the VA, HUD 
and Independent Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee. Many of Mr. 
Cuomo's initiatives were based on the recommendations made by the 
National Academy of Public Administration in a report that I 
commissioned as chairman of the subcommittee.
  Mr. Cuomo has also overseen the implementation of the Empowerment 
Zone and Enterprise Community Initiative, which has combined local 
community planning with Federal dollars to help produce new jobs and 
housing in 72 cities. He also created a new economic development 
initiative which worked in conjunction with a loan guarantee program to 
provide $1.85 billion in much needed low-interest loans for cities in 
1995, up from $229 million in 1993. Mr. Cuomo's work on implementing 
the continuum of care strategy to help the homeless has led to 14 times 
as many homeless people being served with only twice the funding. In 
addition, his emphasis on coordination of services and resources has 
generated 30 times more private and nonprofit dollars since 1992. His 
focus on real results instead of simplistic statistical compilations of 
program activity is one which I share and strongly commend.
  Mr. Cuomo's service in the field dates back to his founding in 1986 
of HELP--Housing Enterprises for the Less Privileged, which grew to 
become the Nation's largest provider of transitional housing for the 
homeless. Mr. Cuomo also founded the Genesis project--which develops 
comprehensive approaches to linking community development with 
affordable housing. His experiences on the front lines of the battle 
against urban poverty and despair help him to make practical decisions 
that work in the real world.
  Mr. President, I look forward to working with Mr. Cuomo on making the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development a more effective and 
efficient agency. There are major issues that the Department and the 
Congress

[[Page S783]]

must address this year. We must continue to work to find solutions to 
the problem of the over-subsidized Section 8 assisted housing 
inventory. I will continue to insist that we don't create an additional 
burden for the taxpayers, and that we find a solution that does not 
lead to community destabilization.
  Mr. President, we must also work with Mr. Cuomo to ensure that HUD 
maintains proper oversight and standards for local public housing 
authorities. HUD must stand sentry and ensure that local public housing 
authorities are providing real opportunities--not hollow 
opportunities--and ensuring adequate housing for the poor citizens of 
our Nation. I want to work with Mr. Cuomo on ending what I call the zip 
codes of pathology that have resulted from the programs of the past. We 
have repealed--in our annual appropriations bills--the Federal 
preferences that concentrated the poorest of the poor in one area. I 
will work with Mr. Cuomo and my colleagues on the Banking Committee to 
make these repeals permanent, in addition to the repeal of such Federal 
requirements as one-for-one replacement, take-one-take-all, and endless 
leases.
  Mr. President, there is much work to be done at HUD. We must continue 
to streamline the agency, demolish the worst public housing, and 
deliver programs that focus on personal and community empowerment. I 
was pleased to see in Mr. Cuomo's testimony before the Senate Banking 
Committee on January 22, 1997, he noted that ``the object of our 
efforts must be the development of self-sufficiency, not the 
perpetuation of government programs.'' Indeed, the days of a bloated 
bureaucracy with a focus only on bricks and mortar are gone. We must 
combine local sweat equity and public-private partnerships with Federal 
dollars to help rebuild the social fabric of our deteriorating 
communities. I look forward to working with Mr. Cuomo to make HUD a 
model agency that makes a real difference in the lives of the people it 
serves. I will support his efforts to make HUD smarter, smaller and 
better. I am certain he is up to the task.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I believe Andrew M. Cuomo has the 
potential to be our Nation's finest Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development. I am impressed with his understanding of our Nation's 
budget situation, and I am equally impressed with his commitment to 
meeting the housing challenges of needy Americans.
  Andrew Cuomo impressed the Senate Banking Committee with his 
understanding of the section 8 crisis that is upon us. Section 8 is the 
program by which HUD provides landlords with the necessary subsidies to 
allow them to rent their property to low-income Americans. A typical 
section 8 HUD payment will make up the difference between the actual 
market rent and the ability of the renter to pay. Thus, landlords 
continue to provide private housing stock to needy Americans. Because 
many of the 20-year contracts for section 8 housing are expiring, new 
Federal commitments of $16.4 billion are needed by the year 2002. 
Continuing this basic HUD program will require careful balancing to 
avoid crowding out other needed housing and community development 
programs.
  I have personally worked with Mr. Cuomo in his valiant efforts to 
increase funding for housing the homeless while streamlining the many 
HUD homeless programs. Together, and with the able guidance of the 
Senate Banking Committee chairman, Senator D'Amato, we have 
consolidated them into fewer grants with greater and more reliable 
impact on the very tough problems of homeless Americans.
  A little known HUD section 811 program for the disabled has come a 
long way under Mr. Cuomo's direction. HUD makes better housing 
available for the mentally ill and mentally retarded at reasonable 
costs, so that a handicapped person living on supplemental security 
income and Medicaid can afford to try more independent living. More 
group homes have been started to give these disabled Americans a 
fighting chance at independent living. I am confident that Secretary 
Cuomo will not abandon the mentally ill or the homeless when he makes 
his hard budget choices in the next few critical years.
  Andrew Cuomo is the founder of the largest provider of homeless 
services in the Nation. He did this in his native State of New York. 
There he learned first hand the true value of federal housing 
assistance as well as its limitations and frustrations. Now he will 
lead the nation's efforts to help others like himself do the best 
possible for those most in need of temporary and permanent housing.
  Before he left his widely respected HELP nonprofit in New York, 
Andrew Cuomo had built an organization with 350 employees, a $25 
million budget, and more then $120 million worth of needed and 
affordable housing. While serving as HUD Assistant Secretary for 
Community Planning and Development, Andrew Cuomo got the Empowerment 
Zone and Enterprise Community Programs up and running after a stiff 
national competition to select participating towns and cities in urban 
and rural America.
  Under his leadership, the fledgling HOME affordable housing program 
increased its achievements from less than 2,000 units of affordable 
housing to over 110,000 units across America. Andrew Cuomo created the 
HUD Economic Development Initiative, now seen by mayors as their most 
flexible economic development tool for revitalizing poor communities 
through a unique combination of HUD resources.
  As he said in his confirmation hearing, HUD can be a vital partner 
with State and local government by being ``smarter, smaller, and 
better.'' He has a keen eye for the projects that can attract private 
sector support. He understands the support HUD can give these projects 
in revitalization efforts in our inner cities and in rural towns.
  I was very impressed with his observation that ``the pride and 
dignity of having a job and earning one's own bread is the best social 
services program that exists.''
  Mr. President and Senate colleagues, I highly recommend Andrew M. 
Cuomo for the important job of Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development. I urge you to vote in favor of his confirmation today. If 
you vote to confirm Mr. Cuomo, you will be doing a great service to the 
millions of Americans whose lives will be touched by his active and 
creative leadership.
  Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. Mr. President, I strongly support the nomination 
of Assistant Secretary Andrew Cuomo to be the next Secretary of the 
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and I look forward to 
his confirmation by the Senate today.
  As a member of the Banking Committee, I had the pleasure of 
participating in Mr. Cuomo's confirmation hearing. I continue to be 
impressed by Mr. Cuomo's commitment to expanding housing opportunities 
for the people of this Nation and to cutting the bureaucracy which too 
often hinders such efforts.
  When Congress passed the Public Housing Act of 1937, the findings 
stated, ``It is the policy of the United States to promote the general 
welfare of the Nation by employing its funds and credit * * * to remedy 
the unsafe and unsanitary housing conditions and the acute shortage of 
decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings for families of lower income * * 
*'' In other words, it is in the Nation's best interest to invest in 
housing for the American people.
  In both word and deed, Andrew Cuomo has demonstrated that he believes 
in the goals of the 1937 act. From his work founding HELP, the Nation's 
largest nonprofit provider of transitional housing for the homeless, to 
his efforts as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Community Planning 
and Development at HUD, Secretary-designate Cuomo's commitment to 
expanding housing opportunities for all Americans is clear.
  His work was recognized by former New York City Mayor David Dinkins 
who named Andrew Cuomo chairman of the New York City Commission on the 
Homeless. The commission's report, ``The Way Home: A New Direction in 
Social Policy,'' suggested a continuum of care policy that was adopted 
by the mayor and has been recognized nationally as a model for ending 
homelessness.
  One of the reasons that I am particularly pleased to be supporting 
this nominee today is that his approach to expanding housing 
opportunities is multifaceted. When we talk about housing, we are, in 
reality, talking about community. The home is the building block of the 
community which in turn is the building block of the Nation.

[[Page S784]]

  In order to build community, it is foolish to ignore the availability 
of capital, the presence or lack of jobs, the wealth or poverty of the 
residents, or the ability of people to pay their own way, now or in the 
future.
  Andrew Cuomo understands that people often need not only a home, but 
a job to pay for that home. And he understands the fundamental role of 
public/private partnerships in providing access to both.
  Under his tenure as Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development, there has been an increase in the amount of investment 
available for job creation, business expansion, and capital access for 
cities, a more effective strategy for reducing homelessness, and the 
implementation of the important empowerment zone/enterprise community 
initiatives.
  Any new Secretary of HUD will face enormous challenges, not the least 
of which will be how to effectively streamline and improve the HUD 
bureaucracy. Good ideas and sound efforts are often prevented from 
succeeding because the costs of the bureaucracy are too great. 
Efficiency and economic savings must go hand-in-hand with vision and 
hard work. I am confident that Andrew Cuomo is the right person to 
address this set of problems.
  I look forward to the rapid confirmation of Andrew Cuomo to be the 
Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
  I support his confirmation and look forward to working with him to 
tackle the challenges facing America's communities at the end of the 
20th century and the beginning of the 21st century.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, it is a pleasure to have the opportunity to 
cast my vote today in support of the nomination of Andrew Cuomo for 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Given the opportunity to 
choose a replacement for outgoing Secretary Henry Cisneros, I would be 
hard pressed to find a better candidate.
  Andrew Cuomo has spent his life helping low-income families find 
answers to housing problems. His work to combat homelessness in New 
York and most recently at the Department has helped to take countless 
needy people off of the streets and put them back on their feet. His 
innovative continuum of care initiative provided the impetus for 
Vermont and other States to bring together housing and service 
providers and develop a comprehensive plan for dealing with 
homelessness. This approach has ensured that the Department's 
homelessness programs get the most bang-for-the-buck, and should serve 
as a model for other Federal programs.
  That Yankee knack for cost cutting will serve him well in his new 
position. When I look at the funding problems ahead for the section 8 
housing program and the uncertain impact of welfare reform on the cost 
of HUD rental assistance programs, I don't know whether to congratulate 
Andrew Cuomo on his promotion or offer my sympathies. However, I do 
know that outgoing Secretary Cisneros is leaving the Department in good 
hands, and I look forward to working with Secretary Cuomo in the years 
ahead to address these and other problems facing our Nation's housing 
programs.
  Andrew Cuomo had nationwide responsibilities which he exercised with 
great skill. In Vermont we look at the people who turned to him for 
help in my home city of Burlington. He listened. He helped. Today their 
life is better because of him.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am very pleased about President 
Clinton's nomination of Andrew Cuomo for Secretary of the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development, and am delighted to support this 
nomination.
  Secretary-designate Cuomo's accomplishments in the private sector and 
as Assistant Secretary of HUD's Office of Community Planning and 
Development are numerous. Housing assistance systems developed by 
Andrew Cuomo have served as model systems, achieving success all across 
this Nation.
  At his hearing last week, Secretary-designate Cuomo showed his 
knowledge, not only of the management problems within HUD, but of the 
substantive programs as well. Moreover, Secretary-designate Cuomo 
expressed his vision for HUD with a refreshing realism. He understands 
HUD's mission, and the limited discretionary spending to achieve the 
goals of providing housing assistance in this country.
  The issues I am primarily concerned about working on were clearly 
understood by the Secretary-designate. California faces the brunt of 
the burden with regard to section 8 renewals, preservation, and the 
impact of welfare reform on housing. Another issue I will continue to 
try and resolve with HUD and the Veterans' Administration is 
homelessness among veterans who fought this country's wars.
  I believe Andrew Cuomo is distinctly qualified to be Secretary of 
HUD. The Secretary-designate has been with HUD in a leadership capacity 
since 1993. He worked closely with outgoing Secretary Henry Cisneros 
and understands the complex matrix that makes up HUD's existing 
programs. From his background, experience, and responses at his 
nomination hearing last week, Mr. Cuomo has shown he understands what 
it will take to improve upon that matrix.
  Americans all across this Nation, in both urban and rural areas, can 
expect changes positively affecting housing assistance. Again, I fully 
support Mr. Cuomo's nomination as Secretary of HUD.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I yield back any time that we might have, 
and I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  Mr. SARBANES. I yield back any time remaining on this side.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the nomination of Andrew M. Cuomo, to be Secretary of 
Housing and Urban Development? On this question, the yeas and nays have 
been ordered, and the clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii [Mr. Inouye] is 
necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 99, nays 0, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 3 Ex.]

                                YEAS--99

     Abraham
     Akaka
     Allard
     Ashcroft
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Brownback
     Bryan
     Bumpers
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Chafee
     Cleland
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Coverdell
     Craig
     D'Amato
     Daschle
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Faircloth
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Ford
     Frist
     Glenn
     Gorton
     Graham
     Gramm
     Grams
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Helms
     Hollings
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kempthorne
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lott
     Lugar
     Mack
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Moseley-Braun
     Moynihan
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nickles
     Reed
     Reid
     Robb
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Roth
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith, Bob
     Smith, Gordon
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond
     Torricelli
     Warner
     Wellstone
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Inouye
       
  The nomination was confirmed.
  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I wish to extend my congratulations to 
Mr. Cuomo.

                          ____________________