[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15497]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         IT IS TIME TO END THIS DESTRUCTIVE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  (Mr. CARNEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CARNEY. Mr. Speaker, it is time to end this destructive 
government shutdown. It just doesn't make any sense, and it's hurting 
people, and it's hurting the economy.
  While Congress is wasting time on the shutdown, we have important 
work to do. We need to reform our housing finance system.
  Right now, the Federal Government backs over 90 percent of all 
mortgages being made. That's just not sustainable. We have to bring 
private capital back into the markets, and we have to reduce the 
government's role, but we have to do it in a smart way.
  For generations, owning a home has been part of the American Dream. 
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has made that dream possible for many 
of us, and so our number one priority in reforming our housing finance 
system should be preserving the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.
  But the legislation currently moving through the House doesn't do 
that. That's why we need to work together on both sides of the aisle to 
fix that problem.
  We need to reform our housing finance system and protect taxpayers, 
but we also must preserve home ownership for millions of American 
families.

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