Providing For Consideration Of H.R. 4213, Tax Extenders Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

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Mr. CAO. I want to thank the gentleman from Florida for yielding, and I just want to thank him personally for his continued commitment and compassion for the people of the gulf coast.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I offered a bipartisan amendment to the Tax Extenders Act of 2009 for myself and my colleague, CHARLIE MELANCON. This amendment would have extended the place-in-service deadline for low-income housing tax credits under GO Zone for 2 years. If included, it would have freed up more than a billion dollars in delayed housing projects and supported thousands of jobs in the gulf coast and would have contributed greatly to the sustained redevelopment of the hurricane-impacted areas.

The amendment had bipartisan support in both Chambers of Congress. Representatives from HUD, the Obama administration, housing groups and private companies called and wrote letters in support of this amendment. Yet even with this level of support, the Rules Committee voted along party lines not to allow it in the bill.

I cannot say how disappointed I am that this happened. It is disappointing that the committee would choose to act in a partisan fashion rather than with the best interests of the people of the gulf coast in mind.

I have spoken before about how Congress is at its best and serves the people the best when we put partisanship aside and attend to the people's business. It is part of our job description as Representatives to represent their issues and concerns to the best of our abilities.

When we conform to party politics, we fail to make the right decisions for the American people. While it is not unusual to mix policy and politics in our line of work, there are some issues which ought not to be partisan. The development of affordable housing for hurricane victims is one of them. Among the projects placed in jeopardy by this deadline is the Lafitte Housing Project in New Orleans. It is one of the city's oldest and was once made up of 896 units. This site was slated for redevelopment with the same number of units to allow any resident who wished to return the opportunity to do so. Additionally, the site would have had parks, support centers, and homes for sale. Now it looks as though it will remain in limbo because of party politics.

I challenge my Democrat colleagues to look low-income families in the eyes and say that the decision that they made was best for hardworking families.

Low-income families along the gulf coast trying to survive the ravages of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita do not care about party politics. The only thing that they care about is: Will I have affordable housing to shelter my children from the cold? We have to get beyond party politics to address the needs of American families. And I hope that we can correct the language in the tax extenders bill in order to address those who are in need along the gulf coast.

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