[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 39 (Thursday, March 25, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3170-S3171]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                CONGRESS BUILDING AMERICA NATIONAL BUILD

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I, first, would like to comment on the way 
my day began. It happened to begin with the distinguished Presiding 
officer, the Senator from Minnesota, early this morning, as we engaged 
in a project that many people around the country have participated in. 
For those who have not, I hope they do participate in it; and that is, 
to build--I was not going to say a house--but, indeed, a home as part 
of Habitat for Humanity.
  Not too far from here--about 15 minutes from our Nation's Capitol--
there is a plot of land. We have been blessed in many ways because, 
right now, we have been part of a group of people who put up several 
houses. We did not put them all up today, but eventually that whole 
site--and it is probably a couple-acre site; actually, it must be 
larger than that--will have 50 different houses with individual 
homeowners, families who will call those houses their homes.
  Many of those people have no homes today, but they have devoted a 
fair amount of planning, with their sweat and their equity and their 
spirit, in helping to construct these houses through Habitat for 
Humanity.
  We were there with a number of House Members and Senate Members. It 
was bipartisan, bicameral. It was part of what is called ``Congress 
Building America.'' Today was called: ``Congress Building America 
National Build.''
  It was a great celebration this morning. Millard Fuller was there. 
Millard Fuller is the man who had the vision and the heart to first 
think of and then lay out and then implement Habitat for Humanity 
International. His commitment reflects a merging, a coming together of 
faith, a call to service. He has professional training. He has been a 
very successful attorney. We had an opportunity to congratulate him, 
but also to spend most of the morning working side by side with him.
  Millard is a fascinating individual. He travels around the world both 
promoting and educating people about Habitat for Humanity. I talked to 
him a bit this morning about recent trips I have had the opportunity to 
make, again, one with the Presiding Officer to Africa, where, to me, we 
have a great opportunity, but also there is great hope, as we look at 
that continent today.
  This morning there were teams of five or six people who worked 
together, with a leader in that team. I was not the leader for those 3 
to 4 hours. We had a young woman by the name of Dawn, who is part of 
the AmeriCorps affiliation with Habitat for Humanity, who walked us 
through the construction of this house that was nothing but a slab of 
concrete, but by the time we left, it had the walls up around it.
  But part of my team was also Charlissa Tomlinson. Charlissa is the 
owner of the home, who began, about 2 years ago, with this dream, and 
now, with her three children there today, participated in the 
construction of that very house.

  As we put up that last wall, and there was a window there, and we 
looked out the window, I asked: Whose bedroom is this going to be? She 
very quickly told me which child's bedroom it was going to be.
  She has been very active in her church, very active in her community. 
The realization of her family's dream shows us how powerful volunteers 
can be, how the very best of the public sector, Government, which 
funds, in part, Habitat for Humanity, and the 10 or 15 sponsors, 
organizations, companies that invest, and invest heavily, in support of 
Habitat for Humanity can come together.
  I thank my colleagues because this is the first year we have had 
broad bipartisan, bicameral participation. A number of Senators have 
gone out and participated before, but today we broke all records in 
terms of Senate participation in this wonderful, wonderful project.
  We were there to demonstrate our commitment, as elected leaders. I 
should also add that the spouses of the Senators were there as well 
throughout the morning. They even stayed into the afternoon. But we 
really were there to demonstrate our commitment, our deep, personal 
commitment to affordable home ownership for low-income American 
families.
  We were also there to show our appreciation for faith-based groups 
and other nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity that do provide these 
critical services to individuals and families in need across America.
  Home ownership is such an essential part of our lives, of our social 
investments, of our economic investments. It is empowering to families. 
It is empowering to communities. It contributes economic vitality to 
areas and regions in communities where these beautiful new homes arise. 
So it was an exciting project this morning. We have done a lot.
  As we were there and looking around, we saw the AmeriCorps 
volunteers. There was a group of college students from Cornell who, 
instead of going where 99.9 percent of the college students go--to 
vacation, which I guess is Florida or the west coast or to warmer 
weather--dedicated their spring vacation to being there and hammering 
nails, and spending their 8 days away from Cornell--again, colleges all 
over the country are doing this, but they

[[Page S3171]]

were with us today, and the volunteers from the community, working with 
the corporate executives, working with the Members of the Senate. It 
was really, really gratifying.
  The Congress participates and works with the administration. We 
provided $27 million this year for the Self-Help Homeownership 
Opportunity Program, SHOP. Under this grant program, homeowners 
contribute significant amounts of their own volunteer labor to the 
construction or to the rehabilitation of a property. President Bush 
requested $67 million next year for this particular program, SHOP, 
Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program.

  The 108th Congress passed and President Bush signed the American 
Dream Downpayment Act of 2003. That is going to help over 40,000 
families a year with their downpayment and closing costs and further 
strengthen our housing market all over the country. Seeing the Senate 
in action, as we hammered and nailed and put the siding up, made me 
realize how much this body does do and cares in terms of eliminating 
poverty housing in America. I hope that demonstrates our commitment to 
that goal and our continued commitment for affordable housing 
throughout America but in particular for low-income American families.

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