Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, the HOPE VI program, which received a very significant allocation last year in this bill, has only a $50 million allocation. Part of the rationale for not aggressively supporting what is the most successful neighborhood revitalization program and the largest in our country is that there is in the pipeline some projects that have not moved as quickly as we might want them to. I met with the officials at HUD, and my staff has interacted with any number of people since we have become aware of this problem, and I am convinced that part of the problem, which was identified by the GAO in a study done, is that HUD has backed away from and withdrawn services and support, including the use of expediters to move these projects through the pipeline. So I have offered an amendment to substantially increase technical assistance from $500,000 to $5 million to help move these projects through the pipeline.”