[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 42 (Tuesday, April 16, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E544]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   THE AMERICAN DREAM DOWNPAYMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MIKE ROGERS

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 16, 2002

  Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, turning the key in the door of 
your very own home for the first time is a thrill that few families 
ever forget. For generations, the ability to purchase your own home has 
symbolized the hard work, thrift and personal responsibility that 
embodies the American Dream.
  For some, the idea of owning their own home is but a dream, an 
unattainable dream. Across our nation, families get up, go to work 
every day, and play by the rules; but, they find that the downpayment 
on a home is a hurdle that keeps them from making that important 
investment in themselves and their community. These are families who, 
after paying the rent, buying groceries, and meeting their children's 
needs, have a tough time saving enough money to get past the first step 
of home ownership--the downpayment and closing costs.
  To help first-time, low-income families overcome those highest 
barriers to home ownership, I am introducing the American Dream 
Downpayment Act. This legislation will give effect to President Bush's 
proposal to help 200,000 low-income families achieve the dream of home 
ownership over five years.
  The President's Fiscal Year 2003 budget request included $200 million 
in grants to assist first-time, low-income home buyers. As part of his 
call to expand home ownership opportunity, the Fiscal Year 2003 budget 
quadruples the President's Down Payment Assistance Initiative from its 
2002 level.
  In announcing the funds provided in the budget, Housing and Urban 
Development Secretary Mel Martinez said it best: ``Opening the doors to 
home ownership to more and more Americans is one of this 
Administration's goals. The American Dream Downpayment fund will 
accomplish much more than that. By giving as many Americans as possible 
an opportunity to become stakeholders in their community, we believe it 
will help to stabilize some neighborhoods and completely revitalize 
others.''
  When I reviewed the President's budget, I knew this would be 
important for all Americans, especially families in Michigan's 
metropolitan areas such as Lansing, Flint and Detroit. In giving the 
President's proposal legislative effect, the American Dream Downpayment 
Act will provide communities throughout America with $200 million in 
annual grants in Fiscal Year 2003 thru Fiscal Year 2006 to help home 
buyers with the downpayment and closing costs, the biggest hurdles to 
home ownership.
  Upon enactment, the American Dream Downpayment Act will be 
administered as part of HUD's existing HOME Investment Partnerships 
Program (HOME). HOME is a successful program that helps communities 
expand the supply of standard, affordable housing for low-income and 
very low income families by providing grants to states and local 
governments.
  The flexible program will enable more than 400 local and state 
governments to help communities provide low-income families with rate 
reductions, closings costs and downpayment assistance. Specifically, 
the focus of the proposal is on low-income families who are also first-
time home buyers. To participate, recipients must have annual incomes 
that do not exceed 80% of the area median income.
  I believe that the American Dream Downpayment Act will help increase 
the overall home ownership rate in the United States, especially among 
minority groups who have lower rates of home ownership compared to the 
national average. For example, more than two-thirds of all Americans 
own their own home, while fewer than half of African-Americans and 
Hispanic families are homeowners.
  I look forward to working with my House colleagues on a simple, but 
powerful, proposal to move more American families into their own 
homes--and making their American Dream a reality.

                          ____________________