Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., chairman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation, has announced a hearing on the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Builders Program.

The FY 2000 Appropriations Act for Veteran Affairs/HUD terminated the external Community Builders program and prohibited the Secretary of HUD from converting the jobs into career HUD positions. The hearing will focus on HUD's compliance with these provisions.

The hearing will also address a nationwide audit of the Community Builders program that was released Sept. 30, 1999. The audit, conducted by the Southwest District Office of the HUD Inspector General, concluded that HUD should discontinue the Community Builders' positions and redirect its limited resources to correcting the existing deficiencies which have placed HUD on the General Accounting Office's "high-risk" list.

The audit found that: (1) the community builder function was poorly planned and implemented, (2) community builders' value is minimal and difficult to measure, and (3) HUD has allocated large resources to the program.

"The Inspector General's audit raised many concerns which resulted in the external Community Builders program being terminated last year," Allard said. "Thursday's hearing will allow the committee to take a closer examination of the program."

WHEN:

9:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 24, 2000

WHERE:

Room 628 Dirksen Senate Building

WHO:

The Honorable Saul Ramirez
Deputy Secretary
Department of Housing and Urban Development

Mr. D. Michael Beard
District Inspector General for Audit
Southwest District Office of Inspector General
Department of Housing and Urban Development

Ms. Irene Facha
HUD Employee
President, Local 2032
American Federation of Government Employees