Political Quotes

“if the claims being made on behalf of the majority's bill were valid, I would support it. If rhetoric could cure poverty after this debate, there would not be a poor person left anywhere in public housing. But this bill that the majority has brought forward has literally not one thing in it that helps anyone leave poverty, get a job, or improve herself. It does require you, if you live in public housing, to work 8 hours a month, and despite what was said earlier, inaccurately, even if you are the primary caregiver of someone unable to take care of himself or herself. Someone got carried away and thought the amendment of the gentleman from Illinois had been adopted, but it was not. So what we say is that if you are a poor person living in public housing and you are even the caregiver to someone, you still have to do the 8 hours a month, even if the housing authority believes that given the conditions in which you live, it really would not be terribly useful. It says you have to sign a contract promising that some day you will be a richer person. It does not provide you with a single tool to do that. The major way this bill improves public housing is by reducing the number of very poor people in it. I grant that point.”