John Kerry: “Mr. President, there is much to commend this bill, but there are a few glaring faults. I will focus first on the…”

“Mr. President, there is much to commend this bill, but there are a few glaring faults. I will focus first on the positive features. Part of the good news is that the bill provides level funding for the HOME and CDBG programs. These are two of HUD's model programs that provide an appropriate mix of local flexibility within federal priorities. I am also particularly pleased that the final conference agreement includes a provision that I sponsored in the Senate with Senator Dominici to provide $50 million for vouchers for disabled individuals. These vouchers are a critical housing resource for those disabled people who are affected when public housing authorities designate certain buildings for elderly residents only when those buildings used to be available also to nonelderly disabled individuals. I thank the Chairman and the Ranking Member for including this provision in the final agreement. The mental health parity provisions the Senate added by floor amendment were included in this bill, and I congratulate Senators Dominici and Wellstone, who initially proposed this legislation, for their efforts.”