Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2007
Floor Speech
FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE REFORM ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - May 17, 2007)
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Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this legislation, and I commend the chairman for the work that he has done, the leadership he has provided and the hard work of the Members of this committee to get this bill to the floor.
There are no great issues that separate us on this bill. We have worked out all of those issues. We all agree there should be stronger oversight. We all agree that we had to get rid of OFHEO, we had to have a stronger agency. We were all concerned about the tremendous debt of the GSEs. So that is all behind us. There is only one thing that separates us, and that is the Housing Trust Fund, and that is philosophical.
We believe that given the housing crisis in America we have a responsibility to assist those who cannot afford decent housing, who are living on the streets, who are paying much more than 30 percent of their income. We believe we have a responsibility to assist them, to help them.
The other side of the aisle does not believe that government should play any role in helping the least of these get into public housing.
The generally accepted definition of affordability is for a household to pay no more than 30 percent of its annual income on housing. Families who pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing are considered cost burdened, and often have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care.
We are not talking about housing for any one section of this country. It is all over this country. In Mr. Boehner's district, the Eighth District: 64,759 renter households, including 14,713 extremely low-income households. Of these extremely poor households, 57 percent are paying more than half of their incomes for housing. In the Eighth District, there is a deficit of 7,497 units that are affordable and available to extremely poor households.
In Mr. Blunt's district, the Seventh District of Missouri: 76,034 rental households, including 13,885 extremely low-income households. Of these extremely poor households, 57 percent are paying more than half of their incomes for housing. In the Seventh District, there is a deficit of 7,580 units that are affordable and available to extremely poor households.
But let's not stop there. In Mr. Bachus' district, in the Sixth District of Alabama: 55,217 renter households, including 9,525 extremely low-income households. Of these extremely poor households, 50 percent are paying more than half of their incomes for housing. In the Sixth District, there is a deficit of 4,141 units that are affordable and available to extremely poor households.
I could go on and on. This is about the housing trust fund. I would ask my colleagues to support the least of us in America, and reject the argument from the other side of the aisle.
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