David Price: “I suppose if you liked a 4.6 percent across-the-board, indiscriminate cut, you will love 14 percent, even more…”

“I suppose if you liked a 4.6 percent across-the-board, indiscriminate cut, you will love 14 percent, even more draconian, and equally indiscriminate. I won't repeat what I said a few minutes ago about the drastic effects a cut of this magnitude would have on the range of housing and transportation priorities for this country. But I will look at a particular State, the gentleman's own State, Indiana, and just mention what some of the consequences would be. I hope this is useful information. The gentleman's amendment would cut $10.2 million in CDBG funding for Indiana, which could have been used to rehab housing, to repair streets and sidewalks, provide senior and youth programs. The amount of additional funding generated by CDBG dollars in Indiana is estimated to be--the cut, the effect is estimated to be $40.6 million in money taken out of the Indiana economy. Home funding, the most flexible affordable housing funding we have, $4.8 million taken out of that funding in Indiana. Transit projects in Indiana take a whopping loss of $23.8 million. Highways in Indiana, highway infrastructure, a loss of $5.1 million; and so it goes. These are cuts that would reverse the progress we have made. A lot of people are talking infrastructure these days, including our President. This bill is actually doing something about it. We are making long overdue investments in this country's infrastructure, and that includes the housing infrastructure.…”