Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to speak on behalf of Congressman Mel Watt to serve as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. It has been over 5 years since the FHFA's inception, and it still has never had a confirmed Director. First, Senate Republicans blocked President Obama's original nominee for the post, Joe Smith, who was a technocrat. Today they are trying to block Congressman Watt because they say he is a politician and not a technocrat. But they forget that Congressman Watt has over 40 years of experience in housing, real estate, and other financial services issues. Before coming to Congress, he practiced business and economic development law and personally walked hundreds of families through real estate closings. In Congress, he has served on the House Financial Services Committee for the past 21 years. In that capacity, he was one of the first Members to recognize the need for action on predatory lending. With great foresight, he introduced the Prohibit Predatory Lending Act in 2004 and introduced it every Congress until it became the foundation for the qualified mortgage provision of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. If we had all listened to Congressman Watt before the housing crisis, then thousands of consumers might have avoided being scammed into unsafe mortgages that ultimately led to foreclosure. Congressman Watt has also shown a commitment to housing finance reform.…”