[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 121 (Friday, September 5, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1709]
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, 2004

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 25, 2003

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2861) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Veterans Affairs and 
     Housing and Urban Development, and for sundry independent 
     agencies, boards, commissions, corporations, and offices for 
     the fiscal year ending September 30, 2004, and for other 
     purposes:

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Nadler-
Velazquez amendment. The amendment restores $150 million in funding for 
the Section 8 voucher program. The underlying bill cuts funding for 
housing vouchers. If this bill is passed into law in its current form, 
85,000 people will lose their vouchers, including over 3,200 families 
in Illinois. I strongly believe that we should expand, not reduce, 
funding for the Section 8 voucher program and low-income housing in 
general. The Nadler-Velazquez amendment would help restore voucher 
funding for thousands of families in need.
  In a letter I received today, several faith-based organizations 
wrote, ``As faith-based organizations, we are committed to 
strengthening our communities by assisting those who are the most 
vulnerable, and we believe that our work is not simply a matter of 
charity, but of responsibility, righteousness, and justice. We urge you 
to assist us in our work by renewing Congress' commitment to fully fund 
and expand the Section 8 voucher program.'' I encourage my colleagues 
to read the full text of the letter and urge all members to support the 
amendment.

                                                    July 25, 2003.
     To: Members of the U.S. House of Representatives
     Re: Funding for the Housing Choice (``Section 8'') Voucher 
         Program

       As members of the faith community, we are writing to 
     express our concern about funding for the Section 8 housing 
     voucher program. Our organizations serve millions of low-
     income individuals and families who, despite their best 
     efforts, are struggling to meet their basic needs and to 
     achieve economic stability. To many of those we assist, the 
     lack of affordable housing presents a considerable obstacle, 
     and the Section 8 voucher program offers in turn a critical 
     form of assistance. Through our work, we are witness to the 
     important role that housing vouchers play in preventing 
     homelessness, and in helping low-income individuals and 
     families to make progress towards economic stability.
       Congress has for many years expressed a strong commitment 
     to the Section 8 voucher program, consistently voting to 
     increase the number of vouchers authorized and to fully fund 
     all authorized vouchers. This commitment has been important, 
     as the need for housing assistance has continued to expand. 
     In most communities, there are long waiting lists for Section 
     8 vouchers, and it is estimated that only one third of 
     eligible households receive voucher assistance.
       To our disappointment, however, Congress appears to be 
     retreating from this commitment. In the appropriations law 
     for 2003, Congress failed, for the first time in recent 
     memory, to include funding for incremental Section 8 
     vouchers. This week, the House Appropriations Committee 
     reported out a VA-HUD appropriations bill for 2004 that 
     would, by its own estimate, fund only 96 percent of 
     authorized Section 8 vouchers, and again includes no funding 
     for incremental vouchers.
       Moreover, while we appreciate that the House Appropriations 
     Committee has made a sincere effort to improve on the 
     President's budget request for the voucher program, and we 
     recognize that estimating future voucher costs is difficult, 
     there is reason to believe that the Committee's estimate is 
     overly optimistic. Recent analyses performed independently by 
     the Congressional Budget Office and the Center on Budget and 
     Policy Priorities (CBPP) suggest that the Committee's 
     estimate is based on voucher cost assumptions that are too 
     low. For example, in an analysis of the most recent voucher 
     cost data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
     Development, CBPP estimates that the Section 8 appropriation 
     in the House bill would be sufficient to renew only 91 
     percent of authorized vouchers, and is approximately $580 
     million short of the funding that will be necessary to fully 
     renew vouchers leased in 2004. A shortfall of this magnitude 
     would have a destructive impact on thousands of vulnerable 
     households--85,000 households, by CBPP's estimate--the great 
     majority of which are working families, elderly, or disabled.
       We therefore urge you to renew Congress' commitment to 
     fully fund the Section 8 voucher program. Specifically, we 
     ask that you increase the Section 8 appropriation 
     sufficiently to ensure that all authorized vouchers will be 
     funded, and to make certain that no households using vouchers 
     in the coming year will be denied funding.
       As faith-based organizations, we are committed to 
     strengthening our communities by assisting those who are the 
     most vulnerable, and we believe that our work is not simply a 
     matter of charity, but of responsibility, righteousness, and 
     justice. We urge you to assist us in our work by renewing 
     Congress' commitment to fully fund and expand the Section 8 
     voucher program.
           Sincerely,
         American Baptist Churches USA; Call to Renewal; Catholic 
           Charities USA; The Episcopal Church, USA; McAuley 
           Institute; NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice 
           Lobby; Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Washington Office; 
           United Jewish Communities; Volunteers of America.

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