Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Cherryville, North Carolina (Mr. McHenry), the author of one of the pieces of underlying legislation. Mr. McHENRY. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, the bill that I am sponsoring is the HAMP Termination Act, and it is a bill that will protect at-risk homeowners across the country from a government program that has proven to be an abysmal failure. The Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, was originally supposed to help as many as 3 million to 4 million struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure by modifying loans to a level that is affordable to borrowers now and sustainable over the long term. That was the intention. However, nearly 800,000 of the 1.4 million homeowners who enrolled in this program have subsequently been rejected or terminated. In his most recent testimony to Congress, the Special Inspector General for TARP, Neil Barofsky, stated: ``It is just not working. The Home Affordable Modification Program has to date been a failure.'' ``A failure,'' in the words of the independent individual to oversee this program. A failure. Now, there is no doubt that people of good will created this program. There is no doubt about that. The intention was to help those that are facing foreclosure. That was the intention. Unfortunately, the design of this program has led to more people being harmed than actually helped. Understand that.…”