Kathy Castor: “My amendment moves $3 million from the executive offices of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, including…”

“My amendment moves $3 million from the executive offices of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, including the Deputy Secretary's office, to the Office of Field Policy and Management, for a very good reason. The leadership at the Department of Housing and Urban Development has failed my neighbors in Florida under its unsubstantiated plan to remove the on-the-ground, community-based personnel from our local communities and transfer these positions to a single bureaucratic behemoth. On September 30 of this year, HUD executives plan to move our local community-based HUD professionals to other offices hundreds of miles away. Yet the housing and homeless challenges in my community will remain. Mr. Chairman, Congress was not consulted on HUD's plan. After HUD's plan was leaked, a number of Members of Congress inquired. So what is HUD's plan? The Deputy Secretary said HUD plans to remove its representatives from the Tampa Bay and Orlando areas, a region of over 6 million Americans, larger than 30 States, and from other communities across the country. I asked HUD's Deputy Secretary, Is this a cost-saving measure? He said, No. I asked HUD's Deputy Secretary, Have you done a workforce analysis so that the HUD workforce is devoted to the areas that need help and the appropriate places at the appropriate numbers? No.…”