Tom Latham: “Woman, I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment. The gentleman said there's a big difference as far as an…”

“Woman, I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment. The gentleman said there's a big difference as far as an increase in funding in this account from last year. The fact of the matter is that what was actually spent was not increased and will not be increased this year. We recaptured a great deal of money from accounts previously to fund our bill last year. So the funding level is actually the same as what it was last year. The bill funds the rental housing assistance at $21 million, which is the amount with the recapture from last year that was spent, and this amount is necessary to fund 18,000 existing long-term project-based rental assistance contracts. This will ensure that these units remain available for low-income families. The bill funding levels are not arbitrary, Madam Chairwoman. We have scrubbed these accounts. We've held hearings on them and made recommendations on what must be funded. Again, although it appears a sizeable increase, in fact, it is not because of the recapture we had from last year. I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time”