He began, "67% of all US households own their own homes. Theflipside to this prosperity, which is particularly apparent in NewYork, is that every day it gets harder to buy or rent a home orapartment. Job growth over the last year was 80,000 jobs; therewere 5,000 new units of housing created." Schumer noted thatwithout meeting the housing needs of the workforce, the workforcewill migrate elsewhere.

Citing New York State Comptroller Carl McCall's report No Roomfor Growth and the Center for Housing Policy's recent report,Schumer highlighted statistics showing 43% more Americans in1993-1996 paid half their income for housing. He observed, "The1990s real estate made it harder for cities to retain teachers,cops and firefighters."

"All too often, housing policy focused on the very poor,forgetting about the middle class, so they got the short end of thestick," he said. His own plans include measures such as addingSection Eight Vouchers, strengthening the Community ReinvestmentAct and supporting Federal matching grants for preservation. Whileprograms aimed at the middle class have taken flak in the past, hecontended that this is the best way to address the needs ofcommunities.