Political Quotes

“I do, in fact, rise in support of H.R. 4351, the Yes In My Backyard, or YIMBY, Act. I thank the gentleman from Guam (Mr. San Nicolas) as well as the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill) for bringing this to the floor. Our Nation is, in fact, suffering from a severe national housing crisis, a word that is overused too much but, in fact, applies to the situation. We are indeed missing millions of homes to meet qualified and eligible demand in this country. The reference earlier was to 7.3 million. Estimates range from 7 to 10 million homes. In my home State alone, to put that in perspective, Washington State, we are underproduced by 200,000 homes. The implications of not having enough homes, of a supply problem, are grave, because housing, it turns out, is an ecosystem. What we see now is this entire ecosystem is under stress, and as a consequence, the cost of shelter is going up for everyone. From homeowners to renters, market-rate to affordable homes, and urban to suburban and rural areas, this housing crisis has hit everyone. One place where it is particularly acute is the production of starter homes. Stop and think about what that does to the ecosystem. If we are not building starter homes because of some of the fees, as an example, or regulations that my friend from Arkansas alluded to, that means that people who are renting can't quite get that first rung on the ladder of homeownership.…”