[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 15, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9423-S9424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KERRY (for himself and Mr. Chafee):

  S. 1411. 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 rental housing across the country and have 

dramatically increased the cost of those that remain. More families are 

forced to pay more than 50 percent of their income for housing at a 

time when Federal spending on housing programs are under attack. That 

is why, along with Senator Chafee, I am again proposing to address the 

severe shortage of affordable housing by introducing legislation that 

will establish a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund and begin a 

rental housing production program.

  The Affordable Housing Trust Fund that is established in this 

legislation would create a production program that will ensure 1.5 

million new rental units are built over the next 10 years for extremely 

low-income families and 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 awarded, based on need, through matching grants 

to States and local jurisdictions. The States and local jurisdictions 

will allocate funds on a competitive basis to projects that meet 

Federal requirements, such as mixed-income projects and long-term 

affordability, and that 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.

  The Trust Fund would be paid for out of surplus revenue generated by 

the Federal Housing Administration and Government National Mortgage 

Administration after ensuring their fiscal safety and soundness. These 

Federal housing programs generate billions of dollars in excess income, 

which currently goes 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 

$28 billion will be available for the Trust Fund between now and 2008.

  The need for affordable housing is severe. Many working families have 

been unable to keep up with the increase in housing costs. Today, for 

many low-income families and their children, the cost of privately 

owned rental housing is simply out of reach. According to the National 

Housing Conference, more than 14 million families spent over half of 

their income on housing in 2001. Today, working families in this 

country increasingly find 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 two-bedroom apartment. This means teachers, janitors, 

social workers, police officers and other full-time workers may have 

trouble affording even a modest two-bedroom apartment.

  The cost of rental housing keeps going up. According to the Consumer 

Price Index, CPI, contract rents began to rise above the rate of 

inflation in 1997 and have continued every year since. Rental costs 

have outpaced renter income gains for households across the board. Low 

wage workers have been hardest hit by the increase in cost of rental 

housing.

  Because of the lack of affordable housing, too many families are 

forced to live in substandard living conditions putting their children 

at risk. Children living in substandard housing are more likely to 

experience violence, hunger, lead poisoning and to suffer from 

infectious diseases such as asthma. They are more likely to have 

difficulties learning and more likely to fall behind in school. Our 

Nation's children depend upon access to affordable rental housing.

  At the same time the cost of rental housing has been increasing, 

there has been a significant decrease in affordable rental housing 

units. More than 1.8 million affordable housing units have been 

demolished over the past decade. 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 further limited 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. The current decline has already 

forced many working families eligible for Section 8 vouchers in Boston 

to live outside the city because there are no available rental housing 

units which accept vouchers.

  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 and 

there are fewer affordable rental housing units, we have decreased 

Federal spending on critical housing programs. Between 1978 and 1995, 

the number of households receiving Federal housing assistance was 

increased by almost 3 million. From 1978 through 1984, an additional 

230,000 families received Federal housing assistance each year. This 

number dropped significantly to 126,000 additional households each year 

from 1985 through 1995.





[[Page S9424]]



  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. Yet in the face of these critical housing problems 

and the effect it has on our children, the Bush Administration is 

working to dismantle many federal programs that help Americans find 

affordable housing. The Bush Administration has proposed to block grant 

the Section 8 Voucher program, which I believe will reduce the number 

of families with children eligible for Federal housing assistance and 

increase housing costs for those families who remain. A recent Center 

on Budget and Policy Priorities study that shows President Bush's 

fiscal year 2004 budget request is inadequate to fund all Section 8 

housing vouchers needed in fiscal year 2004. Specifically, the lack of 

funding in the voucher program request means that approximately 184,000 

vouchers now in use serving low-income families will not be funded. In 

Massachusetts, this would mean a reduction of more than 6,000 vouchers 

or nearly ten percent of the vouchers projected to be in use in October 

2003. If the President's request is enacted into law, the Center on 

Budget and Policy Priorities believes that it is likely that some 

families that now rely on vouchers to help pay their rent will lose 

assistance, placing these families at high risk of eviction and, in 

some cases, homelessness. President Bush's fiscal year 2004 budget 

request also proposes cutting an additional $2.45 billion from existing 

housing programs and eliminating the HOPE VI program, which has helped 

revitalize neighborhoods around the country. These cuts come on top of 

an earlier Bush Administration action to abolish the Public Housing 

Drug Elimination Grant program.

  The Bush Administration changes in Federal housing programs mean that 

the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and many other States will likely 

receive a reduction in Federal housing funds in fiscal year 2004. 

Almost every State is facing serious budget deficits and are forced to 

dramatically increase spending on homeland security. Additional funds 

are not available to make up the decline in Federal spending. The 

future is even bleaker. These reductions at HUD follow the enactment of 

two separate tax cuts, which primarily benefit the wealthiest in our 

society, 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 to where they belong. 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 shortage of affordable housing in 

America, and the impact it is having on families and children around 

the country. It is still unclear to me why this lack of housing has not 

caused more uproar. How many families are 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 all 

Americans, especially our children, has the opportunity to live in 

decent, affordable 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 assisted 

millions of low-income children across the nation and has helped 

develop stable home environments. However, too many children still 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 effect 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 urge you to support this legislation to restore our commitment to 

provide affordable housing for all families. We can no longer turn our 

backs on those who struggle every day just to put a roof over their 

family's head.

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