Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOST. Mr. Chair, the purpose of my amendment is to put the House on record in support of strengthening HUD's oversight of public housing.

Many of my colleagues may have never heard of Cairo, Illinois, or what took place at the Alexander County Housing Authority, but they should.

An investigation by The Southern Illinoisan newspaper discovered a public housing agency plagued with corruption and mismanagement.

Residents lived in unsafe, unsanitary conditions, with mold, rodents, and broken air ducts that allowed for the creation of black mold-- public housing that was not suitable for any human being to live in. The problem was so bad that many of the buildings had to be demolished.

Residents were forced to move far from Cairo.

All the while, the housing authority's senior leadership was cashing in. Officials received excessive pay and benefits, large pensions, lavish travel expenses, and a big consulting contract for a former director; all of this paid for with taxpayer money.

These problems did not occur overnight. It took decades of corruption and neglect. The Federal regulators were asleep at the switch. Despite the terrible living conditions, HUD inspectors gave a passing grade to the Alexander Housing Authority on several occasions.

HUD failed to properly audit the financials. If they did, they would have taken action before conditions became a crisis.

Last year, HUD Office of Inspector General issued a report on failures in Alexander County. The report included four specific recommendations on improvement to the agency's regulations of public housing.

The House Committee on Financial Services conducted a hearing on this report. I testified as a witness. I was glad to see the bipartisan outrage which occurred about the situation that occurred in Cairo.

More recently, the HUD Inspector General issued a report on the specific criminal actions of Alexander County Housing Authority leadership. Charges have been filed against these officials. Unfortunately, it comes too late for most residents of the housing authority.

But we can stop this from happening again. The purpose of my amendment is for HUD to implement the OIG improvements.

In addition, it is my hope that the House Financial Services Committee continue its work to conduct oversight of public housing agencies. What happened in Alexander County may be the most extreme outcome, but it is not the only one of these types of issues that are occurring around this Nation today.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I am prepared to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

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Mr. BOST. Mr. Chair, I thank the chairman for his support of the amendment. With this, it is our hope that things like what happened in Alexander County will not happen again; that proper oversight will be given.

The effect that this has on people's lives is tremendous, and anyone that has worked with these situations knows and understands.

I appreciate the fact that my colleague, the chairman, supports this, and I ask for my colleagues' support.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time

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