[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 39 (Thursday, March 5, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E579-E580]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HELPING FAMILIES SAVE THEIR HOMES ACT OF 2009

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    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:

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chair, It can be easy to think that a neighbor's home 
troubles are no concern of ours. If we can still pay our mortgages, 
it's easy enough to shut our doors on their problems.
  But the world doesn't work like that. Our prosperity is bound to 
theirs, in good times and bad. A single foreclosed home can threaten a 
neighborhood; a neighborhood of foreclosed homes can help bring down 
the economy of a city; and a nation full of foreclosures can expect 
economic turmoil, and frozen credit, and layoffs, and decreasing 
demand, and more layoffs. That is where we are today: a nation with 14 
million families' mortgages underwater, and counting; a nation in which 
foreclosed homes can drive down the value of their neighbors' property 
by nearly 10 percent.
  That's why this bill is so necessary. The Helping Families Save Their 
Homes Act puts into law some of the most important provisions of 
President Obama's homeowner stability plan. It makes it easier for 
lenders to renegotiate mortgages for families who are underwater, close 
to foreclosure, or nearing bankruptcy. And for families that are driven 
into bankruptcy by their home payments, this bill allows bankruptcy 
judges to modify the terms of their loans--a step that is free for 
taxpayers and could reduce foreclosures by 20 percent. Today, investors 
can restructure debt on their vacation homes; real estate speculators 
can do it for their property; corporations can do it for their private 
planes; and you can even do it if you own a boat. It is only fair that 
average Americans have the same right for the homes they live and raise 
their families in.
  I also want to make very clear that this bill is not designed for 
those who bought bigger houses than they knew they could afford. It is 
made for those who acted responsibly but need this breathing room 
because of circumstances they could not control--circumstances like 
unemployment or the nationwide decline in home values.

[[Page E580]]

  Maybe someone listening in this chamber, or watching on TV, knows 
what it's like to lose a home. You know, in a way that I do not, just 
how wrenching it is to be forced to box up your things and turn over 
your key.
  But this bill is not just about you--it is about all of us. As 
President Obama said this month, ``In the end, all of us are paying a 
price for this home mortgage crisis. And all of us will pay an even 
steeper price if we allow this crisis to deepen.'' The effects go far 
deeper than one family and one now-vacant house. They go to the health 
of an entire economy--to the jobs and livelihoods of people on the 
other side of the continent. They go to a crisis that will not end 
until this mortgage mess is cleaned up.
  So for all of our sakes, we need to pass this bill and begin putting 
President Obama's plan into effect.

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