Date: 2004-06-22
Speaker: GARY G. MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. today I rise to celebrate homeownership in America. As part of this homeownership initiative. President Bush is expected to designate June. 2004. as National Homeownership Awareness Month. as he has the past 2 years. To complement this designation. I have introduced House Resolution 658 to recognize National Homeow*nership Month and the importance of homeownership in the United States. This resolution expresses a sense of Congress and the U.S. House of Representatives that we. one. fully support the goals and ideals of National Homeownership Month. and. two. recognize the importance of homeownership in building strong communities and families. Now- is a great time to talk about the American dream of honeownership because for the past 3 years the housing industry has been the pillar of our economy. The housing and refinance market helped keep our recently struggling economy moving.until the rest of the economy was able to accelerate. National housing generates more- than 22 percent of the Gross Domestic Product and accounts for nearly 40 cents of every dollar spent. Americas. housing market is the envy of the world. We enjoy the lowest interest rates and the highest homeownership rate of any developed nation. In fact. the national homeownership rate in the United States has reached a record high of 68.6 percent. and for the first time. more than half of all minority families own homes. Homeownership is the single largest creator of wealth for most Americans. It is a key to promoting longterm economic stability for citizens and nations. For these reasons it is imperative we maintain a strong housing market. There are many components involvedin helping people achieve the dream of homeownership. We need land to build on. developers to prepare the land. architectural plans and building materials. builders and contractors to construct the home. certainty on who owns what and how much it is worth. and available credit. We need to work to make sure that each component can work and that government helps rather than impedes the process. As many of the Members know. I have been a home developer for over 30 years. I know all too well the impact of regulatory barriers at all levels and the cost of homes. When I came to Congress. I made it my top priority to highlight federal policies that have hindered the availability of housing in this country and to find ways for government to positively impact homeownership in Ameilca. I firmly believe that Congress must help cultivate an environment where more Americans can turn the dream -of homeownership into reality. I am pleased thatph President. in partnership with Congress. has made it his priority to ensure that government does something positive to foster homeownership. The administration is com-. mitted to finding ways to increase homeownership particularly among minorities and has set forth an ambitious agenda for HUD. focused on building on the progress that work and finding innovative ways to reform those in need of improvement. To focus more attention on the need of.regulatory reform. HUD launched in June. 2003. Americas Affordable Communities Initiative. a departmentwide effort to help communities across America identify and overcome regulatory barriers to affordable housing. I commend HUD for its commitment to work with States and local communities to reduce regulatory and institutional barriers to the development of affordable housing. I look forward to continuing to work with the administration and Congress to address our Nations housing needs. I urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 658. which expresses the U.S. House of Representatives dedication to forming policies that will help ensure every American family realizes thedream of homeownership. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.