[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 191 (Tuesday, December 13, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2233]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING BRIAN HUDSON OF THE PENNSYLVANIA HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CHAKA FATTAH

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 13, 2011

  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, Pennsylvanians in need of affordable 
housing, and those of us who advocate for quality, safe housing 
accessible to all, have a quiet superstar in our midst.
  Since 2003, Brian A. Hudson Sr. has served as Executive Director and 
CEO of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, the agency that turns 
the portfolio of affordable housing programs into brick and mortar. His 
ascension to leadership is well deserved: he has worked at the agency 
for three decades.
  Brian Hudson's work frequently brings him into Philadelphia where 
PHFA has accomplished near-miracles in public-private-nonprofit 
partnerships and Brian Hudson is legendary for the art of the deal. 
Those deals provide affordable housing for seniors, for young families, 
for veterans, for low-income families, for individuals facing substance 
abuse and Philadelphians with disabilities.
  Brian Hudson may not be well-known by the public but those who work 
with him and his agency hold the man in awe. Mr. Hudson's presence at a 
ribbon-cutting or turnkey dedication or groundbreaking is a welcome 
sight, and I've been pleased to share that podium with him on many 
occasions as an advocate in Congress for these critically needed 
programs. When Brian Hudson is on the scene, it means the hard work has 
been done, and it's been done right.
  Most recently, on October 31, Mr. Hudson and I, joined by Mayor 
Michael Nutter and a ``who's who'' of business and community leaders as 
well as older residents who were already in residence, dedicated The 
Apartments at Cliveden in Philadelphia's Germantown neighborhood. The 
NewCourtland Network's latest development is a $14.6 million project, 
launched with major help from Brian Hudson and PHFA, to provide 62 
units of affordable, dignified, modern living for seniors 62 and older.
  Brian Hudson's list of credits--and responsibilities--in the housing 
field is long and impressive. He has been a Director of the federally 
chartered Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh since 2007. He has 
served as Vice President and on the board of the National Council of 
State Housing Agencies. He is a member of the Consumer Advisory Council 
at The Federal Reserve System.
  Since its founding in 1972, the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency 
has financed more than 130,000 houses and 54,000 apartment units while 
assisting 40,000 homeowners threatened with foreclosure.
  In recent months Mr. Hudson's PHFA performed an astounding feat of 
public service under extreme deadline conditions. PHFA was able to 
administer and distribute more than $100 million made available to 
Pennsylvanians under the Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program (EHLP) by 
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development--within less than 
six months.
  I sponsored the EHLP program in Congress and secured its inclusion in 
the Wall Street Reform Act. This emergency assistance was based on an 
earlier program, the Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program 
(HEMAP) that I developed as a young legislator in the Pennsylvania 
General Assembly in the early 1980s. That's just about the time a young 
housing whizkid named Brian Hudson came to work for PHFA, helping that 
agency turn HEMAP into the nation's premier state-based emergency 
mortgage assistance program.
  Over a quarter century HEMAP provided more than $433 million in 
emergency mortgage assistance loans. Nearly 90 percent of Pennsylvania 
homeowners receiving this assistance have avoided foreclosure. Those 
clients were Pennsylvanians who had been making their mortgage payments 
until, through no fault of their own, they lost a job or other income 
stream and tumbled toward default. Thanks to HEMAP, 17,000 Pennsylvania 
families were able to stay in their homes, get back on their feet, and 
even to repay HEMAP for that home-saving loan. In fact, over its 
lifetime, HEMAP actually turned a modest profit for the taxpayers!
  That outstanding track record was worth duplicating, and it became 
the model for the EHLP program I introduced. This federal program 
provided up to $50,000, or 24 months, of continuing financial 
assistance, to families who were in danger of losing their homes due to 
lost income from involuntary unemployment, under-employment or medical 
expenses. Unfortunately we were able to fund EHLP only for FY2011. 
Faced with the rapidly approaching Sept. 30, 2011, deadline and a 
complex set of regulations for homeowners in need of emergency 
assistance, Mr. Hudson oversaw the processing and approval of 3,056 
applications in Pennsylvania, with distribution of $108 million in 
emergency home-saving aid in less than six months. That's more than 10 
percent of the EHLP funds made available coast to coast.
  We will be working to bring EHLP back to life. Meanwhile, Brian 
Hudson and the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency have plenty of work 
to do. They've been funding a housing locator service for state 
residents dislocated by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. They 
are expediting affordable housing developments everywhere in the 
Commonwealth involving a myriad of municipal, state and federal 
programs.
  The record builds, and tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians are 
already saying thank you. Through it all, the simple formula for 
success remains: Brian Hudson = Affordable Housing.

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