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 WEEKLY ROUNDUP
October 24, 2021

        

Waters Fights for Inclusion of Robust Housing Funds in Build Back Better Act

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, attended several press conferences across Capitol Hill alongside numerous housing advocacy groups to explain why America cannot build back better without investing in our crumbling housing infrastructure and to remind the White House and her fellow colleagues in Congress how foundational housing is to successfully tackle other priorities, including childcare, healthcare, climate change, and racial inequity.

Chairwoman Waters met with housing groups and advocates organized by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and other interfaith groups, the Green New Deal Network, the National Coalition for the Homeless, and the National Housing Conference. The National Housing Conference convened industry and advocacy groups for a press conference where the Chairwoman appeared with Senator Sherrod Brown, Chair of the Senate Banking Committee, to make clear that housing is infrastructure, and that she opposes deep cuts to housing investments. The Chairwoman pledged to keep fighting to ensure the reconciliation package currently being considered by Congress includes the robust funding needed to address the nation’s affordable housing crisis.

“We are on pins and needles as we await some of the decisions being made at the White House,” Chairwoman Waters said at the National Housing Conference event. “There are so many people who work every day, but they cannot afford the high cost of rental housing, and they are simply seeking some help from their government.” …

Read Chairwoman Waters’ full statement HERE.


Special Order: The Housing Title of the Build Back Better Act 


Rep. Cleaver, Chair of the Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance, delivered impassioned special order remarks supporting investments prioritizing safe, affordable housing in the Build Back Better Act.

 Highlights from Thursday’s Special Order:

“Housing is at the center of every household’s economic stability and our nation’s prosperity. Without these investments in resilient, healthy, accessible, and fair housing, the Build Back Better Act will not improve the lives of families across the country as we have promised it will,” Chairwoman Waters said.


“My father did whatever he had to do build his family. But the key to all of it was housing,” said Representative Cleaver, who serves as Chair of the Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance. “Housing is the most significant thing a human being can have. It makes them a part of the American dream.”


“Vouchers have [been] shown to reduce homelessness, help people pay rent, reduce poverty, help children exit the welfare system, help persons find and keep employment, help children do better in school, help people with disabilities maintain their health, help people achieve greater economic mobility, help people build wealth, help families enter the middle class. It’s time to fully fund the voucher system,” Representative Green said.


“I would not be here today as a United States congressman were it not for affordable housing and the opportunity it gave me and family, so the fight is deeply personal,” Representative Torres said. “We cannot build back better without realizing the vision of housing as a human right and without realizing the vision that housing is infrastructure. We cannot build back better without making America affordable to all Americans.”


 
Tweets of the Week:
Housing Is Infrastructure





  



 

Member Spotlight

Congressman Vicente González (D-TX)

Congressman Vicente González (D-TX) serves on the Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance and the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets.


Weekend Reads


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Committee Hearings

 Fernanda Galindo, a witness at this week’s full Committee hearing, testified to her lived experience struggling to secure affordable housing.

Upcoming Hearing Dates

  • October 26 at 10:00 AM ET: The Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets will convene for a hybrid hearing entitled, “Taking Stock of ‘China, Inc.’: Examining Risks to Investors and the U.S. Posed by Foreign Issuers in U.S. Markets.”

  • October 27 at 10:00 AM ET: The full Committee will convene for a hybrid hearing entitled, “Bringing Consumer Protection Back: A Semi-Annual Review of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”

All hearings are livestreamed on https://democrats-financialservices.house.gov/live/.

For virtual hearings, all Members and witnesses participate remotely with no in-person participation in the hearing room. Hybrid hearings will take place in 2128 Rayburn House Office Building with a virtual option for all Members and witnesses to participate remotely.

Committee activities are finalized once an official notice is issued by the House Financial Services Committee.
Visit https://democrats-financialservices.house.gov/calendar/ for the most up-to-date Committee schedule.


Chairwoman’s Corner

Waters on Prioritizing Robust Housing Investments in the Build Back Better Act: Housing Isn’t a “Nice-to-Have,” It Is Foundational

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement at a full Committee hearing entitled, “A Strong Foundation: How Housing is the Key to Building Back a Better America.”

Right now, choices are being made about what investments will be cut back or cut out of the Build Back Better Act.

Last month, this Committee passed historic legislation to invest $327 billion in long overdue housing investments. These funds would create or rehabilitate more than three million affordable homes; provide up to 750,000 Housing Choice Vouchers to house up to 1.7 million people; and help close the racial wealth gap through a $10 billion investment in downpayment assistance to first-time, first-generation homebuyers.

The housing investments provided in the Build Back Better Act should be robust and reflect the fact that housing is infrastructure. Absent access to safe, affordable, and accessible housing, far too many families cannot make ends meet in a way that enables them, our economy, and our nation to thrive.

As our two panels of witnesses will discuss today, there is no way to build back better without investing in housing…

Read Chairwoman Waters’ full opening statement HERE.

Sent from the Committee on Financial Services

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