Rick Lazio: “I want to return the compliment to the gentleman from Massachusetts and thank him certainly for the working relationship…”

“I want to return the compliment to the gentleman from Massachusetts and thank him certainly for the working relationship that we have had through the committee process and through markup and finally on the floor of this House. In the 3 long weeks we have been debating this bill and almost 60 amendments that have been heard, we have been able to dispose of those amendments, not all, I am sure, to the satisfaction of the gentleman from Massachusetts, but at any rate in a way that I think preserves the dignity of this body and this House. We do have differences. We have differences in perspective. We have differences as to how much we trust local authorities, how much flexibility we ought to give them, how we ought to treat low income people. My friend from Massachusetts has offered an amendment that I believe would shut out working-class families, would shut out a husband and wife who happen to have low, minimum wage jobs from the possibility of receiving a rental voucher. We believe in local flexibility. We believe in empowerment. We sweep away the work disincentives that are in current law. I believe under the gentleman's proposition, those work disincentives continue to exist as long as we tie rent to income and do not permit, which we do under H.R. 2, we permit tenants to make that choice, to go to a flat rent so that they work longer, work harder, get a better job. They can keep the fruits of that labor.”