Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of S. 118, the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Act of 2009. As my colleague has said, the bill reforms the section 202 elderly housing program making it more efficient and more effective and better able to meet the housing needs of our elderly. S. 118 is similar to H.R. 2930 that passed the House in the 110th Congress by voice vote. Affordable housing with supportive services is a key component for seniors who want to stay in their own home and age in place. The section 202 Housing for the Elderly program is the primary HUD program that provides housing exclusively for low-income elderly households. The section 202 program has been a very important tool in addressing these housing needs by providing capital advance grants to nonprofit housing sponsors to build new elderly housing facilities and project rental assistance contracts to subsidize very low-income elderly citizens of these facilities. Many nonprofit sponsors are faith-based organizations with an exclusive mission to serve the elderly. As a condition of receiving a capital advance, which does not have to be repaid, a nonprofit sponsor must make housing available for a period no less than 40 years. As a result of these efforts, the section 202 program currently supplies 320,000 units of housing for our very low-income elderly citizens.…”