American Dream of Homeownership

Floor Speech

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Mr. NUNN of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, together, in a bipartisan fashion, this Chamber passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, the most significant update to rural housing programs in decades.

I fought to make sure my Rural Housing Service Reform Act was front and center in this package, because in rural Iowa, the Federal programs meant to help families buy, repair, or keep their homes are running on technology that is almost as old as the internet itself. Families are paying the price.

Iowa families are waiting, in some cases up to a year, for a U.S. Department of Agriculture's housing loan while interest rates change and prices continue to rise. Those essential home repairs are capped so low they won't even cover a new roof or plumbing repairs.

My legislation fixes this. It modernizes the broken USDA system, doubles the home repair loan limits, and preserves affordable housing that would otherwise disappear.

I am proud this reflects the true American Dream of homeownership. In fact, I worked across the aisle with my very good friend Ranking Member Emanuel Cleaver to write these reforms.

If a Democrat from Kansas City will drive all the way to Iowa to help build a home, you know this is truly a bipartisan effort. Because of this bill, our families are in a better spot.

Now, I am ready to go to work with the Senate and the President to get this signed.

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