[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 87 (Thursday, June 21, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S6620]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  STATEMENTS ON SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 52--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT 
  REDUCING CRIME IN PUBLIC HOUSING SHOULD BE A PRIORITY, AND THAT THE 
  SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC HOUSING DRUG ELIMINATION PROGRAM SHOULD BE FULLY 
                                 FUNDED

  Mr. CORZINE (for himself, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Reed, Mr. Carper, Mr. 
Schumer, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Bayh, Mr. 
Rockefeller, Ms. Collins, Mrs. Clinton, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Cleland, Ms. 
Cantwell, Mr. Wellstone, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Torricelli, and Mr. Kerry) 
submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs:

                            S. Con. Res. 52

       Whereas while various public housing developments suffer 
     from serious crime problems, many have made significant 
     progress in reducing crime through initiatives funded by the 
     Public Housing Drug Elimination Program (PHDEP);
       Whereas PHDEP was first established in 1988 under former 
     President George Bush and the former Secretary of the 
     Department of Housing and Urban Development, Jack Kemp, and 
     has enjoyed strong bipartisan support since its inception;
       Whereas PHDEP funds a wide variety of anticrime 
     initiatives, that include--
       (1) the employment of security personnel and investigators;
       (2) the reimbursement of local law enforcement agencies for 
     additional security;
       (3) drug education and prevention, intervention, and 
     treatment programs;
       (4) voluntary resident patrols; and
       (5) physical improvements designed to enhance security, 
     including fences and cameras;
       Whereas PHDEP has successfully enabled housing authorities 
     to work cooperatively with residents, local officials, police 
     departments, community groups, Boys and Girls Clubs, drug 
     counseling centers, and other community-based organizations 
     to develop locally-supported anticrime initiatives;
       Whereas the Internet web site of the Department of Housing 
     and Urban Development has stated that the program's ``success 
     is rooted in the fact that the people respond better and 
     become more involved in something they have helped to 
     build'';
       Whereas in addition to providing direct funding for 
     anticrime initiatives, PHDEP has helped housing authorities 
     leverage funding from other sources that might otherwise be 
     unavailable, such as funding from local banks, Rotary and 
     Kiwanis Clubs, and private foundations;
       Whereas a portion of funding allocated to the PHDEP is also 
     used to reduce crime in privately-owned, publicly assisted 
     housing, and assisted housing on Indian reservations, which 
     also can suffer from serious crime problems;
       Whereas the Internet web site of the Department of Housing 
     and Urban Development has pointed out that ``in several of 
     the Nation's largest public housing authorities--largest in 
     terms of unit size--the rate of crime has fallen since the 
     mid-1990's, even though the crime rate in the respective 
     surrounding communities increased. And we know that crime 
     levels in many housing authorities are dropping, in both 
     absolute and percentage terms. These are merely the successes 
     that we can measure. There are many more that are simply 
     immeasurable.'';
       Whereas Congress has recognized the success of the PHDEP by 
     increasing program funding from $8,200,000 in fiscal year 
     1989 to $310,000,000 in fiscal year 2001;
       Whereas evicting residents who engage in unlawful activity 
     can help reduce crime, but much of the crime in public 
     housing is perpetrated by nonresidents, and evictions must be 
     supplemented by the more comprehensive anticrime approach 
     supported by the PHDEP;
       Whereas public housing authorities could use operating 
     subsidies to fund some anticrime initiatives under applicable 
     law, but those subsidies are based on a formula that does not 
     account for PHDEP eligible activities and are inadequate to 
     fund most of the anticrime initiatives supported by the 
     program, and PHDEP has the added advantage of requiring 
     public housing authorities to develop and implement anticrime 
     plans with the support and participation of residents and 
     local communities, which has proved critical in ensuring the 
     effectiveness of such plans;
       Whereas while, as with any program of its size, there have 
     been reports of isolated problems, PHDEP generally has been 
     well run and free of the widespread abuses that have plagued 
     other housing programs in the past, in part because of the 
     broad participation of residents and local communities, and 
     because the program has required housing authorities to 
     provide comprehensive plans before receiving funds, and 
     complete reports on their progress;
       Whereas during the process leading to his confirmation, the 
     Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 
     Mel Martinez, stated in a written response to a question 
     posed by Senator Jon S. Corzine that, ``HUD's Public Housing 
     Drug Elimination Program, PHDEP, supports a wide variety of 
     efforts by public and Indian housing authorities to reduce or 
     eliminate drug-related crime in public housing developments. 
     Based on this core purpose, I certainly support the 
     program.'';
       Whereas PHDEP is critical not only to millions of public 
     and assisted housing residents, most of whom are hard 
     working, law abiding citizens, but also to surrounding 
     communities, residents of which also suffer if neighboring 
     housing developments are plagued with high rates of crime; 
     and
       Whereas continued funding of PHDEP would demonstrate that 
     the Nation is serious about maintaining its commitment to 
     reducing the problem of crime in public housing: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) reducing crime in public housing should be a priority; 
     and
       (2) the successful Public Housing Drug Elimination Program 
     should be fully funded.

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