Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008

TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (House of Representatives - July 23, 2007)

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Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 3074. As a new member of the subcommittee, it has been an honor to work with Chairman John Olver and Ranking Member Joe Knollenberg. I commend them for crafting a quality, bipartisan bill in the face of serious budgetary constraints. I also commend clerk Kate Hallahan and the committee staff on both sides of the aisle for their professionalism and hard work on this bill.

Madam Chairman, the bill before us is carefully crafted to make important investments to meet our Nation's crucial housing and transportation needs. For the first time in over 5 years, this bill provides new section 8 vouchers to help address our Nation's housing shortage. It also fully funds authorized section 8 housing vouchers, essential to States like California, where there are over 300,000 vouchers in use. This number is more than one-seventh the national total.

While there still remains a great need for additional vouchers, I am pleased that this bill is an important step forward in helping to meet the housing needs of our most vulnerable populations.

I am also pleased that this bill has restored funding for the Public Housing Capital fund. The administration's proposed cut would have had a severe impact on the ability of public housing authorities to renovate our Nation's dilapidated housing facilities, including those in my Thirty-fourth Congressional District. By restoring funding to last year's level, public housing authorities can continue critically needed renovations.

Under the leadership of Chairman Olver, this bill also funds our Nation's transportation systems in a way that reaffirms the natural link between housing and transportation. The bill directs HUD and the Transportation Department to better coordinate public transportation with housing policies and programs. Improved coordination will help ensure that affordable housing is located closer to public transportation systems and job centers. The bill supports that directive through increased funding for transit.

To enhance the public's use of mass transit and alleviate congestion on our Nation's highways and city cores, the bill provides additional Capital Investment Grants for commuters and light rail transit systems. Funding for these Capital Investment Grants is expected to generate as many as 17,400 new jobs and yield $1.8 billion in economic benefits to State and local communities.

Our highways remain a critical element of our Nation's transportation system. This is especially true in my community of Los Angeles. To improve and maintain our Nation's aging highway infrastructure, the bill includes increased investments designed to ease automobile traffic and improve the flow-of-goods movement from our seaports to communities across the Nation. The investment in highway infrastructure will create over 59,000 additional jobs across all sectors of our economy.

The passage of this bill is essential to maintaining our Nation's transportation infrastructure to keep America moving, our economy strong and our country's most vulnerable sheltered. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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