Bruce F. Vento: “I would just say that effectively there have been no answers to the questions that we have raised. The gentleman's own…”

“I would just say that effectively there have been no answers to the questions that we have raised. The gentleman's own report language suggests that if the study turns out differently, then we can come back and repeal the board. Mr. Chairman, it is a $500,000 study, I say to my colleagues. It is going to set up appointments by the Speaker, by the minority leader, by the President; 12 Members are going to be out there looking for a mission. We know how these sorts of examples function. I would say that my distinguished colleague from New York, Mr. Lazio, the subcommittee chairman, pointed out that the GAO gave an evaluation of HUD. How does this deal with changing HUD? HUD still has the responsibility; and I might say in reference to this that HUD has, and in this bill, in fact, there is even more authority being given to local governments and to the public housing authorities. The presumption is that they have the ability to in fact function in that regard. I would suggest that this is not accreditation. We have building standards and many requirements that are local. This is a balancing act that we do when we are dealing with housing.”