Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act of 2020
Floor Speech
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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Waters. It is always an honor to serve under her leadership.
I thank the gentlewoman greatly for including H.R. 6760 within this bill, H.R. 7301. I am grateful because the gentlewoman is imminently correct when she says that people can't wait. They can't wait because invidious discrimination still exists, and it is increasing.
The National Fair Housing Alliance surveyed their members, their organizations, and here is what they found as it relates to the declared pandemic, declared on March 11, 2020.
They found that 13 percent indicated that there is an increase in complaints related to sexual harassment, 16 percent related to domestic violence, an 8 percent increase related to national origin of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
But here is one that will really capture your attention. With reference to persons who have disabilities--didn't say that they were of a specific hue, nothing about their sex--those with disabilities, a 45 percent increase in complaints. They need help. Yes, we can wait, but they can't, and we have to do something to help them.
That is what this bill does. It affords additional money for enforcement of laws that already exist with reference to discrimination in housing.
It also will give people an opportunity to get some additional education. Some people make mistakes, but we don't know that they are making mistakes until we give them an opportunity to be educated. So we will give them the opportunity.
And finally, this: These complaints are increasing in part because of the incendiary, incitive comments made by the President when he uses terms related to the virus that relate to people, and there are some people who take these statements to extremes and they discriminate against people.
So I am proud to support the legislation. I ask my colleagues to do so, because the people who are being discriminated against cannot wait.
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