[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 42 (Monday, October 21, 2002)]
[Pages 1772-1777]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the White House Conference on Minority Homeownership

October 15, 2002

    Well, thanks for the warm welcome. Thank you for being here today. I 
appreciate your attendance to this very important conference. You see, 
we want everybody in America to own their own home. That's what we want. 
This is--an ownership society is a compassionate society.
    More and more people own their homes in America today. Two-thirds of 
all Americans own their homes. Yet, we have a problem here in America 
because fewer than half

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of the Hispanics and half the African Americans own the home. That's a 
homeownership gap. It's a gap that we've got to work together to close 
for the good of our country, for the sake of a more hopeful future. 
We've got to work to knock down the barriers that have created a 
homeownership gap.
    I set an ambitious goal. It's one that I believe we can achieve. 
It's a clear goal, that by the end of this decade we'll increase the 
number of minority homeowners by at least 5\1/2\ million families. Some 
may think that's a stretch. I don't think it is. I think it is 
realistic. I know we're going to have to work together to achieve it. 
But when we do, our communities will be stronger and so will our 
economy.
    Achieving the goal is going to require some good policies out of 
Washington. And it's going to require a strong commitment from those of 
you involved in the housing industry. Just by showing up at the 
conference, you show your commitment. And together--together we will 
work over the next decade to enable millions of our fellow Americans to 
own a piece of their own property, and that's their home.
    I appreciate so very much the homeowners who are with us today. The 
Arias family, newly arrived from Peru, they live in Baltimore. Thanks to 
the Association of Real Estate Brokers, the help of some good folks in 
Baltimore, they figured out how to purchase their own home. Imagine to 
be coming to our country without a home, with a simple dream. And now 
they're on stage here at this conference, being one of the new 
homeowners in the greatest land on the face of the Earth. I appreciate 
the Arias family coming.
    We've got the Horton family from Little Rock, Arkansas, here today. 
Actually, it's not Little Rock; it's North Little Rock, Arkansas. I was 
corrected. [Laughter] I appreciate so very much these good folks coming 
all the way up from the South. They were helped by HUD. They were helped 
by Freddie Mac. Obviously, they've got a young family. And when we start 
talking about owning a home, a smile spread right across the face of the 
dad that could have lit up the entire town of Washington, DC. I 
appreciate you all coming. Thanks for coming. He had to make sure I knew 
that he was educated in Texas. [Laughter]
    Finally, Kim Berry from New York is here. She's a single mom. You're 
not going to believe this, but her son is 18 years old. [Laughter] She 
barely looked like she was 18 to me. Being a single mom is the hardest 
job in America. And the idea of this fine American working hard to 
provide for her child, at the same time working hard to realize her 
dream, which is owning a home on Long Island, is really a special 
tribute to the character of this particular person and to the character 
of a lot of Americans. And so we're honored to have you here, Kim, and 
thanks for being such a good mom and a fine American.
    I told Mel Martinez I was serious about this initiative. We started 
talking about it, and I said, ``Well, you know, I'm the kind of fellow, 
I don't like to lay out a goal and don't mean it.'' I think it's not--I 
don't think it's fair for the American people to be--to have a President 
or anybody else, for that matter, lay out a goal and just kind of say it 
but don't mean it. I mean it. And the good news is, Mel Martinez 
believes it and means it as well. He's doing a fine job of running HUD, 
and I'm glad he has joined my Cabinet. And I picked a pretty spunky 
Deputy as well, Alphonso Jackson, my fellow Texan. I call him A.J.
    I appreciate the Secretary of Agriculture being here. She's got a 
lot of money having to do with rural housing. I appreciate Ann's 
commitment to rural America. And I'm really proud of the job she's doing 
as well for the American people, serving in my Cabinet. Thanks for 
coming, Ann.
    I've got some others in my administration, as I look around. I see 
Rosario Marin, who's the Treasurer of the United States. Rosario used to 
be a mayor. Thank you for coming, Madam Mayor. She understands how 
important housing is. I see other mayors around here, and I want to 
thank the mayors for coming. After all, it's in your interest that this 
project succeed.
    I know we've got some folks from the faith-based community here. 
Luis Cortes from Philadelphia is here and my friend Kirbyjon Caldwell 
from Houston, Texas. Kirbyjon, I had breakfast with him this morning. He 
told me he was going to have to leave before my

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speech. He's a wise man, that Kirbyjon Caldwell. [Laughter] But he has 
gone back home to Texas.
    I appreciate Margaret Spellings and her staff. Margaret is the 
Domestic Policy Adviser to the President, and I want to thank you for 
putting on this conference, Margaret.
    All of us here in America should believe, and I think we do, that we 
should be, as I mentioned, a nation of owners. Owning something is 
freedom, as far as I'm concerned. It's part of a free society, and 
ownership of a home helps bring stability to neighborhoods. You own your 
home in a neighborhood, you have more interest in how your neighborhood 
feels, looks, whether it's safe or not. It brings pride to people. It's 
a part of an asset-based society. It helps people build up their own 
individual portfolio, provides an opportunity, if need be, for a mom or 
a dad to leave something to their child. It's a part of--it's a part of 
being a--it's a part of--an important part of America.
    Homeownership is also an important part of our economic vitality. 
If--when we meet this project, this goal, according to our Secretary of 
Housing and Urban Development, we will have added an additional $256 
billion to the economy by encouraging 5.5 million new homeowners in 
America. The activity--the economic activity stimulated with the 
additional purchasers, the additional buyers, the additional demand will 
be upwards of $256 billion. And that's important because it will help 
people find work.
    Low interest rates, low inflation are very important foundations for 
economic growth. The idea of encouraging new homeownership and the money 
that will be circulated as a result of people purchasing homes will mean 
people are more likely to find a job in America. This project not only 
is good for the soul of the country; it's good for the pocketbook of the 
country as well.
    To open up the doors of homeownership there are some barriers, and I 
want to talk about four that need to be overcome.
    First, downpayments--a lot of folks can't make a downpayment. They 
may be qualified. They may desire to buy a home, but they don't have the 
money to make a downpayment. I think if you were to talk to a lot of 
families that are--desire to have a home, they would tell you that the 
downpayment is the hurdle that they can't cross. And one way to address 
that is to have the Federal Government participate.
    And so we've called upon Congress to set up what's called the 
American Dream Down Payment Fund, which will provide financial grants to 
local governments to help first-time homebuyers who qualify to make the 
downpayment on their home. If a downpayment is a problem, there's a way 
we can address that. And when Congress funds the program, this should 
help 200,000 new families over the next 5 years become first-time 
homebuyers.
    Secondly, affordable housing is a problem in many neighborhoods, 
particularly inner-city neighborhoods. You may--we may have qualified 
homebuyers, but if there's no home to buy, this initiative isn't going 
anywhere. And so one of the things that we're going to--that I'm doing 
is proposing a single-family affordable housing credit to encourage the 
construction of single-family homes in neighborhoods where affordable 
housing is scarce.
    Over the next 5 years the initiative will provide homebuilders and 
therefore homebuyers with--homebuilders with $2 billion in tax credits 
to bring affordable homes and therefore provide an additional supply for 
homebuyers. It's really important for us to understand that we can 
provide incentive for people to build homes where there's a lack of 
affordable housing. And we've got to set priorities, and one of the key 
priorities is going to be inner-city America. Good schools and 
affordable housing will help revitalize our inner cities.
    Another obstacle to minority homeownership is the lack of 
information. You know, getting into your own home can be complicated. It 
can be a difficult process. I had that very same problem. [Laughter]
    Every homebuyer has responsibilities and rights that need to be 
understood clearly. And yet when you look at some of the contracts, 
there's a lot of small print. And you can imagine somebody newly arrived 
from Peru looking at all that print and saying, ``I'm not sure I can 
possibly understand that. Why do I want to buy a home?'' There's an 
educational process that needs to go on, not only to explain the 
contract, explain obligation,

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but also to explain financing options, to help people understand the 
complexities of a homeownership market, and also at the same time to 
protect people from unscrupulous lenders, people who would take 
advantage of a good-hearted soul who is trying to realize their dream.
    Homeownership education is critical. And so today I'm pleased to 
announce that through Mel's office, we're going to distribute $35 
million in 2003 to more than 100 national, State, and local 
organizations that promote homeownership through buyer education.
    And of course, one of the larger obstacles to minority homeownership 
is financing, is the ability to have their dream financed. Right now we 
have a program that all of you all are familiar with--maybe our fellow 
Americans aren't--and that's what they call a Section 8 housing program, 
that provides billions of dollars in vouchers to help low-income 
Americans with their rent. It encourages leasing. We think it's 
important that we use those vouchers, that Federal money, to help low-
income Americans go from being somebody who leases to somebody who owns; 
that we use the Section 8 program to not only help with downpayment but 
to help with continuing monthly mortgage payments after they're into 
their new home. It is a way to help us meet this dream of 5\1/2\ million 
additional families owning their home.
    I'm also going to encourage the lending industry to develop a 
mortgage market so that this script, these vouchers, can regularly be 
used as a source of payment to provide more capital to lenders, who can 
then help more families move from rental housing into houses of their 
own.
    These are some of the barriers that homeowners face--potential 
homeowners face, and this is what we intend to do about it. But like in 
a lot of our life, Government can't do everything. It's impossible to 
provide every aspect of a national strategy, particularly in this case. 
And that's why we need the help of private and nonprofit sectors in our 
country to help play a vital role in helping to meet the goal. Many of 
you here represent the nonprofit as well as the private sectors of our 
economy and our country, and I want to thank you for your commitment.
    Last June, I issued a challenge to everyone involved in the housing 
industry to help increase the number of minority families to be 
homeowners. And what I'm talking about, I'm talking about your bankers 
and your brokers and developers as well as members of faith-based 
community and community programs. And the response to the homeowners 
challenge has been very strong and very gratifying.
    Twenty-two public and private partners have signed up to help meet 
our national goal. Partners in the mortgage finance industry are 
encouraging homeownership by purchasing more loans made by banks to 
African Americans, Hispanics, and other minorities. Representatives of 
the real estate and homebuilding industries, through their nationwide 
networks or affiliates, are committed to broadening homeownership. They 
made the commitment to help meet the national goal we set.
    Freddie Mae--Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--I see the heads who are 
here; I want to thank you all for coming--[laughter]--have committed to 
provide more money for lenders. They've committed to help meet the 
shortage of capital available for minority homebuyers.
    Fannie Mae recently announced a $50 million program to develop 600 
homes for the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. Franklin, I appreciate that 
commitment. They also announced $12.7 million investment in the 
condominium project in Harlem. It's the beginnings of a series of 
initiatives to help meet the goal of 5\1/2\ million families. Franklin 
told me at the meeting where we kicked this off, he said, ``I promise 
you, we will help,'' and he has, like many others in this room have 
done.
    Freddie Mac recently began 25 initiatives around the country to 
dismantle barriers and create greater opportunities for homeownership. 
One of the programs is designed to help deserving families who have bad 
credit histories to qualify for homeownership loans. Freddie Mac is also 
working with the Department of Defense to promote construction and 
financing for housing for men and women in the military.

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    There's all kinds of ways that we can work together to meet the 
goal. Corporate America has a responsibility to work to make America a 
compassionate place. Corporate America has responded. As an example--
only one of many examples--the good folks at Sears and Roebuck have 
responded by making a 5-year, $100 million commitment to making 
homeownership and home maintenance possible for millions of Americans.
    There have been other steps that are being taken to close the 
homeownership gap. And you've heard some of the stories here today, 
people much more eloquent than me to talk about what's taking place on 
the frontline of meeting this national goal.
    The nonprofit groups are bringing homeownership to some of our most 
troubled communities. And as you know, I'm a strong advocate of what I 
call the Faith-Based Initiative. And the reason I am is because I 
understand the universal call to love a neighbor like you'd like to be 
loved yourself, and that includes helping somebody find a home.
    One such example is the Enterprise Foundation, a national nonprofit 
organization that provides assistance to grassroots homeownership 
organizations. Because of their work, as one example, 185 affordable 
homes will be available in a Baltimore neighborhood that was once so 
crime-ridden that people had written it off. Revitalizing neighborhoods 
is a real possibility if people put their mind to it. And at the same 
time, you're helping people own a home in America.
    And the faith-based community is doing some fantastic work when it 
comes to encouraging homeownership, whether it be financial counseling 
or job training or other outreach services to help people understand 
what it takes to buy a home.
    And then there's my friend Kirbyjon Caldwell. He not only provides 
counseling and job training; he actually decided to encourage a 
development of homes in the Houston area. People--low-income people are 
going to be able to more afford a home in Texas because of Kirbyjon's 
vision and work. He's answered the call of faith to help people help 
themselves and to help them realize dreams.
    The other thing Kirbyjon told me, which I really appreciate, is you 
don't have to have a lousy home for first-time homebuyers. If you put 
your mind to it, the first-time homebuyer, the low-income homebuyer can 
have just as nice a house as anybody else. And I know Kirbyjon. He is 
what I call a social entrepreneur who is using his platform as a 
Methodist preacher to improve the neighborhood and the community in 
which he lives.
    And so is Luis Cortes, who represents Nueva Esperanza in 
Philadelphia. I went to see Luis one time in the inner-city 
Philadelphia. Luis is--at least he was; he's probably still there--in 
what one would call a tough neighborhood. There's a lot of abandoned 
buildings, and I mean, beautiful old structures just empty. Luis had a 
dream to revitalize his neighborhood, starting with a good charter 
school, one that would work, one that would teach kids how to read and 
write and add and subtract. But he also understood that a homeownership 
program is incredibly important to revitalize this neighborhood that a 
lot of folks had already quit on. I suspect one day we'll all go back to 
Luis' neighborhood, and we'll find first-time homeowners there and a 
good education system. And this will be the beginning of a neighborhood 
revitalization in that part of Philadelphia, because there was vision 
and drive and hope for our fellow citizens.
    So I want to thank you all for coming. I want to thank you for your 
determination to help close the minority homeownership gap. It's an 
incredibly important initiative for this country. See, America is a good 
and generous country. It's a great place. Part of it is to make sure 
that the dream, the American Dream, the ability to come from anywhere in 
our society and say, ``I own this home,'' is a reality--can be 
achievable for anybody, regardless of their status, regardless of 
their--of whether or not they think the dream is meant for them. I mean, 
we can put light where there's darkness and hope where there's 
despondency in this country, and part of it is working together as a 
nation to encourage folks to own their own home.
    Again, I want to tell you, this is an initiative--as Mel will tell 
you--it's an initiative that we take very seriously. We're going to stay 
on it until we're--until we achieve the goal. And as we all achieve the 
goal, we can look back and say, ``America is a better place

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for our hard work, our efforts, and our desires for our fellow Americans 
to realize the greatness of our country.''
    Thank you for coming. May God bless your vision. May God bless 
America.

Note: The President spoke at 1:55 p.m. in the Jack Morton Auditorium in 
the Media and Public Affairs Building at George Washington University. 
In his remarks, he referred to Franklin D. Raines, chairman and chief 
executive officer, Fannie Mae. The Office of the Press Secretary also 
released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.