[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12193]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                   INTRODUCING THE RENTERS RELIEF ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 27, 2001

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation that 
addresses a crisis in our country. My bill, the Renters Relief Act, 
provides a refundable tax credit of up to $2,500 for people paying more 
than 30 percent of their income toward housing costs.
  Throughout our nation, millions of working families are struggling to 
make ends meet. Housing costs are often the greatest drain on a 
family's economic resources.
  I would like to call to my colleagues' attention some disturbing 
facts from around the country: In Atlanta, Georgia there are 11,907 
families waiting for housing assistance from HUD; In the Los Angeles 
Metro region more than 400,000 renters have incomes less than 50 
percent of the area median income, and pay over half of their income 
for rent or are living in severely substandard housing, the ``worst'' 
case scenario. In Boston, the average monthly fair market rent for a 
two-bedroom apartment in the metro area is $874, that means a family 
must earn at least $35,000 or else they will be spending more than 30 
percent of their income on housing.
  We have heard the statistics over and over. The fact is we are not 
producing enough housing that is guaranteed for low and moderate-income 
people. We are not building nearly enough public housing to accommodate 
our needs. Incomes are not keeping up with housing costs. I have been 
frustrated at not being able to help more of my constituents.
  In fact, three years ago Secretary Cuomo said that ``Not even 
families working full-time at minimum wage can afford decent quality 
housing in the private rental market. This is not just a big city 
problem but affects America's growing suburbs as well.''
  HUD's own research indicates that a wide variety of market forces 
have contributed to this crisis of housing affordability through the 
1990s. Among these are ``continued suburbanization of population and 
employment, regulatory barriers to development of multifamily housing, 
underinvestment in affordable housing by local communities, continuing 
discriminatory barriers, and the simple economics of supply and demand 
in which rising incomes for higher income families drive up rents 
faster than the poorest families can afford. Also, the growth in the 
crisis during the 1990s can also be attributed to the elimination of 
Federal appropriations for additional rental vouchers between 1995 and 
1998.''
  I urge my colleagues to turn the tide. Join me in moving the Renters 
Relief Act forward!

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