[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 39 (Thursday, March 5, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E576-E577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HELPING FAMILIES SAVE THEIR HOMES ACT OF 2009

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 26, 2009

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1106 to 
     prevent mortgage foreclosures and enhance mortgage credit 
     availability:

  Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of H.R. 1106, the 
Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009.
  I want to commend Chairman Conyers, Chairman Frank and Speaker Pelosi 
for their dedication and work in bringing this bill to the floor.
  Of course, I would have preferred to vote on the prior, more robust 
version of this bill, but nevertheless this is an important step 
forward that will help keep families in their homes.
  As we all know the roots of the current economic crisis are grounded 
in the housing market and the greedy lending practices of the banks.
  Many of us warned about this impending housing crisis years ago. As a 
member of the Financial Services committee for eight years, I remember 
expressing my concern about the housing bubble and the subprime loans 
that were fueling it and the consequences to our economy if the bubble 
popped.
  But our warnings fell on deaf ears.
  When we tried to encourage the banks to participate in voluntary 
foreclosure prevention programs to help families in distress, they 
balked and made every excuse to avoid participating.
  Then the economy tanked and they begged us for a bail out.
  Now millions more families are threatened with bankruptcy and 
foreclosure. That's why we are taking this step today, to restore some 
equity to our bankruptcy laws to allow judicial modifications of 
mortgages on primary residences and to help keep families in their 
homes.
  I applaud the improvements to the Hope for Homeowners program that 
are also included in this legislation. We had to address the low rate 
of participation in this voluntary program and I know that the 
improvements included here will provide many more homeowners with a way 
to work out new, affordable mortgages and to continue making their 
mortgage payments.
  Passing this bill will be an important step in stabilizing the 
housing markets because not only will we help families protect their 
homes and their assets during this economic crisis, we will strengthen 
our entire banking system by making permanent the increase in the FDIC 
insurance limits to $250,000. This will

[[Page E577]]

protect the savings of every American and will increase confidence in 
the banking systems both here and abroad.
  Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support passage of H.R. 1106.

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