FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Thursday, May 8, 2008
CONTACT: Brian Cook, (202) 225-3202

MR. STARK: Madame Speaker, I rise today to support two important pieces of legislation that will both keep families in their homes, and increase the supply of affordable housing.

After years of lax regulatory oversight driven by the discredited ideology of the Bush Administration and a rubber-stamp Republican Congress, our nation is faced with a housing crisis. Sub-prime loans, once the darlings of Wall Street, are now adjusting upward and millions of families have lost their homes or are facing foreclosure. In just the first three months of 2008, over 113,000 foreclosure notices have gone out to families in California. President Bush has responded by providing a $30 billion bailout to Bear-Stearns, a major cause of the mess in the first place. Today, the Democratic-led Congress is proposing a real solution that will assist real families, and all the President has offered is a veto threat.

I support both the Neighborhood Stabilization Act (H.R. 5818) and the Foreclosure Prevention Act (H.R. 3221). Together, they offer a comprehensive approach that will protect families, stabilize home prices, and expand affordable housing options around the nation.

This legislation will allow homeowners trapped in untenable mortgages to refinance into FHA-backed mortgages. Lenders and borrowers must each take responsibility by lowering the outstanding principal, and demonstrating an ability to repay, respectively. Requiring borrowers to provide a portion of resale profits to the government further lessens taxpayer exposure. The legislation also provides loans and grants to states to acquire foreclosed properties and turn them into affordable units for both sale and rent. Finally, this bill includes tax provisions aimed at assisting first-time homebuyers, easing the burden of property tax bills, and expanding financing of low-income housing projects.

Just as important is what this legislation does not do. Unlike the bill passed by the Senate, these bills do not provide irresponsible and unnecessary tax breaks to homebuilders, nor do they include a tax incentive to purchase foreclosed properties that would likely increase the number of foreclosures.

I urge all my colleagues to support both bills before us today, and vote for policies that will stem the tide of foreclosures and provide real help to struggling families. If the federal government can provide a handout to Wall Street, we can certainly offer a hand up to families.