[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 145 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10675-H10676]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1045
                       AMERICAN HOMEOWNERSHIP ACT

  (Mr. CAMPBELL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. Speaker, today we will have the opportunity to vote 
for an increased opportunity for home ownership for all Americans. I am 
very thrilled about this bill. The credit for this really goes to our 
colleague from New York (Mr. Lazio) but I was pleased to be part of it.
  I just wanted to draw my colleagues' attention to the fact that we 
have in

[[Page H10676]]

this Congress made a huge difference so that Americans can own their 
own homes. Some of the most important parts of this bill deal with the 
fact that, heretofore, the government has occasionally created 
obstacles to affordable housing by adding to its cost by regulations. 
By the time you have complied with all kinds of regulations, the 
housing is no longer affordable.
  This bill that we will be voting on later today, H.R. 3899, 
establishes a benefit for those States and localities that eliminate 
the barriers, the costly requirements before one can build affordable 
housing. This bill creates a clearinghouse within HUD for those States 
and local units of government to learn how to make barriers less. It 
establishes a rule that no Federal agency can pass a regulation that 
puts a barrier effectively into building affordable housing without 
considering all possible alternatives that will make that barrier less. 
For those people who have had a dream to own a home in America, this 
bill is a substantial improvement. I commend it to all of our 
colleagues.

                          ____________________