Bill Huizenga

Mr. Speaker, as a small business owner, I have seen it. I have lived it. When community banks disappear, families and small businesses lose the local lenders who know their communities and their customers best. Less competition means fewer financing options, higher borrowing costs, and less investment on Main Street, not Wall Street, as some of my colleagues are trying to assert.

This bill lowers unnecessary regulatory costs for community and midsize banks, not those big business center banks on Wall Street and in New York and around the world. In fact, this ends debanking. Mr. Speaker, it restores the flexibility these institutions need to better serve you and your family.

I am also pleased that this bill includes two of my bills: the FDIC Board Accountability Act, which strengthens governance of the FDIC board on behalf of smaller institutions, and the Enhancing Bank Resolution Participation Act, which simply seeks to bring more qualified bidders into failed-bank resolutions when disaster strikes.

Better oversight and broader participation can protect depositors. It is going to promote competition. It reduces further concentration in the banking system, and I would think, Mr. Speaker, we would want that. However, it appears that some on the other side do not.

This package makes it easier to form new banks, strengthens local funding and liquidity, and helps community lenders put more deposits to work financing homes, small businesses, and entrepreneurial dreams.

At a time when Americans are struggling with everyday expenses, Washington should not make credit more expensive through needless red tape.

H.R. 6955, the Main Street Act, will promote competition. It will expand access to capital and help make life more affordable for American families.

I thank the chairman both of the full committee as well as our subcommittee, and I urge passage.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the long- awaited 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, and I congratulate Chairman Hill, the ranking member, Chair Flood, and Ranking Member Cleaver for their hard work.

Throughout southwest Michigan, I hear about housing challenges--from a young family's inability to buy their first home to lack of available workforce housing.

Sadly, more than 70 percent of Michigan households do not earn enough to afford a median-priced new home, which costs over $398,000.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is a bipartisan solution to address this problem by lowering prices and improving affordability.

Additionally, this legislation will increase the supply of housing by removing barriers to development and expanding local financing options to help bring more housing to market, which is key to addressing this issue.

I have fought passionately and, frankly, sometimes stubbornly, as this chairman will tell you, for this bipartisan legislation because it helps restore the American Dream by making housing more affordable and available.

Let's send this cost-saving legislation to the President's desk and deliver for the American people.

Mr. Speaker, roughly 16,000 young adults age out of the child welfare system annually, and far too many of them face significant challenges in reaching their full potential.

Tragically, nearly 35 percent, a full third of these young adults, also experience homelessness by age 21.

To address these challenges and to improve outcomes for children and young adults across America, this week the House passed H.R. 7432, the Fostering the Future Act.

This bipartisan legislation equips young adults with the tools to succeed and the skills for in-demand jobs.

By expanding education and training vouchers to include short-term workforce training and apprenticeships, we increase both opportunity and educational support for at-risk members of our society.

Additionally, this bill better aligns Federal housing programs so that we can reduce homelessness among those exiting the foster care system.

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see the House take this bipartisan action for the first time in more than 25 years to help our young people build a brighter future.