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Waters Discusses The Need for Bold Investments in Fair and Affordable Housing to Combat Inflation
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, delivered the following statement at a full Committee hearing entitled, “Boom and Bust: The Need for Bold Investments in Fair and Affordable Housing to Combat Inflation.”
“Good morning, everyone. First, I'd like to say that I am incredibly proud that this Committee has made it a top priority to ensure every family has access to fair and affordable housing across the country. Since becoming Chair in 2019, the Committee has held 55 hearings on housing, including the first-ever full Committee hearing on homelessness. However, the opposite side of the aisle has repeatedly complained about our focus on housing while offering no solutions to safely and affordably house families. With Republicans holding the majority next Congress, this will likely be our last hearing on housing affordability for the foreseeable future. But I know the Ranking Member is a good person so I hope he will prove me wrong.
Unfortunately, our nation’s housing crisis is getting worse. Some believe that robust federal investments in fair and affordable housing aren’t needed—that deregulation and the private market alone will solve this crisis. But decades of dismal federal investment in housing have landed us in the current housing crisis and we cannot expect different outcomes without different interventions. Today, there is no metropolitan area in the country where families can afford a home making minimum wage. A chronic undersupply of housing has led to skyrocketing costs and today, housing is a primary driver of core inflation. While the Federal Reserve has leaned on interest rate hikes in hopes of curing inflation—including four super-sized rate hikes this year alone—those hikes do nothing to address the fundamental shortage of affordable housing, and in fact, make it worse...”
Read the full statement HERE.
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Member Spotlight
| Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) |
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) serves on Subcommittee on Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion and Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations. This week, she participated in the full committee hearing, “Boom and Bust: The Need for Bold Investments in Fair and Affordable Housing to Combat Inflation," and discussed the importance of affordable housing as a tool to help close wealth inequality and the racial wealth gap.
Weekend Reads
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Upcoming Committee Dates
- Tuesday, December 6 at 10 a.m. ET: The Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion will convene for a hybrid hearing entitled, “Unfinished Business: A Review of Progress Made and a Plan to Achieve Full Economic Inclusion for Every American.”
- Tuesday, December 6 at 2 p.m. ET: The Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets will convene for a hybrid hearing entitled, “E, S, G and W: Examining Private Sector Disclosure of Workforce Management, Investment, and Diversity Data.”
- Wednesday, December 7 at 10 a.m. ET: The Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations will convene for a hybrid hearing entitled, “An Enduring Legacy: The Role of Financial Institutions in the Horrors of Slavery and the Need for Atonement, Part II.”
- Tuesday, December 13 at 10 a.m. ET: The full Committee will convene for a hybrid hearing entitled, “Investigating the Collapse of FTX, Part I.”
- Wednesday, December 14 at 10 a.m. ET: The full Committee will convene for a hybrid hearing entitled, “Consumers First: Semi-Annual Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”
All hearings are live-streamed on https://democrats-financialservices.house.gov/live/.
Due to the latest information available regarding COVID-19, all hearings this month are fully virtual. Members and witnesses may participate remotely via Cisco WebEx.
Committee Hearings
Boom and Bust: The Need for Bold Investments in Fair and Affordable Housing to Combat Inflation
The full Committee convened for a hearing entitled, “Boom and Bust: The Need for Bold Investments in Fair and Affordable Housing to Combat Inflation.” This hearing explored how the country’s chronic undersupply of housing has led to skyrocketing costs and worsening inflation. Additionally, Committee Democrats discussed how the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes have been ineffective in curbing inflation or addressing the fundamental shortage of affordable housing, and also called for bold, targeted investments to make housing affordable and rein in core inflation.
- Read Chairwoman Waters’ opening statement HERE.
- Watch the full Committee hearing HERE.
Chairwoman’s Corner
Chairwoman Waters Calls on Sam Bankman-Fried to Testify Before the Committee
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