WASHINGTON - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo issued the following statement in response $2.1 billion in cuts approved today by the House Appropriations Committee to HUD's proposed Fiscal Year 2001 Budget:

"The cuts approved by the Committee today are an attack on the poorest and most vulnerable families in America, and will prevent families trapped in poverty from joining the rest of America in prosperity," Cuomo said. "These cuts eliminate funding to create desperately needed affordable housing and jobs, and set back our efforts to expand homeownership and revitalize communities. All this is happening at a time when many House Republicans are advocating a new tax cut that primarily benefits the wealthiest Americans."

Cuts approved by the committee today include the following reductions: elimination of 120,000 new rental assistance vouchers; $270 million for programs to revitalize and provide operating subsidies for public housing; nearly $400 million for Community Development Block Grants that invest in a broad range of community projects; $37 million for a new initiative called American Private Investment Corporation designed to spark economic development; $22 million for communities in the Mississippi Delta; $30 million for reclamation of formerly polluted industrial sites called brownfields; $7 million for housing and economic development in rural communities; $20 million for faith-based and community organizations that work to supply affordable housing, create economic opportunity, promote fair housing and increase the effectiveness of HUD programs; $65 million for the HOME program to expand homeownership; $180 million for homeless assistance programs; $69 million for elderly housing; $28 million to help people with AIDS get housing; initiatives to reduce gun violence; and $35 million in Drug Elimination Grants for public housing developments.