Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, issued this statement in commemoration of the 57^th anniversary of the signing of the Fair Housing Act into law.

“Fifty-seven years ago today, the Fair Housing Act of 1968 was signed into law just seven days following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. After generations of redlining and racist federal policy and the tireless fight of Dr. King and other civil rights leaders to bring equal access to housing and economic opportunity, Congress passed the Fair Housing Act to address the systemic and overt housing discrimination faced by people of color, families with children, women, people with disabilities, and other members of protected classes. While we have made significant progress to expand housing and economic justice for millions of families, we are still very far from fulfilling the promise of the Fair Housing Act. And what’s worse, the Secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Scott Turner, is doing the bidding of Elon Musk and the Trump regime by working to dismantle this crucial law.

“Since taking office, President Trump has been working overtime to make housing discrimination legal again by gutting enforcement of the Fair Housing Act and rolling back critical civil rights regulations. In fact, in recent months, Secretary Turner has declared that ‘DEI is dead at HUD;’ reinterpreted the Fair Housing Act to remove sexual orientation and gender identity as a protected class; terminated 780 housing agency staff, with plans to fire at least three quarters of staff within the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity; canceled nearly half of fair housing grants; repealed critical fair housing enforcement through HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule and the Equal Access Rule; and gave Elon Musk access to personally identifiable discrimination data, including that of sexual assault survivors.

“At a time when our nation’s housing and homelessness crisis is growing worse and we are seeing record levels of housing discrimination complaints, this anti-housing agenda violates the civil rights of people across America and will all but ensure housing discrimination goes unchecked.

“Rest assured, Democrats will continue fighting until everyone has access to fair and affordable housing. I will also continue pushing for the passage of my historic housing package, including the ‘Housing Crisis Response Act,’ the ‘Ending Homelessness Act,’ and the ‘Downpayment Toward Equity Act.’ These bills represent the single largest and most comprehensive investment in fair and affordable housing in U.S. history. Together, we can deliver on the urgent need to finally make fair housing for all a reality.”

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