Kendrick Meek: “Mr. Speaker, to the good chairman, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio), and the ranking member, the gentleman from…”

“Mr. Speaker, to the good chairman, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio), and the ranking member, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy), I think I will be the only one here in the House today to speak against or in opposition to the bill. It is a very hard thing to do, because of my respect for these two gentlemen and the work that they have done here in the House on housing. Mr. Speaker, we want all the homeless to be helped, but imposing the same Federal mandates for the entire country may not be the best way to do that, and I am hoping the committee can look at this a little bit further as this bill goes through and goes to the Senate. I include for the Record a letter from the HUD Secretary, Andrew Cuomo, a letter from the mayor, Alex Penelas, and a letter from the head of my housing foundation, Alvah Chapman, in the Record opposing the bill in its current form.”