[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 16, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H178-H181]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FAMILY SELF-SUFFICIENCY ACT
Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 4258) to promote the development of local strategies to
coordinate use of assistance under sections 8 and 9 of the United
States Housing Act of 1937 with public and private resources, to enable
eligible families to achieve economic independence and self-
sufficiency, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4258
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Family Self-Sufficiency
Act''.
SEC. 2. FAMILY SELF-SUFFICIENCY PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Section 23 of the United States Housing
Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437u) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking ``public housing and''; and
(B) by striking ``the certificate and voucher programs
under section 8'' and inserting ``sections 8 and 9'';
(2) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
``(b) Continuation of Prior Required Programs.--
``(1) In general.--Each public housing agency that was
required to administer a local Family Self-Sufficiency
program on the date of enactment of the Family Self-
Sufficiency Act, shall operate such local program for, at a
minimum, the number of families the agency was required to
serve on the date of enactment of such Act, subject only to
the availability under appropriations Acts of sufficient
amounts for housing assistance and the requirements of
paragraph (2).
``(2) Reduction.--The number of families for which a public
housing agency is required to operate such local program
under paragraph (1) shall be decreased by one for each family
from any supported rental housing program administered by
such agency that, after October 21, 1998, fulfills its
obligations under the contract of participation.
``(3) Exception.--The Secretary shall not require a public
housing agency to carry out a mandatory program for a period
of time upon the request of the public housing agency and
upon a determination by the Secretary that implementation is
not feasible because of local circumstances, which may
include--
``(A) lack of supportive services accessible to eligible
families, which shall include insufficient availability of
resources for programs under title I of the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.);
``(B) lack of funding for reasonable administrative costs;
``(C) lack of cooperation by other units of State or local
government; or
``(D) any other circumstances that the Secretary may
consider appropriate.'';
(3) by striking subsection (i);
(4) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), (e), (f), (g),
and (h) as subsections (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), and (i)
respectively;
(5) by inserting after subsection (b), as amended, the
following:
``(c) Eligibility.--
``(1) Eligible families.--A family is eligible to
participate in a local Family Self-Sufficiency program under
this section if--
``(A) at least 1 household member seeks to become and
remain employed in suitable employment or to increase
earnings; and
``(B) the household member receives direct assistance under
section 8 or resides in a unit assisted under section 8 or 9.
``(2) Eligible entities.--The following entities are
eligible to administer a local Family Self-Sufficiency
program under this section:
``(A) A public housing agency administering housing
assistance to or on behalf of an eligible family under
section 8 or 9.
``(B) The owner or sponsor of a multifamily property
receiving project-based rental assistance under section 8, in
accordance with the requirements under subsection (l).'';
(6) in subsection (d), as so redesignated--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking ``public housing agency'' the first time it
appears and inserting ``eligible entity'';
(ii) in the first sentence, by striking ``each leaseholder
receiving assistance under the certificate and voucher
programs of the public housing agency under section 8 or
residing in public housing administered by the agency'' and
inserting ``a household member of an eligible family''; and
(iii) by striking the third sentence and inserting the
following: ``Housing assistance may not be terminated as a
consequence of either successful completion of the contract
of participation or failure to complete such contract. A
contract of participation shall remain in effect until the
participating family exits the Family Self-Sufficiency
program upon successful graduation or expiration of the
contract of participation, or for other good cause.'';
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)--
(I) in the first sentence--
(aa) by striking ``A local program under this section'' and
inserting ``An eligible entity'';
(bb) by striking ``provide'' and inserting ``coordinate'';
and
(cc) by striking ``to'' and inserting ``for''; and
(II) in the second sentence--
(aa) by striking ``provided during'' and inserting
``coordinated for'';
(bb) by striking ``under section 8 or residing in public
housing'' and inserting ``pursuant to section 8 or 9 and for
the duration of the contract of participation''; and
(cc) by inserting ``, but are not limited to'' after ``may
include'';
(ii) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ``or attainment of a
high school equivalency certificate'' after ``high school'';
(iii) by striking subparagraph (G);
(iv) by redesignating subparagraphs (E), (F), and (J) as
subparagraphs (F), (G), and (K) respectively;
(v) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following:
``(E) education in pursuit of a post-secondary degree or
certification;'';
(vi) in subparagraph (H), by inserting ``financial
literacy, such as training in financial management, financial
coaching, and asset building, and'' after ``training in'';
(vii) in subparagraph (I), by striking ``and'' at the end;
and
(viii) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the following:
``(J) homeownership education and assistance; and'';
(C) in paragraph (3)--
(i) in the first sentence, by inserting ``the first
recertification of income after'' after ``not later than 5
years after''; and
(ii) in the second sentence--
(I) by striking ``public housing agency'' and inserting
``eligible entity''; and
(II) by striking ``of the agency'';
(D) by amending paragraph (4) to read as follows:
``(4) Employment.--The contract of participation shall
require 1 household member of the participating family to
seek and maintain suitable employment.''; and
(E) by adding at the end the following:
``(5) Nonparticipation.--Assistance under section 8 or 9
for a family that elects not to participate in a Family Self-
Sufficiency program shall not be delayed by reason of such
election.'';
(7) in subsection (e), as so redesignated--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``whose monthly adjusted
income does not exceed 50 percent'' and all that follows
through the period at the end of the third sentence and
inserting ``shall be calculated under the rental provisions
of section 3 or section 8(o), as applicable.'';
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) by striking the first sentence and inserting the
following: ``For each participating family, an amount equal
to any increase in the amount of rent paid by the family in
accordance with the provisions of section 3 or 8(o), as
applicable, that is attributable to increases in earned
income by the participating family, shall be placed in an
interest-bearing escrow account established by the eligible
entity on behalf of the participating family. Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, an eligible entity may use funds
it controls under section 8 or 9 for purposes of making the
escrow deposit for participating families assisted under, or
residing in units assisted under, section 8 or 9,
respectively, provided such funds are offset by the increase
in the amount of rent paid by the participating family.'';
(ii) by striking the second sentence and inserting the
following: ``All Family Self-Sufficiency programs
administered under this section shall include an escrow
account.'';
(iii) in the fourth sentence, by striking ``subsection
(c)'' and inserting ``subsection (d)''; and
(iv) in the last sentence--
[[Page H179]]
(I) by striking ``A public housing agency'' and inserting
``An eligible entity''; and
(II) by striking ``the public housing agency'' and
inserting ``such eligible entity''; and
(C) by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows:
``(3) Forfeited escrow.--Any amount placed in an escrow
account established by an eligible entity for a participating
family as required under paragraph (2), that exists after the
end of a contract of participation by a household member of a
participating family that does not qualify to receive the
escrow, shall be used by the eligible entity for the benefit
of participating families in good standing.'';
(8) in subsection (f), as so redesignated, by striking ``,
unless the income of the family equals or exceeds 80 percent
of the median income of the area (as determined by the
Secretary with adjustments for smaller and larger
families)'';
(9) in subsection (g), as so redesignated--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking ``public housing agency'' and inserting
``eligible entity'';
(ii) by striking ``the public housing agency'' and
inserting ``such eligible entity''; and
(iii) by striking ``subsection (g)'' and inserting
``subsection (h)''; and
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) by striking ``public housing agency'' and inserting
``eligible entity'' each place that term appears;
(ii) by striking ``or the Job Opportunities and Basic
Skills Training Program under part F of title IV of the
Social Security Act'';
(iii) by inserting ``primary, secondary, and post-
secondary'' after ``public and private''; and
(iv) in the second sentence, by inserting ``and tenants
served by the program'' after ``the unit of general local
government'';
(10) in subsection (h), as so redesignated--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking ``public housing agency'' and inserting
``eligible entity'';
(ii) by striking ``participating in the'' and inserting
``carrying out a''; and
(iii) by striking ``to the Secretary'';
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) by striking ``public housing agency'' and inserting
``eligible entity'';
(ii) by striking ``subsection (f)'' and inserting
``subsection (g)'';
(iii) by striking ``residents of the public housing'' and
inserting ``the current and prospective participants of the
program''; and
(iv) by striking ``or the Job Opportunities and Basic
Skills Training Program under part F of title IV of the
Social Security Act''; and
(C) in paragraph (3)--
(i) in subparagraph (C)--
(I) by striking ``subsection (c)(2)'' and inserting
``subsection (d)(2)'';
(II) by striking ``provided to'' and inserting
``coordinated on behalf of participating'';
(III) by inserting ``direct'' before ``assistance''; and
(IV) by striking ``the section 8 and public housing
programs'' and inserting ``sections 8 and 9'';
(ii) in subparagraph (D)--
(I) by striking ``subsection (d)'' and inserting
``subsection (e)''; and
(II) by striking ``public housing agency'' and inserting
``eligible entity'';
(iii) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``deliver'' and
inserting ``coordinate'';
(iv) in subparagraph (H), by striking ``the Job
Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program under part F
of title IV of the Social Security Act and''; and
(v) in subparagraph (I), by striking ``public housing or
section 8 assistance'' and inserting ``assistance under
section 8 or 9'';
(11) by amending subsection (i), as so redesignated, to
read as follows:
``(i) Family Self-Sufficiency Awards.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to appropriations, the Secretary
shall establish a formula by which annual funds will be
awarded or as otherwise determined by the Secretary for the
costs incurred by an eligible entity in administering the
self-sufficiency program under this section.
``(2) Eligibility for awards.--The award established under
paragraph (1) shall provide funding for family self-
sufficiency coordinators as follows:
``(A) Base award.--An eligible entity serving 25 or more
participants in the Family Self-Sufficiency program under
this section is eligible to receive an award equal to the
costs, as determined by the Secretary, of 1 full-time family
self-sufficiency coordinator position. The Secretary may, by
regulation or notice, determine the policy concerning the
award for an eligible entity serving fewer than 25 such
participants, including providing prorated awards or allowing
such entities to combine their programs under this section
for purposes of employing a coordinator.
``(B) Additional award.--An eligible entity that meets
performance standards set by the Secretary is eligible to
receive an additional award sufficient to cover the costs of
filling an additional family self-sufficiency coordinator
position if such entity has 75 or more participating
families, and an additional coordinator for each additional
50 participating families, or such other ratio as may be
established by the Secretary based on the award allocation
evaluation under subparagraph (E).
``(C) State and regional agencies.--For purposes of
calculating the award under this paragraph, each
administratively distinct part of a State or regional
eligible entity may be treated as a separate agency.
``(D) Determination of number of coordinators.--In
determining whether an eligible entity meets a specific
threshold for funding pursuant to this paragraph, the
Secretary shall consider the number of participants enrolled
by the eligible entity in its Family Self-Sufficiency program
as well as other criteria determined by the Secretary.
``(E) Award allocation evaluation.--The Secretary shall
submit to Congress a report evaluating the award allocation
under this subsection, and make recommendations based on this
evaluation and other related findings to modify such
allocation, within 4 years after the date of enactment of the
Family Self-Sufficiency Act, and not less frequently than
every 4 years thereafter. The report requirement under this
subparagraph shall terminate after the Secretary has
submitted two such reports to Congress.
``(3) Renewals and allocation.--
``(A) In general.--Funds allocated by the Secretary under
this subsection shall be allocated in the following order of
priority:
``(i) First priority.--Renewal of the full cost of all
coordinators in the previous year at each eligible entity
with an existing Family Self-Sufficiency program that meets
applicable performance standards set by the Secretary.
``(ii) Second priority.--New or incremental coordinator
funding authorized under this section.
``(B) Guidance.--If the first priority, as described in
subparagraph (A)(i), cannot be fully satisfied, the Secretary
may prorate the funding for each eligible entity, as long
as--
``(i) each eligible entity that has received funding for at
least 1 part-time coordinator in the prior fiscal year is
provided sufficient funding for at least 1 part-time
coordinator as part of any such proration; and
``(ii) each eligible entity that has received funding for
at least 1 full-time coordinator in the prior fiscal year is
provided sufficient funding for at least 1 full-time
coordinator as part of any such proration.
``(4) Recapture or offset.--Any awards allocated under this
subsection by the Secretary in a fiscal year that have not
been spent by the end of the subsequent fiscal year or such
other time period as determined by the Secretary may be
recaptured by the Secretary and shall be available for
providing additional awards pursuant to paragraph (2)(B), or
may be offset as determined by the Secretary. Funds
appropriated pursuant to this section shall remain available
for 3 years in order to facilitate the re-use of any
recaptured funds for this purpose.
``(5) Performance reporting.--Programs under this section
shall be required to report the number of families enrolled
and graduated, the number of established escrow accounts and
positive escrow balances, and any other information that the
Secretary may require. Program performance shall be reviewed
periodically as determined by the Secretary.
``(6) Incentives for innovation and high performance.--The
Secretary may reserve up to 5 percent of the amounts made
available under this subsection to provide support to or
reward Family Self-Sufficiency programs based on the rate of
successful completion, increased earned income, or other
factors as may be established by the Secretary.'';
(12) in subsection (j)--
(A) by striking ``public housing agency'' the first place
such term appears and inserting ``eligible entity'';
(B) by striking ``public housing'' before ``units'';
(C) by striking ``in public housing projects administered
by the agency'';
(D) by inserting ``or coordination'' after ``provision'';
and
(E) by striking the last sentence;
(13) in subsection (k), by striking ``public housing
agencies'' and inserting ``eligible entities'';
(14) by striking subsection (n);
(15) by striking subsection (o);
(16) by redesignating subsections (l) and (m) as
subsections (m) and (n), respectively;
(17) by inserting after subsection (k) the following:
``(l) Programs for Tenants in Privately Owned Properties
With Project-Based Assistance.--
``(1) Voluntary availability of fss program.--The owner of
a privately owned property may voluntarily make a Family
Self-Sufficiency program available to the tenants of such
property in accordance with procedures established by the
Secretary. Such procedures shall permit the owner to enter
into a cooperative agreement with a local public housing
agency that administers a Family Self-Sufficiency program or,
at the owner's option, operate a Family Self-Sufficiency
program on its own or in partnership with another owner. An
owner, who voluntarily makes a Family Self-Sufficiency
program available pursuant to this subsection, may access
funding from any residual receipt accounts for the property
to hire a family self-sufficiency coordinator or coordinators
for their program.
``(2) Cooperative agreement.--Any cooperative agreement
entered into pursuant to paragraph (1) shall require the
public housing agency to open its Family Self-Sufficiency
program waiting list to any eligible family residing in the
owner's property who resides in a unit assisted under
project-based rental assistance.
``(3) Treatment of families assisted under this
subsection.--A public housing
[[Page H180]]
agency that enters into a cooperative agreement pursuant to
paragraph (1) may count any family participating in its
Family Self-Sufficiency program as a result of such agreement
as part of the calculation of the award under subsection (i).
``(4) Escrow.--
``(A) Cooperative agreement.--A cooperative agreement
entered into pursuant to paragraph (1) shall provide for the
calculation and tracking of the escrow for participating
residents and for the owner to make available, upon request
of the public housing agency, escrow for participating
residents, in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3) of
subsection (e), residing in units assisted under section 8.
``(B) Calculation and tracking by owner.--The owner of a
privately owned property who voluntarily makes a Family Self-
Sufficiency program available pursuant to paragraph (1) shall
calculate and track the escrow for participating residents
and make escrow for participating residents available in
accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (e).
``(5) Exception.--This subsection shall not apply to
properties assisted under section 8(o)(13).
``(6) Suspension of enrollment.--In any year, the Secretary
may suspend the enrollment of new families in Family Self-
Sufficiency programs under this subsection based on a
determination that insufficient funding is available for this
purpose.'';
(18) in subsection (m), as so redesignated--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) in the first sentence, by striking ``Each public
housing agency'' and inserting ``Each eligible entity'';
(ii) in the second sentence, by striking ``The report shall
include'' and inserting ``The contents of the report shall
include''; and
(iii) in subparagraph (D)--
(I) by striking ``public housing agency'' and inserting
``eligible entity''; and
(II) by striking ``local''; and
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``and describing any
additional research needs of the Secretary to evaluate the
effectiveness of the program'' after ``under paragraph (1)'';
(19) in subsection (n), as so redesignated, by striking
``may'' and inserting ``shall''; and
(20) by adding at the end the following:
``(o) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means an
entity that meets the requirements under subsection (c)(2) to
administer a Family Self-Sufficiency program under this
section.
``(2) Eligible family.--The term `eligible family' means a
family that meets the requirements under subsection (c)(1) to
participate in the Family Self-Sufficiency program under this
section.
``(3) Participating family.--The term `participating
family' means an eligible family that is participating in the
Family Self-Sufficiency program under this section.''.
(b) Effective Date.--Not later than 360 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development shall issue notice or regulations to implement
this Act and any amendments made by this Act, and this Act
and any amendments made by this Act shall take effect upon
such issuance.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Duffy) and the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Himes)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.
General Leave
Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on this bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Wisconsin?
There was no objection.
Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4258, the Family Self-
Sufficiency Act. This legislation will streamline a program designed to
help those unable to purchase a home while reducing their dependency on
welfare assistance and rental assistance provided by the government.
I want to thank my colleague and friend from Missouri (Mr. Cleaver)
for all of his bipartisan and helpful work on this legislation. It
passed out of our committee 58-0, which is somewhat historic for the
Financial Services Committee.
Now, the Family Self-Sufficiency Act, or FSS program, is focused on
helping families in public housing and the housing choice voucher
program. The goal is to utilize a number of services coordinated
through the program to help families with individual training to
increase their employability and become less dependent on assistance.
These services can include basic education, childcare,
transportation, education, financial literacy, mental health referrals,
and homeownership counseling. While receiving services, an interest-
bearing escrow account is established for the family that can be used
for any purpose once the family has graduated from the program.
Currently, HUD operates one program for families served by the
housing choice voucher program and a separate program for those
families served by the public housing program. This legislation will
combine those two separate FSS programs into one to streamline and
reduce regulatory burdens.
The bill also broadens the scope of supportive services that may be
offered to these families to include attainment of a GED, education in
pursuit of a postsecondary degree or certification, and--I think this
is important--training in financial literacy. Lastly, H.R. 4258 opens
the FSS program to families that live in privately owned properties
that are subsidized by project-based rental assistance.
Mr. Speaker, 4,793 families have successfully completed the program,
with 1,557 graduates exiting rental assistance, within a year and
another 606 graduates that eventually went on and were able to purchase
a home. So more than 10 percent of the people who graduate from the
program go on to buy a home.
I want to leave you with just a quick anecdote on written testimony
that came to our committee from the Compass Working Capital Group. It
is a story about Tanya. She graduated from the FSS program in Lynn,
Massachusetts.
Now, when Tanya enrolled in the FSS program, she had been receiving
housing assistance for about 4 years. She was working full-time and
raising two children, but she had bigger dreams. One of those dreams
was to one day own a house. At the time, Tanya believed that owning a
home was, in her words, ``not for families like mine,'' a low-income
single mother who came from a family where no one has ever owned a
home.
So when Tanya graduated from the program, she got the assistance, got
the counseling, and in the end, she was able to increase her annual
income by $8,000, improve her credit score 140 points, pay down her
debt, and save $3,000. She graduated from the program in 2015 and
achieved her dream of becoming a homeowner, the first person in her
family to do so.
She said: But what makes me happiest of all is seeing my children
love their new home. Thanks to the Compass FSS program, now I, too,
believe that families like mine can get ahead, live better, and
accomplish our big dreams and goals such as buying a home.
This is a remarkable story of a program that actually works, that
helps people get from public assistance into self-sufficiency and
hopefully into homeownership.
I think it is this kind of artful review of policy that our committee
has done on a bipartisan level that brings us to reforms that can look
at the successes of a program and build upon those successes and make
them work for more families.
Again, I want to thank my colleagues and friends across the aisle for
working on this legislation and, again, bringing it out with such a
bipartisan vote.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HIMES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4258, the Family Self-Sufficiency Act of 2017,
makes several commonsense improvements to HUD's Family Self-Sufficiency
program, or FSS, which is the only asset-building program at HUD to
help increase economic opportunities for its low-income households.
Anecdotally, Mr. Speaker, when I was a commissioner of a housing
authority many years ago, I saw this program in action. It deals with
one of the challenges of what happens to a family as their incomes go
up and they find it increasingly hard to invest and save because their
rents typically go up.
Mr. Speaker, this bill expands the scope of supportive services
provided to residents to include GED training, education, and pursuit
of a post-secondary degree or certification and training in financial
literacy.
The bill also expands the program to include families who live in
privately owned properties and ensures that low-
[[Page H181]]
income families can continue to participate in this program as their
incomes increase. This is a particularly important improvement since
under current law, once a family reaches 50 percent of area median
income, they no longer are able to accrue additional savings in their
escrow accounts. This bill fixes that issue.
This bill is an important step in the right direction, and I hope we
can continue to find ways to expand this very successful program beyond
the current 72,000 households it can serve.
I am glad to see that my friend from Wisconsin and my colleagues on
the other side of the aisle recognize the success of this voluntary
program, and I hope we can work together to find ways to improve it and
to give energy to other programs which allow people to lift themselves
out of lower income circumstances.
Mr. Speaker, this bill was passed out of committee 58-0. I urge my
colleagues to support the bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr.
Cleaver).
Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, let me, first of all, state the obvious. I
am rising to support H.R. 4258, the Family Self-Sufficiency Act.
I would like to thank Chairman Duffy for the spirit of bipartisanship
that he has demonstrated on this and on other legislation as well; and
Mr. Himes, the gentleman from Connecticut, who is managing this piece
of legislation. It is also appropriate to thank the chair and the
ranking member of the committee for giving their support to this piece
of legislation.
H.R. 4258 would make important updates to the Department of Housing
and Urban Development Family Self-Sufficiency program, the FSS program,
which is a voluntary program that encourages residents who use housing
vouchers or who live in public housing to connect with program
coordinators to create self-sufficiency plans, obtain educational
resources, and pursue work opportunities.
This program also creates an interest-bearing escrow account for
participants that can be accessed upon graduation from the program.
Money from this account can be used for job-related expenses or as
savings for a home.
I deviate from my written comments to say that there are a number of
great stories like Tanya's that Mr. Duffy shared. As a 5-year resident
of public housing when I was growing up, during that time my father was
working on three jobs trying to save money for a house and to buy what
became his first car. Our first car was an Oldsmobile Rocket 88--Rocket
88 I want emphasize--and it was the pride of our family and our
community, frankly, when that happened. But it would have been
infinitely easier if there had been some kind of escrow account that my
father could have moved money into to save so that when he found that
lot and the house that he lives in today, that would have been money
right there available for him to pay down on it or pay it off. It seems
like a lot of money then, but the lot was $5,000, and the money that he
could have saved over that period of time could have been so
significant. We managed to do it anyway.
This program would help countless numbers of people who want to take
advantage of the help that the Federal Government can give them with
housing but at the same time work and strive toward independence. That
is what I think the great value of this program is.
I don't want to repeat what has already been said, so I want to just
give you a list of the organizations supporting this legislation: the
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Preservation of Affordable
Housing, the National Leased Housing Association, the National Low
Income Housing Coalition, Compass Working Capital, National Association
of Housing Redevelopment Officials, Housing Partnership Network, the
National Housing Trust, and Stewards of Affordable Housing for the
Future.
A similar version of this bill was introduced by Senator Reed and
Senator Blunt from my home State of Missouri over in the Senate, and I
am encouraged by this bipartisanship and the bicameral process.
I am also hopeful that we can continue to work, as Mr. Himes said, on
further improvements of housing resources all across the country, and I
urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. HIMES. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to briefly say in closing that we oftentimes find
people who get stuck in a cycle of poverty. I think the goal of the
program should be to help people get out of poverty and get to self-
sufficiency.
{time} 1630
If you look at this program, it takes an initiative by the person in
FSS to say: I am going to raise my hand; I want to take advantage of
these opportunities. It is about helping them get an education.
I have 8 kids, and I have a wife. For a single mom with a couple of
kids who is trying to go to school or do job training or get a job,
without some help on child care, that can't work. You can't make that
happen. That is offered in this program.
Again, it offers additional education, financial literacy training,
and counseling on home ownership. If you have some mental health
issues, you can get training in that.
It is what is right about government, in the sense we don't want
people to get stuck. We don't want people to get caught in a cycle of
poverty, we want to help lift them up, and it is this kind of a program
with these kinds of reforms that I think we have worked together on
that accomplishes that goal: help people live the American Dream, which
is get a job that allows them to eventually save enough money and buy a
house. On the escrow part of this, when you get out of the program, you
might have a small, little nest egg that you can use as a deposit for
that home.
So I think this is a great program that does the right thing. If you
are a Liberal or a Conservative, no matter what side of the political
spectrum you sit on, this program is making the government work for
people.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Duffy) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 4258, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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