    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [June 18, 2002]
    [Pages 1002-1005]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on National Homeownership Month
    June 18, 2002

        Well, thank you all very much for that kind welcome. I'm here for a
    couple of reasons. First, I want to thank you all for your service to
    the greatest nation on the face of the Earth. I'm here to celebrate
    National Homeownership Month, because I believe owning a home is an
    essential part of economic security. And I'm concerned about the
    security of America.
        I had the pleasure on June the 12th of speaking to the last
    President who visited HUD; I wished ``Number 41'' a happy birthday. And
    I'm glad you've invited me here today. I really am. I first am really
    proud of Mel Martinez and Alphonso
    Jackson. I've known Mel for awhile. I've
    known Alphonso for a long time. There was no question in my mind that
    these two fine Americans would do a great job in leading this important
    agency.
        I want to thank all those who have assumed leadership roles, who
    have left your States and your friends to come and serve America. And
    that's important. Service to our country is an incredibly important part
    of being an American.
        I want to thank all those who have worked here for a short time and
    long time, who will be here after we leave. I want to thank a man named
    Larry Thompson, who has worked here
    for--where's Larry? Larry's been here for 30 years. And I want to--
    appreciate your service, Larry, and thank you for setting such a fine
    example for many others inside this building who serve the country.
        Let me first talk about how to make sure America is secure from a
    group of killers, people who hate--you know what they hate? They hate
    the idea that somebody can go buy a home. They hate freedom. That's what
    they hate. They hate the fact that we worship freely. They don't like
    the thought of Christian, Jew, and Muslim living side by side in peace.
    They don't like that at all. And therefore, they--since they resent our
    freedoms, they feel like they should take out their resentment by
    destroying innocent lives. And this country will do everything we can
    possibly do to protect America. And that's going to mean making sure our
    homeland is secure, and I appreciate the progress we're making on
    setting up a Department of Homeland Security. I know it's going to be
    hard for some in Congress to give up a little power here and there, but
    I think it's going to happen because people realize we're here to serve
    the American people, not here to serve a political party or turf in the
    United States Congress.
        But the best way to secure the homeland is to hunt them down one by
    one. And I mean, hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice,
    which is precisely what America will do.
        I want to thank the choir for coming, the youngsters for being here.
    I just want you to know that when we talk about war, we're really
    talking about peace. We want there to be peace. We want people to live
    in peace all around the world. I mean, our vision for peace extends
    beyond America. We believe in peace in South Asia. We believe in peace
    in the Middle East. We're going to be steadfast toward a vision that
    rejects terror and killing and honors peace and hope.
        I also want the young to know that this country, we don't conquer
    people. We liberate people, because we hold true to our values of life
    and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The security of our homeland,
    the need to make sure that America is safe and secure while we chase
    peace is my number one priority for the country.
        But I've got another priority as well. I not only want America to be
    safer and stronger; I want America to be better. I want America to be a
    better place. I worry

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    about our economy, because there are people who can't find work who want
    to work. In this town, people look at numbers all the time--you know,
    such-and-such a number dropped, or this number increased. What I worry
    about are hearts and souls. That's what I worry about. And if somebody
    is trying to find work who can't find work, we need to continue to
    expand our job base.
        We also have got to understand, in this land of plenty, there are
    pockets of hopelessness and despair. You know, I mentioned the word
    ``American Dream'' in Atlanta. I also recognize that some people aren't
    sure that dream extends to them. Some people don't even know what the
    dream means. And our job--our jobs, our collective jobs, is to make sure
    that notion of the American Dream extends into every single neighborhood
    around this country.
        I know this isn't the right Department when I talk about education,
    but education, making sure every child is educated and no child is left
    behind, is part of making sure the American Dream extends to every
    single neighborhood in America. And we're making progress in a practical
    way when it comes to educating children because you know what? For the
    first time, the Federal Government says, if you receive money, you need
    to let us know whether the children are learning to read and write and
    add and subtract. And if they are, we'll praise the teachers and praise
    the parents and praise the administrators. But if not, if our children
    can't read and write and add and subtract, instead of just hoping
    something changes, we're going to use the accountability system to
    insist upon change, so every child has a chance to realize the dream in
    America.
        But I believe owning something is a part of the American Dream as
    well. I believe, when somebody owns their own home, they're realizing
    the American Dream. They can say, ``It's my home. It's nobody else's
    home.'' And we saw that yesterday in Atlanta, when we went to the new
    homes of the new homeowners. And I saw with pride, firsthand, the man
    say, ``Welcome to my home.'' He didn't say, ``Welcome to Government's
    home.'' He didn't say, ``Welcome to my neighbor's home.'' He said,
    ``Welcome to my home. I own the home, and you're welcome to come in the
    home,'' and I appreciated it. He was a proud man. He was proud that he
    owns the property, and I was proud for him. And I want that pride to
    extend all throughout our country.
        One of the things that we've got to do is to address problems
    straight on and deal with them in a way that helps us meet goals. And so
    I want to talk about a couple of goals and--one goal and a problem.
        The goal is, everybody who wants to own a home has got a shot at
    doing so. The problem is we have what we call a homeownership gap in
    America. Three-quarters of Anglos own their homes, and yet less than 50
    percent of African Americans and Hispanics own homes. That ownership gap
    signals that something might be wrong in the land of plenty, and we need
    to do something about it.
        We are here in Washington, DC, to address problems. So I've set this
    goal for the country: We want 5.5 million more homeowners by 2010--
    million more minority homeowners by 2010; 5\1/2\ million families by
    2010 will own a home. That is our goal. It is a realistic goal. But it's
    going to mean we're going to have to work hard to achieve the goal, all
    of us. And by all of us, I mean not only the Federal Government but the
    private sector as well.
        And so I want to, one, encourage you to do everything you can to
    work in a realistic, smart way to get this done. I repeat, we're here
    for a reason. And part of the reason is to make this dream extend
    everywhere. I'm going to do my part by setting the goal, by reminding
    people of the goal, by heralding the goal, and by calling people into
    action, both the Federal level, State level, local level, and in the
    private sector.

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        And so what are the barriers that we can deal with here in
    Washington? Well, probably the single barrier to first-time
    homeownership is high downpayments. People take a look at the
    downpayment, they say, ``That's too high. I'm not buying.'' They may
    have the desire to buy, but they don't have the wherewithal to handle
    the downpayment. We can deal with that. And so I've asked Congress to
    fully fund an American Dream Downpayment Fund which will help a low-
    income family that have qualified to buy, to buy. We believe when this
    fund is fully funded and properly administered, which it will be under
    the Bush administration, that over 40,000 families a year--40,000
    families a year--will be able to realize the dream we want them to be
    able to realize, and that's owning their own home.
        The second barrier to ownership is the lack of affordable housing.
    There are neighborhoods in America where you just can't find a house
    that's affordable to purchase, and we need to deal with that problem.
    And the best way to do so, I think, is to set up a single family
    affordable housing tax credit to the tune of $2.4 billion over the next
    5 years to encourage affordable single family housing in inner-city
    America.
        The third problem is the fact that the rules are too complex. People
    get discouraged by the fine print on the contracts. They take a look and
    say, ``Well, I'm not so sure I want to sign this. There's too many
    words.'' [Laughter] ``There's too many pitfalls.'' So one of the things
    that the Secretary is going to do is, he's going to simplify the closing
    documents and all the documents that have to deal with homeownership.
        It is essential that we make it easier for people to buy a home, not
    harder. And in order to do so, we've got to educate folks. Some of us
    take homeownership for granted, but there are people--obviously, the
    home purchase is a significant, significant decision by our fellow
    Americans. We've got people who have newly arrived to our country, don't
    know the customs. We've got people in certain neighborhoods that just
    aren't really sure what it means to buy a home. And it seems like to us
    that it makes sense to have a outreach program, an education program
    that explains the whys and wherefores of buying a house, to make it
    easier for people to not only understand the legal implications and
    ramifications but to make it easier to understand how to get a good
    loan. There are some people out there that can fall prey to unscrupulous
    lenders, and we have an obligation to educate and to use our resource
    base to help people understand how to purchase a home and what--where
    the good opportunities might exist for home purchasing.
        Finally, we want to make sure the Section 8 homeownership program is
    fully implemented. This is a program that provides vouchers for first-
    time home buyers which they can use for downpayments and/or mortgage
    payments.
        So this is an ambitious start here at the Federal level. And again,
    I repeat, you all need to help us every way you can. But the private
    sector needs to help too. They need to help too. Of course, it's in
    their interest. If you're a realtor, it's in your interest that somebody
    be interested in buying a home. If you're a homebuilder, it's in your
    interest that somebody be interested in buying a home.
        And so, therefore, I've called--yesterday I called upon the private
    sector to help us and help the home buyers. We need more capital in the
    private markets for first-time, low-income buyers. And I'm proud to
    report that Fannie Mae has heard the call, and as I understand, it's
    about $440 billion over a period of time. They've used their influence
    to create that much capital available for the type of home buyer we're
    talking about here. It's in their charter. It now needs to be
    implemented. Freddie Mac is interested in helping. I appreciate both of
    those agencies providing the underpinnings of good capital.

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        There's a lot of faith-based programs that want to be involved with
    educating people about how to buy a home. And we're going to have an
    active outreach from HUD.
        And so this ambitious goal is going to be met. I believe it will be,
    just so long as we keep focused and remember that security at home is--
    economic security at home is just an important part of--as homeland
    security. And owning a home is part of that economic security. It's also
    a part of making sure that this country fulfills its great hope and
    vision.
        See, I tell people--and I believe this--that out of the evil done to
    America will come some incredible good. You know, they thought they were
    attacking a country so weak and so feeble that we might file a lawsuit
    or two, and that's all we'd do. [Laughter] That's what they thought.
    We're showing them a different face of America. We're showing them that
    we're plenty tough. When it comes to taking--somebody trying to take
    away our freedoms, we're tough, and we're going to remain tough and
    steadfast.
        But I also want people to see the deep compassion of America as
    well. I want the world to see the other side of our character, which is
    the soft side, the decent side, the loving side. I want people to know
    that when we talk about dreams, we mean big dreams. And when we talk
    about a free society, we want a society in which every citizen has the
    chance to advance, not just a few.
        And part of the cornerstone of America is the ability for somebody,
    regardless of where they're from, regardless of where they were born, to
    say, ``This is my home. I own this home. It is my piece of property. It
    is my part of the American experience.'' It is essential that we stay
    focused on the goal and work hard to achieve that goal. And when it's
    all said and done, we can look back and say, ``Because of my work,
    because of our collective work, America is a better place. Out of evil
    came incredible good.''
        Thank you all for coming by.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:30 a.m. in the cafeteria at the
    Department of Housing and Urban Development. In his remarks, he referred
    to Lawrence L. Thompson, General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy
    Development and Research, HUD. The Office of the Press Secretary also
    released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks. The National
    Homeownership Month Proclamation of June 4 is listed in Appendix D at
    the end of this volume.