21st Century Road to Housing Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. WARREN. Madam President, I rise today in support of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. We are closer than ever to passing the biggest housing bill since 1990, when the average price of a home in America sold for $150,000. Today, 36 years later, the average home is selling for over $500,000.

The American dream of home ownership is now out of reach for millions of families. The median age of a first-time home buyer is now at an alltime high, and it is no secret why this has happened. Our Nation has a shortage of millions of homes.

And our housing crisis doesn't just affect the opportunity to buy a home. Americans can't afford to rent either. More than a million evictions were filed just last year, and, meanwhile, private equity has swooped in to outbid families for homes and then turn around and jack up the rent on tenants.

Congress has been sitting on its hands for decades as multiple generations of Americans have seen their dreams of home ownership slip out of reach, while Wall Street rakes in the profits.

It is no wonder that, when you ask Americans why they don't like politics or why they don't trust Congress, they will often say something like: It just all feels like it is rigged.

Yes, the system is broken, and I have been ringing the alarm bell about this for years. But, today, Congress is taking a big step toward fixing it.

The bill we are passing today sends a clear message to every American struggling to find a place they can afford. Elected leaders understand the problem and are actually doing something to try to solve it.

This bill acknowledges that outdated regulations and rules have gotten in the way of building more housing and building it fast. It represents an overwhelming bipartisan consensus that we should use the power of the Federal Government to encourage communities to build more housing and to repair the housing we already have. For the first time ever, this bill will stop private equity from buying up single-family homes. Wow.

You know, I have been speaking up for years about how private equity has come in and just taken over industry after industry after industry, stripping it for parts and running those businesses into the ground. Congress has never before held private equity accountable for anything. Today, that changes. No longer will private equity firms come in with an all-cash offer to snap up a house while a family loses out on their dream.

Today's vote proves that it is possible to find bipartisan common ground on legislation that actually helps the American people. Importantly, it proves that bipartisan legislation doesn't have to be the weakest, most milquetoast agreement that doesn't offend anyone or do too much to help anyone either. It proves that we can legislate by taking really good ideas from every member of the Banking Committee-- Democrats and Republicans--from across the Senate, from across the House, from mayors and local governments, from housing experts and advocates, and instead of just beating each other down to strip out anything that anybody in that group doesn't like, we add in even more good ideas until we have the biggest housing bill in more than 30 years.

I don't say this a lot, but today, I am proud to be a Member of the U.S. Senate. Today, we are doing something that will make a real difference in people's lives.

I am grateful to the chairman of the Banking Committee, who led us in this effort and who kept us on task at all times. If it would help families, he said he was for it, and he helped make that happen. I am grateful for that.

You know, I just want us all to remember that this housing bill is big, but our housing prices are even bigger. We have more work to do, and I hope that today's vote is only the first of many votes to follow to continue our efforts to lower the cost of housing all across America. Let's get this done.

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