Rural Housing Preservation And Stabilization Act Of 2010

Floor Speech

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Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5017, the ``Rural Housing Preservation and Stabilization Act of 2010.''

This bill would preserve the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Housing Service (RHS) Section 502 Single Family Direct Homeownership Loans Program, which is set to expire at the end of this month.

Section 502 is USDA's main housing loan program and is designed to help low-income individuals purchase, build, repair, or renovate homes in rural areas.

Currently, Section 502 is the only federal program targeting safe and affordable homeownership opportunities to low- and very low-income rural households. The annual average income of a Section 502 direct borrower is 55 percent of area median income, or $18,500 a year.

Since its inception, Section 502 has provided loans to approximately 2.5 million families at an extremely low cost to the federal government. Unfortunately, the amount appropriated for rural housing programs has been insufficient to meet the demand. The current backlog for Section 502 direct loans includes 27,000 rural households, totaling $2.9 billion in loan applications.

H.R. 5017, will preserve the Section 502 program and establish a self-sustaining program at no cost to taxpayers. I believe Section 502 is vital for our rural communities throughout the nation and this bill is absolutely necessary to help preserve a critical program at no cost to taxpayers.

I urge my colleagues to vote for this important bill.

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