Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Torres for introducing H.R. 6528, the Housing Temperature Safety Act of 2022, in response to the tragic apartment fire that occurred in his district in the Bronx. Seventeen people died in that fire, including eight children, while dozens more were injured. Sadly, this tragedy was entirely preventable and even foreseeable. The Twin Parks North West apartment building was home to 120 families, including 91 families who were assisted through the housing choice voucher program. Because of heating and ventilation issues in the building, too often families found themselves shivering in their apartments, forcing them to take matters into their own hands by purchasing space heaters, which were deemed to be the cause of this tragic fire. To address this issue, and to better hold housing providers accountable to ensuring their apartments are meeting temperature requirements, H.R. 6528 would create a pilot program to install and study the efficacy of temperature sensors in federally assisted housing. {time} 2110 As the tragedy in the Bronx proved, inadequate heating and cooling in federally assisted units is a danger to our communities. This bill provides a key step towards researching and improving tools to better ensure families' homes are both safe and warm. I thank Representative Torres for his leadership on this issue. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R.…”