[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 49 (Monday, December 10, 2007)]
[Pages 1572-1573]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

December 7, 2007

    Good morning. Today I'm going to talk to you about some important 
policies affecting taxpayers and homeowners this holiday season. On 
Thursday, the United States Senate passed a bill to fix the Alternative 
Minimum Tax, or AMT. The AMT was designed to ensure that the wealthy 
paid their fair share of taxes. But when Congress passed the AMT decades 
ago, it was not indexed for inflation. As a result, the AMT's higher tax 
burden is creeping up on more and more middle class families, and as 
many as 25 million Americans would be subject to the AMT. On average, 
these taxpayers would have to send an extra $2,000 to the IRS next year. 
This is a huge tax increase that taxpayers do not deserve and that 
Congress must stop.
    I congratulate the United States Senate for acting to do so. Now 
it's up to the House of Representatives to move the bill. They've 
already delayed the bill so long that 75 billion in tax refund checks 
could be delayed next year.
    I urge the House of Representatives to get the Senate-passed AMT 
relief bill to my desk before they adjourn so I can sign it and protect 
millions of families from higher taxes and avert any further delay in 
the tax refund checks next year.
    I also know many Americans are concerned about meeting their 
mortgage obligations. The private sector and the Government both have a 
role to play. More than 3 months ago, I announced a series of targeted 
actions to help responsible homeowners avoid foreclosure. And on 
Thursday, I met with Treasury Secretary Paulson and Housing Secretary 
Jackson, who updated me on the progress.
    The first step we took was to launch a new initiative at the Federal 
Housing Administration called FHASecure. This program gives the FHA 
greater flexibility to offer refinancing to homeowners who have good 
credit histories but cannot afford their current payments. In just 3 
months, the FHA has helped more than 35,000 people refinance their 
homes. And in the coming year, the FHA expects this program to help more 
than 300,000 families.
    Second, we helped assemble the HOPE NOW Alliance, which includes 
lenders, loan servicers, investors, and mortgage counselors. HOPE NOW is 
an example of the Government bringing together members of the private 
sector to voluntarily address a national challenge, without taxpayer 
subsidies or Government mandates. This group has agreed on a set of 
industry-wide standards

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to help struggling homeowners by refinancing an existing loan into a new 
private mortgage or by moving them into an FHASecure loan or by freezing 
their current interest rates for 5 years.
    Lenders are already refinancing and modifying mortgages on a case-
by-case basis. By taking a systemic approach, HOPE NOW will be able to 
help large groups of homeowners all at once. HOPE NOW estimates that up 
to 1.2 million homeowners could be eligible for assistance. And HOPE NOW 
has set up a counseling hotline that Americans can call 24 hours a day. 
I urge homeowners who are worried about rising mortgage payments to call 
1-888-995-H-O-P-E to get help.
    Third, the Federal Government is working to reduce the likelihood of 
similar problems in the future. Regulators are taking action to make the 
mortgage industry more transparent, reliable, and fair. Our goal is to 
ensure that homeowners receive complete, accurate, and understandable 
information about their mortgages.
    These measures will help many struggling homeowners, and Congress 
has the potential to help even more. Yet in the 3 months since I made my 
proposals, Congress has not sent me a single bill to help homeowners. If 
Members are serious about responding to the challenges in the housing 
market, they can start by taking several important steps.
    Congress needs to pass legislation to modernize the FHA. This bill 
could allow the FHA to help 250,000 families by the end of 2008. 
Congress needs to temporarily reform the Tax Code to help homeowners 
refinance during this time of housing market stress. And Congress needs 
to pass funding to support mortgage counseling. With this funding, we 
could help more homeowners choose the mortgage that is right for them.
    As well, Congress needs to pass legislation to reform Government-
sponsored enterprises like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. By strengthening 
the independent regulation of these institutions, we can ensure they 
focus on their mission to expand homeownership in a fiscally responsible 
way.
    These commonsense measures have been before Congress for months. 
Congress needs to pass these measures quickly and send them to my desk 
so we can help homeowners in need and protect the American Dream for all 
our citizens.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 7:30 a.m. on December 7 in the Cabinet 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on December 8. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
December 7. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish 
language transcript of this address.