Political Quotes

“I believe that we need to provide additional clarification regarding section 226 of the VA/HUD Fiscal Year 1999 Appropriations Act, Public Law 105-276, that provides a prohibition of public housing funding for certain State-developed housing in New York and Massachusetts, covering some 12,000 units. This transfer has been described as the ``federalization'' of this housing, but it should be called a sham, with the analogy of a husband walking out on his wife and children and leaving them with nothing. This housing was developed by State government with no nexus to public housing. To be clear, the Senator Banking Committee in the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 had sought to fund the long-term housing needs of low-income housing developed with New York and Massachusetts funding with new Federal public housing funding, despite the fact, as I have noted, that these are not public housing units and have absolutely no nexus to public housing or any Federal housing program. As a result, the Congress passed section 226 of the VA/HUD Fiscal Year 1999 Appropriations Act to ensure for fiscal year 1999 and every following fiscal year, including all appropriation acts in every succeeding fiscal year, that these state-developed low-income housing units remain the responsibility of New York and Massachusetts, and not create the unusual, unfair and unique precedent of requiring the Federal Government to fund this housing as public housing.”