Housing is Center of Economic Stability and Prosperity

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is always a preeminent privilege to be in the company of Chairwoman Waters, especially when she has taken up a cause that is not only worthy but noble. I greatly appreciate what she is doing tonight.

I would say this, housing is infrastructure, and housing is infrastructure for a multiplicity of reasons.

I neglected to say ``and still I rise.''

And still I rise to talk about housing is infrastructure. Housing is infrastructure.

If we traverse the highways and byways across our country, in our urban areas, we will find persons who are sleeping under overpasses, sleeping under bridges, sleeping along the roads, the roadways.

Overpasses and bridges have become housing. The infrastructure itself now has become housing. It is my belief that if an overpass can become housing, which is infrastructure, then the housing itself can be infrastructure. It is time for us to fully fund these housing programs.

I would mention but one that I think is very important to us, and that is the housing choice voucher program. This is an important program, because I had my staff to compile some statistical information for me, and here is what they have called to my attention. We need to know who actually benefits. Over 40 percent of these voucher recipients are households with children, 29 percent are the elderly, and 36 percent are nonelderly people with disabilities.

This myth that people are, for some reason, deciding that they will just make their way through life on the backs of others, is something that I call inanity. It is close to insanity to say this when you examine the empirical evidence.

We also find that, yes, the wait time is long, averaging 2.5 years nationally. Many of the lines are closed, with the 50 largest housing authorities having wait times of a year or more and some up to 8 years.

Madam Speaker and Madam Chair, there is much more to be said, but the time is limited. I would simply say this, vouchers have shown to reduce homelessness, help people pay rent, reduce poverty, help children exit the welfare system, help persons find and keep employment, help children do better in school, help people with disabilities maintain their health, help people achieve greater economic mobility, help people build wealth, and help families enter the middle class. It is time to fully fund the voucher system.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source