[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 107 (Monday, June 7, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 30139-30140]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11977]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 107 / Monday, June 7, 2021 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 30139]]


                Proclamation 10224 of June 1, 2021

                
National Homeownership Month, 2021

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                For millions of Americans, homeownership is the 
                cornerstone of a life with security, with dignity, and 
                with hope. A home is more than four walls and a roof; 
                it is a place where we can celebrate triumphs and 
                weather the trials of life. A place where we can watch 
                our families grow and prosper. A place that helps us 
                build wealth we can pass down to our children and our 
                grandchildren.

                The aspiration to own a home is connected deeply to the 
                American dream. It has driven generations of Americans, 
                in search of a place to call one's own.

                Today, for people across the United States, the desire 
                to own a home burns as brightly as it ever has. Yet the 
                stark reality is that, for too many, the dream of 
                homeownership is becoming more difficult to realize and 
                sustain. This is especially true in the wake of the 
                economic devastation inflicted by the COVID-19 
                pandemic.

                We also know that people of color continue to face 
                discrimination in our housing market--when trying to 
                secure mortgages, to have their homes appraised, and to 
                live in neighborhoods where their families can thrive. 
                In recent years, the homeownership gap between Black 
                and white families reached its widest point since 1968, 
                when banks could still legally discriminate against 
                borrowers based on the color of their skin.

                This is economically and morally wrong, and it is why, 
                as President, I have made it a central priority to 
                expand stability and opportunity within our housing 
                market. On my first day in office, I took executive 
                action to extend foreclosure moratoriums for nearly 11 
                million households with mortgages guaranteed by the 
                Federal Government. My Administration introduced and 
                passed the American Rescue Plan, which will deliver 
                nearly $10 billion in relief for homeowners who have 
                fallen behind on their mortgage payments during the 
                pandemic. And to create greater opportunities for 
                homeownership moving forward, we have proposed the 
                American Jobs Plan--which can spur the construction and 
                rehabilitation of more than 500,000 homes for buyers of 
                more modest means.

                The Department of Housing and Urban Development will 
                continue to advance affordable and sustainable 
                homeownership throughout our Nation. This will require 
                that we help more hardworking Americans purchase their 
                first homes, increase access to credit and mortgage 
                insurance for borrowers of color, and fully enforce the 
                1968 Fair Housing Act--to root out systemic 
                discrimination from our housing market and break down 
                the unjust barriers that prevent too many Americans 
                from buying a home.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2021 as 
                National Homeownership Month. I call upon the people of 
                this Nation to recognize the enduring value of 
                homeownership and to recommit ourselves to helping more 
                Americans realize that dream.

[[Page 30140]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand 
                twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
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                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2021-11977
Filed 6-4-21; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P