[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 145 (Wednesday, September 11, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H7602]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
              MAKE HOMEOWNERSHIP EQUALLY AVAILABLE TO ALL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Rush) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to address how racially 
discriminatory housing policy has contributed to the unjust racial 
wealth gap in our Nation.
  Currently, Madam Speaker, 72 percent of White households own their 
own homes, while just 41 percent of Black households do. The roots of 
this disparity can be traced to the discriminatory practices 
implemented by the Federal Housing Authority, which resulted in only 2 
percent of federally backed loans being issued to African Americans 
between 1934 and 1968. This was a supra-classic form of kinematic, 
organic, and institutional racism.
  The ongoing ramifications of this most insidious example of 
discrimination continue to be felt acutely by people like many of my 
constituents. A recent study by Duke University found that the systemic 
denial of federally guaranteed loans led to the widespread use of 
predatory home sale contracts in Chicago's Black communities.
  These contracts, Madam Speaker, led to a situation where Black home 
buyers paid, on average, over $71,000 more--I repeat, Madam Speaker, 
over $71,000--for their homes than White homeowners who had unfiltered 
access to federally backed loans.
  In total, Madam Speaker, redlining, the practice of rating 
predominantly Black neighborhoods as ``high risk'' for traditional 
mortgage lenders, stole $3.2 million--this is by conservative 
estimates, $3.2 million--stole up to $3.2 million from Chicago's Black 
families.
  This is just one example of how homeownership, a pillar of the 
American Dream, has been placed out of reach of far too many Americans 
due solely to the color of their skin. It is incumbent, Madam Speaker, 
upon all of us to make this American Dream equally available to all, 
regardless of their skin color and regardless of their ZIP Code.
  Fortunately, Madam Speaker, there are steps that this Congress can 
take to support Black American homeownership. For example, as the Urban 
Institute notes, factoring rental payment history into credit-scoring 
models could increase financial opportunities for Black home buyers.
  Passing the Home Loan Quality Transparency Act, a bill I am proud to 
cosponsor, will restore a critical provision of Dodd-Frank, requiring 
mortgage lenders to report crucial details about their borrowers, 
including credit scores, racial and ethnic breakdowns, and other data.
  Madam Speaker, $3.2 million stolen.

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