Martin Sabo: “I think this debate is very useful, because it highlights the importance of housing. Over the last several years, I have…”

“I think this debate is very useful, because it highlights the importance of housing. Over the last several years, I have been disappointed to the degree that housing has been off the agenda for both parties, and if there is any area where the Federal Government has played a primary role for decades, it has been in the development of housing policy in this country, whether it is through tax programs, through insurance programs, or through direct expenditures. We have a crisis in the availability of low- and moderate-income housing in this country today, and I would suggest to my friends that while we have our extensive debates on education policy, that the Federal role in providing for low- and moderate-income housing in this country, in my judgment, is of greater importance to education policy in this country than many of the things we are doing in the education bill. But if we have limited resources, what should be our priority? Clearly the first priority has to be that we are funding and operating in a decent and efficient manner the housing that exists.”