Rick Lazio: “We want to make a statement here that we are going to hit the ground running. We are not going to wait for further…”

“We want to make a statement here that we are going to hit the ground running. We are not going to wait for further activity; we are not going to condemn another generation to live in substandard conditions. We are going to acknowledge the fact that the HUD evaluations of housing authorities have been chronically flawed and faulty. That is not speculation, that is fact. That is the conclusion of the General Accounting Office. What we are saying in the bill is that we need an independent entity to ensure and demand that the housing authorities are performing to levels of excellence. I can understand why HUD might want to keep control of this, and I can understand why some housing authorities might not want to have an independent evaluation, but let me say that is exactly what they need.”