[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25626]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




TOM CONNELLY MARKS THIRTY YEARS AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF MASSACHUSETTS 
                            CHAPTER OF NAHRO

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                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 23, 2009

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, on October 9th of this 
year, one of the leaders in increasing the supply of affordable housing 
in the State of Massachusetts, Tom Connelly, marked his 30th 
anniversary as the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Chapter of 
the National Association of Housing & Redevelopment Officials 
(MassNAHRO). I have benefitted enormously in my work on housing in the 
Committee on Financial Services from Mr. Connelly's good judgment, his 
broad and deep knowledge of all aspects of housing matters, and his 
passion for helping this become a fairer society.
  NAHRO nationally has been a great partner for those of us trying to 
improve the housing situation for many in this country. One of the 
strong aspects of NAHRO's work is their continued recognition that for 
many low-income people, the answer for their housing needs is not 
homeownership but decent rental housing, and a failure to understand 
this is one of the contributing factors to the housing crisis that led 
to our current recession. NAHRO, MassNAHRO and Tom Connelly in 
particular have been supportive of appropriate efforts to promote 
homeownership, but they have also understood the importance for a very 
large number of low-income people of affordable rental housing, so they 
are not pushed into inappropriate home mortgages.
  Madam Speaker, in his thirty years as Executive Director, Tom 
Connelly has set a high standard for organizational leadership and for 
housing policy. And I should add that among the contributions he has 
made to the field of housing is his daughter, Meredith, who works on 
housing matters for the Committee on Financial Services and carries on 
her father's tradition of doing excellent work for the housing needs of 
low-income people.
  Madam Speaker, I submit this statement for the Record because I hope 
that people will look at the work that Tom Connelly has done and that 
it will serve as a model for those interested in helping with housing 
issues.

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