Alcee Hastings: “Mr. Chairman, I have sat, incredulous, that this debate has been ongoing. Of course, I am very supportive of the…”

“Mr. Chairman, I have sat, incredulous, that this debate has been ongoing. Of course, I am very supportive of the amendment offered by the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. Watt] and appreciative of the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Bereuter] and those who are concerned enough to be about the business of trying to reconcile what remaining differences exist with reference to some rather innocuous language. Mr. Chairman, this Nation built a monument to middle-class housing under the aegis of the Federal Housing Administration and the Veterans' Administration, and rightly so. We seem to forget exactly what the United States of America does for any number of entities who are involved in institutional development. When a major institution in this country builds a new building and leases it for 99 years, it does not mean that the Federal Government is not involved in insuring the loan that constructed those magnificent high-rises in many of our communities that have absolutely nothing to do with the housing of poor individuals. How dare we come in here and say, as policymakers of this Nation, that we do not favor a goal of ensuring that every citizen in this country has safe and inhabitable housing?”