On the recordMarch 2, 2010
They have written a very lengthy letter saying why the amendment I am offering is so important. In addition, I am happy to say, today we got a very strong editorial in the New York Times, which does not always write favorably about some things we have requested. But they have looked at this and have indicated this is something that should be done. Let me take a minute to explain what we are asking for. Right after Katrina and Rita, the Congress, in its wisdom, said: Your situation is so bad down there, you have had so many houses destroyed, so many low-income houses destroyed, we are going to give you some extra low-income housing tax credits. We normally get a formula of about $2 per person in the country. Well, they gave us like $18 per person in the country, which was wonderful. We needed the help. We needed those extra low-income housing tax credits to build housing for the very poor but also to build housing for the working middle class, people whom we rely on to help our hotels get started, our restaurants get started, our schools to run, our teachers, our firefighters, our police officers. So the city and the region--this happened in New Orleans and lots of other parishes. It also happened along the gulf coast of Mississippi. Catholic Charities stepped to the plate, developers stepped to the plate and said: OK, we will use these low-income tax credits to build some housing. Think about Haiti right now. Think about the scene you saw on CNN this morning.
