Maxine Waters: “Mr. Speaker and Members, in closing, let me just say what a pleasure it has been for me serving on this subcommittee…”

“Mr. Speaker and Members, in closing, let me just say what a pleasure it has been for me serving on this subcommittee with Chairman Ney. Not only has he provided strong leadership for homeownership, as he alluded to, we have made visits not only in California but in Louisiana and Mississippi, not only looking at CDBG and section 8 and these very important programs that are helping Americans have decent and safe living conditions but leading to homeownership oftentimes. The attention that was paid to Katrina victims and what took place in the gulf coast region has not been matched by anyone. Mr. Ney took it upon himself and his committee to go there and to spend the time taking a look at all aspects of this disaster. And while we were there, we were able to understand what the insurance companies were or were not doing. We were able to understand what was happening with public housing. We were able to understand what was happening with the trailers, who was getting them, who was not getting them. And we were able to work very closely with Mr. Baker, with Mr. Jefferson and with others who come from that region to begin to talk about how we are going to build homes, how we are going to replace those homes, how we are going to be able to use CDBG funds to make sure that people have the opportunity to not only rebuild their homes but to restore their lives. With that, Mr. Speaker, again I thank Chairman Ney. I thank Vice Chairman Miller.”