May 1, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 71 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Pages H3399-H3401]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           FAIR HOUSING MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2019, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Green) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is always an honor to stand here 
in the House of Representatives, to have the opportunity to address 
colleagues, friends, and the Nation. I especially thank the leadership 
for allowing these privileges.
  I am grateful to the many people who are still here as we continue 
with our statements on the floor of the House. You work tirelessly, and 
it seems that you work endlessly, Mr. Speaker. I think it appropriate 
that we thank you for being here with us into the late hours as we 
present our floor messaging.

[[Page H3400]]

  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be here tonight to announce that my dear 
friend and colleague, Representative Emanuel Cleaver, has joined me in 
reintroducing a resolution in recognition of Fair Housing Month.
  Housing, Mr. Speaker, is a basic human right, but access is too often 
limited based upon race, sex, national origin, and sexual orientation. 
This resolution marks the 51st anniversary of the congressional passage 
of the Fair Housing Act, properly styled title 8 of the Civil Rights 
Act of 1968.
  The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination concerning the sale, 
rental, and financing of housing based upon race, national origin, 
religion, sex, or familial status. This year, Mr. Speaker, also marks 
the 31st anniversary of the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988.
  More than 50 years ago on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 
Washington, D.C., Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his famous ``I Have 
a Dream'' speech. It was considered, and it is still considered, one of 
the greatest speeches in American history.
  In his speech, Dr. King called for racial equality and an end to 
discrimination. Passionately, he argued that all men are created equal 
and should be treated equally. Although that was not the case in 
America at that time, he believed it must be the case for America's 
future.
  I must tell you, we have come a long way, Mr. Speaker, but we still 
have a great distance to go to realize the dream of Dr. King, a world 
where persons are judged by the content of their character, not the 
color of their skin. Dr. King was a very strong supporter of fair 
housing, and he envisioned a society free of discrimination.
  I would like to speak just a moment about access to affordable 
housing. Each year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development 
releases the ``Annual Homelessness Assessment Report.'' This is 
released to Congress. It provides the best available estimates of 
homelessness and how it is impacting the United States.
  According to the 2018 report, there were 552,830 persons experiencing 
homelessness in the United States on a single night in 2018.
  The report also provides details on the demographics of the people 
experiencing homelessness. For example, for women and children in 2018, 
nearly 160,000 children and youth experienced homelessness, 
representing nearly 30 percent of the total persons who are in a state 
of homelessness. Over 216,000 women and girls experienced homelessness, 
or 40 percent of the total persons who experienced homelessness.
  Racial minorities were disproportionately represented among people 
experiencing homelessness in 2018. African Americans comprised 40 
percent of all people experiencing homelessness, despite making up only 
13 percent of the Nation's general population.
  Hispanic or Latino persons comprised 25 percent of the total, despite 
making up but 18 percent of the Nation's general population.
  Nearly 38,000 veterans experienced homelessness in 2018, or 9 percent 
of the total.
  Furthermore, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, 
the U.S. has a shortage of more than 7.2 million rental homes that are 
affordable and available to the lowest income renters in our country.
  After the 2008 financial crisis, it became clear that we need to 
address the epidemic of discrimination in lending where communities of 
color are disproportionately targeted. I can recall, having been on the 
Financial Services Committee, how we received testimony from persons 
who indicated to us that as a result of this downturn in 2008, the 
community of color, the African American community in particular, lost 
a generation of wealth. This is something that we are still trying to 
recover from.
  This is why we need the Fair Lending for All Act. The Fair Lending 
for All Act would create such a fair lending testing program that would 
penalize individuals who discriminate. When they do so, and they 
discriminate invidiously and cause harm to persons, when they hold 
predatory loans and they make these loans, they will be held 
accountable because we must ensure we are not only understanding the 
patterns of housing discrimination more thoroughly but also understand 
that we are providing clear oversight and guidelines to combat housing 
discrimination.
  In 1968, the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, 
commonly known and well-known as the Kerner Commission, concluded in a 
groundbreaking report that White racism led to pervasive discrimination 
in employment, education, and housing.
  In 2015, the Black homeownership rate was just over 40 percent, 
virtually unchanged since 1968. Over that same period, White ownership 
increased 5.2 percentage points to 71.1 percent, 30 percentage points 
higher than the Black homeownership rate.
  As a result, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act 
on April 11, 1968, 1 week after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther 
King. In fact, there are many people who contend that before the demise 
of Dr. King, the Fair Housing Act would not have been signed as quickly 
as it was.
  Dr. King, as you know, was assassinated. For many of us, it was a sad 
and dark day in the history of our country. We were saddened by what 
happened to Dr. King, notwithstanding the fact that the Fair Housing 
Act became law as a result of his untimely demise.
  The Fair Housing Act was conceived to battle discrimination in 
housing related to these housing transactions that are supposed to 
allow everyone to access housing but don't always accomplish those 
goals.
  More than 4 million Fair Housing Act violations occur each year 
against people of all protected classes, including based on sexual 
orientation and gender identity. Less than 1 percent of the violations 
of Fair Housing Act laws are reported each year.

                              {time}  1915

  In 2017, approximately 28,843 housing discrimination complaints were 
filed. Of these, 20,595 complaints, or approximately 70 percent, were 
filed with local private, nonprofit, fair housing centers.
  Housing bills in the 116th Congress include H.R. 123, the FHA 
Additional Credit Pilot Program Reauthorization Act.
  We introduced this on January 3, 2019. This would extend section 258 
of the National Housing Act, which established an automated process for 
providing alternative credit rating information for mortgagors and 
prospective mortgagors.
  I would add that, simply put, this would give persons who pay their 
light bills, their gas bills, their water bills, all of their utility 
bills timely but they don't have thick credit files--in fact, they have 
thin credit files, and some of them have no credit at all, in addition 
to these bills that they pay on a monthly basis--an opportunity to have 
these payments scored so that they, too, might have the opportunity to 
own a home.
  Representative Vicente Gonzalez is one of the cosponsors of this 
legislation.
  H.R. 166, the Fair Lending for All Act, was introduced on January 3 
of 2019, and this would establish an Office of Fair Lending Testing to 
test for compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, ECOA, and to 
create criminal penalties for invidious discrimination in lending.
  H.R. 149, the Housing Fairness Act, was introduced on January 3, 
2019, and it would instruct the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development to conduct a nationwide testing program.
  This nationwide testing program would be utilized to detect and 
document differences in the treatment of persons seeking to rent or 
purchase housing or obtain a refinance of a home mortgage loan. It 
would measure patterns of adverse treatment because of race, color, 
religion, sex, familial status, disability status, or national origin 
of renters, home buyers, or borrowers. And it would measure the 
prevalence of such discriminatory practices across the housing and 
mortgage lending market.
  H.R. 165, Improving Access to Homes for Heroes Act. This was 
introduced January 3, 2019. It would provide Congress with the 
information it needs, as we work toward ending homelessness among our 
veterans, by requiring HUD to provide Congress with an annual report 
that gives a comprehensive assessment of the efforts being made to 
provide housing assistance to our veterans, and it would also require 
public housing agencies to include veterans in their public housing 
planning.

[[Page H3401]]

  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to be associated with all of the bills. We 
are honored to act as original sponsors of all of these pieces of 
legislation, but I am much more proud of the fact that, in this 
country, we are still making progress, but we really have come a long 
way.
  I can remember a time when the public housing in this country was 
segregated, literally--tax dollars providing housing that was 
segregated.
  I am proud to say that we have come a long way and integrated the 
public housing, housing paid for with American tax dollars.
  I can remember a time in this country when there were neighborhoods 
that persons of African ancestry were restricted from living in. 
Restrictive covenants were prevalent. And there are still some 
neighborhoods that there is a degree of difficulty acquiring access to; 
but, generally speaking, restrictive covenants are no longer in 
existence to the extent that they are commonly used to exclude persons 
of color, and other persons as well, based on religious preferences, 
from the neighborhoods.
  This is a country that still has a long way to go, but this is a 
country that has made some great strides.
  Notwithstanding the strides, however, we must continue to do our very 
best to make sure every person who wants housing and can afford it can 
get housing, which means that we have to have affordable housing.
  I was very proud this week that just passed, in Houston, Texas, to 
visit an area in my district, the Ninth Congressional District of 
Texas, where a project had been razed, as in eviscerated, and there was 
a raising, if you will, of another project.
  This project cost approximately $30-plus million, and it was 
subsidized in part from CDBG dollars from this Congress to the tune of 
about $3 million.
  It was a wonderful thing to see this new growth, if you will, this 
new housing development in this community. It is a wonderful project 
that has amenities that you might expect to find in an upscale 
neighborhood.
  Within the center for persons to use, the common area, there is a 
business center right within that complex. There is also a facility for 
meetings. There was an exercise room. And their plan is to have a 
swimming pool. Yes, people who need affordable housing do swim. They 
enjoy exercising, and they want to have the opportunity to go online 
and conduct business just as other people do.
  So it was a wonderful thing to see this project have all of these 
various amenities that you might find in an upscale neighborhood.
  I was there with a good many people who were just proud to be a part 
of the community and to see this development take place within their 
neighborhood.
  As you know, we dwell in our houses, but we live in our 
neighborhoods. And in living in a neighborhood, you want to make sure 
that you have got quality housing. You want parks. You want schools. 
You want the opportunity to have your food source immediately available 
to you, readily available.
  This is all a part of what is being developed as a result, in part, 
of these new housing projects coming online.
  So it is important for us to continue to use community development 
dollars in a very positive way, so that we can continue to develop, not 
just homes for people, but neighborhoods for people to live in as well 
as homes for them to dwell in.
  Houston, Texas, I am proud to say, has a mayor who has made it his 
mission to be a good partner in the wise and judicious use of these 
community development dollars. That is but one project that I can call 
to your attention. I have attended the ribbon cutting of many other 
projects that are similarly situated.

  I would add, as I come to a close, that the housing crisis that we 
are experiencing now is one that is quite visible. In my lifetime, I 
don't think I have seen this number of people dwelling on the bridges, 
dwelling along the side of freeways, dwelling under trees.
  We say that home is where the heart is. If this is true, we have to 
query: Where is the heart of the homeless? Where is the heart of the 
homeless? Is it on a bridge or under a bridge or near a park bench at 
night? Is it someplace where those of us who lead lives adorned with 
luxury don't have them in sight?
  Where are the homeless? Where is the heart?
  But the question really isn't, where is the heart of the homeless 
person. The question is: Where is our heart?
  Where is the heart of a nation that is the richest in the world that 
can tolerate this level of homelessness that is in plain sight?
  You don't have to look very far to see it. Many of us take the 
freeways and we avoid it, but it is right there for all to see.
  Where is our heart? Where is the heart of the country that can put 
people on the moon, the country that can house people in space 
stations; where is the heart of the country that can do all of these 
magnificent things, yet have persons who are sleeping under bridges?
  I am proud that the Honorable Maxine Waters, the chairperson of the 
Financial Services Committee, has a bill that we are taking up, a bill 
that would accord some many billions of dollars for the homelessness 
part of it, some $5-plus billion, and it would attempt to tackle this 
problem of homelessness in a very positive way.
  It is not just another Lilliputian effort. This is a noble effort to 
do what we can to provide homes for people who are living on the 
streets of life in the richest country in the world.
  So, this month I am proud to bring this resolution to the floor, and 
I am proud to tell you that we are going to tackle these problems. We 
may not solve them immediately, but we have the will to solve them 
eventually.
  This is our challenge. This is our quest. And this is what we must do 
in the richest country in the world.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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