James M. Talent: “My experience is one that I think is shared by most of the Members of this body. It simply does not reflect well on HUD.…”

“My experience is one that I think is shared by most of the Members of this body. It simply does not reflect well on HUD. Mr. Chairman, let me tell a couple of anecdotes that show that. I was on a talk show about a year and a half ago with the man who used to be the mayor of the city of St. Louis. He is a member of the Democratic Party. I said, ``If you were the czar of public housing in this country,'' and he had a lot of experience with it, ``what would you do to provide good public housing for poor people?'' Mr. Chairman, he said, ``I can tell you what I would begin by doing. I would begin by abolishing the Department of Housing and Urban Development,'' and then he went on to explain why HUD was blocking the efforts of local officials and private people to provide decent housing for people.”