Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer an amendment to require a Federal study on the financial impact of the disaster known as crumbling foundations that is plaguing parts of the Northeast, including my home State of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and with further study, we believe, it impacts much of the northeastern region of our country.

This amendment simply asks for the Treasury to lead a joint study with our Federal regulators to assess the financial impact of this disaster and provide recommendations to help mitigate Federal and local losses, and help these suffering homeowners who, through no fault of their own, have experienced a catastrophic disaster.

There is no one who has worked harder on this in our State of Connecticut than Joe Courtney. Joe has been a leader in this, organizing people in both the State and local arenas, as well as our two United States Senators Blumenthal and Murphy.

Joe has led the way, and I have had the fortune, along with State Senator Tim Larson, to travel to South Windsor, East Windsor, and Manchester, Connecticut, and witness the devastation and the heartache that these homeowners go through.

I know, looking out and seeing Mr. Young, he will remember what happened in the South with the famous, or infamous, China drywall. It is similar to that experience, where homeowners and individuals, through no fault of their own, experienced catastrophic loss.

We have been working tirelessly on this effort and feel that this study, in fact, will reveal the impact that it will have on homeowners, many of whose loans and homes have been backed by GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and even as we project out into the future, having Federal bases there where this concrete may have been used that has impacted the people there in a dramatic fashion.

As I indicated, nobody knows more about this issue and has studied it more thoroughly than Congressman Joe Courtney from the Second Congressional District.

Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) to explain further the issue of crumbling foundations.

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Chair, I would also like to thank Secretary Mnuchin again for his outstanding work, his understanding and empathy, and the prompt manner in which they have taken up what, as you can imagine for these homeowners, is just catastrophic in nature. We want to commend him and also the Tax Advocate as well for their testimony before the Ways and Means Committee on this very important issue.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time

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