Sean Patrick Maloney: “in 1937 we made a commitment to provide decent, affordable housing to our Nation's lower income citizens. That is a…”

“in 1937 we made a commitment to provide decent, affordable housing to our Nation's lower income citizens. That is a commitment I am not willing to scrap. Public housing can work. It has been a tremendous success in New York City, where more than 225,000 New Yorkers are on the waiting list to get into public housing. Not all public housing in this country is as successful, and we need change. HUD is already taking steps to make needed changes. Mr. Chairman, I want to take this opportunity to thank the members on both sides of the aisle for supporting the amendment I offered in committee with my colleague, the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Baker], to allow HUD to review the long-term viability of the local housing management plans. Taxpayers are entitled to meaningful review. This amendment ensures it, and I thank Chairman Lazio from the great State of New York for accepting my amendment. But while we work to improve public housing, we must not abdicate our commitment to our poorest public housing residents. The bill does just that.”