[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5804-5805]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             EUREKA GARDENS

  Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, tomorrow I will be visiting the Eureka 
Garden Apartments in Jacksonville, FL, which is a Section 8 apartment 
complex that is supposed to provide affordable and safe living 
conditions for low-income members of the Jacksonville community, but it 
doesn't. Instead, its tenants have been subjected to dangerous, often 
downright disgusting living conditions for years. They raised their 
concerns repeatedly with the managers of the facility and local 
officials, only to be met for the most part with bureaucratic 
indifference.
  My staff and I have been working on this since it first came to light 
last fall, but there has been a frustrating, disturbing lack of 
progress from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and, more 
importantly, from the owner of the complex.
  Frankly, I have had enough. I am heading down there tomorrow to see 
what we have to do and whom we need to put pressure on to get things 
moving. I will be touring the facility and meeting with Tracy Grant, 
who is the president of the tenants association. I will be joined by 
Councilman Garrett Dennis, Jacksonville Mayor Len Curry, and Pastor 
Mark Griffin of Wayman Ministries, who will be meeting with residents. 
I intend to commend the

[[Page 5805]]

residents tomorrow for how united and resilient they have been 
throughout this ordeal, even while the Federal Government failed them.
  For years the Department of Housing and Urban Development has 
certified this facility and as a result has put hundreds of families at 
risk. When HUD inspected the property last summer, they passed the 
complex with a score of 85 out of 100. Less than a month later, 
residents were complaining about how bad their living conditions were.
  When my staff visited the complex, it was nearly unlivable. They saw 
crumbling stairs, black mold, and exposed electrical wiring that had 
been covered up by a trash bag. They smelled the natural gas that would 
soon hospitalize residents days later. This was and is unacceptable.
  For months, my office, along with Mayor Curry, the city council, and 
the tenants association, pushed to have improvements and repairs done 
to this complex. In February, HUD finally had a date by which all 
repairs must be completed. When the time came to reinspect Eureka 
Gardens, it passed inspection, and they eventually renewed their 
contract with the property's owner, but the residents continued to say 
what they had said all along: HUD's inspections aren't working.
  Just recently, HUD revealed that Eureka Gardens passed with a score 
of 62. The passing score is a 60. However, a senior HUD official 
admitted that HUD officials do not believe the property would currently 
pass another inspection. HUD essentially admitted that it had certified 
a failing facility. Something is clearly wrong with the inspection 
process, and Floridians are being hurt because of it.
  I will be down there tomorrow to find out how we can put an end to 
this problem once and for all. The residents of Eureka Gardens cannot 
be forced to suffer under mismanagement and apathy any longer. Children 
cannot continue to be put at risk due to gas leaks and other hazardous 
conditions. HUD cannot be allowed to continue to rubberstamp approval 
of failing housing complexes, only to further slum-like conditions for 
the most vulnerable tenants.
  I will continue to look for solutions to help make sure the 
conditions in Eureka Gardens are fixed and aren't repeated anywhere 
else. If we determine that congressional action is necessary, then I am 
prepared to take it. The residents of Eureka Gardens deserve safe 
living conditions, and we will make sure that is exactly what they get.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Rubio). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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