VOA常速英语2008年-Embattled US Housing Chief Resigns

The top U.S. housing official, who is under criminal investigation¹, has announced he is resigning. VOA's Kent Klein reports from Washington.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson says he will step down April 18.

"There comes a time when one must attend diligently² to personal and family matters," he said. "Now is such a time for me."

For two years, Jackson has been fighting allegations that he behaved improperly³ in awarding contracts with his agency. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been probing the relationship between Jackson and a friend who was paid 392,000 by his department as a construction manager in New Orleans, following Hurricane Katrina.

Also, the housing authority in the city of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) has filed a lawsuit⁴ alleging⁵ that Jackson tried to punish the city agency for rejecting a deal involving one of Jackson's friends.

Jackson did not mention the controversies⁶ as he announced his resignation. Instead, he concentrated on what his agency has accomplished⁷ since he became Secretary in 2004.

"We have helped families keep their homes. We have transformed public housing. We have reduced chronic⁸ homelessness. And we have preserved affordable⁹ housing and increased minority homeownership."

Alphonso Jackson's resignation will likely leave the Bush administration without a Housing Secretary at a time when a crisis in the housing industry, set off by risky¹⁰ mortgage lending, is causing problems for the U.S. economy.

President Bush, who has had a friendship with Jackson since the late 1980's, accepted his resignation with regret, calling him "a strong leader and a good man."

Jackson says he has spent more than 30 years improving housing opportunities for all Americans, regardless of income or race.

"As the son of a lead smelter and [a] nurse midwife, and the last of 12 children, never did I imagine I would serve America in such a way. I am truly grateful for the opportunity."

Jackson said he is staying on for three more weeks to ensure an orderly leadership transition at his agency.