Watch: Senator McCormick Delivers Floor Speech in Support of ROAD to Housing Act

"The ROAD to Housing Act represents the most consequential federal action on housing in a generation. Passing through the Banking Committee with a unanimous, 24-to-0 vote, it's also proof that the Senate can address important issues in a bipartisan way."

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor in support of the ROAD to Housing Act.

Click here to watch the video.

Senator McCormick's remarks below (as prepared):

"Mr. President, I rise today in support of the ROAD to Housing Act.

"I grew up in Northeast Pennsylvania, in a town called Bloomsburg, believing in a simple deal: work hard, play by the rules and you can build a life in your own home.

"But that promise - the American Dream - has become increasingly out of reach for families across our great Commonwealth. There are too few homes to buy and too many aging homes that families can't afford to maintain.

"The numbers tell a clear and disturbing story: Pennsylvania is short 100,000 homes today - that's the same number as seats in Penn State's Beaver Stadium. Median home prices have hit an all-time high of $325,000. Rent has surged. And more than half our housing stock is over 50 years old, which means greater repair costs for homeowners already struggling with tight budgets.

"The absence of good, new, affordable housing has locked out young families. When I was a teenager, the median age of a first-time homebuyer was 29. Today it is 40.

"That is an entire decade of homeownership and wealth-building that has been lost by a generation.

"American families did not create this problem. Washington did. Major federal housing programs have been funded for decades without serious reform. Some

haven't been updated since the 1960's.

"The Biden administration had four years to address this crisis. Instead, more bureaucracy, more mandates, and reckless spending drove this problem off a cliff. From the rowhouses of Philadelphia to the small towns of the Monongahela Valley, home prices across our Commonwealth have risen more than 75 percent since 2020. Nationally, the average monthly mortgage payment is over $1000 higher than when President Biden took office.

"Last year, I visited Bedford Dwellings in Pittsburgh's historic Hill District with HUD Secretary Turner. We spoke with great Pennsylvanians who feel the American Dream is increasingly out of reach. I hear this feedback everywhere I go across the Commonwealth.

"This is a big problem. It's an unacceptable problem. And it's time for a new direction.

"President Trump's leadership is lowering housing costs for American families. He cut red tape in permitting and construction and directed key agencies to keep Wall Street out of the starter home market. And he delivered the most significant federal investment in affordable housing in decades via the Working Families Tax Cut Act.

"Today, the Senate has an opportunity to build on this progress - in a serious, bipartisan way - by passing the ROAD to Housing Act.

"The bill advances three goals.

"First: build more. The Act cuts the red tape, lowers costs, and speeds up zoning and permitting.

"Second: fix what we have. Grants and forgivable loans are provided to low-income homeowners for repairs, helping preserve home values and helping stabilize neighborhoods.

"Third: empower communities, not bureaucrats. Local leaders are empowered to make decisions that fit their towns. The federal government should be a partner not a gatekeeper.

"Guided by these principles, the ROAD to Housing Act represents the most consequential federal action on housing in a generation. Passing through the Banking Committee with a unanimous, 24-to-0 vote, it's also proof that the Senate can address important issues in a bipartisan way.

"I'm particularly proud of the amendments my friend and colleague, Senator Fetterman, and I championed together that protect Pennsylvania workers, veterans, and homeowners.

"For example, I was the lead or co-lead on six provisions that will help ensure Pennsylvanians - including our 800,000 veterans - can afford good homes without risk of falling through the cracks.

"The bill and my provisions also empower Pennsylvania's community lenders. There is a scene in "It's a Wonderful Life" where George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart - who, by the way, was a native of my dad's hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania - fights to save the Bailey Building and Loan.

"This was the community lender in the fictional town of Bedford Falls that knew every borrower by name and made the mortgages that helped ordinary people own homes.

"That model once helped build "a wonderful life" for generations of Americans. But we have regulated it so heavily that community lenders who want to serve their neighbors can't make the math work.

"Homeownership for most young families shouldn't exist only in the movies. It should exist in Bloomsburg and Bradford and Braddock and every Pennsylvania community where a local lender knows the borrower and wants to say yes. This bill takes important steps in that direction.

"And one more thing: the ROAD to Housing Act builds on President Trump's efforts and takes on Wall Street landlords competing directly with first-time buyers for single-family homes. The housing market should work for Main Street - not Wall Street.

"For ALL these many reasons, I am proud to stand in support the ROAD to Housing Act. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote yes - and make the American Dream of homeownership possible again for the next generation of Pennsylvanians.

"I yield the floor."

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