[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 363 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 363
Promoting and supporting the goals and ideals of the Fair Housing Act
and recognizing April 2021 as Fair Housing Month, which includes
bringing attention to the discrimination faced by everyday Americans in
the United States in housing and housing-related transactions on the
basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender
identity, familial status, disability, and religion, particularly
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 30, 2021
Mr. Green of Texas (for himself, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Norton, Mr.
Cicilline, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Takano, Mrs. Beatty, Ms. Kelly of Illinois,
Mr. Evans, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Beyer,
Mrs. Dingell, Ms. Bass, Ms. Dean, Mr. Torres of New York, Ms.
Schakowsky, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Lawson of
Florida, Ms. Bonamici, Ms. Adams, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. David
Scott of Georgia, and Mr. Bowman) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Promoting and supporting the goals and ideals of the Fair Housing Act
and recognizing April 2021 as Fair Housing Month, which includes
bringing attention to the discrimination faced by everyday Americans in
the United States in housing and housing-related transactions on the
basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender
identity, familial status, disability, and religion, particularly
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whereas April 11, 2021, marks the 53d anniversary of the enactment of the Civil
Rights Act of 1968, title VIII of which (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.) is
commonly known as the Fair Housing Act;
Whereas the Chicago Freedom Movement, led by the Reverend 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 Act;
Whereas the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, appointed by
President Lyndon B. Johnson and commonly known as the Kerner Commission,
found on February 29, 1968, that ``our nation is moving toward two
societies, one black and one white--separate and unequal'';
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 Martin
Luther King, Jr.;
Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant
on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights recognize adequate housing as a
human right;
Whereas the original Fair Housing Act prohibited discrimination in housing and
housing-related transactions on the basis of race, color, national
origin, and religion;
Whereas the mission statement of the Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) reflects a commitment to ``build inclusive and sustainable
communities free from discrimination'';
Whereas in section 808 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974
(Public Law 93-383), Congress amended the Fair Housing Act to include
protection on the basis of sex, including gender;
Whereas September 13, 2021, will mark the 33d anniversary of the congressional
passage of the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988;
Whereas the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 passed by overwhelming margins
in Congress, included protection on the basis of familial status and
disability, created an important enforcement mechanism, and expanded the
definition of ``discriminatory housing practices'' to include
interference and intimidation, requiring HUD to issue regulations 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 opportunity in housing and achieve racial
integration for the benefit of all people in the United States;
Whereas the intent of Congress in passing the Fair Housing Act was to prohibit
discrimination in all housing and housing-related transactions,
including policies or practices that appear superficially neutral, but
have a discriminatory effect on protected classes;
Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States of America has reaffirmed the use
of the disparate impact doctrine to challenge policies or practices that
have a discriminatory effect on protected classes;
Whereas fair housing testing has revealed that discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation and gender identity exists and that fair housing
protections must be extended to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
and queer (LGBTQ+) community;
Whereas same-sex couples are 73 percent more likely to be denied a home mortgage
compared to heterosexual couples, and when same-sex couples are
approved, they pay an average of $86,000,000 more in combined annual
interest and fees;
Whereas fair housing testing has revealed that discrimination exists against
people who use public housing assistance, including support from the
Housing Choice Voucher and Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing programs
and other legal sources of income, and that fair housing protections
against source-of-income discrimination must be provided to all people;
Whereas there continues to be widespread discrimination in the housing industry
against Black, Latinx, and Asian-American home buyers by real estate
agents;
Whereas owner-occupied homes located in majority-Black communities are
undervalued by a cumulative $156,000,000,000 when compared to owner-
occupied homes in similarly situated communities that have very few or
no Black residents;
Whereas over 60 percent of people experiencing homelessness in America are Black
or Latinx;
Whereas an individual's housing conditions impact his or her health, educational
attainment level, employment opportunities, and personal wealth;
Whereas borrowers of color lack equal access to quality and affordable credit
compared to similarly situated White borrowers;
Whereas research shows that Black and Latinx borrowers pay $765,000,000 more in
combined mortgage interest each year compared to similarly situated
White borrowers due to discriminatory factors in mortgage lending by the
government-sponsored housing finance enterprises;
Whereas research shows that algorithmic bias and discrimination exist in online
housing platforms and lending that use artificial intelligence for
advertising and decision-making purposes, and there is an urgent need to
eliminate individual bias that enters the development of artificial
intelligence systems;
Whereas the majority of Americans support neighborhood integration and numerous
studies have shown the universal benefits of residential integration;
Whereas reports indicate there are more than 4,000,000 violations of fair
housing laws each year against people of all protected classes, and fair
housing testing continues to uncover a high rate of discrimination in
the rental, sales, mortgage lending, and insurance markets;
Whereas 68,000,000 adults in the United States believe they have experienced
unequal treatment in their housing search due to their status as a
member of a protected class under the Fair Housing Act;
Whereas less than one percent of fair housing violations are reported each year;
Whereas private nonprofit fair housing organizations funded by Fair Housing
Initiatives Program (FHIP) serve as 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 2019, there were a total of 28,880 housing discrimination complaints
reported nationwide, of which 73 percent, or 21,802 complaints, were
filed with local, private, nonprofit fair housing organizations;
Whereas the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) funds State as well as local
civil and human rights enforcement agencies to investigate and process
housing discrimination complaints, conduct special enforcement projects,
and take part in 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 eliminating housing
discrimination, families with children, women, people with disabilities,
people of color, religious minorities, immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals,
and low-income people receiving public assistance, among others, still
face discriminatory barriers to housing;
Whereas fair housing education and enforcement play a pivotal role in increasing
housing choice and home ownership opportunities for members of protected
classes and combating predatory lending;
Whereas amid a global health and economic crisis, housing discrimination against
health care workers and persons who have been infected by COVID-19, or
are perceived as having been infected, is contributing to increased
evictions and hate crimes;
Whereas systemic health and economic disparities are exacerbated by the COVID-19
pandemic, disproportionately infecting communities of color,
destabilizing their employment opportunities, and resulting in higher
levels of evictions and foreclosures;
Whereas amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, harmful sentiments toward Asian-American
and Pacific Islander communities have incited increases in racialized
and gendered violence across the Nation;
Whereas reports of sexual harassment have increased by 300 percent during the
COVID-19 pandemic, with incidents disproportionately being reported by
women of color and transgender women;
Whereas immigrant and limited-English proficient (LEP) communities must have in-
language access to online, telephone, print, and all other mediums of
housing information, notices, and resources during the COVID-19 pandemic
to prevent predatory and discriminatory housing and lending practices;
Whereas persons with disabilities must have equal access to online, telephone,
print, and all other mediums of housing information, notices, and
resources during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent predatory and
discriminatory housing and lending practices;
Whereas persons with disabilities, including seniors and children with
disabilities, have experienced unlawful denials of their reasonable
accommodation requests to insulate them from exposure to COVID-19 and
its associated life-threatening complications; and
Whereas the Fair Housing Act is an essential component of our Nation's civil
rights legislation: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Resolution may be cited as the ``Original Fair Housing
Resolution of 2021''.
SEC. 2. SUPPORT FOR FAIR HOUSING ACT.
The House of Representatives--
(1) supports the goals and values of the 53d anniversary of
the enactment of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.)
and the 33d anniversary of the enactment of the Fair Housing
Amendments Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-430; 102 Stat. 1619);
(2) supports efforts to strengthen and increase fair
housing enforcement, education, and protections, particularly
during the COVID-19 pandemic;
(3) supports activities to recognize and celebrate the
important historical milestones represented by the
anniversaries of the enactments of the Fair Housing Act and the
Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988; and
(4) encourages all people and levels of government to
rededicate themselves to the enforcement and the ideals of fair
housing laws.
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