It's about transforming lives. This plan will make that happen. As we look for ways to move people into home-ownership, we must make sure that affordable housing is plentiful. To this end, President Bush has introduced his Single-Family Tax Credit Plan. This tax credit will help bridge the gap between development costs and market prices, which will expand opportunities for low-income home buyers.
Affordable housing goes hand in hand with the effort to revitalize America's poorest communities.
We need to encourage private investment in distressed communities so that people will have good-paying jobs that allow them to find the right home for their families. I am very excited about the new community renewal legislation that congress passed last year. These new zones will spur investment in some of America's poorest communities by using various tax incentives and wage credits. It also adds 9 new empowerment zones. As new businesses invest money and create jobs, these communities will be transformed from places of idleness and despair into places of enterprise and new hope.