Date: 2003-06-17
Speaker: GARY G. MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in strong support of this resolution expressing support for Congress Building America and for increased affordable home ownership opportunities. This country is home to people of many different origins. but everyone seems to have the same dream. to own their own home. This dream means many things: Independence. finaricial security. geographic stability. the ability to accumulate personal wealth. a place to raise a family. or simply a place to go after a long days work and find peace. As a homebuilder for over 30 years. I enjoyed watching many people achieve this dream. One could always see the excitement and anticipation in the face of a home buyer. The Congress Building America program will offer every Member of Congress this opportunity to experience how the dream of homeownership builds hope in their communities and across the Nation. I feel very strongly about this issue. because homeownership is the key to personal wealth in our country. When someone buys a home. they purchase an asset which will grow over time. I started the Building a Better. America Caucus. BABAC. when I arrived in Congress 41/ years ago. because I thought it was important to provide a forum for us to start addressing issues that impact homeownership. One of the objectives of BABAC is to help cultivate an environment where more Americans turn the dream of homeownership into reality. -When I first started my budiness. I had an old van that used more oil than gas and a cardboard box which held every tool I owned. I started small. Over 30 years. my business grew. but with each passing year. I saw the impact of government on the housing industry. With each year came government laws and regulations making it harder to build homes. The red tape kept increasing costs. In business. these costs are passed on to consumers. Homes kept getting more expensive. It is very Important that Congress start talking about how the government is impacting home prices. In some parts of the country. my district in southern California is one of them. the heavy burden of Federal. State and local mandates is creating a generation of people who cannot afford to live in the communities where they work and grew up. I call these people the new homeless. Exactly who are these new homeless? In my district. it might be a couple. The husband is a firefighter and the wife is a teacher. They have a good Job and they make a good living. but the combined income does not enable them to purchase a median priced home in southern California which costs over $300.000 today. This is a national prob- many of them privatepublic cooperlem. and Congress must work expedi-. ations. But it is clearly the case that tiously to address it. unless the Federal Government conI encourage all my colleagues to be- tributes something. you will not get afcome active members of BABAC so we fordable housing. can do something about the housing af- Now. my Republican colleagues have fordable crisis in this country. been strongly against most production BABAC provides Members a forum programs. but I see now they have where we can discuss ways Congress come up with one. It is in this resolucan increase homeownership in Amer- tion. which I am going to vote for. beica. The Congress Building America cause I am all in favor of good wishes. program provides Members the oppor- I think we should all. at all times. be tunity to personally help make home- in favor of things that we should be in ownership a reality for a family in favor of. And this resolution is clearly their district. in favor of a lot of things that we 0 1245 should be in favor of. It just does not The Congress Building America pro- do anything about them. Does not gram will give every Member of Con- make them worse. And it does have a gress a chance to express their commit- production program. ment to affordable homeownership by I call Members attention to page 3. picking up a hammer and nails and paragraph 3. It says. "During the years building alopgside Habitat for Human- of the 108th and 109th sessions of Conity families to make the American gress. Members of the Senate and the Dream of homeownership a reality. House should sponsor and construct The goal of this resolution is to en- two homes in the Washington. D.C. courage Members of Congress to par- metropolitan area." ticipate in Congress Building America Now. the legislative draftsmanship is events with Habitat homeowner fami- perhaps not perfect. I will read that as lies and local Habitat affiliates in their being two homes each. I assume this districts or States during the 108th and does not mean that we should all of us 109th Congress. This new initiative is a build two homes. And I hope not. bepartnership program between Habitat cause there are people here that I for Humanity International. the United would not want to be near them when States Congress. the Department of they had a hammer or a saw or a drill. Housing and Urban Development. and So I would not want to have to be in a national corporate sponsors. joint effort to build some of these I urge each Member to support this homes. resolution and to personally join with So we are talking about two homes the Habitat for Humanity affiliates in each for 4 years. Now. there are 535 their districts to help lowincome fami- Members of Congress. Two homes lies realize the American Dream of apiece would be 1.070 homes a year for homeownership. aic ol e100hmsaya o Mmwnrshp r I4 years. So we now have the affordable Madam Speaker. I reserve the bal- housing program of the Republican ance of my time. Party for production: 4.280 homes over