[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 87 (Monday, June 27, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H5181-H5183]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RECOGNIZING NATIONAL HOMEOWNERSHIP MONTH AND THE IMPORTANCE OF 
                   HOMEOWNERSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES

  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 312) recognizing National Homeownership Month and 
the importance of homeownership in the United States.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 312

       Whereas the President of the United States has issued a 
     proclamation designating the month of June 2005 as National 
     Homeownership Month;
       Whereas the national homeownership rate in the United 
     States has reached a record high of 69.1 percent and more 
     than half of all minority families are homeowners;
       Whereas the people of the United States are one of the 
     best-housed populations in the world;
       Whereas owning a home is a fundamental part of the American 
     dream and is the largest personal investment many families 
     will ever make;
       Whereas homeownership provides economic security for 
     homeowners by aiding them in building wealth over time and 
     strengthens communities through a greater stake among 
     homeowners in local schools, civic organizations, and 
     churches;
       Whereas improving homeownership opportunities requires the 
     commitment and cooperation of the private, public, and 
     nonprofit sectors, including the Federal Government and State 
     and local governments; and
       Whereas the current laws of the United States, such as the 
     American Dream Downpayment Act, encourage homeownership and 
     should continue to do so in the future: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved,  That the House of Representatives--
       (1) fully supports the goals and ideals of National 
     Homeownership Month; and
       (2) recognizes the importance of homeownership in building 
     strong communities and families.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Ney) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney).
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 312 which recognizes 
National Homeownership Month and the importance of homeownership in the 
United States. It is offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Gary 
G. Miller), my colleague and friend, who could not be here this moment 
to carry it. He has done a lot of great work on it.
  It has very good sponsors, also the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman 
Oxley); the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), our ranking 
member; of course myself and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Waters); the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Harris) and other 
supporters. This resolution is a testament to the benefits of a strong 
and robust housing market in this country.
  A home is more than just the symbol of the American dream. It is the 
backbone of our American way of life.
  Over the past 3 years, the housing market has driven the national 
economy as Americans bought and refinanced homes in record numbers. 
Many regions were spared the worst of the recent recession due to the 
strength of some local housing markets.
  Today, the housing sector directly accounts for about 14 percent of 
the country's total gross domestic product. Building a home involves 
multiple segments of our economy, including builders, bankers, mortgage 
lenders, realtors and numerous other people that are involved in this 
whole process.
  June is National Homeownership Month, and so many of our partners 
celebrate this because in America, every citizen, regardless of race, 
creed, color or place of birth, has the opportunity and should have the 
opportunity to own a home of their own.
  Homeownership creates community stakeholders who tend to be active in 
charities, churches, and neighborhood activities. Homeownership 
inspires civic responsibility, and homeowners are more likely to vote 
and get involved with local issues. Families owning a home offer 
children a stable living environment, and in many cases it influences 
their personal development

[[Page H5182]]

in many positive, measurable ways, at home and also at school.
  Homeownership's potential to create wealth is impressive, too. For 
the vast majority of families, the purchase of a home represents the 
path to prosperity. A home is the largest purchase most Americans will 
ever make in their lifetime. It is a tangible asset that builds equity, 
good credit, borrowing power and overall wealth.
  Today, nearly 70 percent of American families own their own homes. 
And minority homeownership rates, although they have reached an all-
time high of almost 50 percent, that is not good. We have to work on 
that and give it special effort to get those homeownership rates 
higher.

                              {time}  1415

  While many gains have been made, lagging minority homeownership rates 
are a serious concern to this House. Minority households are expected 
to account for two-thirds of household growth over the coming decade.
  Improving the ability of such households to make the transition to 
homeownership will be an important test of the Nation's capacity to 
create economic opportunity for minorities and immigrants and to build 
strong, stable communities.
  Last Congress, the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, 
I am pleased to report, assisted in the successful enactment of 17 
housing-related bills. Through bipartisan cooperation with our ranking 
member, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters); the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Oxley); and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Frank), who worked on a good piece of legislation, we were able to 
enact these pieces of legislation today to make existing housing 
programs work better.
  Our work continues, however, in the 109th Congress. The Subcommittee 
on Housing and Community Opportunity will hold a hearing this Thursday 
on the recently introduced Zero Downpayment Pilot Program Act of 2005. 
This was introduced by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Tiberi) and the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott). This legislation, which was first 
introduced last Congress, would provide a program to eliminate the 
downpayment requirement for certain families and individuals who buy 
homes with FHA-insured mortgages. Changes have been made from last 
year's bill that would make it a pilot program and limits the program 
to 50,000 loans.
  It is also my hope to look into the recent legislation introduced by 
the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick), which deals with the 
issue of reverse mortgages. More specifically, it would remove 
completely the statutory limitation, or ceiling, and the aggregate 
number of mortgages that may be insured.
  In the area of rural housing, the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. 
Davis), who will be speaking later on the floor, has taken the lead by 
looking into creative ways to reform the Rural Housing Service.
  On March 1, I introduced, along with the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Kanjorski) and many others, the bipartisan Responsible Lending 
Act, which aims to stop abusive lending practices while allowing the 
mortgage market to continue to offer affordable credit. I have taken a 
great deal of time to investigate and find solutions to problems of 
abusive and predatory lending practices, especially in the subprime 
market. As the legislative process moves forward, we will continue to 
work to improve and refine this bill, I would note.
  While homeownership is a desired goal for many Americans, I would be 
remiss if I did not mention that today we know there are people who are 
not ready to own their own home, and we cannot forget about that. So it 
is therefore prudent that we continue to pursue alternatives to make 
sure that affordable rental housing is available. I am working with 
members of the committee to craft solutions that will address the 
effectiveness and efficiency of the government's role in the 
administration of the section 8 program.
  We had some roundtables, which the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Frank), the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), the gentlewoman 
from New York (Ms. Velazquez), the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) 
and others participated in; and I think those are good, effective ways 
to bring people to the table so they can have an energetic give-and-
take about section 8 and where we are.
  I recognize there are key questions regarding funding of the Housing 
Choice Voucher Program. It is my hope to focus strictly on proposals to 
reform the program to make it a viable alternative in the future. The 
longer we wait to address the increasing costs of the section 8 
program, the greater the risk there is to the section 8 program as well 
as other programs in HUD that will most surely suffer with some 
additional problems.
  I would also note in this process that I think we have to come to an 
agreement in terms of what we are going to do with section 8; but I 
believe the whole community in the United States, housing authorities 
and others, needs to catch their breath. We cannot have one proposal 
one year that will completely alter it and the next year we see the 
same thing. So that is why I think the roundtables are productive ways 
to look at changes we can agree to.
  We have much to achieve together for the American people, and our 
best hope for being successful is to work in close concert with each 
other, guided by the same high standards and principles and motivated 
by the same goals.
  Those are a few things, Mr. Speaker, that have gone on here in the 
House as we mention H. Res. 312 for recognizing National Homeownership 
Month. I appreciate my colleagues who do so much to try to help people 
in homeownership, and I support this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  I am very pleased to join in support of this resolution. Indeed, I 
was a prime cosponsor. The main sponsor is our colleague, the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Gary G. Miller), who comes to Congress with a 
distinguished record himself in building homes.
  This is a very important resolution, particularly at this time, 
because we have, I think, an excessive degree of concern right now 
about homeownership and its role in the economy.
  Obviously, speculation is never a good thing. But those who argue 
that housing prices are now at the point of a bubble seem to be missing 
a very important point. Unlike previous examples, where substantial 
excessive inflation of prices later caused some problems, we are 
talking here about an entity, homeownership, homes, where there is not 
the degree of leverage that we have seen elsewhere.
  This is not the dot-com situation. We had problems with people having 
invested in business plans for which there was no reality and people 
building fiber-optic cable for which there was no need. Homes that are 
occupied may see an ebb and flow in the price at a certain percentage 
level, but you will not see the collapse that you see when people talk 
about a bubble.
  So those of us on our committee in particular will continue to push 
for homeownership. And I very much agree with the gentleman from Ohio 
who has chaired the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity 
of the Committee on Financial Services about the importance of this and 
about the various ways in which we do that.
  Obviously, the market will take care of a large number of people, but 
it will not take care of everybody. And if we are going to expand 
homeownership, there will have to be a sensible set of public policies, 
such as reducing the downpayment in the FHA, such as protecting people 
from lending practices that may at first seem to benefit them but then 
victimize them. And I hope our committee will pass legislation that 
will protect people against that.
  We also have pending now, and it came out of our committee, 
legislation dealing with those government-sponsored enterprises whose 
function is to promote homeownership and homes in general, the Federal 
Home Loan Banks, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. And I hope that 
legislation along the lines that came out of our committee, which 
enhances the regulatory regime but does not intrude unduly on their 
ability to function, will be maintained.
  I also want to express my appreciation to the gentleman from Ohio for 
having noted a very important point

[[Page H5183]]

that sometimes gets overlooked. Homeownership is an important part of 
our policy, but it is not the entire housing policy of the Federal 
Government; nor is it the entire housing need of the Nation. Some 
people will never own. There will be people who choose not to own; 
there will be people who for their economic circumstances will not be 
able to own. And there is no conflict between promoting homeownership 
and recognizing that decent, affordable rental housing will also be 
very important indefinitely for tens and tens of millions of Americans.
  I welcome the initiative that the gentleman from Ohio talked about 
with regard to improving our public policies so that we are able to 
expand the stock of affordable rental housing and do it in a way that 
protects both the renters themselves and the taxpayers.
  I just want to add, as I bring these remarks to a close, Mr. Speaker, 
and I enjoyed working with the gentleman from California (Mr. Gary G. 
Miller), that I want to pay tribute to a couple of organizations that 
have done a good deal to help us with this. I found the National 
Association of Home Builders has been a very constructive participant 
in our efforts to promote homeownership. The National Association of 
Realtors has also played a very useful role in helping us shape public 
policies that expand homeownership.
  There are also a variety of advocacy groups that work with us so that 
we can make homeownership available to people who might not on their 
own in a market situation be able to afford it, while those groups, of 
course, at the same time, work with us on the need for affordable 
housing.
  So as an example of what we are trying to do for an overall 
comprehensive housing policy, I very much support this. And let us be 
clear: if a family is inadequately housed, if they either have housing 
that is not adequate or are paying far too much of their income to get 
adequate housing, then a degree of social disorganization can result 
which causes problems elsewhere.
  So maintaining a comprehensive set of policies that expand housing 
opportunities for people at various levels of the income scale is a 
very important part of our responsibility, and I welcome the chance to 
support this resolution as an example of one important piece of that.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume in 
closing to once again thank the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Frank) and also reiterate that the gentleman from California (Mr. Gary 
G. Miller) has been very active and has been a great member on the 
Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity. Along with a lot of 
our other colleagues, he has done a wonderful job on the committee, and 
it has been a pleasure having him on the committee. We also appreciate 
this resolution.
  Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
celebrate homeownership in America.
  Recently, President Bush designated June as National Homeownership 
Month as he has done for the past three years. To complement this 
designation, H. Res. 312, provides congressional recognition of 
National Homeownership Month and the importance of homeownership in the 
United States.
  This resolution expresses the sense of Congress that the House of 
Representatives: (1) Fully supports the goals and ideals of National 
Homeownership Month; and (2) recognizes the importance of homeownership 
in building strong communities and families.


                 Importance of Homeownership in America

  For generations, the goal of owning a home has been the bedrock of 
our economy and a fundamental part of the American Dream.
  Over the last three years, as we have faced the challenges of war and 
economic uncertainty, the housing markets have helped to keep our 
economy strong. Nationally, housing generates more than 22 percent of 
the Gross Domestic Product and accounts for nearly 40 cents of every 
dollar spent.
  America's housing markets are the envy of the world. We enjoy the 
lowest interest rates and the highest homeownership rates of any 
developed nation. In fact, the national homeownership rate in the 
United States has reached a record high of 69.1 percent and more than 
half of all minority families are homeowners. Over 73.4 million 
Americans are now homeowners, with many more achieving this goal every 
day.
  Homeownership is the single largest creator of wealth for Americans. 
It is the largest investment most families will ever make and a key to 
promoting long-term economic stability. For these reasons, we must 
continue to promote policies that ensure more Americans may achieve the 
goal of homeownership.


               Homeownership Builds Stronger Communities

  Aside from helping millions of Americans achieve their dreams, 
homeownership also helps to build neighborhoods and strengthen 
communities.
  For families across this Nation, a home is not just four walls and a 
roof. It is a refuge from the perils of the outside world, a break 
after a hard day's work, and a foundation on which to raise a family. A 
home is a place for children to learn, play, and grow, as well as a 
place where the elderly may retire with a lifetime of memories.
  Owning a home also provides homeowners a tangible stake in their 
cities and towns. Families who own homes have a vital stake in their 
communities, a stronger interest in the safekeeping of their 
neighborhoods, and a deeper commitment to the quality of their schools 
and libraries. Each home is a critical piece in a successful 
neighborhood, allowing families to enjoy community events together and 
share in the lives of their neighbors and friends.
  As millions of American families have demonstrated, increased 
homeownership helps to build better communities, and better communities 
help to build a better America.


               Congress's Role in Promoting Homeownership

  As responsible legislators, we need to ensure that government helps, 
rather than impedes, homeownership in America. When I came to Congress, 
I made it my top priority to highlight Federal policies that have 
hindered the availability of housing in this country and to find ways 
for government to positively impact homeownership in America.
  While we have done much to help Americans become homeowners, we must 
do more. We must remove the hurdles and needless regulations that keep 
homeownership out of the reach of some American families. We must also 
promote fair lending and fair housing regulations to increase housing 
opportunities for all Americans. With June designated as National 
Homeownership Month, there is no better time to address these issues.
  Now more than ever, Congress must cultivate an environment in which 
more Americans may turn the dream of homeownership into reality.


          Support National Homeownership Month and H. Res. 312

  I am very pleased to see the President has made it a priority to 
promote affordable housing and homeownership.
  His Administration has taken a leading role in finding new and 
innovative ways to expand homeownership, particularly among minorities 
and families in low-income areas. I commend the hard work of Secretary 
Jackson and his team at HUD for their work in developing programs to 
increase affordable housing and encourage homeownership.
  As a vital part of this goal, National Homeownership Month is a 
reminder of the importance of housing issues in America. This 
bipartisan resolution, H. Res. 312, recognizes the need for National 
Homeownership Month and the overall importance of homeownership in 
America. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H. Res. 312 to 
reinforce our commitment to housing opportunities and to help guarantee 
the dream of homeownership for more American families.
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Radanovich). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 312.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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