Sequestration Effects in Pennsylvania

Floor Speech

Mr. CARTWRIGHT. Mr. Speaker, over the past few weeks, newspapers in my district in Pennsylvania have reported that local housing authorities are facing a ``nightmare'' due to sequestration cuts in HUD, the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Speaker, fewer people are going to be able to access housing as a result of this Congress' nightmare policies.

In Northampton County, Pennsylvania, alone, 85 people are going to have to leave the section 8 voucher program through turnover or there will be evictions. In Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, 900 people will be removed from the program's waiting list.

Our social safety net is disappearing. And what happens if these people fall into homelessness? According to HUD, the annual cost of a shelter bed funded by the Emergency Shelter Grants program is approximately $8,067 more than the average annual cost of a section 8 voucher. This Congress is being penny-wise and pound-foolish.

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