NY Senate race, third & final debate: on Welfare & Poverty


Hillary Clinton: Lazio weakened housing standards and limited public housing

LAZIO [to Clinton]: In the House, I’ve been very active on housing issues, on helping the homeless, helping poor people with public housing. Do New Yorkers care about the homeless? I believe they do. The most sweeping reform in public-housing history was authored by me and signed into law.

CLINTON: He fought to weaken the safety standards for manufactured housing and in-home building.

LAZIO: There’s been nobody else in the House who’s stood up for poor people and to provide them with good- quality housing. I’ve been there for the homeless, I’ve been there to provide housing for people with AIDS. I’ve been there for people who rely on Section 8. I’m boosting homeownership for our young families.

CLINTON: In fact, I’ll be meeting with a group of public-housing tenants this evening because what their memory of that fight was, Mr. Lazio, is that you were trying to remove the caps from the limits that would in some way prohibit a lot of people from being able to have the public housing.

Source: (X-ref Lazio) NY Senate debate on NBC Oct 28, 2000

Hillary Clinton: Lazio fought against FHA on low-interest housing loans

CLINTON [to Lazio]: Not only is there a problem with the home builders and the safety standards, but the FHA was trying to increase the limits that would enable a person who wanted to be a homeowner to be able to borrow at low interest. And my opponent fought that. He did not want those limits raised and around the time of that fight he received significant contributions from the mortgage banking industry.

LAZIO: Do you understand that the standards that you’re talking about were endorsed by the administration’s Department of Housing and Urban Development? Do you understand that?

CLINTON: Do you understand that the standards I’m talking about, that you were trying to weaken, were said by the AARP that they would have put people in danger?

Source: NY Senate debate on NBC Oct 28, 2000

Rick Lazio: Congressional fight against FHA was supported by HUD

CLINTON [to Lazio]: Not only is there a problem with the home builders and the safety standards, but the FHA was trying to increase the limits that would enable a person who wanted to be a homeowner to be able to borrow at low interest. And my opponent fought that. He did not want those limits raised and around the time of that fight he received significant contributions from the mortgage banking industry.

LAZIO: Do you understand that the standards that you’re talking about were endorsed by the administration’s Department of Housing and Urban Development? Do you understand that?

CLINTON: Do you understand that the standards I’m talking about, that you were trying to weaken, were said by the AARP that they would have put people in danger?

Source: (X-ref Hillary) NY Senate debate on NBC Oct 28, 2000

Rick Lazio: Advocate for public housing in Congress

LAZIO [to Clinton]: In the House, I’ve been very active on housing issues, on helping the homeless, helping poor people with public housing. Do New Yorkers care about the homeless? I believe they do. The most sweeping reform in public-housing history was authored by me and signed into law.

CLINTON: He fought to weaken the safety standards for manufactured housing and in-home building.

LAZIO: There’s been nobody else in the House who’s stood up for poor people and to provide them with good- quality housing. I’ve been there for the homeless, I’ve been there to provide housing for people with AIDS. I’ve been there for people who rely on Section 8. I’m boosting homeownership for our young families.

CLINTON: In fact, I’ll be meeting with a group of public-housing tenants this evening because what their memory of that fight was, Mr. Lazio, is that you were trying to remove the caps from the limits that would in some way prohibit a lot of people from being able to have the public housing.

Source: NY Senate debate on NBC Oct 28, 2000

  • The above quotations are from Lazio vs. Clinton: NBC debate, Oct. 27, 2000.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Welfare & Poverty.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Hillary Clinton on Welfare & Poverty.
  • Click here for more quotes by Rick Lazio on Welfare & Poverty.
Candidates and political leaders on Welfare & Poverty:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Feb 19, 2019