Race-Based Housing: Bad for America" press release, October 22, 1995

NEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, J Second Congressional District of Maryland 1 407 York Road, Suite 304 315 Cannon House Office Building Lutherville, Maryland 2 1 093 Washington, D.C. 205 1 5 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON Week of October 22, 1995 By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. % Xfa RACE-BASED HOUSING: BAD FOR AMERICA On October 13th HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros testified before my House Banking Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity. His appearance came just hours after The Baltimore Sun published a story about a plan to require some public housing residents in Baltimore to relocate to “areas of low minority and poverty concentration.” Though the Secretary’s appearance was on an unrelated issue, I decided to make the most of a golden opportunity. I questioned Secretary Cisneros specifically about the plan, expressing to him my own concerns as well as those raised by County Executive Ruppersberger and the Baltimore County Council. I received his personal assurance that no final decision will be reached until we have had a chance to review the proposal at length and to communicate our concerns to HUD officials. The plan in question is a proposed settlement to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU against the city and federal governments regarding public housing practices. According to the terms of the settlement, 1,342 poor families now living in Baltimore will receive federal housing certificates with which to rent private apartments and homes. It expressly forbids them, however, from doing so in poor or minority neighborhoods. I oppose the Baltimore/ACLU plan for a variety of reasons. First, it is an unfortunate