Maxine Waters: “Well, actually, I don't even want to waste another minute on this pointless and redundant amendment. Anyone who pays…”

“Well, actually, I don't even want to waste another minute on this pointless and redundant amendment. Anyone who pays attention to government oversight knows that the GAO already makes all of its reports resulting from legislative mandates publicly available on the GAO's website as soon as they are issued to Congress. Mr. Chair, I include in the Record two letters: one from Americans for Financial Reform and one from Public Citizen. Americans for Financial Reform, May 23, 2023. Hon. Patrick McHenry, Chairman, House Committee on Financial Service, Washington, DC. Hon. Maxine Waters, Ranking Member, House Committee on Financial Services, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman McHenry and Ranking Member Waters: We are writing to express our opposition to H.R. 3564 ``Middle Class Borrower Protection Act of 2023.'' The bill's title is ironic because it would, in fact, make mortgages more expensive for many middle-class American families. Record housing prices have put homeownership increasingly out of reach for my Americans. The US median home sales price is $436,800 as of the first quarter of 2023. That's a 32 percent increase from 2020, when the median was $329,000. However, Americans have not become 32 percent richer in the last three years. Rather, inflation, rising demand, and the increasing amount of homes owned by private equity and Wall Street firms have all contributed to these price increases.…”