[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 96 (Friday, July 17, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1344]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        HUD, VA, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES BILL (LEACH AMENDMENT)

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                          HON. RUBEN HINOJOSA

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 17, 1998

  Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, yesterday when we voted on the rule under 
which we are currently considering this legislation, the VA-HUD 
Appropriations Act, and specifically the Leach amendment, I voted 
against it. The process has been circumvented and I do not agree with 
that.
  This is about more than process, however.
  It is ultimately, and more importantly, about people in need being 
abandoned--whether we help those who are disadvantaged, or whether we 
turn our backs on them.
  (The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says the number of poor 
families receiving assistance each year will be reduced by up to 69%.) 
I cannot and I will not be a party to such a blatant wrong aimed 
directly at those who are most in need--low income families and 
individuals, including the elderly and persons with disabilities.
  You'll get no argument from me that resources are scarce, and it is 
for precisely that reason I stand here today and say: Do in your heart 
what you know is right--do not jeopardize public housing assistance for 
poor and low-income working families. It is unfair. It is unjust. It is 
unconscionably wrong.

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