Maxine Waters

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to transfer control of the time from the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) to myself.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield to myself 2 minutes. Mr. Chairman, I have worked with Mr. Neugebauer, and he has been exceptionally cooperative, understanding the plight of the poor and those people who have been displaced who were victims of Katrina and Rita, and I am convinced, having listened to this discussion and this debate, that there is simply a misunderstanding, because I don't think that he intends for those people who were already assisted by HUD, those people, for example, who were living in section 8 housing, they were renting from landlords and the building was destroyed, to somehow not be permanently assisted and get back on their section 8. I don't think that he means that those people who were in public housing units who were assisted by HUD, if their unit does not get repaired, I don't think he means that they should not have a section 8. I don't think he means that for the disabled. I don't think he means that for the homeless. So I am going to chalk this up to a misunderstanding and miscommunication, and, as we continue this debate, I hope that we are able to help my colleague on the opposite side of the aisle understand what he is proposing. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter).

Ms. WATERS. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Capuano).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Orleans (Mr. Jefferson).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I want to speak on behalf of the people of New Orleans and of the gulf coast who are having such a difficult time, who have not really gotten all of the assistance that I think we could have given them from the very beginning. I think when the gentleman spoke, he said the people did not seem to be taking the first step to help themselves. That is an insult. I reject it. I speak on their behalf. We were there, and we know how hard they have been working, and they deserve to be seen in a better light than the gentleman just described them.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the chairman of the Committee on Financial Services, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. I do.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Melancon).

Ms. WATERS. May I inquire of the Chair, do I have the right to close?

Ms. WATERS. I yield to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) for 2 minutes.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. I yield 5 minutes to Mr. Faleomavaega. (Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 835) to reauthorize the programs of the Department of Housing and Urban Development for housing assistance for Native Hawaiians.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute to introduce the real author of this legislation, a gentleman who has worked very, very hard on the Hawaiian Homeownership Opportunity Act of 2007, an extremely important bill that will provide housing for Native Hawaiians who have been without decent, safe and secure housing for far too long. I commend the gentleman for all of the work that he has put into this act. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Abercrombie) such time as he may consume.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Hawaii (Ms. Hirono) 5 minutes.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker and Members, I thank the gentlelady from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee). She had been very passionate about what we were doing on the last legislation, and she took this opportunity, not only in support of this legislation, but to add some remarks for the record on behalf of the people of Houston, and I appreciate that. Let me just say that I want to thank the chairman, Mr. Frank, for helping to focus our agenda in my subcommittee and in our overall committee, dealing with these very important housing issues, many of them that have been left unattended for far too long. I want to thank Mr. Renzi for his attention to housing not only for Hawaiian Native Americans, but for Native Americans in Arizona where I had the opportunity to visit with him, where he is doing an awful lot for housing. And so I am very pleased and proud about our Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, about the overall committee, and the way that we have been able to move so quickly and to have an agenda that we could bring to this floor on behalf of people who need us desperately, housing crises that exist not only in Hawaii but in other parts of the United States. And this is a representation of the work that we will be doing on this issue. I know, again, that Mr. Abercrombie has been working very hard. Ms. Hirono came here with this on her agenda, and I just thank them all for being here on the floor with us this afternoon, and helping people to understand how appreciative they are for our help. I would like to say that in addition to the work that he has done, he has invited many of us on more than one occasion not only to visit, but to understand that it is not just simply a beautiful island where people come to vacation. There are people who live there. There are people who live there. There are people who work there. There are people who need our assistance, people who have been without housing that they can afford for a long time. And so, again, the work not only of our chairman and the members of my subcommittee, but the cooperation that we have had on the opposite side of the aisle, led by Mr. Renzi, is what gets us to this point today. And I would urge all of my colleagues to please support this legislation. It is so important.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. May I inquire of the Chair if we have the right to close?

Ms. WATERS. Has the gentleman exhausted his time?

Ms. WATERS. If the gentleman would like to use his 30 seconds, then we would proceed.

Ms. WATERS. Yes.

Ms. WATERS. No, we will use our balance of the time for our close.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the remaining time. First, I would like to congratulate Mr. Taylor not only for his passion, but for all of the work that he has done to try and help restore the gulf coast and his town and his city, and to get the kind of development that is necessary for people to restore their lives. He has worked very hard, as other Members of the gulf coast have. They were on the floor today, Mr. Melancon, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Taylor, trying to make the case that this gulf coast catastrophe should not be penalized. We do not know why and they do not know why they would be prohibited from using their CDBG, Community Development Block Grant, funds as a match. It is unheard of, it is unprecedented that any town, any city, any region that has been hit by this kind of disaster, and there is no other like it in the history of this country, would be prohibited from using as a match the Community Development Block Grant funds. These communities have been virtually destroyed, their city halls, their water systems, their schools, their hospitals. They do not have any money. They are cash strapped. They do not have any money to use as a match, and we do not know why they would be singled out with this disaster and told that they could not use Community Development Block Grant funds. This is not new money. This would simply allow them to use that CDBG money as a match. I would ask that this amendment be rejected, and I ask my colleagues to vote ``no.''