On the recordJuly 13, 2011
Our friends and neighbors are hurting. Last week the Department of Labor told us that the unemployment rate has climbed to 9.2 percent. That's unacceptable. This number reflects, in part, the policies of an administration that is embracing bureaucracy and red tape more than entrepreneurship and common sense. Let me give you a local example. A respected developer in my district, he has got a job-creating project that is ready to go and has the full support of the City of Virginia Beach, which has already invested millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements for the project. And unlike so many of the projects that have been talked about, this really is shovel ready. HUD just needs to give it a green light. But all we're seeing is red because HUD is locked into a bureaucratic culture evidenced by a rigid first-in, first-out policy. It's resulted in an expensive 6-month delay. It's putting the entire project in jeopardy. America can't afford even one more month of these kind of jobs numbers. So to the leadership of HUD, I am asking you, work overtime. Do what you must to turn these applications around in a timely manner and you'll unleash the greatest job-creating engine the world's ever known--the American entrepreneur. ____________________
