New Direction for Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection Act and the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007--Continued

Floor Speech

NEW DIRECTION FOR ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, NATIONAL SECURITY, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT AND THE RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY CONSERVATION TAX ACT OF 2007--Continued -- (Senate - April 03, 2008)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

AMENDMENT NO. 4397 TO AMENDMENT NO. 4387

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to set aside the Voinovich amendment in order to call up amendment No. 4397.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered, and the clerk will report.

The bill clerk read as follows:

The Senator from Washington [Mrs. Murray], for herself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Casey, and Mr. Brown, proposes an amendment numbered 4397.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that further reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To increase funding for housing counseling resources)

On page 58, line 10, strike ``$100,000,000'' and all that follows through ``2008'' on line 11, and insert the following: ``$200,000,000, to remain available until December 31, 2008''.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I offer this amendment for myself and Senator Schumer, Senator Casey, and Senator Brown.

I am extremely happy that we do have a bipartisan bill now that provides a solution to the problem at the very center of our Nation's economic downturn--the housing crisis--that has shaken communities across this country. We know that each month this year thousands of homeowners will see their interest rates rise, and many more will find themselves underwater as the housing market in their region continues to suffer. If the Federal Government doesn't take action, as many as 2 million American families are going to lose their homes to foreclosure this year. Each one of those foreclosures represents a family whose dream of a comfortable home and a secure future is going to be dashed, and each one of those foreclosures really weakens the foundation of a community.

This crisis has already rippled across our economy. If we don't take aggressive steps to prevent it from becoming worse, it is going to take that much longer for our neighborhoods and our hometowns to recover. That is why I rise this afternoon to offer an amendment with Senators SCHUMER, CASEY, and BROWN which I believe will help make this bill much stronger. Our amendment will provide an additional $100 million for housing counselors, who really are our front line of defense in the fight to prevent more families from losing their homes. What our amendment does is double the money for housing counseling that is in this bill. It builds on our efforts we started last year.

In last year's omnibus budget, we included $180 million through the NeighborWorks America Program for housing counseling to help 450,000 homeowners who are in trouble today. As chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing, I worked hard with my colleague, Senator Bond, to push for that money. The bill before us today would provide the resources to help another 250,000 homeowners, and our amendment would enable us to bring the total number of families helped through this bill to 500,000.

Many homeowners today don't know that they can get help if they get behind on their mortgage. Too many of them don't make contact with their lender when they miss their first payment, and too many just feel intimidated or don't trust their bank enough to make a call. But housing counselors can help these families. They can help them negotiate with their lender, readjust their payment, or learn how to budget their expenses better.

The last couple of years have really proven that this kind of assistance may be the most cost-effective and important piece of the solution to the housing crisis, and that is why we believe we must ensure that counseling agencies get more resources as soon as possible if we are going to turn around this economic crisis.

According to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 96 percent of the families who get counseling avoid foreclosure. Let me say that again. Ninety-six percent of the families who get counseling avoid foreclosure. That means almost all the people who seek help from an expert will not lose their homes.

We know the demand is there. Last year, the demand for the $180 million made available for counseling in the omnibus was twice as high as the money available, and that happened even though counseling agents across the country had only 2 weeks last year to apply for the grants. In just the couple of months that have passed since then, several States have seen a dramatic increase in their foreclosures, and people in those communities and other communities across the country are very worried. We all know that foreclosures have left our neighborhoods full of vacant homes. Families are distressed, they are in trouble, and State and local governments are seeing their tax revenues drop now, even as the needs out there are piling up.

These counseling agencies we provide the funding for are telling us they need desperately more resources to help address this. In my home State of Washington, the number of calls to counselors doubled in just the first few months of this year, and we know that is true across the country. But if the numbers aren't compelling enough, let me tell you personally about a few people I know who have been helped.

One of them is a man named Clifford. He is a gentleman from my State, and I don't want to use his last name to protect his privacy, but he told me what happened to him. He and his family thought they had achieved the American dream by owning a home. Their home represented stability. It was an important investment in their future. But they started having trouble with their mortgage because Clifford lost his factory job, and pretty soon his wife got sick and she needed surgery. Before they knew it, they were a couple of months behind and were struggling with their mortgage company about how they could ever catch up. They turned eventually to Consumer Counseling Northwest, got a counselor who gave them help and advice, and he told me that made all the difference. Clifford's housing counselors were able to help him get his payments reduced, and now his family has been able to pay the mortgage and keep their home.

Madam President, there are many families like Clifford's across the country--people who are teetering on the edge and just need a little bit of help and counseling to avoid a crisis.

Earlier this year, at an event with Senators BOND and COCHRAN--and with Representatives OLVER and KNOLLENBERG from the House--I had an opportunity to meet a single mom from Ohio. She told us she had fallen on very hard times, which in turn led her to fall behind, and she soon found out she couldn't pay her mortgage. But thanks to help from NeighborWorks America, she told us that she and her children didn't lose their home and they were able to stay there. She told me that when she got behind, she just got completely overwhelmed. She told me she didn't know what to do. She said: You know, this is not something they teach you in school.

Well, these counselors made a difference in her life and thousands of others. We should not turn our back on families today who want to make a call and get help, who want to get their mortgages back in line and keep their homes. The economic health of this country depends on Americans having a safe and stable place to live and raise their families. We want every family who is facing a challenge today to know that there is help out there, and when they call, we want to make sure there is a knowledgeable counselor on the other end of the line who can give them the help they need.

So here is the bottom line. We know we have millions of people who need help, and we know housing counseling can make a difference. So I think it would be unconscionable not to provide this money, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment that will put the resources out there to make sure families in all our communities can pick up their phone, make a call, get the help they need, and keep their investment in their home and their security for the future.

Madam President, I have been proud to work with the Senator from New York, as well as others, on this bill, and I know he is on the floor and ready to speak as well.

I yield the floor.

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