Date: 2004-03-25
Speaker: SUSAN DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I request unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. Mr. Chairman. I am here today because I am deeply concemed about the devastating impact House Concurrent Resolution 393 could have on my community of San Diego. As many of you know. my home state of California is in the midst of its own budget crisis. To cope with our oversized deficit. the Govemor and State Legislature have had to make significant cuts to many of our most vital programs and services. And as our State struggles to rebuild its economy. I am concerned that we are not taking the right steps here. in Congress. to provide States like California with the resources they need to maintain even the most basic daytoday functions that our citizens have come to depend upon. And when I look at the cuts this budget resolution makes to education. housing. the environment. veterans health care. homeland security. local law enforcement. and Social SecurityI am concerned that this legislation fails to reflect the needs and priorities of San Diegos families and businesses. To illustrate this point. I would like to talk about a few key areas that have been left behind by this resolution. For example. this budget resolution deeply undercuts funding for homeland security. State and local law enforcement. and the communitybased COPS Program. People often forget just how much we rely on our local law enforcement personnel to defend our homeland security. Shortchanging police at the State and local level ultimately weakens our ability to defend our cities. ports. and borders. With the terrorist bombing in Madrid just a few weeks ago. we are reminded of the need to expand our policing gfforts to protect vulnerable targets like mass transportation. Yet there are simply not enough law enforcement personnel in my district to patrol this critical infrastructure. and without adequate funding. it will remain that way. San Diego is home to a busy international airport. a major port. Navy installations. Marine bases. and is adjacent to the busiest border crossing in the country. We cannot afford these massive cuts in State and local law enforcement and homeland security. Like so many other localities. our dedicated policemen and women want to help. But their hands are tied. Mr. Chairman. the other issue I want to talk about today is just how destructive cuts to the section 8 program could be for San Diego. My family and I have lived in San Diego for more than 30 years. and I will be the first to tell you how wonderful it is to call such a beautiful community home. Unfortunately. with an average median home cost of more than $468.000. it has become unbearably difficult for many hopeful homebuyers to live in our great city. And it is not just home prices that are increasingly out of range for the average citizen. The average apartment rent in San Diego is over $1 thousand. and families need to earn more than $22 per hour to afford to rent a twobedroom apartment. Our waiting list for section 8 vouchers averages about 25 thousand individuals. many of whom have been on the list for 6 or 7 years before finally receiving a voucher. I hear all too often stories of individuals or families struggling to make ends meet. yet are still unable to afford San Diegos housing or even rental costs. I know of a retired minister in his seventies with a serious heart condition. who is constantly faced with the choice of filling his heart medication prescription or paying his rent. There are residents in my district. who have been displaced andunable to afford rent anywhere elsehave been forced to live in motels or even in their own cars. A San Diego paramedic with a wife and small children struggled to get by until they finally qualified to live in an affordable housing development funded by our local Housing Commission. But just imaginethis man was saving lives in our own community and yet he was unable to afford to live there! Mr. Chairman. it is just not right for our first responders and police officers to be priced out of the very community they put their lives on the line to protect each day. Section 8 is a vital. successful program. and my community simply cannot afford to withstand the cuts proposed in this measure. We should be doing more--not lessto help hardworking Americans find safe. affordable places to live. and I ask my colleagues to consider the critical shortfalls included in this budget when we vote on this resolution.