On the recordMarch 10, 2011
We know how dire the situation is for tens of thousands of Americans with underwater mortgages who are making good faith efforts to make the right decisions both for themselves and for the lender. And we are very concerned that if this program prematurely is destroyed, we will be yanking back a lifeline that Congress has sent to these folks. And, of course, this is important because it's not just the people who own these homes that are underwater right now that are affected by the collapse in housing values, but all of us are because that housing debacle has affected employment in the construction trades and in the real estate industry broadly. We all have a stake in this issue. So what my amendment would do is to basically say that we want the FHA, if, in fact, this situation moves forward like this bill is, that they will conduct a study and essentially implement a substitute program that will fix anything that needs fixing in this program to achieve the ends that we ought to be able to have as our goal. Now, the basic underlying theory of our amendment is simple. Before you take away a lifeline from some American to solve a problem that thousands are experiencing, come up with a substitute, come up with an improvement, come up with an alternative. And that's what our amendment simply says. If we're going to eliminate this program in its current embodiment, let's come up with an alternative and have it implemented in a way that we keep this lifeline out there.
