Rick Lazio: “Mr. Speaker, let me begin by congratulating and thanking my colleague and friend, the gentleman from California [Mr.…”

“Mr. Speaker, let me begin by congratulating and thanking my colleague and friend, the gentleman from California [Mr. Lewis], for this concept and for his introduction of this legislation. I also want to thank the gentleman from Ohio, Mr. Stokes, the gentleman from Missouri, Mr. Gephardt, the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Gingrich, the Speaker of the House, the gentleman from New York, Mr. Flake, and certainly the gentleman from Massachusetts, Mr. Kennedy, and the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia, Ms. Eleanor Holmes Norton, for their cooperation and collaboration to celebrate what I think is one of the more outstanding programs that we have in America, the creation of a synergy where people in the public sector and the community itself, businesses and the private sector, and the not-for-profit sector which have come together to contribute their time and resources and effort to give to their fellow neighbor one of the greatest gifts that one can imagine, and that is receiving the gift of home ownership, of obtaining the American dream. This is through the Habitat for Humanity Program.”