[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 105 (Wednesday, July 25, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8233-S8235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. Chafee, Mr. Reed, Mr. Jeffords, 
        Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Wellstone, Mr. Dayton, Mrs. 
        Feinstein, Mr. Levin, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Stabenow, 
        Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Corzine, and Mr. Dodd):
  S. 1248. A bill to establish a National Housing Trust Fund in the 
Treasury of the United States to provide for the development of decent, 
safe, and affordable, housing for low-income families, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, our Nation is facing an affordable housing 
crisis. Recent changes in the housing market have limited the 
availability of affordable housing across the country while the growth 
in our economy in the last decade has dramatically increased the cost 
of housing that remains. That is why, along with sixteen cosponsors, I 
am proposing to address the severe shortage of affordable housing by 
introducing legislation that will establish a National Affordable 
Housing Trust Fund.
  The Affordable Housing Trust Fund that is established in this 
legislation would create an affordable housing production program, 
ensuring that new rental units are built for those who most need 
assistance extremely low-income families, including working families. 
The goal is to create long-term affordable, mixed-income developments 
in areas with the greatest opportunities for low-income families. 
Seventy-five percent of Trust Fund assistance will be given out, based 
on need, through matching grants to states. The States will allocate 
funds on a competitive basis to projects that meet Federal 
requirements, such as mixed-income projects and long-term 
affordability, and to address local needs. The remainder of the funding 
will be competitively awarded by the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, HUD, to intermediaries such as the Enterprise Foundation, 
which will be required to leverage private funds. A portion of the 
Trust Fund will be used to promote home ownership activities for low-
income Americans.
  Funding for the Trust Fund would be drawn from excess revenue 
generated by the Federal Housing Administration and Government National 
Mortgage Administration beyond the amounts necessary to ensure their 
safety and soundness. These Federal housing programs generate billions 
of dollars in excess income, which currently go to the general Treasury 
for use on other Federal priorities. It is time to stop taking housing 
money out of housing programs. These excess funds should be used to 
help alleviate the current housing crisis. According to current 
projections, approximately $5.7 billion will be available for the Trust 
Fund in the first year and $2 billion will be available each year 
thereafter.
  The need for affordable housing is great. While many Americans have 
benefitted from the growing economy over the past decade, it has also 
fueled a dramatic increase in the cost of housing. Many working 
families have been unable to keep up with these increases. HUD 
estimates that more than five million American households have what is 
considered ``worst case'' housing needs. Many of these families are 
spending more than half their income for housing or are living in 
severely substandard housing. Since 1990, the number of families who 
have ``worst case'' housing needs has increased by 12 percent, that's 
600,000 more American families that cannot afford a decent and safe 
place to live. Recent growth in our economy also has squeezed many 
working families out of tight housing markets across the country. On 
average, a person needs to earn more than $11 per hour just to afford 
the median rent on a two-bedroom apartment in the United States. There 
is not one metropolitan area in the country where a minimum wage earner 
can afford to pay the rent for a two-bedroom apartment. This hourly 
figure is dramatically higher in many metropolitan areas, an hourly 
wage of $22 is needed in San Francisco; $21 on Long Island; $17 in 
Boston; $16 in the D.C. area; $14 in Seattle and Chicago; and, $13 in 
Atlanta.
  Mikala Bembery is a single mother with two boys who now lives in 
Framingham, MA. Her family's housing story is not unique for many low-
and moderate income families in Massachusetts and across the nation. In 
1995, Mikala lost her full-time job and could not make the rent on the 
fair market apartment in which she and her children lived. While 
she quickly got a part-time job, for the next two years, the Bembery 
family was forced to live with friends or in rooming houses because 
they did not initially qualify for either a shelter or a Federal 
Section 8 subsidy. Finally, after appealing HUD's decision and months 
of delay, Mikala was given a Section 8 voucher for her family. You 
would think that obtaining a Section 8 voucher would allow the Bembery 
family to find affordable housing. However, because there is a dramatic 
shortage of affordable housing in Massachusetts, it took several months 
of searching to find a new apartment for her family. Every available 
apartment was viewed by hundreds of people and landlords were able to 
pick and choose whom they wanted. Because of Mikala's strong work 
history, she and her family were finally able to move into a new 
apartment two years after she lost her full time job. Although, Mikala 
kept working and her children stayed in school throughout their ordeal, 
this family is still struggling to rebuild their lives.

[[Page S8234]]

  Working families in this country are increasingly finding themselves 
unable to afford housing. A person trying to live in Boston would have 
to make more than $35,000, annually, just to afford a 2-bedroom 
apartment. This means teachers, janitors, social workers, police 
officers and other full time workers may have trouble affording even a 
modest 2-bedroom apartment.
  At the same time, there has been a tremendous decline in the 
available stock of affordable housing. Between 1993 and 1995, there was 
a 900,000 decline in the number of affordable rental units available to 
very low-income families. From 1996 to 1998, there was another 19 
percent decline in the number of affordable housing units. This 
amounted to a dramatic reduction of 1.3 million affordable housing 
units available to low-income Americans. Making matters worse, many 
current affordable housing providers are deciding to opt-out of their 
Section 8 contracts or are prepaying their HUD-insured mortgages. These 
decisions have limited further the availability of affordable housing 
across the country. Many more providers will be able to opt-out of 
their Section 8 contracts in the next few years, further limiting the 
availability of affordable housing in our nation. This decline has 
already forced many working families eligible for Section 8 vouchers in 
Boston, Massachusetts to live outside the City there is no affordable 
housing available.
  The loss of affordable housing has exacerbated the housing crisis in 
this country, and the Federal Government must take action. We have the 
resources, yet we are not devoting these resources to fix the problem. 
Despite the fact that more families are unable to afford housing, we 
have decreased federal spending on critical housing programs over time. 
Between 1978 and 1995, the number of households receiving housing 
assistance was increased by almost three million. From 1978 through 
1984, we provided an additional 230,000 families with housing 
assistance each year. This number dropped significantly to 126,000 
additional households each year from 1985 through 1995.
  In 1996, this Nation's housing policy went all the way back to square 
one--not only was there no increase in families receiving housing 
assistance, but the number of assisted units actually decreased. From 
1996 to 1998, the number of HUD assisted households dropped by 51,000.
  During this time of rising rents, increased housing costs, and the 
loss of affordable housing units, it is incomprehensible that we are 
not doing more to increase the amount of housing assistance available 
to working families. Unfortunately, President Bush and Republicans in 
the Congress have again failed to assist working families in obtaining 
decent affordable housing. From fiscal year 1995 to fiscal year 1999, 
Republicans in control of the Congress diverted or rescinded more than 
$20 billion from federal housing programs for other uses.
  This year, many Republicans in the Congress and the Bush 
Administration have supported more than $2 billion in additional cuts 
for the Department of Housing and Urban Development budget. These cuts 
include terminating the Drug Elimination Program, reducing funding for 
the Community Development Block Grant, and funds incremental Section 8 
vouchers for 53,500 fewer families. Thankfully, under the leadership of 
the Democrats in the Senate and Chairman Barbara Mikulski, the worst of 
these cuts have been restored in the Senate FY 2002 VA-HUD and 
Independent Agencies Appropriations bill. Nevertheless, we still have 
much more work to do. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is expected to 
receive a reduction in federal assistance at a time when my State has 
the greatest need. The future is even bleaker. These reductions at HUD 
follow the enactment of a tax plan that will make it almost impossible 
for any significant increases in the HUD's budget over the next decade. 
We need to bring housing resources back up to where they belong and the 
National Affordable Housing Trust Fund will provide desperately needed 
funds to begin production of affordable housing in the United States. 
Enacting the Housing Trust Fund legislation is an important step in the 
right direction to add resources to housing and to help begin producing 
housing again.
  We can no longer ignore the lack of affordable housing, and the 
impact it is having on families and children around the country. It is 
not clear to me why this lack of housing has not caused more uproar. 
How many families need to be pushed out of their homes and into the 
streets, before action is taken. I believe it is time for our Nation to 
take a new path, one that ensures that every American, especially our 
children, has the opportunity to live in decent and safe housing. 
Everyone knows that decent housing, along with neighborhood and living 
environment, play enormous roles in shaping young lives. Federal 
housing assistance, has benefitted millions of low-income children 
across the nation and has helped in developing stable home 
environments. However, too many children currently live in families 
that have substandard housing or are homeless. These children are less 
likely to do well in school and less likely to be productive citizens. 
Because of the positive affect that this legislation would have on 
America's children, the Trust Fund was included in the Act to Leave No 
Child Behind, a comprehensive proposal by the Children's Defense Fund 
to assist in the development of our Nation's children.
  I also believe that our Nation deserves a program that would assist 
in maintaining the affordable housing stock that already exists. I am 
working with Senator James Jeffords in developing legislation to help 
preserve our affordable housing stock. It is my hope that this 
legislation will be taken up and passed this Congress so that we can 
avoid losing any more affordable units. However, we must also focus on 
producing additional housing, which is exactly what this Housing Trust 
Fund will do.
  I urge you to support this legislation which restores our commitment 
to providing affordable housing for all families. We can no longer turn 
our backs on those families who struggle every day just to put a roof 
over their heads.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the National 
Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2001. This is an important piece 
of legislation that will help address the lack of affordable housing 
available in our Nation today.
  For far too long we have neglected our Nation's stock of affordable 
housing, allowing too many properties to fall by the wayside. Between 
1995 to 1997 the nation lost 370,000 affordable rental units, nearly 5 
percent of the housing available to low-income families. These homes 
were lost to deterioration, demolition, or simply because landlords 
opted out of Federal programs in order to secure more lucrative rents.
  Unfortunately these units were not replaced at a pace adequate enough 
to address the need. Our most vulnerable populations, the low-income, 
the elderly, and working families, have been left with the difficult 
task of finding an apartment or a house that they can afford. Roughly 
five million households in the United States have ``worst case'' 
housing needs. These families are spending over 50 percent of their 
incomes on rent alone, leaving precious little to put groceries on the 
table, gas in their cars, or buy clothes for their kids.
  In my home State of Vermont, the situation is no different. 
Production of new housing has stalled, prices for rental units have 
dramatically increased, and rental vacancy rates are at an all time 
low. The competition for housing, any housing at all, is so great that 
many low and middle-income families must stay in hotels, school dorms, 
and homeless shelters until they can find a permanent place. This 
results in a huge personal and emotional loss to the families and 
drives up the needs for additional State and Federal social services 
dollars to help these people in their time of crisis.
  For those fortunate enough to find an apartment available for rent, 
few are able to afford the rent that the market demands. It is 
estimated that the average person would have to earn over $11 dollars 
per hour to afford a two bedroom apartment at the Fair Market Rent.
  While Vermont has a dedicated community of State officials, no profit 
organizations, advocates and affordable housing developers working to 
ensure

[[Page S8235]]

the housing needs of our State's population are met, the resources are 
simply not available to construct the number of units necessary to 
alleviate the problem. As a result the number of homeless families in 
the state are rising.
  In Chittenden County, Vermont's most populous region, the number of 
families seeking services from homeless shelters has risen 400 percent 
in three years, over half of these families are working families, 
unable to afford a place to live even while holding down a job. This is 
a trend we see spreading throughout the state. We cannot allow this to 
continue.
  The creation of a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund will go a 
long way to help address this situation. By harnessing revenues 
generated by other Federal housing programs, States, communities and 
non-profit organizations, will be able to leverage local funds for new 
housing construction in the most needy areas.
  I cannot think of a time in recent history when it has been more 
important to reaffirm the federal government's commitment to the 
housing needs of this country, and I am proud to rise as a cosponsor of 
this bill. There is a long road ahead of us in our endeavor to create a 
National Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and I look forward to working 
with my colleagues to ensure that the final product is fair and 
equitable to all regions of the country, including rural and small 
states.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this legislation.
                                 ______