[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 21, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1902]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




DEPARTMENTS OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND 
             INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2000

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                               speech of

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 8, 1999

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2684) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Veteran Affairs and 
     Housing and Urban Development, and for sundry independent 
     agencies, boards, commissions, corporations, and offices for 
     the fiscal year ending September 30, 2000, and for other 
     purposes:

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this 
amendment. At a time when our economy is at its strongest in a 
generation, we should be working to ensure that working Americans can 
afford a roof over their heads. Unfortunately, the bill the Republicans 
chose to bring to the floor would leave 128,000 families out in the 
cold.
  By failing to fund the President's request for 100,000 new Section 8 
housing vouchers, Republicans will leave 128,000 families out in the 
cold.
  This bill undermines low and moderate income Americans struggling to 
make ends meet. It fails to fund the President's request for 100,000 
new Section 8 vouchers, cutting the legs out from under people making 
the transition from welfare to work. And it comes at a time when the 
number of people in need of rental assistance is at an all-time high of 
12.5 million-nearly half of whom are children and the elderly.
  Mr. Nadler's amendment would help move us back toward investing in 
affordable housing opportunities for working Americans by funding 
50,000 new Section 8 vouchers. We should not leave working Americans 
out in the cold to help pay for a tax cut that the American people 
don't want and that our children's future can't afford. I urge members 
to support this amendment.

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