Sheila Jackson Lee: “Let me thank the gentleman from Colorado and let me thank the gentleman from Oklahoma for the thoughtful discussion and…”

“Let me thank the gentleman from Colorado and let me thank the gentleman from Oklahoma for the thoughtful discussion and for the tone in which it is offered. Mr. Speaker, I think all of us certainly are interested in coming to a place next week that embraces, really, the values of America and all of our concerns, and, obviously, riders that are toxic are obstacles we need to continue to discuss. In my district, I have senior citizens with blue tarps on the tops of their homes, blue tarps that have been there since the terrible Hurricane Ike. Obviously, we need the Housing and Urban Development to have funding that not only addresses affordable housing, but senior housing repair. It comes down through community development. In the manner in which we are going through this, we are looking for that kind funding to make sure that the plus-up of $80 billion that came about through the budget agreement gets evenly distributed, if you will. What happens is that, with the extenders of tax provisions that are unpaid for, the blue tarps in my district continue to exist. Seniors have roofs that are falling in. I think that is an important issue at which many of us will be looking this weekend, and we will be looking to the appropriators to do what is right by the American people. We wrote a letter regarding the Minority HIV/AIDS Program, which was gutted out. Mr. Speaker, let me tell you that HIV/AIDS is resurging among young people and among minorities.…”