Rick Lazio: “Mr. Chairman, I will say, once again, the same voices in defense of what we have now, the status quo, are opposing this…”

“Mr. Chairman, I will say, once again, the same voices in defense of what we have now, the status quo, are opposing this bill. We had 100 Democrats who stood up last year for change and reform to recognize the failure of the system. What we have here again is defense of what exists, the failure that exists in many of our communities, the poverty, the superconcentration of poverty in the very backyards of some of the Members who are speaking out against this bill. I will tell my colleagues it is an outrage in this Chamber to talk about community service as something that is to be mocked or denigrated. I ask, where were the voices in this Chamber when we asked for people who got medical scholarships to give their service to low income areas? Where were the voices in this Chamber to oppose the President's AmeriCorps program because the only way somebody could get education is to expect them to give back to community service. I would say to this Chamber, where is the compassion for people who are just as poor who cannot get into public housing but have got to work 40 or 50 or 60 hours just to make ends meet?”