[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 13059-13060]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        PORKER OF THE WEEK AWARD

  (Mr. HEFLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, imagine how many single family homes and 
apartment buildings could be built for $1 billion. That is the amount 
the Inspector General at the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development reports has been wastefully spent.
  In several different reports, the Inspector General details wasteful 
spending ranging from overpayments to pure abuse. One report identified 
$935 million in Federal housing subsidy overpayments during 1998 in 
HUD's assisted living programs. The overpayments resulted from the 
HUD's inability to accurately know if recipients qualified based on 
income or housing benefits. It has been estimated that $935 million

[[Page 13060]]

could provide housing assistance to 150,000 needy families.
  Another report on a Bronx, New York, housing project uncovered 
ineligible and unnecessary expenses totaling $258,000. The audit 
uncovered expenses totaling $26,000 that was either unnecessary for the 
project's operation or not supported by adequate documentation, 
including $13,000 for unnecessary telephone charges and $10,000 for 
unnecessary cab fares.
  The Department of Housing and Urban Development gets my porker of the 
week award.

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