OFFICE OF THE MAJORITY LEADER

TRANSCRIPT

Statement on American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act
May 8, 2008

... TIME. . THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: THE MAJORITY LEADER IS RECOGNIZED FOR ONE MINUTE. MR. HOYER: I THANK THE GENTLEMAN FOR YIELDING. THIS IS NOT ABOUT PETTING DOGS. THIS IS ABOUT PEOPLE WHO ARE HURTING. THIS IS TRYING TO REACH OUT TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN SAVAGED IN MANY WAYS BY THIS ECONOMY AND THE POLICIES THAT HAVE LED TO AN ECONOMY WHERE AVERAGE WORKING INCOMES ARE DOWN $1,000 OR GASOLINE PRICES HAVE EXPLODED OVER 200% FROM $1.46 TO $3.56. IN THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION, THEY WENT FROM $1.06 TO $1.46, FIVE CENTS A YEAR DURING THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION. THEY ARE GOING FIVE CENTS A WEEK DURING THIS ADMINISTRATION. PEOPLE ARE STRETCHED. I DIDN'T HEAR PEOPLE COME TO THIS FLOOR AND SAY, $30 BILLION FOR BEAR STEARNS WAS OUTRAGEOUS, PUTTING THE TAXPAYERS' MONEY, MR. FLAKE SAID HE DID -- $30 BILLION. WE JUST TALKED ABOUT 2.5 COMBILLION FOR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS AND PERHAPS AS MANY AS ONE MILLION PEOPLE. THERE'S A CRISIS AND THEY'VE ASKED US TO RESPOND. I WANT TO CONGRATULATE THE CHAIRMAN OF OUR COMMITTEE. I WANT TO THANK THE RANKING MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE. I WANT TO THANK ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE FOR GIVING THIS THEIR ATTENTION IN TRYING TO COME UP WITH A SOLUTION THAT WORKS. WAS THIS A PARTISAN, DIVISIVE SOLUTION? ABSOLUTELY NOT. THE SECRETARY OF TREASURY HAS SAID THIS IS A PRODUCT THAT IS MERIT OF SERIOUS CONSIDERATION. FOR A TIME, I THOUGHT WAS FOR IT. THERE SEEMS TO BE INTERNAL DIVISION WITHIN THE ADMINISTRATION. MR. BERNANKE, THE HEAD OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE, FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISORS SAYS THIS IS A GOOD THING TO DO. SO, MR. SPEAKER, THROUGH THIS COMPREHENSIVE LANDMARK LEGISLATION, THE AMERICAN HOUSING RECUE AND FORECLOSURE PREVENTION ACT, THIS HOUSE IS GOING TO ACT, NOT TO PET DOGS, BUT TO HELP PEOPLE. THIS HOUSE WILL TAKE DECISIVE ACTION TO KEEP HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF FAMILIES AT RISK OF FORECLOSURE IN THEIR HOMES AND WILL HELP STABLIZE MACTS ACROSS THE NATION THAT HAVE BEEN WRACKED BY UNPRECEDENTED DROP IN HOME VALUES OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS. MAKE NO MISTAKE, THE SLUMPING HOUSING MARKET HAS HAD A NEGATIVE RIPPLING EFFECT THROUGHOUT OUR ECONOMY. IT'S NOT JUST PEOPLE IN HOUSES THAT ARE HAVING PROBLEMS, BUT THE SUBPRIME CRISIS HAS AFFECTED OUR ENTIRE COUNTRY AND THE AVAILABILITY OF CREDIT. AND THUS, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE TAKE RESPONSIBLE, REASONABLE STEPS SUCH AS THIS TO STRENGTHEN OUR WEAK ECONOMY AND ALSO BENEFIT NOT JUST THOSE WHO ARE AT RISK OF LOSING THEIR HOMES, BUT EVERY AMERICAN. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN BEN BERNANKE POINTED OUT IN A SPEECH ON MOVEND, MONDAY, AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, HIGH RATES OF DELINQUENCY AND FORECLOSURE CAN HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL SPILLOVER EFFECT ON THE HOUSING MARKETS, FINANCIAL MARKETS AND BROADER ECONOMY AND THE ANSWER IS, DON'T PET YOUR DOG. IT WAS BAD BEHAVIOR, LEAVE HIM ALONE OR PUNISH HIM. WHAT WE WANT TO DO IS HELP PEOPLE DO THE RIGHT THING. HE DON'TED, THEREFORE, DOING WHAT WE CAN TO AVOID PREVENTABLE FORECLOSURES IS NOT JUST IN THE INTEREST OF LENDERS AND BURROERS, IT'S IN EVERYBODY'S INTEREST. THAT'S BERNANKE'S WORDS, NOT CHAIRMAN FRANK'S, NOT MINE. MR. SPEAKER, THAT IS PRECISELY WHAT THIS LEGISLATION, THE PRODUCT OF HARD WORK BY CHAIRMAN FRANK AND SO MANY OTHERS IS DESIGNED TO DO. AVOID PREVENTABLE FORECLOSURES. THERE IS LITTLE QUESTION THAT AFTER AN HISTORIC HOUSING BOOM IN THE FIRST HALF OF THIS DECADE, WE ARE NOW FACED WITH A HOUSING CRISIS. FORECLOSURES SOARED TO AN ALL-TIME HIGH IN THE LAST QUARTER OF 2007. ACCORDING TO THE MORTGAGE BANKERS ASSOCIATION, MORE THAN 1.2 MILLION PROPERTIES RECEIVED FORECLOSURE NOTICE IN 2007. UP 75% FROM 2005. AND ONE IN 33 HOMEOWNERS IS PROJECTED TO BE IN FORECLOSURE ...