Political Quotes

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment that caps the temporary authority for the Federal Housing Administration to insure homes in high-cost areas at $500,000. The current temporary authority has the FHA insuring mortgages as high as $729,750. Only in Washington would a government program insure a mortgage on a home worth $750,000 for a low- and moderate-income program. Permitting FHA loans on a $750,000 home puts American taxpayers at additional risk. Allowing FHA-backed loans on these expensive homes contributes to the overinflated housing values that contributed to the foreclosure crisis from the beginning. The mortgage foreclosure crisis is not over, Mr. Chairman. There are still too many American families who are confronted every day with the risk that they might lose their homes. Washington should not be in the role of enabling this crisis. We need to begin the process of reducing the dependence of these communities from artificial support, and we need to give the private sector the ability to step back into the market. The best place to facilitate this is to lower the FHA loan limit to homes under $500,000. The FHA has traditionally focused on low- to moderate-income families who are seeking to purchase homes--and for good reason--as these buyers need the greatest assistance in their home purchases. The FHA should, once again, focus their efforts on these buyers.…”