Ehrlich on Washington column, April 27, 1997

MEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1 407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 21093 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. 3 1 5 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Week of April 27,1997 MAKING PUBLIC HOUSING WORK Nearly one year ago, I co-hosted (along with Councilman Lou DePazzo) a town meeting in Dundalk regarding the HUD/Baltimore City/ACLU public housing settlement. Most of the 1,600 people who attended the event believe (as I do) that the housing policy espoused by the settlement puts working neighborhoods at risk. Despite our efforts and protests, the Clinton and Schmoke Administrations, by manipulating the courts, caused this plan to become law. While I continue to be concerned about the impact this plan will have on my district, I also worry about how it affects the poor people it is supposed to help. Despite the praise heaped upon this plan by the Baltimore Sun, and the support it received from public officials such as Mayor Kurt Schmoke, Housing czar Dan Henson, and Senator Barbara Mikulski, I believe that, once the dust has settled, the poor people uprooted by the housing settlement will find their situations have not improved one bit. The folks at HUD and the ACLU insist that changing a poor person’s zip code will instantly improve his or her situation. I disagree. I believe that more sweeping changes are needed to address the pervasive poverty and deep-seated social problems which have paralyzed generations of public housing families. Last week, my colleagues on the House Banking Committee and I took a powerful step in that direction when we approved the Housing Opportunity and Responsibility Act (H. R. 2). This