Speech #960279566

This issue came to my attention because of an article published in the major newspaper in the MinneapolisSt. Paul metropolitan area in which. incredible as it may seem. students of nonimmigrant status. who make a declaration when they come to this country that they will not work and will not be dependent upon the Government had. even before entering this country in some instances. their names placed on a list to live in public housing. The impact of this. of course. is that it displaces the needy in our society. some of who actually may be immigrants. I might say I have about 5.000 to 6.000 Indochinese immigrants in the district I represent. and the working poor in our areas who are in desperate straits in trying to meet their housing needs. Specifically. this situation was brought to my attention by articles written by John Kostouros and published by the Minneapolis Tribune. These articles focused on just one apartment complex in Minneapolis where almost 30 percent of the assisted units were occuvied by foreign students while the waiting list for these apartments runs from 3 to 5 months. As a member of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Development. I have spent considerable time in trying to develop and gain congressional support for programs to meet the housing needs of low- and moderateincome families. I was shocked and more than a little angry to learn of this apparent loophole in our housing and immigration laws. The Immigration and Naturalization Serv.ce feels that they cannot bring sanctions against these students because under present laws neither requesting nor receiving this assistance is illegal. The Minneapolis HUD area office attempted to prohibit this assistance. however. it was the opinion of HUD central that no authority exists by which it can eliminate these people from the program. This amendment gives the Department the authority to rectify this situation which is clearly contrary to the intent of Congress.