Delegate Donna Christian-Christensen says federal Housing and Urban Development Department cuts for fiscal year 2000 in an appropriations act passed by Congress could leave some Virgin Islanders without a roof over their heads.
The VA/HUD Appropriations Act, 2000 calls for cuts in operating funds for HUD, the Veterans Affairs Department and various independent agencies.
The legislation is opposed by a variety of national housing and community advocacy agencies, and senior White House advisors have recommended that President Clinton veto it, a release from Christensen's office stated.
If signed into law, Christensen, the measure "could likely result in 40,000 Americans, including many of my constituents in the Virgin Islands, being forced out of their current HUD-funded housing and onto the street."
And if the proposed cut of $250 million from the federal Community Development Block Grant program isn't restored, she said, "the effect that it will have on hundreds of my constituents who benefit from the several worthy local programs which CDBG funds would be tragic."
