Jeb Hensarling: “This goes further into the discussion of the mortgage tax that those of us on this side of the aisle believe is being…”

“This goes further into the discussion of the mortgage tax that those of us on this side of the aisle believe is being imposed upon the American people by this so-called Affordable Housing Fund. Earlier this evening the chairman said that he believes that this will be paid by the shareholders. We believe on this side of the aisle that, due to the duopoly power, the Fannie and Freddie, that they already control roughly 80 percent of the market in which they operate, that a substantial portion of the cost of the so-called Affordable Housing Fund will, indeed, be imposed upon homeowners in the form of higher mortgages, indeed, functionally a mortgage tax, a new mortgage tax on the American people. My amendment is fairly simple. It amends the section dealing with having the regulator suspend the program. Now, we know that within the language the program can be suspended, essentially, dealing with systemic risk of the economy. What my amendment does is, if the regulator finds out that, contrary to the chairman's opinion, that there is a mortgage tax, that indeed it has an adverse impact upon the cost of housing in America, that mortgages rise, that the program will be terminated.”