[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 58 (Wednesday, April 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S2068]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE FAIR HOUSING ACT

  Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize the 50th 
anniversary of the Fair Housing Act. On this day in 1968, President 
Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law groundbreaking legislation to protect 
Americans from housing discrimination and uphold the values of fairness 
and equality under the law.
  Prior to the passage of the law and its subsequent amendments, it was 
legal for Americans to be denied access to housing based on their race, 
color, national origin, religion, gender, disability, or familial 
status. African-American soldiers returning from fighting for their 
country on foreign shores would come home to find that they couldn't 
purchase a house in certain neighborhoods because of the color of their 
skin. The Fair Housing Act was a bold commitment to eradicating this 
kind of discrimination, which still continues to this day.
  When my own parents moved to New Jersey, illegal racial real estate 
steering efforts nearly kept them from buying a house in an all-White 
neighborhood. It took a sting operation coordinated by the local Fair 
Housing Council with a White couple posing as my parents to break the 
cycle of segregation in the town in which I would eventually grow up. 
The Fair Housing Act empowered my parents and their advocates and 
lawyers to press for their right to fair and quality housing, and it 
stands today as one of the seminal pieces of legislation passed in our 
country's history.
  Today, as we recognize the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, 
we remember that this landmark civil rights law was not meant to be the 
end of our efforts to make housing in this country more fair and more 
just, but just the beginning.
  We know we have so much work left to do when it comes to expanding 
access to affordable, safe, and fair housing in America, and we must 
remain committed to protecting and expanding on the progress made 50 
years ago today by the Fair Housing Act.
  Thank you.

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