Lowering Housing Costs and Advancing Main Street Community Banks
Floor Speech
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Mr. DOWNING. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Haridopolos) for arranging this Special Order hour.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6644, the Housing for the 21st Century Act.
Americans across the country are feeling the squeeze of a very real housing crisis. The National Association of Realtors estimates that the average first-time home buyer was 40 years old in the year 2025.
In my home State of Montana, the estimates show the median home price of a home exceeds $500,000. The internet and social media are filled with testimonies critiquing sky-high housing prices like Bozeman where starter homes can exceed $1 million.
For once, both sides of the aisle agree. The root cause of this crisis lies in the supply side. Put simply, we do not have enough homes to meet the demand.
So what should we do?
Throwing money at a problem rarely fixes it. What Americans deserve are concrete, commonsense regulatory reforms that make it easier to build more homes. The Housing for the 21st Century Act achieves this by removing unnecessary regulatory barriers, modernizing HUD programs, and enhancing community banking operations to expand lending for buyers and builders alike.
What is more, our bill accomplishes this with no new permanent programs and no new spending. We are simply getting the government out of the way.
I could not be more enthusiastic to endorse this legislation. I thank Chairman Hill and Chairman Flood for their hard work in getting it to the floor today where it passed on a bipartisan basis by a vote of 390- 9.
Looking forward, I believe we have the opportunity to make even more progress on housing by addressing reforms to the Build America Buy America Act, or BABA, and reauthorizing the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act, or NAHASDA.
Don't let the name fool you. BABA may sound patriotic, but mandating BABA compliance for HUD-funded projects hamstrings builders by dictating how they source materials, driving up the cost of construction, and increasing the time to market.
We also cannot afford to forget about our Tribal communities. Montana is home to 12 distinct Tribal Nations, and NAHASDA reauthorization and modernization would be a game changer for them.
NAHASDA is a lifeline for Indian Country, and its authorization lapsed after fiscal year 2013. This law consolidated and authorized Indian housing programs, which provide Tribes greater autonomy when using Federal resources for housing projects on Tribal lands.
Mr. Speaker, homeownership is a cornerstone of the American Dream. Families should not have to wait decades before buying their first house. Kids should grow up playing in the living room of their childhood home, not a rental.
Sadly, what was once a reality is fast becoming just that, a dream. The American people are looking to Congress for a solution. Let's give them one by getting this bill to President Trump's desk as soon as possible.
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