Wyden Statement on New Biden-Harris Administration Affordable Housing Initiative
Washington, D.C. — Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued the following statement on President Biden’s announcement of new actions to lower housing costs in America:
“The Biden-Harris administration is absolutely right that the key to solving our affordable housing crisis in America is to build, build, build. Donald Trump had four years in office to get something done on housing, but his abysmal record on this issue shows that the American people cannot trust a billionaire real estate tycoon to lift a finger to help typical renters or middle-class homebuyers facing skyrocketing costs. Republicans continue to be the biggest obstacle to making progress on this issue. I wrote a bill, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, that would build more than 200,000 new affordable housing units, a solid down-payment on the construction we need. It got 357 votes in the House, but Senate Republicans have been blocking it for five and a half months. Congress also needs to crack down on greedy housing cartels that are using algorithms and manipulating markets to squeeze tenants who are already paying too much for rent. More and more people are getting clobbered by housing costs in Oregon and all across the country, and the bottom line is that Americans would be paying less for rent today if not for the fact that Republicans have spent years blocking any real efforts to tackle the housing crisis.”
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