Providing for Consideration of H. R. 3524, Hope VI Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2007

Floor Speech

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 3524, HOPE VI IMPROVEMENT AND REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - January 17, 2008)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. CASTOR. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, House Resolution 922 provides for consideration of H.R. 3524, the HOPE VI Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2007, under a structured rule. The rule provides 1 hour of general debate, controlled by the Committee on Financial Services, and the rule also makes in order seven of the eight amendments submitted to the Rules Committee.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support today of the HOPE VI Improvement and Reauthorization Act and this rule. HOPE VI is a partnership between the Feds and local communities that started in the 1990s that revitalizes our communities across this country by replacing old, distressed public housing projects with modern housing and new communities that are healthy, safe and affordable.

Our renewed effort could not come at a more important time, because so many families across America are in the grips of a housing crisis. Foreclosures are way up, and options for safe, clean and affordable housing are down. Just last month in my home county, Hillsborough County, in Florida, there were over 1,000 foreclosures filed, a huge jump from last year. And affordable apartments and housing are few and far between.

The House of Representatives over the past months has been doing a great deal to throw lifelines to our families, our seniors and veterans when it comes to housing. We have passed bills in this House that help homeowners avoid foreclosure, that provide resources to local communities, to build safe and clean affordable housing, and that cracks down on predatory lending.

Families across America also should be aware that the Congress passed a helpful new law that is now in effect for 3 years that relieves homeowners
facing foreclosure from paying income taxes on their discharged mortgage debt, meaning that homeowners who refinance their mortgage will pay no taxes on any debt forgiveness that they receive. Previously, loan forgiveness was often taxed as income.

We are going to keep working to provide families with affordable options for safe places to live through the HOPE VI reauthorization and this rule today.

HOPE VI has been very successful since its inception in the 1990s. HOPE VI has revitalized neighborhoods across the country, including in my hometown of Tampa, Florida. A little public investment can be the linchpin to wider community redevelopment in communities across this great country.

HOPE VI completely transformed the distressed public housing complexes of College Hill and Ponce de Leon Court public housing projects in Tampa into the new Belmont Heights Estates. I attended school when I was younger next to these housing projects, and I saw firsthand what these conditions can do to an area and the folks who live there.

Behind me are posters of before and after, before HOPE VI, and then after the investment of HOPE VI.

So many public housing projects have deteriorated to the point that the health and safety of families is at risk and surrounding businesses and neighborhoods suffer. Since 1992, through HOPE VI, many communities have revitalized and transformed severely distressed housing into safe and livable communities. And 15 years later, this Congress, in a bipartisan way, but led by Democrats, will renew our commitment to safe, clean and affordable housing for families across this great country by building on the success of HOPE VI investment.

Over time, through HOPE VI, we have demolished nearly 135,000 severely distressed public housing units and replaced them with modern, safe and clean neighborhoods that do not concentrate poverty in a single location. What happens on the ground to these neighborhoods? Crime rates decrease, employment rates increase, and fewer folks have to rely on public financial assistance.

In Tampa, demolition started in 1999, and 8 years later we have built 860 rental units. Some are for families who need a little help and others are market rate. We built 74 new safe and clean homes for seniors and mixed in single family homes, some for rental and some for purchase.

More important than the buildings, however, and these were very bad, the new Belmont Heights Estates community made possible by HOPE VI has improved people's lives in the surrounding community and private investment has followed. Families are thriving in their new revitalized neighborhood, and their success stories are remarkable, because, remember, to qualify for that helping hand of an affordable home, most folks are required to improve their own self-sufficiency, like Belkis Rodriguez, who, after completing job training, has been promoted at the day care center where she is employed and she is now on the path to becoming a public schoolteacher. And Patricia Gowins in Tampa, a mother of two, is working on her high school diploma while working at a local hotel since her community has been revitalized. My neighbors and their stories of success are proof that HOPE VI is able to make positive contributions to our communities.

Our update legislation today will make further improvements and ensure that residents who are displaced by revitalization efforts will have the right to return to their neighborhoods. Because of the shortage across America of clean, safe and affordable housing, it is vital that the number of units demolished are replaced so that we do not shortchange our neighbors who have been asked to leave their homes.

We are committed to ensuring that homes built with the help of Federal funds are sustainable and energy efficient, and that helps save money in the long run. Our efforts today will make the American Dream of home ownership possible for more families across this country. And thanks to Chairwoman Maxine Waters, Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank and Congressman Mel Watt of North Carolina, thanks to them and their leadership and their dedication to safe, clean, affordable housing for our families, we are going to do a great service for families across this great country.

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this rule and the HOPE VI Improvement and Reauthorization Act.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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