Housing is A Basic Right

Floor Speech

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Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of millions of individuals across our country who rely on public housing to keep a roof over their heads and for millions who need access to safe, stable, and affordable housing across our country.

Housing is a basic right and the foundation on which we build our lives and our families, and though it is clear that this is essential, far too many Americans struggle to keep a safe roof over their heads. In fact, homelessness is now at epidemic levels across our country. Particularly in our urban cities, families are homeless. Children, women, seniors, and veterans are homeless.

When we speak of the Build Back Better program and our agenda, we speak of introducing the importance of prioritizing the most at-risk communities. This is whom we are focusing on in the Build Back Better agenda, the most at-risk communities in our country. We speak of equitable access to the basic needs of the American people. That is what we speak about when we speak about Build Back Better.

We have included provisions that ensure children in need have access to free school lunches. We have worked to expand Medicare benefits for seniors. We have fought to include and boost the child tax credit, which will provide families with much-needed financial health, lifting children, Mr. Speaker, out of poverty. We have included historic provisions that will be better for our Nation for years to come.

But today, Mr. Speaker, I want to focus on the significant investments the Build Back Better Act secures for public and affordable housing needs.

The Build Back Better Act will make the single largest, most comprehensive investment in affordable housing in our entire history. Over $150 billion for housing is an enormous investment toward solving our pressing housing challenges and needs across the country.

Importantly, this bill includes billions to expand rental assistance, $24 billion for new housing vouchers, and as we know, Mr. Speaker, many people are backed up on their rent. But in addition to that, Mr. Speaker, $65 billion to address public housing repair backlog for 2.5 million residents, a significant resource for the National Housing Trust Fund to build and preserve thousands of homes for low-income families who are disproportionately people of color.

This is a major investment, an unprecedented investment in housing in my district, which has the largest stock in the New York City Housing Authority of public housing, and it has the highest number of rent- stabilized apartments, and the city of New York will benefit greatly.

Due to the COVID-19 global crisis, we are on the brink of a housing crisis, Mr. Speaker, an eviction tsunami, and up to 40 million people in America are at risk of being displaced. This crisis is here, and we want to act on it right now. It will take generations for our Nation to recover.

Plus, we are now experiencing a shortage of 7 million affordable homes for working-class and low-income families nationwide. For every 10 households in need, Mr. Speaker, there are fewer than four affordable, available homes. Not a single city, State, or district, has enough housing to meet these dire demands. And even when housing is available, it may not necessarily mean that housing is safe.

My district has the largest concentration of public housing and it has, as I said earlier, the highest number of rent-stabilized apartments in New York City. Yet, they lack the critical resources needed to create habitable living. This is a great investment, Mr. Speaker. The Build Back Better program is an immense investment in housing.

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