Congressional Record, Volume 148 Issue 83 (Thursday, June 20, 2002)

[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 83 (Thursday, June 20, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H3766-H3770]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

MINORITY HOMEOWNERSHIP

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kennedy of Minnesota). Under the
Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2001, the gentlewoman from
North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton) is recognized for 60 minutes as the
designee of the minority leader.
Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, this month was declared homeownership
month, and there will be several Members who probably will be joining
me. I know that the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Meek) has already
submitted her remarks for the Record.
Mr. Speaker, over the last few days, the President has been promoting
an initiative to increase homeownership opportunities for minorities
and reduce barriers. The President's interest and participation is
welcome.
Mr. Speaker, those of us in the Congressional Black Caucus have been
working hard for years to correct the inequities and eliminate the
disparities of housing opportunities for people of color and are
pleased that the President has recognized the need for such an effort.
All we can say is WOW. More than a year ago, the Congressional Black
Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation launched an
ambitious initiative called With Ownership Wealth, or WOW for short.
The President's new plan echoes and amplifies many of our initial goals
but may not have realized the objectives we share in common. To the
extent the President is joining the lead of the Congressional Black
Caucus Foundation and comprehensive group of sponsors which include the
housing financing industry, the insurance industry Realtors and
nonprofit organizations, including faith-based organizations, as well
as community development organizations, it is indeed a step in the
right direction.
Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Black Caucus and its foundation took
the initiative on housing and homeownership opportunities because for
too long the dream of homeownership for minorities has been a bit of
wishful thinking. We have been working towards making those wishes a
reality. More detailed information about the foundation's With
Ownership Wealth, or WOW, as we call it, can be found on the Internet,
which is www.wowcbcf.org.
Mr. Speaker, representing a district in North Carolina that is not
only predominantly rural but also is heavily populated by Afro-
Americans and other minorities I welcome the President's stated
intention to step up to help create greater wealth in communities where
housing needs are so critical. At a minimum, the administration
announcement should increase interest of our industry players and
minority homeownership acquisition.
That said, I must point out that just as there is a great gap between
majority and minority homeownership, so too there is a gap between the
President's words or his promise or his intention and his
administrative work. The President's announcement this week does not
mention that his budget has slashed rural housing programs essentially
from the 2002 level, including a 12.4 percent reduction in funds for
guaranteeing homes for single-family housing and 11.4 percent cut in
the Department of Agriculture direct loan for single family housing and
a whopping 47.4 percent for direct loan for rental housing.

{time} 1800

There is a significant gap between the promise and the reality. Mr.
Speaker, African Americans nationwide have a home ownership rate of 48
percent compared with the majority rate of 73 percent. Politicians of
both parties, Democrat and Republican, wax rhapsodically, eloquently.
They say great words, great phrases about the American dream. They talk
endlessly about the American dream and the right to own a home, and
they also talk about the United States being the land of opportunity.
For many, yes, but not for all.
It is time that the reality mirrors the rhetoric and the deeds match
the words with action. It is time now that we indeed make it a reality
that the American dream to own a home is made available not only to
those with a lot of money, but also those who have moderate resources
should not be denied, or those of African American or other minorities.
It should be the right for all Americans to have that.
So I look forward to reviewing the administration's new housing and
home ownership proposal and look forward to working with the
administration to pass a program to help people really realize the
dream. The land of opportunity should mean something more than words,
and I hope that the President's promise to reduce the barriers and to
make home ownership available for minorities is indeed a reality, and
that resources would indeed follow the commitment.
I am pleased to be joined in this special order, home ownership, by
the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), and I yield to the gentleman.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I want to, first of all, thank
the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton) for her leadership
on so many issues. I mean, she has provided outstanding leadership in
the area of agriculture and in the area of making sure that there is
food for people who are hungry not only here in the United States, but
worldwide. And she has certainly been the Congressional Black Caucus's
leader when it comes to home ownership. She has provided leadership as
we have tried to get our WOW initiative under way, and as a matter of
fact, it is pretty difficult to keep up with her in terms of all of the
many areas in which she has worked, and it is certainly a pleasure to
join with her this evening.

[[Page H3767]]

I rise today in recognition, first of all, of Home Ownership Month
and appreciate the opportunity to talk about an issue that is important
to me and all of my constituents and to all Americans, especially those
who share the dream of owning their own home. I am fortunate to
represent one of the most diverse districts in the country. I represent
many people who are rich, many people who are near rich, some people
who are economically well off, the middle class. I represent people who
like both the Cubs and the Sox. But I also represent an awful lot of
people who are at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder.
I represent 60 percent of public housing in the city of Chicago. I
represent people who own their own homes and a lot of people who do
not. It is this segment of the American population, those people that
rent their living space and want to own their own house, but either
feel that they cannot afford to, or do not know how to purchase a house
and then turn it into a home.
Home ownership is important for individuals, families, and
communities alike. There is no denying the fact that when someone owns
their own home, there is a tendency to treat it with tender loving
care. They work to increase its value. They cut their lawns, fix their
windows, add additions, and take pride. Home ownership is also
important to the family. It is a place, it is a refuge, it is a haven.
I shall never forget growing up in this rambling house where my
mother had this flower garden out front, and one could wake up early in
the morning and walk out on the porch and just breathe in the aroma of
all these flowers. Of course, it was also hazardous because you could
not touch them, and you had better not step on one, and you certainly
knew better than to break one. But it was a haven, as a matter of fact.
For most Americans, buying a home is the biggest investment of their
lives and one of the most meaningful. But for a large number of
Americans, especially Americans of minority descent, the American Dream
of owning their own home seems like fantasy rather than reality.
Minority home-ownership rates are 26 percent lower than home-ownership
rates of the majority of Americans. In my own congressional district,
African American home ownership is down to 28 percent. In the whole
district it is actually 38 percent, and that is a far cry from the 76
percent that one might expect to experience.
But buying a home is not only the best investment for the individual
buyer and the community, it is the best investment for the owner's
children and the children of the owner's children. It is a way of
creating inheritable wealth. And that is why the WOW program is so
important, because it recognizes the concept that with home ownership
comes wealth.
If you pay rent for 50 years, and you can pay $1,000 a month for rent
for 50 years, and at the end of 50 years all that you have got to show
for it is a drawer full of rent receipts; nothing that you can pass on,
nothing that you can transfer, nothing that you can call your own,
nothing that you can give away. There are some people who like church.
So if you do not want to have something that you want to leave to your
children or your grandchildren, well, you might want to bequeath it to
some institution, some charity that you believe in, some work that you
believe in doing. So home ownership provides you with not only a stake,
but something to pass on.
I am so pleased that this WOW initiative has been generated by the
Caucus. In communities all over America that are represented by African
American Members of Congress, this initiative is going. In my own
district we have had two extremely successful housing fairs where we
have had 700, 800 people come to each one. We have banks and mortgage
companies, credit counselors, individuals who are willing to help you
clean up your credit, help people understand that there are instances
where you can get a house for no money down or little money down. The
Chicago Housing Authority has even come up with a plan where people who
have Section 8 can purchase homes using their Section 8 certificate. So
there are lots of opportunities.
Mrs. CLAYTON. If the gentleman will yield for a moment, I want to
emphasize that, because the Section 8 vouchers traditionally have been
used for rentals. And more than 2 years ago, the Congressional Black
Caucus, in their budget submission, included that as an option.
The House did not accept the CBC's budget, but they recognized the
value of that proposal, and the housing bill that was passed on the
floor included for the first time an opportunity to use the vouchers
that are used by poor people to supplement their rent as a one-time
supplement to go towards their down payment. That has added to the
great upward mobility of people who are now renting, if they aggregate
their annual rent for certain months or a year and use that as a down
payment.
HUD is now allowing that to happen because this House, indeed,
approved that in the last revision or reform of a housing proposal that
this House passed. But it was indeed the Congressional Black Caucus
that offered that as a recommendation, and I am pleased that the
House accepted that. And I am pleased for the gentleman to tell us that
not only is it in the law, but actually people are using it, and that
the gentleman is making it known to his citizens and that they are
using it.

So I thank the gentleman for reminding us and thank him for his
leadership in advising his constituents of that.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Well, it was actually under the gentlewoman's
leadership in terms of the experiences people have which give them
special insight into problems, situations, and circumstances. Then, if
they can bring those to a place like the Congress and work with other
people to put them into action, then we see change.
Now, these individuals, who may have been on public assistance, who
may have had to live in public housing, who maybe did not have anything
to inherit when they came along, now their children or their
grandchildren can have a head start, a beginning. It is a concept. It
is value-generating.
My father is 90 years old, and one of the things he wanted to make
sure was that he had something to leave. He has a little piece of land.
I have been trying to get him to sell it, to use it. It is down in a
place that I am sure nobody in my family wants to go. He refuses to do
anything other than leave it, so that when he goes, he can say that he
left some inheritance to his children. And, of course, I am pleased to
be one of them, which means that I will get a little piece of the rock.
But I just want to commend the gentlewoman again.
Mrs. CLAYTON. Well, I thank the gentleman for his leadership, too,
and I am glad to know that he has had successful housing fairs and
buying fairs and have had more than one. We continue to want to keep
pushing, so I know the gentleman will continue to do that, so I thank
him very much.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. I will, indeed.
Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I want to welcome another fearless leader
in many areas, and who has conducted many successful housing
activities, including a housing summit. She has been on this case about
housing for a long time, as she was in the General Assembly of
California as well. I am pleased to have her join us in this Special
Order, and I will yield to her.
Ms. LEE. Let me just thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina for
this Special Order tonight and also for her leadership over the years
and for her mentorship since I have been in Congress with regard to the
critical needs of rural housing as well as urban housing.
I want to thank her for her assistance in working with my community,
which is one of the least affordable communities, least affordable
regions in the country to live, to help us bring affordable housing
strategies to Alameda County, Oakland, Berkeley, the East Bay. I thank
her for coming to our district to look at what challenges we are faced
with.
The unprecedented economic growth in the United States has done very
little to relieve the problems of low-income households. While the
nationwide home ownership rate is approaching 70 percent, the African
American and Latino home ownership rates pale in comparison at a close
to probably 46 percent.
Now, in my work as a member of the House Subcommittee on Housing and
Community Opportunity of the Committee on Financial Services, I am

[[Page H3768]]

working with my colleagues consistently on meaningful housing
legislation and on a meaningful housing agenda. Of the 3.9 million low-
income households to be considered working poor, over two-thirds pay 30
percent or more of their incomes to housing costs, with one-quarter
paying over half of their incomes.
In 39 States, 40 percent or more of renters cannot afford fair market
rate rent for a 2-bedroom unit, and that is why creating more
affordable housing and home ownership should really be our focus.

{time} 1815

As we heard earlier, the Congressional Black Caucus continues to
support programs that are improving access to affordable housing and
homeownership because sound fiscal policy really must leave no one
behind. Everyone has a right to decent, affordable housing. That should
really be a basic human right.
Recently, President Bush announced a new goal to help increase the
number of minority homeowners by at least 5.5 million before the end of
the decade. Although this is a great idea and I applaud the President
for bringing this to the forefront of our national agenda, the reality
is that members of the Congressional Black Caucus have been setting
goals for minority ownership for many years. As a matter of fact, our
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation initiated the WOW Initiative in
2000. WOW's goal is 1 million African American and minority homeowners
by the year 2005.
Many of my colleagues reiterate the importance of not recreating the
wheel. I agree. That is why it is hard to understand why the President
would recreate an existing program and not fund it. When I say not fund
it, creating new funds that we need to establish a down payment
assistance program, increasing funding for current home buyer programs,
and supporting a national housing trust fund which would use surplus
FHA dollars for homeownership and a housing production program in our
country.
Consistently, since the Bush administration has drafted budgets, they
seem to really negate the promise of homeownership and fair and quality
housing. President Bush has cut the HUD budget this year and fights the
creation of a national housing production program. Very recently, I
believe last year, he cut the drug elimination program which our public
housing authorities and tenants need so desperately to live in safe and
secure homes.
Today we began the markup of a major housing bill, and the debate was
very spirited and very interesting; but in some ways very appalling.
Those who really do not believe that the Federal Government should
ensure decent and affordable housing for everyone really spoke their
minds today. It was very clear that the trillions of dollars in tax
cuts that the Republicans on our committee believe need to be the
priority for our country, really do not see that basic housing,
affordable housing through a production program makes sense. It makes
sense in the sense that it is a job-creation effort. It creates an
economic, vital country with the creation of thousands, maybe millions,
of jobs in home building. It provides for additional units. Everywhere
that I go and every witness who has come to our committee, which we
heard about earlier, has said yes, a housing production program is
badly needed. The builders, banks, Realtors, faith-based organizations,
bar none, Republicans, Democrats, the business community, we all know
that a housing production program is sorely needed.
We also tried today to put an amendment in, the gentleman from New
York (Mr. LaFalce) and myself, to say basically a new down payment
assistance program for low-income buyers, if the localities and local
governments believe this is useful, provide foreclosure assistance and
counseling to ensure that those homes that first-time home buyers
purchase are secure from foreclosure and basic literacy education with
regard to what it means to buy a house is really needed. On a
bipartisan vote, we could not get the votes to put that modest
amendment into the bill.
I say this tonight because it is so important that we understand and
recognize that a decent, affordable home is basic to survival and basic
to a family's ability to live the American dream. For many of us,
especially for minority communities, homeownership is the only way to
acquire any wealth, any equity, in looking at the American dream as a
way to finance our children's college education, start a small
business, or whatever. It is not the stock market, it is not mutual
funds, it is not the financial instruments that those who have money
utilize to make money. It is homeownership that we use to really become
part of this great society.
I want to thank the Congressional Black Caucus and my colleague from
North Carolina for this Special Order tonight. I hope that sooner or
later affordable housing becomes a national priority. Education, health
care, the environment, our national priorities should be about putting
people first. In putting people first, affordable housing, the right to
live in dignity, should be basic to our list of priorities.
Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Maryland who has been a leader on so
many issues is going to discuss how he views housing and priorities in
this Congress.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and
thank the gentlewoman for her leadership. I also thank the gentlewoman
from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton).
Every time I think about housing, coming from the inner city of
Baltimore, I think about the various new housing projects that we have
been able to come up with and get built in our Seventh Congressional
District with Hope VI dollars. Of course Hope VI has had its problems
here.

But one of the things that we have noticed in the change, that change
of environment does so much for children. So often we look at children
and we say, how can we nurture their nature to make them the very best
that they can be.
I believe if a child can come home and have a safe place to do their
homework and safe place to sleep, a safe neighborhood, a place to play,
that lends itself to productivity. It lends itself to them feeling good
about themselves.
I think when we look at what is happening, the gentlewoman talked
about various things that she was trying to do with various amendments.
All of these things show a tremendous amount of sensitivity in an
effort to help get people to where they want to go. What happens when a
person buys a house, their whole attitude changes. They realize that
they can do it. I am always amazed when I talk to people, when I was
practicing law and would go to settlement, particularly first time home
buyers, at the end of the whole process when you give them the keys,
they would look at me and say, This is mine?
That sense of empowerment of what they are doing, and the mere fact
that they can come home and say look, we have a house. I think we have
to continue the kind of efforts that we are doing. I know so many of us
have worked hard to try to lift up people with regard to housing. We
are going to continue to do that. I thank the gentlewoman for her
leadership. So often when people get to the point where they buy a
house, as the gentlewoman said, it is like that initial step to allow
them to go and do many, many other things.
Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr.
Cummings) for raising this discussion to another level in terms of the
importance of self-esteem and one's dignity with regard to access to
decent and affordable housing.
Let me share something very personal. When I was a child, my
grandfather in Texas urged us never, ever, ever to rent. If we had to,
okay; but he said always try to buy a house. So I grew up in a
household with a grandfather who spoke of homeownership as a vehicle to
living the American dream.
When I was 19 years old, I was able to buy my first house, and that
house cost me $19,475. Because of that through many, many challenges
and difficulties through life, I was able to send my two children
through college and start a small business; but it was all because of
that one purchase of a young woman, single, on public assistance. I was
able to buy a house and move forward from there. I think so many

[[Page H3769]]

young people deserve that access so they can do some of the things that
they may want to do in life.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, one interesting story, when I think about
my mother and father, neither one of them got past elementary school.
My father was a laborer and my mother was a domestic. My father had the
dream of becoming a homeowner. He found a beautiful house. He is a very
prayerful man, and so he took all seven of his kids up to that house
with my mother, and we literally kneeled in front of the house and
prayed. I kid my father sometimes, I think the police thought we were
protesting or something, but he had a dream. He said we would get that
house. About a year later, we got the house.
The interesting thing about it, though, is I was only about 10 years
old. But to this day, some 40 years later, I still remember the name of
the person who sold the house to us, and I also remember the previous
owner and the broker. That says a lot. As a little kid, I remember
that. And I will never forget going from a 2-bedroom house to a 4-
bedroom house. And to have a bedroom where there were only two of us
sleeping instead of four of us sleeping.
When we talk about children, it is not the deed, it is the memory
that is empowering; and those are powerful memories, just the
gentlewoman's are. It is interesting, housing lifts not only you, but
generations of you yet unborn. That is very, very special.
While we do things here in the Congress and we wonder whether or not
they are having a tremendous amount of impact, the fact is they do have
impact and they do affect a lot of people, and they affect people that
we will never even possibly see.
Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for participating and
also for his forward-thinking and visionary work on housing, drugs,
AIDS, and criminal justice reform, and on each and every issue the
gentleman tackles in this Congress.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs.
Clayton) for this Special Order, and to urge the American people to
really wake up in terms of this housing agenda, to know that there are
some in Congress who are desperately trying to ensure that we have a
national housing trust fund and a national housing production effort so
that those who want to purchase a home or rent a home and who need
shelter will be able to afford that. Once again, that is basic to a
person and a family's human dignity; and they deserve to live the
American dream. And for many, it is, quite frankly, becoming a
nightmare.
Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank and commend the
gentlelady, my good friend from North Carolina, Rep. Eva Clayton, for
scheduling this important Special Order to highlight the issue of
disparities in housing and homeownership between whites and people of
color.
The Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus
Foundation have championed the cause of increased opportunities for
home ownership for minorities. I am pleased that President Bush is now
proposing some steps that will move this cause forward. However, he
needs to be doing a great deal more.
None of us can overstate the personal and social significance of
private citizens owning their own homes. For generations of Americans,
home ownership has been a key element of the American Dream.
Homeownership is more than just the acquisition of property. It is a
source of pride and personal achievement.
Homeownership also provides a strong foundation for American
families. It promotes good, stable environments where they can thrive.
A home does much more than provide shelter. It's the cornerstone of
wealth creation. For most families, buying a home is the biggest
investment they will ever make. Building equity in a home allows the
owner to pass wealth from generation to generation or use it for other
important purposes such as paying for a child's education.
Home ownership is a cornerstone of our economy. According to the
Federal Reserve Board, owner-occupied property made up 21 percent of
all household wealth in 2000 and more than 71 percent of all tangible
wealth.
Housing generates more than 22 percent of our Nation's Gross Domestic
Product.
The strength and stability created through individual homeownership
radiates throughout our neighborhoods, towns and cities as well.
Homeownership unites us in a shared commitment to safer streets, to
improved schools, to prosperous local economies, and to community
involvement.
The recent economic boom of the 1990's has had a profound effect on
homeownership. Today, an estimated 72 million American families--an
all-time record high--now own their own homes. These Americans have
staked their claim to the American Dream.
For far too many minorities, home ownership remains an elusive dream.
While the homeownership rate for white non-Hispanics reached a record
73.8 percent in the year 2000, the rates for African Americans and
Hispanics were significantly lower--47.6 percent and 46.3 percent,
respectively.
Wide disparities in homeownership also exist between central city and
suburban areas. For example, the rate of homeownership in central
cities was about 51 percent in 2000, compared to 74 percent in the
suburbs.
Metropolitan areas also have homeownership rates far below the
national average. For example, the homeownership rate in New York City
was only 34 percent, while it was 49 percent in Los Angeles, nearly 59
percent in Boston, and 56 percent here in Miami.
One reason why minorities and those in the central cities have lower
homeownership rates is the fact that they generally have lower incomes
than the rest of the population.
For most people, owning a home is a simple matter of math. Households
with family income greater than or equal to the median family income
had a homeownership rate of nearly 82 percent in the last quarter of
2000. In sharp contrast, the rate for households with family income
less than the median family income was only 51.8 percent.
In addition to the disparities in the rates of homeownership
according to race and income, we also must address acute shortage of
affordable housing.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition's analysis of the 1999
American Housing Survey data shows that there are approximately 15
million households in the United States who pay more than half of their
income for their housing, live in severely substandard housing, or
both. The majority of these households--11 million--have extremely low
incomes, that is, incomes at or below 30% of the area median.
Because the American Housing Survey only counts people who are
housed, to get a true picture of the number of extremely low income
households with severe housing problems, we must add homeless families
and individuals to this number, an estimated two to three million
people.
There are also 14 million very poor households with serious living
problems. These include both renters and homeowners, and comprise over
13 percent of all households in the country.
Especially troubling is the fact that there are now 600,000 more
households with worst case housing needs than 10 years ago. [Households
with worst case needs are defined as unassisted renters with incomes
below 50 percent of the local median, and who pay more than half their
incomes for rent or live in severely substandard housing].
It seems to me that the promise of America--that you will be able to
afford housing and take care of your family if you work hard and play
by the rules--is under a quiet but crippling assault today, an assault
that falls disproportionately on the poor and people of color.
The current Administration has a history of paying excellent lip
service to this important issue, but failing to address it in a real
and effective way. While I welcome President Bush's initiative to
increase opportunities for home ownership for minorities, he also needs
to propose a much stronger HUD budget and increased funding for
programs that would substantially increase the supply of affordable
housing in this country.
For example, the President's budget calls for a significant cut in
the Public Housing Capital Fund. The Public Housing Capital Fund would
be cut by a $441 million when increased set-asides are factored into
the equation.
The President's budget freezes funding for HOPE VI grants to local
authorities. This program is revolutionizing public housing by
replacing high rises or barracks-style projects with new, mixed income,
mixed-used communities.
Finally, the Public Housing Operating Fund would receive an increase
of $35 million over FY02, though still short of the combined total that
operating fund and the Public Housing Drug Elimination Program received
for last year. The Drug Elimination Program remains zeroed out.
Mr. Speaker, this is hardly the housing budget of an Administration
that understands the housing needs and housing disparities in this
country. Let's be clear, these shortsighted cuts--and others--are
necessary to pay for last year's Republican tax cut, which provides
most of its benefits to those who needs them least.
There is much more than the Administration can and should do to
address the crisis in affordable housing.

[[Page H3770]]

I have introduced a bill, H.R. 4205, also known as the Affordable
Housing Improvements Act, that will enable communities with serious
affordable housing shortages to transfer their unused Section 8 funds
to the HOME Program--a program to build new housing for rent or
homeownership or to the Public Housing Capital Fund--a program to
rehabilitate existing public housing, depending on local housing needs.
As many of you know, every year communities around the country lose
Section 8 dollars because federally subscribed voucher payments have
not kept pace with rapidly rising rents making it impossible for
individuals to use these subsidies. In 2001, HUD recaptured $1.8
billion dollars in unused Section 8 funds from Public Housing Agencies
throughout the nation, including more than $23 million from the Miami-
Dade Housing Authority. This is a scandal and it must be stopped.
My bill would allow local communities to attack their affordable
housing problem by allowing them to use these scarce federal resources
to improve and construct new affordable housing units in an effort to
dramatically improve the nation's affordable housing problems.
Congress also should pass the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Act. This legislation would create an affordable housing trust fund
from profits generated by the Federal Housing Administration. Over the
next seven years, these FHA profits are expected to exceed $25 billion.
If a portion of the FHA surplus is used to build affordable housing,
experts predict that we could triple affordable housing construction
next year and provide shelter for more than 200,000 families.
Mr. Speaker, finally, our housing strategy must include measures that
will improve the economic well-being of low-income families. This
includes raising the minimum wage, expanding the earned income tax
credit, improving job opportunities through education and training, and
fostering economic development that will create better paying jobs.
Ms. KILPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend President Bush
for finally deciding to follow the lead of the Congressional Black
Caucus and the CBC Foundation in championing the cause of increased
opportunities for home ownership for minorities. While I am pleased
that the White House has finally recognized the importance of this
issue to the economic welfare of minorities, it is important to
recognize the leadership of the CBC in advancing this issue.
Owning a home is one of the very important markers of success in a
person's life. From our Nation's earliest days, homeownership has been
the foundation of the American dream. Yet, for too long, the American
dream has been unattainable for many low-income, minority families. In
many distressed neighborhoods, particularly in this country's urban
communities, there is a lack of affordable housing units available to
residents. And the costs involved in new construction of residential
property in these areas far outweigh the revenue. Thus, homebuilders
refrain from building new, affordable homes in low and moderate-income
neighborhoods.
A David Broder article in the Detroit Free Press stated that ``the
shortage of affordable housing is close to the top of people's
concerns. And it's mainly in the Federal Government that housing is a
chronically neglected subject.''
Time and again CBC Members have pointed out that Congress is not
addressing the affordable housing needs of America's low to moderate-
income families. We are pleased that the President is heeding our
collective voices. To the President, we say, ``thank you'' for bringing
about greater public awareness to this problem. To the American people,
we say, the CBC will be here, as we always have, to ensure that the
initiatives the President proposed this past weekend are implemented
and that homeownership opportunities increase for all Americans,
especially those who so desperately need them.
Through the work of the President, this Congress, and the private
sector, we look forward to lower down payments, better education on the
purchasing process, and overall affordable housing for all Americans,
regardless of race, creed, or socio-economic status.

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