Rick Lazio

I will reclaim my time and I will try and identify that part as I continue to speak here. As I said, Mr. Chairman, everybody should pay something but we should also protect the most vulnerable people. We have done that through a number of…

Mr. Chairman, I will tell my colleagues what is cruel, what is heartless, and what is shameful. It is defending the status quo. It is continuing to condemn Americans throughout the country, especially in our inner-cities, to continue life…

Mr. Chairman, as we go through the conference process, I would assure the gentleman that I will continue to support strongly the authority for new incremental vouchers, and I will also support that through the budget process wherever…

Mr. Chairman, first let me commend my colleague from New York for bringing this entire bill forward and the incredibly good work that he and his committee have done, and let me assure him that when my amendment is added to this bill, it…

this is an important, it is not just important substantively but it is important in terms of process. For the first time, native Americans had input, had the ability to influence the process to reflect the values and the concerns that they…

Brooke Rents This provision protects the very poor currently in public housing. It would put a cap on rent of up to 30% of income for families with income levels at or below 30% of area median income (currently, about 76% of the public…

Mr. Chairman, we are again going around and around. We are talking about ensuring that working people have the incentive to go to work. We are trying to ensure that the Brooke amendment, which is a tax on work, which will result, even the…

I am just sick and tired of people calling compassion State Street, which has been tolerated for the last 30 years by the last majority. It was OK to warehouse people and keep people unemployed, and it is OK to make sure we cut off the…

Mr. Speaker, this moment culminates 2 days of debate about two different visions of America. The first vision is the vision at my left. It is the state of public housing in America. Mr. Speaker, 200,000 Americans live in public housing…

just for the sake of clarity, I want to make sure that Members know and so that there is no misinterpretation, under the current version of the bill seniors are protected. The people who are in public housing right now have had Brooke-type…

That is precisely the issue. If our intent is simply to maintain or warehouse the poorest Americans, we are in the process of doing that again, if we adopt this amendment. If our principle is to transition, to create an environment where…

In their letter they write that the Brooke amendment is a ``disincentive to work, encourages fraud, and offers local housing authorities little flexibility to reward working households.''

I know the gentleman refers to what is referred to as a mobile home, but this amendment is far broader than just mobile home. In fact, manufactured homes these days, a combination of prefabricated homes in a number of different styles, are…

beam me up, Scottie. We would not have an American housing bill without a buy American amendment by my friend, the gentleman from Ohio. I want to say that I am happy to support the gentleman's amendment, urge its adoption, thank the…

I suggest that a housing must grant an exemption to everybody, which I believe is what the gentlewoman is saying, is to completely eliminate the meaning of having a minimum rent. We are saying that in certain circumstances that the housing…

Mr. Chairman, what is extreme is allowing people to be concentrated in poverty and not allowing them a chance to get out. What is extreme is a housing authority like in New Orleans with a score 27 out of a possible score of 100, and still…

I will tell my colleagues what is outrageous and unconscionable. It is penalizing work. It is to continue to have the Brooke amendment in place. It is to suggest that rents continue to be tied to income, whether it is 30 or 20 or 25…

the exact same situation that exists currently under Brooke will be in place under the gentleman's amendment, the exact same situation.

I am informed that part of this amendment strikes almost two pages of language involving exemptions for certain public housing authorities, so this is not technical in nature. As a nature of fact, it goes to the heart of the manager's…

No, no, that is not optional, because that is a matter of trying to transition people back into the work force.

What I am suggesting is that public housing authorities ought to be in power to set place-based rents or to say that a particular unit should rent for $15, or $25 a month so that if somebody goes to work, begins to earn more money, they do…

I wonder if the gentleman would agree to a compromise when we apply Brooke to the pet amendment so 30 percent of the people could have pets?

One vision is that we should be worried about how many more animals would be allowed in public housing halls, and another vision is, which is my vision, is how do we----

I would be happy to debate any particular section of this bill, if the gentleman wants to talk about the merits of it or the particulars. I know his comments. He often relishes being condescending and insulting. I appreciate that. But let…

my problem, which I think is a philosophical divide, is whether we start to retreat back from allowing flexibility and fungibility for the housing authorities, giving them more rules, imposing on them a set quota. I do not care if a…