Maurice Hinchey: “This amendment clearly deals with new tenants coming into housing. There is a turnaround of about 15 percent a year in…”

“This amendment clearly deals with new tenants coming into housing. There is a turnaround of about 15 percent a year in subsidized housing alone. Any senior citizen or disabled resident who is making more than 30 percent of area median income, which is roughly equivalent to the earnings of a minimum-wage earner, will be left out in the cold under the present bill. An estimated 135,000 elderly households in public housing alone can be expected to be left unprotected by the present bill that is before the House. Another 17,000 disabled households would be left unprotected by the bill that is currently before the House. Mr. Chairman, the numbers that I am giving relate only to those who live in public housing. It does not begin to tell the story of the additional tens of thousands of elderly and disabled, frail elderly and disabled who are in assisted housing. How are these families going to afford to pay higher rents if they must also pay hundreds more for their health care, food, and other basic necessities? Many households will be forced to choose between housing and health care, food and medicine, and many families are going to end up on the street as a result if this amendment is not adopted. Mr. Chairman, my amendment would simply preserve a narrowly tailored form of the current rent ceiling named for a Republican Senator, passed by a Republican Senate, and signed into law by a Republican President.”