CHICAGO,
IL – Speaking to hundreds of community activists and neighborhood residents
at a rally in Gale School Park, U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
said that affordable housing must become a national priority for the Bush
Administration. Schakowsky vowed that she would work to restore cuts
made by President Bush and Republicans in Congress to critical affordable
housing programs.
“If
you live in a million dollar house, you got a generous tax break from President
Bush. If you are one of the thousands of families struggling to afford
a place to live, you can look forward to more cuts from President Bush
in the Section 8 program,” said Schakowsky, who added that 60,000 fewer
families would receive vouchers, over 2,430 in Illinois, if the House passed
VA/HUD bill becomes law.
Statistics
are showing that the housing crisis is growing. For example:
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The
Chicago area is short at least 150,000 affordable housing units.
-
Forty
percent of Illinois residents cannot afford fair market rents.
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In
2002, Chicago had a 22 percent increase in requests for emergency shelters
and a 35 percent increase in requests for shelter by families.
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In
Illinois, there are one million renters in need of housing assistance who
must compete for 230,000 assisted-housing units
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Nearly
five million people are facing worst case housing needs -- they spend 50%
or more of their income on housing.
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90,000
affordable housing units are lost every year.
William
McNary, President of USAction, community residents, and representatives
from Family Matters, a non-profit organization that assists families in
the Rogers Park neighborhood, joined Schakowsky at the rally.
“Republicans
are leading a national assault on affordable housing. In real dollars,
HUD’s budget is one third of what it was during the Ford Administration.
The Bush Administration will continue the attack until we stand together
and change the direction in Washington. I am looking forward to that
fight knowing that together we will succeed,” Schakowsky concluded. |