James A. Leach: “in responding, let me just put this in a little broader background: 2\1/2\ years ago, there was a major effort and…”

“in responding, let me just put this in a little broader background: 2\1/2\ years ago, there was a major effort and consideration by this administration to eliminate HUD. That effort received widespread consideration in this body. Our committee, of which the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. Watt] and the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Frank] are members, made a collective kind of decision to try to not eliminate public housing but to reform it. The dollars that we have put on the table are precisely the dollars requested by the President of the United States, Mr. Clinton. The reforms are in large measure consistent with the proposals of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. I acknowledge on this issue, and also with regard to this amendment, there are some differentiations. This amendment, for example, addresses a point where the committee may have gone further than the bill that HUD supplied, but we think we are largely consistent. But having said that, the big picture is that we have made a decision to try to reform rather than to allow continued stultification and decay. We believe we are in tune with the American people on the view that when one receives a benefit, to the maximum extent possible, there ought to be something provided back in a public kind of way. That is what we have on the table and what you have every right to individually differentiate yourself with.…”