Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition
to H.R. 202. “Preserving Housing for Senior
Citizens and Families into the 21st Century.”
While my views on respecting our Constitution
limitations regarding Federal issues are well
known and need not be repeated here now, I
have other concerns regarding this bill specifically.
1999 Ron Paul 98:1 That the House of Representatives would
consider any bill authorizing about a billion
dollars of taxpayer funds annually on the suspension
calendar (an expedited procedure reserved
for “non controversial” bills) show how
far we have moved from our posturing that we
claim to respect the concerns of taxpayers.
1999 Ron Paul 98:2 The consideration of this bill succumbs to
the misperception that the best course of action
to any perceived problem is further (Federal)
governmental response. Clearly, that is
not the case. Recently, John Stossel hosted
an ABC television special, “Is America Number
One!” In that show, he examined the
premise of governmental solutions to problems
always being best and concluded:
1999 Ron Paul 98:3
Intuition would suggest that countries
with the most government planning, places
where you’re taken care of, would be the best
places to live. But in fact the opposite is
true, countries with the most planning are
the most poor. Several organizations rank
countries by economic freedom. At one end
are places with lots of government planning.
Invariably, these are the worst places to live.
At the other end on the list — Hong Kong,
New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United
States. The best places to live are places
with the fewest rules. Freedom isn’t everything.
Climate matters. Religion, geography,
even luck can make a difference. But nothing
matters as much as . . . Liberty.
1999 Ron Paul 98:4
In the show, Peter Jennings said that
“Nearly
37 million Americans now live below the official
poverty line.”
Federal Reverse economist
Machael Cox explained,
“The government
says now 13.3 percent of households are in
poverty. Let’s go see what households in poverty
have. Ninety-seven percent of households
in poverty have color televisions. Two thirds
have microwave ovens and live in air-conditioned
buildings. Seventy-five percent have
one or more cars.”
1999 Ron Paul 98:5
Unfortunately, H.R. 202 makes the situation
worse by diluting our current policy of helping
the truly needy in favor of creating a middle
class entitlement by expanding eligibility for
occupancy to as high as 80% of the area median
income for existing housing developments
for seniors. I commend Mr. Stossel for
illustrating clearly that choosing liberty is the
best path for making a difference. I wish more
of my colleagues heeded his advise.
Note:
1999 Ron Paul 98:2
show how far we have moved probably should be shows how far we have moved.
