•HRES 817 IH 
nation faced by every-day Americans in the United 
States in housing and housing-related transactions on 
the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, familial 
status, disability, and religion. 
Whereas April 11, 2018, marks the 50th anniversary of the 
congressional passage of the Fair Housing Act (title VIII 
of the Civil Rights Act of 1968); 
Whereas September 13, 2018, marks the 30th anniversary of 
the congressional passage of the Fair Housing Amend-
ments Act of 1988; 
Whereas the Chicago Freedom Movement, led by the Rev-
erend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., expanded the 
fight for civil rights from the South to the North, raised 
the national consciousness about housing discrimination, 
and shaped the debate that led to the landmark fair 
housing legislation, the Fair Housing Act; 
Whereas the National Advisory Commission on Civil Dis-
orders, appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson and 
commonly known as the Kerner Commission, found on 
February 29, 1968, that ‘‘[o]ur nation is moving toward 
two societies, one black and one white—separate and un-
equal’’; 
Whereas Congress passed the Fair Housing Act as part of 
the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and President Lyndon B. 
Johnson signed the Act into law on April 11, 1968, one 
week after the assassination of the Reverend Doctor Mar-
tin Luther King, Jr.; 
Whereas the original Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimina-
tion in housing and housing-related transactions on the 
basis of race, color, national origin, and religion; 
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•HRES 817 IH 
Whereas the mission statement of the Department of Hous-
ing and Urban Development (HUD) reflects this commit-
ment to ‘‘build inclusive and sustainable communities free 
from discrimination’’; 
Whereas in section 808 of the Housing and Community De-
velopment Act of 1974, Congress amended the Fair 
Housing Act to include protection on the basis of sex; 
Whereas the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 passed 
by overwhelming margins in Congress, included protec-
tion on the basis of familial status and disability, created 
an important enforcement mechanism, and expanded the 
definition of ‘‘discriminatory housing practices’’ to in-
clude interference and intimidation, requiring the Depart-
ment of Housing and Urban Development to issue regu-
lations to implement and interpret the Fair Housing Act 
and report annually to Congress on the nature and extent 
of housing discrimination; 
Whereas the intent of Congress in passing the Fair Housing 
Act was broad and inclusive, to advance equal oppor-
tunity in housing and achieve racial integration for the 
benefit of all people in the United States; 
Whereas housing testing has revealed that discrimination on 
the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity exists 
and that fair housing protections must be extended to the 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) 
community; 
Whereas an individual’s housing conditions impact their 
health, educational attainment level, employment oppor-
tunities, and personal wealth; 
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•HRES 817 IH 
Whereas the majority of Americans support neighborhood in-
tegration and numerous studies have shown the universal 
benefits of residential integration; 
Whereas more than 4,000,000 violations of fair housing laws 
still occur each year against people of all protected class-
es, and testing of the enforcement of fair housing laws 
continues to uncover a high rate of discrimination in the 
rental, sales, mortgage lending, and insurance markets; 
Whereas less than 1 percent of violations of fair housing laws 
are reported each year; 
Whereas private, nonprofit, fair housing centers funded by 
Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) are the front-
line in the effort to resolve housing discrimination and 
train local housing providers on how to comply with the 
Fair Housing Act; 
Whereas in 2016 approximately 28,181 housing discrimina-
tion complaints were filed, of which 19,740 complaints or 
approximately 70 percent, were filed with local private, 
nonprofit, fair housing centers; 
Whereas the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) 
funds fair housing grants annually on a non-competitive 
basis to State and local fair housing enforcement agen-
cies which are used for complaint processing, administra-
tive costs, special enforcement efforts, training and other 
projects designed to enhance the agency’s administration 
and enforcement of its fair housing law; 
Whereas while our Nation has made great strides in elimi-
nating housing discrimination, families with children, 
women, people with disabilities, people of color, and reli-
gious minorities still face unnecessary barriers to hous-
ing; 
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•HRES 817 IH 
Whereas fair housing education and enforcement play a piv-
otal role in increasing housing choice and minority home-
ownership and combating predatory lending; and 
Whereas the Fair Housing Act is an essential component of 
our Nation’s civil rights legislation: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) supports the goals and values of the 50th 
anniversary of the enactment of the Fair Housing 
Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.) and the 30th anniver-
sary of the enactment of the Fair Housing Amend-
ments Act of 1988 (Public Law 100–430; 102 Stat. 
1619); 
(2) supports activities to recognize and cele-
brate the important historical milestones represented 
by the anniversaries of the enactment of the Fair 
Housing Act and the enactment of the Fair Housing 
Amendments Act of 1988; and 
(3) encourages all people and levels of govern-
ment to rededicate themselves to the enforcement 
and the ideals of fair housing laws. 
Æ 
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