[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 7698]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOMEBUILDERS

  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, as a realtor and the former owner of a 
real estate company, it is my great pleasure today to congratulate the 
National Association of Home Builders on its 75th anniversary.
  The National Association of Home Builders was established in 1942 to 
represent the interests of the Nation's homebuilding industry and to 
help create a business environment that facilitates homebuilding, 
enables more Americans to achieve homeownership, and provides for ample 
rental housing for all income levels. The National Association of Home 
Builders' membership includes not just builders, but professionals in a 
broad range of fields who are part of the homebuilding industry, 
including those who remodel, update, and help maintain existing homes.
  For many years, the goal set forth in the Housing Act of 1949 of ``a 
decent home and a suitable living environment for every American 
family'' has been a guiding principle for America's homebuilders, and 
they have made great strides in achieving that goal.
  Since 1942, the total number of housing units in the United States 
has more than tripled, increasing from about 35 million to almost 136 
million. Also the Nation's homeownership rate has increased from about 
44 percent to almost 64 percent. Moreover, the Nation's standard of 
living has increased significantly thanks to the efforts of the 
National Association of Home Builders' members, who build about 80 
percent of the new homes constructed in the United States each year.
  The members of the National Association of Home Builders have served 
as a driving force behind the significant advances in the quality of 
the nation's housing and the resulting improvement in quality of life 
for Americans. America's homebuilders play important roles in the 
fabric of their communities, and they are essential to the Nation's 
economic health. Homebuilding accounts for about 16 percent of the 
total U.S. economy.
  I congratulate the National Association of Home Builders and its 
members on the organization's 75th anniversary and encourage my 
colleagues in the Senate to reflect on the crucial role the 
homebuilding industry has played over the last 75 years in our Nation's 
economy and the lives of our people.

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