Rick Lazio

I had the great pleasure of helping to construct a home in Washington, D.C., with Members on both sides of the aisle. It was a great bipartisan effort to try and build a home through the Habitat for Humanity. One of the great pleasures as…

This is a bill that has been fully vetted over 3 years. This is a bill that has twice seen consideration, not just in committee, but on the floor of the House. Just last May, as I mentioned earlier, this bill passed with over 293 Members…

Mr. Chairman, let us get the job done. All we have heard are arguments about process and rules. Let us get the job done. That argument about process does not help one person save themselves. It does not help one family. It does not help…

This is a message of empowerment. This is a message of accountability. What we are saying with public housing reform is that it is time to stop wasting money, throwing money at the public housing authorities that have failed year after…

While millionaires have been getting the best service at the best price, one-stop shopping is still not available to working families. Financial modernization will give families greater choices where and how to invest their hard-earned…

the Lazio-Gilman-Tauscher amendment will address a matter of dire importance to American families, the need for high-quality child care. As a parent of two, I know how difficult it is to leave our children in the care of others. While most…

I want to once again thank the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach), the chairman of the committee, for his leadership and his commitment to the needs of low-income families and individuals. Without his help, this bill would not be before us…

I believe deeply that this demonstration program needs to be extended. I think even if we were to come to an agreement tomorrow with the Senate, and I think the chairman of the full panel has explained what our position is, we would still…

Mr. Speaker, S. 562, the Housing Programs Extension Act of 1997, will provide security and peace of mind for senior citizens seeking to obtain an FHA-insured reverse mortgage. In short, this legislation gives the Department of Housing and…

I would just once again urge all Members to support these important extensions, protection for senior citizens from being ripped off, antifraud provisions, protections for public housing in general. This is an important vote for rural…

Mr. Chairman, I had prepared an amendment to reduce foreign aid to Egypt, but I will suspend that for a moment. I have serious concern about the objectives and the part Egypt has been playing in terms of its constructive role in the peace…

Today, as part of the Defense Authorization Act, we are honoring those Americans who served during the cold war. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, a 46-year conflict between the Free World and Soviet totalitarianism ended. Yet…

It is the sense of the Congress that-- (1) all United Nations staff, including diplomats, should comply with binding United States Federal, State, and local court orders regarding child and spousal support obligations; (2) the internal…

we have a chance tonight to help the United Nations enforce its own rules. We have passed strict reforms in Congress to ensure that our citizens in America fulfill their obligations to their children and their spouses, yet many children…

Mr. Speaker, again this is about the creation of a partnership with Members of Congress in the community of Washington, DC. Many Members of Congress live in the District. I am one of those who, when I am down here on Tuesdays, Wednesdays…

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…

Mr. Chairman, what the gentleman from Massachusetts calls wealthy are people that are making minimum wage or 50 cents or a dollar more than minimum wage. That is where we have broad disagreement, where the gentleman looks at people who are…

I would just note that we are in the process of trying to overhaul public housing for the first time, at least in any significant sense, in over 60 years; and if we prove in this House that we cannot correct this problem, if we establish…

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…

in these last few minutes of this debate after 3 weeks of having this bill on the floor with over 60 amendments, this body is about to make a choice about the direction in which we are going to begin to address not just shelter but the…

I just wanted to mention obviously this particular issue was debated thoroughly last year, and I know the gentleman from Massachusetts recalls my position on this, but the House has worked its will, and I respect that and have reflected…

as the gentleman realizes, this problem was created not last year or 2 years ago or 5 years ago, but over 20 years ago when the section 8 program was created. At that time the Federal Government, in its infinite wisdom to encourage people…

Mr. Chairman, we are now near the end, I believe, of consideration of amendments to H.R. 2, and at this point I think it is appropriate that we reflect on the fact that the central tenets of the bill and the themes of the bill are left…

I wanted to thank both the gentleman from California and the gentleman from Indiana for their interest and commitment to manufactured housing. It is one of the preeminent affordable housing tools that we have in America, and I want to say…

It is absolutely the responsibility of the committee in terms of oversight. It is absolutely the responsibility of the inspector general. It is absolutely the responsibility of the General Accounting Office, to the extent that they are…