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National Association of Realtors 11/10/89 [OA 3537] [2]
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Document No. 088452SS
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
11/7/89
11/8/89 10:00 AM
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
ROGERS
WINSTON
CICCONI
DEMAREST
PINKERTON
FITZWATER
BOSKIN
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please forward any comments directly to Chriss Winston, Rm. 122,
x2930, no later than 10:00 AM, Wednesday, November 8, with a
copy to my office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
see Comments
2th : 11v 8 100.68
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
McGroarty/Dooley
November 7, 1989
1983 NOV -7 PM 1: 31
12:30 pm
[REALTORS]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
DALLAS, TEXAS
NOVEMBER 10, 1989
2:15 P.M.
two up and coming [or four fine]
There May be 2 other
[Introductory remarks.] Thank you, Ira [Griben] -- the very
able President of the National Association of Realtors. And let
up and coming
me say hello to two fine members of Congress who have travelled
phil
Phil stre
down to Dallas today, Representatives Bill Thomas and Claudine
Schneider.
Bathtt
[[ Ira mentioned to me on my way in this afternoon that my
speech is a special occasion for this association. // I said I
was honored -- and then Ira said "It's not often that we're
addressed by someone who lives in public housing." ]] ////
[[ The truth is, I am not a real estate wizard. When I was
elected to Congress back in 1966, we needed to make housing
arrangements up in Washington. At that time, Senator Al
Simpson's father, Millward, was retiring and moving back to
Wyoming. So I bought the Simpson place -- sight unseen -- made
the deal over the phone. When we got to Washington, there were
just two problems: we found out right away the house wasn't
quite big enough for the Bush family -- and we found out when we
put the place up for sale that it wasn't worth quite as much as
we paid for it. /// That's my claim to fame: I'm the only
2
person who ever lost money in Washington real estate in the last
20 years. /// Ira, where were you when I needed you? ]]
But few people have done more for the real estate industry
than I have. // Barbara and I have moved 28 times in our 44
years of marriage. 111 Now I know what you're thinking -- what
a dream client my family would make for any realtor. /// In
fact, OMB is calculating the commissions we've paid over the
years -- measured as a percentage of the GNP. ]] 1111
I came here today to lay out a set of housing initiatives --
a comprehensive plan to bring basic shelter and affordable
housing within reach of every American.
But before I outline my housing proposals, I want to speak
for a moment about the single most important factor in helping
millions of Americans realize the American Dream: the economy.
Because the truth is, there's no better housing policy than
a strong economy. One that provides jobs and opportunities for
advancement -- interest rates that open ownership opportunities
to hundreds of thousands of first-time home buyers. I know just
how important interest rates are when it comes to home buying: a
1 1/2 point drop means an additional 670,000 families able to
purchase that home they want.
And all signs point to continued strength in the economy.
November marks the seventh full year of economic expansion -- the
longest peacetime expansion in our nation's history.
Unemployment is lower now than at any point since the early 70s.
And here's one statistic that has to please all of you: home
3
mortgage rates are down from almost 14% back in November, 1982 to
less than 10% today.
All of us know that the way to keep this expansion alive is
to stick with the pro-growth policies that set it in motion --
the policies that provide the private sector room to do what only
it can do: create prosperity and higher standards of living.
Of course, part of any reasonable economic policy is getting
our fiscal house in order. // I want you to know that my
Administration is hanging tough for a responsible budget -- with
real deficit reduction, no smoke and mirrors.
We don't like sequestration -- no one does. But we'll live
with it if we have to -- if it's the only way to rein in spending
and bring that deficit down to the Gramm-Rudman target. I'm
ready to sign a budget bill -- whenever Congress is ready to
strip off all the expensive extras and add-ons hidden away in
those omnibus spending bills. A responsible budget is one of the
best signals the government can send for the sake of continued
growth.
And I'm optimistic -- optimistic that this economic
expansion will continue. Hopeful my Administration and the
[Phil Gramma,Steve,)
Congress -- with the help of members like, Bill and Claudine --
can agree on a responsible budget. Hopeful that we'll see more
and more Americans prospering -- providing better lives for their
families, and looking to all of you to help them realize their
dreams.
4
Today, as I told you a few moments ago, I've chosen this
occasion to announce a wide-ranging set of housing initiatives I
call Project Hope -- an initiative that stands for Homeownership
and Opportunity for People Everywhere.
Project HOPE addresses the full range of housing concerns:
from shelter for the homeless to affordable housing for low-
income families -- to initiatives that will help millions more
Americans achieve the American Dream: owning their own home.
Let's start with what Project HOPE will do for first-time
home buyers. You know first-hand about families working hard to
buy that first home -- families whose savings are no match for
skyrocketing prices. First-time buyers deserve our help -- and
they're going to get it. I will ask Congress to enact
legislation allowing first-time buyers -- or their parents -- to
draw without penalty on IRA savings as a downpayment for that
first home.
And we've got to expand the home-buying base -- bring more
low-income families into the ranks of homeowners. I will earmark
funds from the Federal Housing Financing Board, to be used for
mortgage rate buy-downs to make homeowning an option for more
low-income families.
Now, I know you've all seen the news on new housing starts.
It's time for all levels of government to take a second look at
some of the well-intended housing policies that actually decrease
our housing supply. I'm talking about the excessive rules,
regulations and red tape that add unnecessarily to the cost of
5
housing -- tens of thousands of dollars in some cases -- or
create perverse incentives to allow existing housing to
deteriorate.
I have asked my very able Secretary of HUD, Jack Kemp, to
convene a Blue Ribbon Commission to identify barriers to
affordable housing and to make recommendations on how those
barriers can be removed. And let me make the first
recommendation myself: no city, state or town should receive a
single cent of Project HOPE funds until they have identified
barriers to affordable housing -- and devise a plan to remove
them. ///
Project HOPE also means initiatives to improve low-income
housing. Let me say right away that my Administration rejects
costly new construction programs that, in the past, have too
often produced the housing projects that symbolize the very
absence of hope in our inner cities. This Administration remains
100% behind housing vouchers that let low-income families choose
for themselves where they wish to live.
Our challenge is to create incentives that maintain the low-
income housing we need. I will ask Congress to renew the Low-
Income Housing Tax Credit -- on one condition: that the Low-
Income Housing Tax Credit is part of a package that includes a
cut in the capital gains tax. I know the National Association of
Realtors has fought hard to make a capital gains cut a reality.
Well, the fight's not over. We're going to keep up the fight for
6
one simple reason: because a cut in capital gains is good for
growth. ///
And Project HOPE can help us reverse a trend that's stunting
some of the growth and development that would otherwise take
place in low-income areas. Too many poverty-stricken areas have
simply been redlined -- ruled too risky for lending. I am asking
the Federal Housing Authority to work with neighborhood non-
profit groups to identify responsible credit risks in poor areas,
and open a flow of credit for new low and moderate income
housing. The time has come to replace the redline with a
greenline -- to color these inner-city neighborhoods green for
growth.
But the real centerpiece of our plan for public housing is
resident management and, yes, resident ownership. That's the
idea behind our HOPE Grants initiative. It's already working:
In Kenilworth-Parkside, back in Washington, D.C. In Cochran
Gardens in St. Louis. And it's going to work right here -- at
the nation's second-largest public housing project in West
Dallas.
And the results are promising: with tenants in control, we
see better maintenance, more rents paid on time, a decrease in
people on the welfare roles as job opportunities emerge. And we
see something more: a sense of pride that is the very core of
any thriving community.
I hope these successes are only the beginning -- of a
nationwide shift towards tenant control, and ultimately towards
7
tenant ownership. I don't know any better way to revive hope in
our inner cities than to give tenants a say in running their
communities, a stake in the future and the hope that they, too,
can own a home. //
That's worth remembering. Because the true measure of
success isn't how many families we add to housing assistance
roles. It's how many families move up and out -- and into the
ranks of homeowners. ///
Project HOPE can make a difference for millions of Americans
who want to buy a home -- or who simply want to provide their
families decent housing and better hopes for the future. But
there are other people out there we've got to help. People who
stand in the shadows of what is otherwise a very bright economic
picture -- who live a nightmare in the midst of the American
Dream. We see them every day -- on the streets of our cities,
sleeping on steam grates, living out of cardboard boxes. The
homeless. //
Back in June, I went up to Covenant House in New York. I
met children there who've been out on the street for 4 or 5 years
-- from the time they were 12 and 13 years old. /// We can't
begin to imagine the horrors they go through.
For all of us, November is the time of year we start looking
forward to the holiday season: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New
Years. For the homeless, November is the time of year the
temperature starts to drop, and simply making it through the
night becomes a life and death struggle. 11 Homelessness is a
8
tragedy -- and Project HOPE won't be complete unless it reaches
out to help the homeless. 11 Because no child in America should
have to grow up on the streets. And every family in America
should have a roof over its head. ///
Now, my Administration is going to do its part to expand
emergency shelters. We're committed to fully funding the
McKinney Act. We're directing the FHA to set aside 10% of its
foreclosed housing for lease to homeless groups. And today, I
want to announce that -- as part of the savings and loans
recovery program -- I will make certain that a portion of the
properties from failed S&Ls be put to public use as facilities
for the homeless.
But we can't begin to eliminate homelessness -- to really
get at the root of the problem -- until we understand the various
reasons that lead to life on the streets. Homelessness isn't
just a matter of too little shelter space. There are the working
homeless, men and women -- some with children -- who hold down a
job, but still can't afford a home. But they are only a fraction
of the many homeless men and women who are literally incapable of
caring for themselves. And if we care about them, we've got to
take more than a one-dimensional approach to the problem.
The fact is this: Two-thirds of the homeless out on our
streets suffer from drug dependency or mental illness. For these
men and women, shelter alone is not enough. Homelessness is just
one symptom of the larger problems that prevent them from caring
for themselves.
9
The answer for the homeless who are mentally ill or addicted
to drugs is shelter plus: shelter supplemented by the necessary
support-services to get these people the help they need to live
in dignity. And that means a partnership -- a combined federal,
state and local effort -- to supply the funding and other
resources that constitute a comprehensive solution for the hard-
core homeless.
The key here is coordinating basic needs like shelter with
other social services -- to help the homeless get the treatment
they need to get control of their lives. To help them find and
hold down jobs. To help them manage a home. To help them regain
hope -- and leave life on the streets behind for good. ///
Helping the homeless. Helping low-income families find
affordable housing, decent housing. Helping more of the 80
million Americans who don't own a home join the ranks of
homeowners. Those are the aims of Project HOPE -- aims well
within our reach. And they are aims that deserve the active
support of every American who believes in the American Dream.
///
Thank you. God bless you -- and God bless the United States
of America.
# # #
Document No. 088452SS
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
89 OCT 8 P2:53
11/7/89 89 OCT
11/8/89 10:00 AM
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
ROGERS
WINSTON
CICCONI
DEMAREST
PINKERTON
FITZWATER
BOSKIN
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please forward any comments directly to Chriss Winston, Rm. 122,
x2930, no later than 10:00 AM, Wednesday, November 8, with a
copy to my office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
McGroarty/Dooley
November 7, 1989
12:30 pm
1989 NOV - 7 PM 1: 31
[REALTORS]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
DALLAS, TEXAS
NOVEMBER 10, 1989
2:15 P.M.
[Introductory remarks.] Thank you, Ira [Griben] -- the very
able President of the National Association of Realtors. And let
me say hello to two fine members of Congress who have travelled
down to Dallas today, Representatives Bill Thomas and Claudine
Schneider.
[[ Ira mentioned to me on my way in this afternoon that my
speech is a special occasion for this association. // I said I
was honored -- and then Ira said "It's not often that we're
addressed by someone who lives in public housing." ]] ////
[[ The truth is, I am not a real estate wizard. When I was
elected to Congress back in 1966, we needed to make housing
arrangements up in Washington. At that time, Senator Al
Simpson's father, Millward, was retiring and moving back to
Wyoming. So I bought the Simpson place -- sight unseen -- made
the deal over the phone. When we got to Washington, there were
just two problems: we found out right away the house wasn't
quite big enough for the Bush family -- and we found out when we
put the place up for sale that it wasn't worth quite as much as
we paid for it. /// That's my claim to fame: I'm the only
2
person who ever lost money in Washington real estate in the last
20 years. /// Ira, where were you when I needed you? ]]
But few people have done more for the real estate industry
than I have. // Barbara and I have moved 28 times in our 44
years of marriage. /// Now I know what you're thinking -- what
a dream client my family would make for any realtor. /// In
fact, OMB is calculating the commissions we've paid over the
years -- measured as a percentage of the GNP. ]] ////
I came here today to lay out a set of housing initiatives --
a comprehensive plan to bring basic shelter and affordable
housing within reach of every American.
But before I outline my housing proposals, I want to speak
for a moment about the single most important factor in helping
millions of Americans realize the American Dream: the economy.
Because the truth is, there's no better housing policy than
And arove got one.
a strong economy. One that provides jobs and opportunities for
advancement -- interest rates that open ownership opportunities
to hundreds of thousands of first-time home buyers. I know just
how important interest rates are when it comes to home buying: a
1 1/2 point drop means an additional 670,000 families able to
purchase that home they want.
And all signs point to continued strength in the economy.
November marks the seventh full year of economic expansion -- the
longest peacetime expansion in our nation's history.
for theyian
Unemployment is lower now than at any point since the early 70s.
^
And here's one statistic that has to please all of you: home
really hits home -
3
mortgage rates are down from almost 14% back in November, 1982 to
less than 10% today.
All of us know that the way to keep this expansion alive is
to stick with the pro-growth policies that set it in motion --
the policies that provide the private sector room to do what only
it can do: create prosperity and higher standards of living.
Of course, part of any reasonable economic policy is getting
our fiscal house in order. // I want you to know that my
Administration is hanging tough for a responsible budget -- with
real deficit reduction, no smoke and mirrors.
We don't like sequestration -- no one does. But we'll live
with it if we have to -- if it's the only way to rein in spending
and bring that deficit down to the Gramm-Rudman target. I'm
ck
ready to sign a budget bill -- whenever Congress is ready to
strip off all the expensive extras and add-ons hidden away in
those omnibus spending bills. A responsible budget is one of the
best signals the government can send for the sake of continued
growth.
And I'm optimistic -- optimistic that this economic
expansion will continue. Hopeful my Administration and the
Congress -- with the help of members like Bill and Claudine --
can agree on a responsible budget. Hopeful that we'll see more
and more Americans prospering -- providing better lives for their
families, and looking to all of you to help them realize their
dreams.
4
Today, as I told you a few moments ago, I've chosen this
occasion to announce a wide-ranging set of housing initiatives I
call Project Hope -- an initiative that stands for Homeownership
and Opportunity for People Everywhere.
Project HOPE addresses the full range of housing concerns:
from shelter for the homeless to affordable housing for low-
income families -- to initiatives that will help millions more
Americans achieve the American Dream: owning their own home.
Let's start with what Project HOPE will do for first-time
home buyers. You know first-hand about families working hard to
buy that first home families whose savings are no match for
skyrocketing prices. First time buyers deserve our help -- and
well they
they're going to get it. I will ask Congress to enact
legislation allowing first-time buyers -- or their parents -- to
draw without penalty on IRA savings as a downpayment for that
first home
But every American should share the dream
And we ve got to expand the home-buying base -- bring more
of home low ownership
income families into the ranks of homeowners. I will earmark
That's why
funds from the Federal Housing Financing Board, to be used for
mortgage rate buy-downs to make homeowning an option for more
low-income families.
Now, I know you've all seen the news on new housing starts.
It's time for all levels of government to take a second look at
some of the well-intended housing policies that actually decrease
our housing supply. I'm talking about the excessive rules,
regulations and red tape that add unnecessarily to the cost of
5
housing -- tens of thousands of dollars in some cases -- or
create perverse incentives to allow existing housing to
deteriorate.
I have asked my very able Secretary of HUD, Jack Kemp, to
convene a Blue Ribbon Commission to identify barriers to
affordable housing and to make recommendations on how those
barriers can be removed. And let me make the first
no
recommendation myself: no city, no state or town should receive a
single penny cent of Project HOPE funds until they have identified
barriers to affordable housing -- and devised plan to remove
them. ///
the
Project HOPE also means initiatives to improve low-income
that already exists. As youkunThis
housing Let me say right away that my Administration rejects
costly new construction programs that, in the past, have too
often produced the housing projects that symbolize the very
absence of hope in our inner cities. This Administration remains
100% behind housing vouchers that let low-income families choose
for themselves where they wish to live.
The real
Our challenge is to create incentives that maintain the low-
fust housing vouchers Let
income housing we need. I will ask Congress Second- to renew the Low-
Income Housing Tax Credit -- on one condition: that the Low-
Income Housing Tax Credit is part of a package that includes a
cut in the capital gains tax. I know the National Association of
Realtors has fought hard to make a capital gains cut a reality.
Well, the fight's not over. We're going to keep up the fight for
6
one simple reason: because a cut in capital gains is good for
growth. ///
And Project HOPE can help us reverse a trend that's stunting
some of the growth and development that would otherwise take
All of us can see that
place in low-income areas Too many poverty-stricken areas have
simply been redlined -- ruled too risky for lending. Is am asking
It's time to
the Federal Housing Authority to work with neighborhood non-
profit groups to identify responsible credit risks in poor areas,
and open a flow of credit for new low and moderate income
housing. The time has come to replace the redline with a
greenline -- to color these inner-city neighborhoods green for
growth.
But the real centerpiece of our plan for public housing is
resident management and, yes, resident ownership. That's the
idea behind our HOPE Grants initiative. It's already working:
In Kenilworth-Parkside, back in Washington, D.C. In Cochran
Gardens in St. Louis. And it's going to work right here -- at
the nation's second-largest public housing project in West
Dallas.
And the results are promising: with tenants in control, we
see better maintenance, more rents paid on time, a decrease in
people on the welfare roles as job opportunities emerge. And we
see something more: a sense of pride that is the very core of
any thriving community.
I hope these successes are only the beginning -- of a
nationwide shift towards tenant control, and ultimately towards
7
tenant ownership. I don't know any better way to revive hope in
our inner cities than to give tenants a say in running their
communities, a stake in the future and the hope that they, too,
can own a home. //
That's worth remembering. Because the true measure of
success isn't how many families we add to housing assistance
roles. It's how many families move up and out -- and into the
ranks of homeowners. ///
Project HOPE can make a difference for millions of Americans
who want to buy a home or who simply want to provide their
families decent housing and better hopes for the future. But
there are other people out there we ve got to help People who American
there's more to Project Hope. Andnow I'm talkey about
stand in the shadows of what is otherwise a very bright economic
picture -- who live a nightmare in the midst of the American
Dream. We see them every day -- on the streets of our cities,
sleeping on steam grates, living out of cardboard boxes. The
homeless. //
Back in June, I went up to Covenant House in New York. I
met children there who've been out on the street for 4 or 5 years
-- from the time they were 12 and 13 years old. /// We can't
some 00
indure
begin to imagine the horrors they go through.
most
For all of us, November is the time of year we start looking
forward to the holiday season: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New
Years. For the homeless, November is the time of year the
temperature starts to drop, and simply making it through the
night becomes a life and death struggle. // Homelessness is a
8
tragedy -- and Project HOPE won't be complete unless it reaches
out to help the homeless. // Because no child in America should
have to grow up on the streets. And every family in America
should have a roof over its head. ///
Now, my Administration is going to do its part to expand
emergency shelters. We're committed to fully funding the
McKinney Act. We're directing the FHA to set aside 10% of its
foreclosed housing for lease to homeless groups. And today, I
want to announce that -- as part of the savings and loans
recovery program -- I will make certain that a portion of the
will
properties from failed S&Ls be put to public use as facilities
^
for the homeless.
But we can't begin to eliminate homelessness -- to really
get at the root of the problem -- until we understand the various
reasons that lead to life on the streets. Homelessness isn't
just a matter of too little shelter space. There are the working
homeless, men and women -- some with children -- who hold down a
job, but still can't afford a home. But they are only a fraction
of the many homeless men and women who are literally incapable of
caring for themselves. And if we care about them, we've got to
take more than a one-dimensional approach to the problem.
The fact is this: Two-thirds of the homeless out on our
streets suffer from drug dependency or mental illness. For these
men and women, shelter alone is not enough. Homelessness is just
one symptom of the larger problems that prevent them from caring
for themselves.
9
The answer for the homeless who are mentally ill or addicted
to drugs is shelter plus: shelter supplemented by the necessary
support-services to get these people the help they need to live
in dignity. And that means a partnership -- a combined federal,
state and local effort -- to supply the funding and other
resources that constitute a comprehensive solution for the hard-
core homeless.
The key here is coordinating basic needs like shelter with
other social services -- to help the homeless get the treatment
they need to get control of their lives. To help them find and
hold down jobs. To help them manage a home. To help them regain
hope -- and leave life on the streets behind for good. ///
Helping the homeless. Helping low-income families find
affordable housing, decent housing. Helping more of the 80
million Americans who don't own a home join the ranks of
homeowners. Those are the aims of Project HOPE -- aims well
within our reach. And they are aims that deserve the active
support of every American who believes in the American Dream.
///
Thank you. God bless you -- and God bless the United States
of America.
# # #
OFFICER UNITED OFFICE
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
STATE
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503
NOTICE:
Enclosed are comments from staff members of the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). Such comments do not necessarily
represent the official position of the Director of OMB or of the
Office of Management and Budget. If you wish to have the
Director's personal comments, please let me know -- and contact
me if you have any questions.
David J. Haun
Executive Assistant
to the Director
11 : olv 8 100 68
Document No. 088452SS
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
11/7/89
11/8/89 10:00 AM
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
ROGERS
CARD
WINSTON
CICCONI
DEMAREST
PINKERTON
FITZWATER
BOSKIN
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please forward any comments directly to Chriss Winston, Rm. 122,
x2930, no later than 10:00 AM, Wednesday, November 8, with a
copy to my office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
see commento
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
McGroarty/Dooley
November 7, 1989
12:30 pm
1989 NOV -7 PM 1: 31
[REALTORS]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
DALLAS, TEXAS
NOVEMBER 10, 1989
2:15 P.M.
[Introductory remarks.] Thank you, Ira [Griben] -- the very
able President of the National Association of Realtors. And let
me say hello to two fine members of Congress who have travelled
down to Dallas today, Representatives Bill Thomas and Claudine
Schneider.
[[ Ira mentioned to me on my way in this afternoon that my
speech is a special occasion for this association. // I said I
was honored -- and then Ira said "It's not often that we're
addressed by someone who lives in public housing." ]] ////
[[ The truth is, I am not a real estate wizard. When I was
elected to Congress back in 1966, we needed to make housing
arrangements up in Washington. At that time, Senator Al
Simpson's father, Millward, was retiring and moving back to
Wyoming. So I bought the Simpson place -- sight unseen -- made
the deal over the phone. When we got to Washington, there were
just two problems: we found out right away the house wasn't
quite big enough for the Bush family -- and we found out when we
put the place up for sale that it wasn't worth quite as much as
we paid for it. /// That's my claim to fame: I'm the only
2
person who ever lost money in Washington real estate in the last
20 years. /// Ira, where were you when I needed you? ]]
But few people have done more for the real estate industry
than I have. // Barbara and I have moved 28 times in our 44
years of marriage. /// Now I know what you're thinking -- what
a dream client my family would make for any realtor. /// In
fact, OMB is calculating the commissions we've paid over the
years -- measured as a percentage of the GNP. 1] ////
I came here today to lay out a set of housing initiatives --
a comprehensive plan to bring basic shelter and affordable
housing within reach of every American.
But before I outline my housing proposals, I want to speak
for a moment about the single most important factor in helping
millions of Americans realize the American Dream: the economy.
Because the truth is, there's no better housing policy than
a strong economy. One that provides jobs and opportunities for
advancement -- interest rates that open ownership opportunities
to hundreds of thousands of first-time home buyers. I know just
how important interest rates are when it comes to home buying: a
1 1/2 point drop means an additional 670,000 families able to
purchase that home they want.
And all signs point to continued strength in the economy.
November marks the seventh full year of economic expansion -- the
longest peacetime expansion in our nation's history.
Unemployment is lower now than at any point since the early 70s.
And here's one statistic that has to please all of you: home
3
mortgage rates are down from almost 14% back in November, 1982 to
less than 10% today.
All of us know that the way to keep this expansion alive is
to stick with the pro-growth policies that set it in motion --
the policies that provide the private sector room to do what only
it can do: create prosperity and higher standards of living.
Of course, part of any reasonable economic policy is getting
our fiscal house in order. // I want you to know that my
Administration is hanging tough for a responsible budget -- with
real deficit reduction, no smoke and mirrors.
We don't like sequestration -- no one does. But we'll live
with it if we have to -- if it's the only way to rein in spending
and bring that deficit down to the Gramm-Rudman target. I'm
ready to sign a budget bill -- whenever Congress is ready to
strip off all the expensive extras and add-ons hidden away in
those omnibus spending bills. A responsible budget is one of the
best signals the government can send for the sake of continued
growth.
And I'm optimistic -- optimistic that this economic
expansion will continue. Hopeful my Administration and the
Congress -- with the help of members like Bill and Claudine --
can agree on a responsible budget. Hopeful that we'll see more
and more Americans prospering -- providing better lives for their
families, and looking to all of you to help them realize their
dreams.
4
Today, as I told you a few moments ago, I've chosen this
occasion to announce a wide-ranging set of housing initiatives I
call Project Hope -- an initiative that stands for Homeownership
and Opportunity for People Everywhere.
Project HOPE addresses the full range of housing concerns:
from shelter for the homeless to affordable housing for low-
income families -- to initiatives that will help millions more
Americans achieve the American Dream: owning their own home.
Let's start with what Project HOPE will do for first-time
home buyers. You know first-hand about families working hard to
buy that first home -- families whose savings are no match for
skyrocketing prices. First-time buyers deserve our help -- and
www/npoy
they're going to get it. I will ask Congress to enact
delite
legislation allowing first-time buyers
-- or their parents
to
TREASURY
draw without penalty on IRA savings as a downpayment for thatoer GIOON
WANTS This
first home.
out ALSO
And we've got to expand the home-buying base -- bring more
RIDER
low-income families into the ranks of homeowners.
I will earmark
funds from the Federal Housing Financing Board, to be used for
lelete
mortgage rate buy-downs to make homeowning an option for more
low-income families.
He an
Now, I know you've all seen the news on new housing starts.
It's time for all levels of government to take a second look at
it geutydiret annhat curreat do
some of the well-intended housing policies that actually decrease
our housing supply. I'm talking about the excessive rules,
law funds under even FHEB are The not Federal but regulations Howank System sands. and red
tape that add unnecessarily to the cost of
5
housing -- tens of thousands of dollars in some cases -- or
create perverse incentives to allow existing housing to
deteriorate.
I have asked my very able Secretary of HUD, Jack Kemp, to
convene a Blue Ribbon Commission to identify barriers to
affordable housing and to make recommendations on how those
barriers can be removed. And let me make the first
recommendation myself: no city, state or town should receive a
single cent of Project HOPE funds until they have identified
barriers to affordable housing -- and devise a plan to remove
them. ///
Project HOPE also means initiatives to improve low-income
housing. Let me say right away that my Administration rejects
costly new construction programs that, in the past, have too
often produced the housing projects that symbolize the very
absence of hope in our inner cities. This Administration remains
100% behind housing vouchers that let low-income families choose
for themselves where they wish to live.
Our challenge is to create incentives that maintain the low-
income housing we need. I will ask Congress to renew the Low-
Income Housing Tax Credit -- on one condition: that the Low-
Income Housing Tax Credit is part of a package that includes a
cut in the capital gains tax. I know the National Association of
Realtors has fought hard to make a capital gains cut a reality.
Well, the fight's not over. We're going to keep up the fight for
As I MENTIONED WE ARE IN THE SEVENTH Full yEAR
wans
of ECONOMIC EXPANSION. AcTioN ON CAPITAL GAINS will
PROTECT AND IN SURE MAT EXPANSION continues.
6
one simple reason: because a cut in capital gains is good for
growth. ///
And Project HOPE can help us reverse a trend that's stunting
some of the growth and development that would otherwise take
place in low-income areas. Too many poverty-stricken areas have
simply been redlined -- ruled too risky for lending. I am asking
the Federal Housing Authority to work non-
with a neighborhood of groups,
including
profit groups to identify responsible credit risks in poor areas,
915xx
new
and open a flow of credit for new low and moderate income
housing. The time has come to replace the redline with a
greenline -- to color these inner-city neighborhoods green for
growth.
But the real centerpiece of our plan for public housing is
resident management and, yes, resident ownership. That's the
idea behind our HOPE Grants initiative. It's already working:
In Kenilworth-Parkside, back in Washington, D.C. In Cochran
in Dallas
Gardens in St. Louis. And it's going to work right here
at
and other places too.
the nation's second-largest public housing project in West
it
Dallas.
none
"
And the results are promising: with tenants in control, we
see better maintenance, more rents paid on time, a decrease in
people on the welfare roles as job opportunities emerge. And we
see something more: a sense of pride that is the very core of
any thriving community.
I hope these successes are only the beginning -- of a
delated
general
nationwide shift towards tenant control, and ultimately towards
7
tenant ownership. I don't know any better way to revive hope in
our inner cities than to give tenants a say in running their
communities, a stake in the future and the hope that they, too,
can own a home. //
That's worth remembering. Because the true measure of
success isn't how many families we add to housing assistance
was
Rolls
roles
It's how many families move up and out -- and into the
ranks of homeowners. ///
Project HOPE can make a difference for millions of Americans
who want to buy a home -- or who simply want to provide their
families decent housing and better hopes for the future. But
there are other people out there we've got to help. People who
stand in the shadows of what is otherwise a very bright economic
picture -- who live a nightmare in the midst of the American
Dream. We see them every day -- on the streets of our cities,
sleeping on steam grates, living out of cardboard boxes. The
homeless. //
Back in June, I went up to Covenant House in New York. I
met children there who've been out on the street for 4 or 5 years
-- from the time they were 12 and 13 years old. /// We can't
begin to imagine the horrors they go through.
For all of us, November is the time of year we start looking
forward to the holiday season: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New
Years. For the homeless, November is the time of year the
temperature starts to drop, and simply making it through the
night becomes a life and death struggle. // Homelessness is a
8
tragedy -- and Project HOPE won't be complete unless it reaches
out to help the homeless. // Because no child in America should
have to grow up on the streets. And every family in America
should have a roof over its head. ///
Now, my Administration is going to do its part to expand
emergency shelters. We're committed to fully funding the
expand its programs
McKinney Act. We're directing the FHA to set-aside 108 of its
to make housing its foreclosed for lease housing to more less groups accessible And the today, homeless. I
want to announce that -- as part of the savings and loans
delety
recovery program -- I will make certain that a portion of the
properties from failed S&Ls be put to public use as facilities
for the homeless
But we can't begin to eliminate homelessness -- to really
get at the root of the problem -- until we understand the various
reasons that lead to life on the streets. Homelessness isn't
just a matter of too little shelter space. There are the working
homeless, men and women -- some with children -- who hold down a
job, but still can't afford a home. But they are only a fraction
of the many homeless men and women who are literally incapable of
caring for themselves. And if we care about them, we've got to
take more than a one-dimensional approach to the problem.
The fact is this: Two of the homeless out on our
streets suffer from drug dependency or mental illness. For these
men and women, shelter alone is not enough. Homelessness is just
one symptom of the larger problems that prevent them from caring
for themselves.
9
The answer for the homeless who are mentally ill or addicted
+ alcohol
to drugs is shelter plus: shelter supplemented by the necessary
support-services to get these people the help they need to live
in dignity. And that means a partnership -- a combined federal,
state and local effort -- to supply the funding and other
resources that constitute a comprehensive solution for the hard-
core homeless.
The key here is coordinating basic needs like shelter with
other social services -- to help the homeless get the treatment
they need to get control of their lives. To help them find and
hold down jobs. To help them manage a home. To help them regain
hope -- and leave life on the streets behind for good. ///
Helping the homeless. Helping low-income families find
affordable housing, decent housing. Helping more of the 80
million Americans who don't own a home join the ranks of
homeowners. Those are the aims of Project HOPE -- aims well
within our reach. And they are aims that deserve the active
support of every American who believes in the American Dream.
///
Thank you. God bless you -- and God bless the United States
of America.
# # #
STATES UNITED OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503
5873
November 7, 1989
MEMORANDUM FOR DAVID HAUN
Ahmad
FROM:
Ahmad Al-Samarrie
SUBJECT:
Presidential Remarks: National Association of
Realtors
This speech proposes a comprehensive package of housing
programs which, to our knowledge, have not been reviewed for cost
or practicality by OMB.
What would the budget cost be of allowing first-time buyers
or their parents to withdraw downpayments from IRAs without
tax penalties?
Should we use thrift bailout funds, which are already
inadequate and are outside of the budget, to help low-income
families and house the homeless? The losses incurred by
selling to low income families instead of getting the best
price will be much larger than the benefit to the low-income
families. So will the disruption in inventory management and
the damage resulting from housing the homeless. This is an
inefficient as well as a fiscally uncontrolled means of
assistance.
With two new programs for first-time buyers, should FHA,
which is now losing money, be rolled back? What about
rolling back mortgage revenue bonds, which are not a
cost-effective way of reducing the mortgage interest rate?
The reduction of barriers to the housing supply is a great
idea! Will the absence of Project Hope money be enough to
cause States and localities to make these changes?
It is unclear whether the speech proposes expanding the
voucher program. Taken together with the grand rhetoric on
page 2 promising basic shelter and affordable housing within
reach of every American, this could be very expensive!
Why reinstitute the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit for
developers and investors? This is inconsistent both with the
Tax Reform Act and with the voucher concept.
How much will it cost to direct FHA to lease 10% of its
housing to homeless groups and to direct additional credit to
redlined areas?
It does not serve the President well to speak about new
programs that have not been thoroughly "scrubbed" from all
perspectives.
Staffed
McGroarty/Dooley
November 7, 1989
12:30 pm
[REALTORS]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
DALLAS, TEXAS
NOVEMBER 10, 1989
2:15 P.M.
[Introductory remarks.] Thank you, Ira [Griben] -- the very
able President of the National Association of Realtors. And let
me say hello to two fine members of Congress who have travelled
down to Dallas today, Representatives Bill Thomas and Claudine
Schneider.
[[ Ira mentioned to me on my way in this afternoon that my
speech is a special occasion for this association. // I said I
was honored -- and then Ira said "It's not often that we're
addressed by someone who lives in public housing." ]] ////
[[ The truth is, I am not a real estate wizard. When I was
elected to Congress back in 1966, we needed to make housing
arrangements up in Washington. At that time, Senator Al
Simpson's father, Millward, was retiring and moving back to
Wyoming. So I bought the Simpson place -- sight unseen --- made
the deal over the phone. When we got to Washington, there were
just two problems: we found out right away the house wasn't
quite big enough for the Bush family -- and we found out when we
put the place up for sale that it wasn't worth quite as much as
we paid for it. /// That's my claim to fame: I'm the only
2
person who ever lost money in Washington real estate in the last
20 years. /// Ira, where were you when I needed you? ]]
But few people have done more for the real estate industry
than I have. 11 Barbara and I have moved 28 times in our 44
years of marriage. /// Now I know what you're thinking -- what
a dream client my family would make for any realtor. /// In
fact, OMB is calculating the commissions we've paid over the
years -- measured as a percentage of the GNP. ]] ////
I came here today to lay out a set of housing initiatives --
a comprehensive plan to bring basic shelter and affordable
housing within reach of every American.
But before I outline my housing proposals, I want to speak
for a moment about the single most important factor in helping
millions of Americans realize the American Dream: the economy.
Because the truth is, there's no better housing policy than
a strong economy. One that provides jobs and opportunities for
advancement -- interest rates that open ownership opportunities
to hundreds of thousands of first-time home buyers. I know just
how important interest rates are when it comes to home buying: a
1 1/2 point drop means an additional 670,000 families able to
purchase that home they want.
And all signs point to continued strength in the economy.
November marks the seventh full year of economic expansion -- the
longest peacetime expansion in our nation's history.
Unemployment is lower now than at any point since the early 70s.
And here's one statistic that has to please all of you: home
3
mortgage rates are down from almost 14% back in November, 1982 to
less than 10% today.
All of us know that the way to keep this expansion alive is
to stick with the pro-growth policies that set it in motion --
the policies that provide the private sector room to do what only
it can do: create prosperity and higher standards of living.
Of course, part of any reasonable economic policy is getting
our fiscal house in order. // I want you to know that my
Administration is hanging tough for a responsible budget -- with
real deficit reduction, no smoke and mirrors.
We don't like sequestration -- no one does. But we'll live
with it if we have to -- if it's the only way to rein in spending
and bring that deficit down to the Gramm-Rudman target. I'm
ready to sign a budget bill -- whenever Congress is ready to
strip off all the expensive extras and add-ons hidden away in
those omnibus spending bills. A responsible budget is one of the
best signals the government can send for the sake of continued
growth.
And I'm optimistic -- optimistic that this economic
expansion will continue. Hopeful my Administration and the
Congress -- with the help of members like Bill and Claudine --
can agree on a responsible budget. Hopeful that we'll see more
and more Americans prospering -- providing better lives for their
families, and looking to all of you to help them realize their
dreams.
4
Today, as I told you a few moments ago, I've chosen this
occasion to announce a wide-ranging set of housing initiatives I
call Project Hope -- an initiative that stands for Homeownership
and Opportunity for People Everywhere.
Project HOPE addresses the full range of housing concerns:
from shelter for the homeless to affordable housing for low-
income families -- to initiatives that will help millions more
Americans achieve the American Dream: owning their own home.
Let's start with what Project HOPE will do for first-time
home buyers. You know first-hand about families working hard to
buy that first home -- families whose savings are no match for
skyrocketing prices. First-time buyers deserve our help -- and
they're going to get it. I will ask Congress to enact
legislation allowing first-time buyers -- or their parents -- to
draw without penalty on IRA savings as a downpayment for that
first home.
And we've got to expand the home-buying base -- bring more
low-income families into the ranks of homeowners. I will earmark
funds from the Federal Housing Financing Board, to be used for
mortgage rate buy-downs to make homeowning an option for more
low-income families.
Now, I know you've all seen the news on new housing starts.
It's time for all levels of government to take a second look at
some of the well-intended housing policies that actually decrease
our housing supply. I'm talking about the excessive rules,
regulations and red tape that add unnecessarily to the cost of
5
housing -- tens of thousands of dollars in some cases -- or
create perverse incentives to allow existing housing to
deteriorate.
I have asked my very able Secretary of HUD, Jack Kemp, to
convene a Blue Ribbon Commission to identify barriers to
affordable housing and to make recommendations on how those
barriers can be removed. And let me make the first
recommendation myself: no city, state or town should receive a
single cent of Project HOPE funds until they have identified
barriers to affordable housing -- and devise a plan to remove
them. ///
Project HOPE also means initiatives to improve low-income
housing. Let me say right away that my Administration rejects
costly new construction programs that, in the past, have too
often produced the housing projects that symbolize the very
absence of hope in our inner cities. This Administration remains
100% behind housing vouchers that let low-income families choose
for themselves where they wish to live.
Our challenge is to create incentives that maintain the low-
income housing we need. I will ask Congress to renew the Low-
Income Housing Tax Credit -- on one condition: that the Low-
Income Housing Tax Credit is part of a package that includes a
cut in the capital gains tax. I know the National Association of
Realtors has fought hard to make a capital gains cut a reality.
Well, the fight's not over. We're going to keep up the fight for
6
one simple reason: because a cut in capital gains is good for
growth. ///
And Project HOPE can help us reverse a trend that's stunting
some of the growth and development that would otherwise take
place in low-income areas. Too many poverty-stricken areas have
simply been redlined -- ruled too risky for lending. I am asking
the Federal Housing Authority to work with neighborhood non-
profit groups to identify responsible credit risks in poor areas,
and open a flow of credit for new low and moderate income
housing. The time has come to replace the redline with a
greenline -- to color these inner-city neighborhoods green for
growth.
But the real centerpiece of our plan for public housing is
resident management and, yes, resident ownership. That's the
idea behind our HOPE Grants initiative. It's already working:
In Kenilworth-Parkside, back in Washington, D.C. In Cochran
Gardens in St. Louis. And it's going to work right here -- at
the nation's second-largest public housing project in West
Dallas.
And the results are promising: with tenants in control, we
see better maintenance, more rents paid on time, a decrease in
people on the welfare roles as job opportunities emerge. And we
see something more: a sense of pride that is the very core of
any thriving community.
I hope these successes are only the beginning -- of a
nationwide shift towards tenant control, and ultimately towards
7
tenant ownership. I don't know any better way to revive hope in
our inner cities than to give tenants a say in running their
communities, a stake in the future and the hope that they, too,
can own a home. //
That's worth remembering. Because the true measure of
success isn't how many families we add to housing assistance
roles. It's how many families move up and out -- and into the
ranks of homeowners. ///
Project HOPE can make a difference for millions of Americans
who want to buy a home -- or who simply want to provide their
families decent housing and better hopes for the future. But
there are other people out there we've got to help. People who
stand in the shadows of what is otherwise a very bright economic
picture -- who live a nightmare in the midst of the American
Dream. We see them every day -- on the streets of our cities,
sleeping on steam grates, living out of cardboard boxes. The
homeless. //
Back in June, I went up to Covenant House in New York. I
met children there who've been out on the street for 4 or 5 years
-- from the time they were 12 and 13 years old. /// We can't
begin to imagine the horrors they go through.
For all of us, November is the time of year we start looking
forward to the holiday season: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New
Years. For the homeless, November is the time of year the
temperature starts to drop, and simply making it through the
night becomes a life and death struggle. // Homelessness is a
8
tragedy -- and Project HOPE won't be complete unless it reaches
out to help the homeless. // Because no child in America should
have to grow up on the streets. And every family in America
should have a roof over its head. ///
Now, my Administration is going to do its part to expand
emergency shelters. We're committed to fully funding the
McKinney Act. We're directing the FHA to set aside 10% of its
foreclosed housing for lease to homeless groups. And today, I
want to announce that -- as part of the savings and loans
recovery program -- I will make certain that a portion of the
properties from failed S&Ls be put to public use as facilities
for the homeless.
But we can't begin to eliminate homelessness -- to really
get at the root of the problem -- until we understand the various
reasons that lead to life on the streets. Homelessness isn't
just a matter of too little shelter space. There are the working
homeless, men and women -- some with children -- who hold down a
job, but still can't afford a home. But they are only a fraction
of the many homeless men and women who are literally incapable of
caring for themselves. And if we care about them, we've got to
take more than a one-dimensional approach to the problem.
The fact is this: Two-thirds of the homeless out on our
streets suffer from drug dependency or mental illness. For these
men and women, shelter alone is not enough. Homelessness is just
one symptom of the larger problems that prevent them from caring
for themselves.
9
The answer for the homeless who are mentally ill or addicted
to drugs is shelter plus: shelter supplemented by the necessary
support-services to get these people the help they need to live
in dignity. And that means a partnership -- a combined federal,
state and local effort -- to supply the funding and other
resources that constitute a comprehensive solution for the hard-
core homeless.
The key here is coordinating basic needs like shelter with
other social services -- to help the homeless get the treatment
they need to get control of their lives. To help them find and
hold down jobs. To help them manage a home. To help them regain
hope -- and leave life on the streets behind for good. ///
Helping the homeless. Helping low-income families find
affordable housing, decent housing. Helping more of the 80
million Americans who don't own a home join the ranks of
homeowners. Those are the aims of Project HOPE -- aims well
within our reach. And they are aims that deserve the active
support of every American who believes in the American Dream.
///
Thank you. God bless you -- and God bless the United States
of America.
# # #
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
November 8, 1989
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH: CHRISS WINSTON and
FROM:
DAN MCGROARTY Mer
SUBJECT: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS REMARKS
I. SUMMARY
On Friday, November 10, in Dallas, Texas, you will
address the National Association of Realtors' annual
convention. The speech is at 2:15 p.m. at the Anatole
Hotel. About 6,000 people are expected, and the speech will
be teleprompted.
II. DISCUSSION
The speech announces a set of initiatives for America's
HOPE (Homeownership and Opportunity for People Everywhere).
HOPE includes programs to help first-time homebuyers, low-
income families, and the homeless. HOPE initiatives which
are still in dispute appear in brackets.
Also announced in the speech is the linkage of the Low-
Income Housing Tax Credit to the capital gains tax cut.
###
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
November 8, 1989
MEMORANDUM FOR GOVERNOR SUNUNU
FROM: David Demarest
Chriss Winston
SUBJECT: National Association of Realtors Speech
The following are a list of policy questions remaining concerning
the speech.
1. Secretary Kemp would like the following added to the speech:
"I also want to pledge my Administration to vigorous support
of the mortgage interest and property tax deductions. These
deductions encourage homeownership, and are important to our
overall economic prosperity."
He would also like the President to announce, what he terms
in his comments as, "a new initiative to fund service-supported
housing for the homeless who are mentally impaired or are
substance abusers."
out
He also has inserted the figure of $6.8 billion as the cost
of the HOPE initiative in a paragraph to be added at the end of
the speech.
2. Roger Porter, Treasury and OMB object to allowing parents of
p.4
PP-3
first-time home buyers to withdraw, without penalty, their IRA
savings as a down payment for their children's first home.
3. Porter argues that we do not have the authority to earmark
p.4
PP4
funds from the Federal Housing Financing Board to be used for
mortgage rate buy-downs to make home owning an option for more
low income families.
4. Porter also argues that no agreement has been reached to set
ppl
aside 10 percent of foreclosed housing from the FHA stock for
homeless groups. He recommends the following language:
"We're directing the FHA to make its foreclosed housing more
accessible to the homeless."
5. OMB and Treasury wants to delete any reference to directing
?PI
that, as part of the savings and loans recovery program, a
certain portion of the properties from failed S&L's will be put
to public use as facilities for the homeless.
Document No. 088452SS
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
1989 NOV -8 - PM 3. 30
11/7/89
11/8/89 10:00 AM
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
ROGERS
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
PINKERTON
FITZWATER
BOSKIN
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please forward any comments directly to Chriss Winston, Rm. 122,
x2930, no later than 10:00 AM, Wednesday, November 8, with a
copy to my office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
See
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
McGroarty/Dooley
November 7, 1989
1933 NOV - 7 PM 1: 31
12:30 pm
[REALTORS]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
DALLAS, TEXAS
NOVEMBER 10, 1989
2:15 P.M.
[Introductory remarks.] Thank you, Ira [Griben] -- the very
able President of the National Association of Realtors. And let
me say hello to two fine members of Congress who have travelled
down to Dallas today, Representatives Bill Thomas and Claudine
Schneider.
[[ Ira mentioned to me on my way in this afternoon that my
speech is a special occasion for this association. 11 I said I
was honored -- and then Ira said "It's not often that we're
addressed by someone who lives in public housing." 11 1111
[[ The truth is, I am not a real estate wizard. When I was
elected to Congress back in 1966, we needed to make housing
arrangements up in Washington. At that time, Senator Al
Simpson's father, Millward, was retiring and moving back to
Wyoming. So I bought the Simpson place -- sight unseen -- made
the deal over the phone. When we got to Washington, there were
just two problems: we found out right away the house wasn't
quite big enough for the Bush family -- and we found out when we
put the place up for sale that it wasn't worth quite as much as
we paid for it. 111 That's my claim to fame: I'm the only
- Treasury - Desere - 566-8773.
2
person who ever lost money in Washington real estate in the last
20 years. 111 Ira, where were you when I needed you? 1]
But few people have done more for the real estate industry
than I have. // Barbara and I have moved 28 times in our 44
years of marriage. /// Now I know what you're thinking -- what
a dream client my family would make for any realtor. /// In
fact, OMB is calculating the commissions we've paid over the
years -- measured as a percentage of the GNP. 1] 1111
I came here today to lay out a set of housing initiatives --
a comprehensive plan to bring basic shelter and affordable
housing within reach of every American.
But before I outline my housing proposals, I want to speak
for a moment about the single most important factor in helping
millions of Americans realize the American Dream: the economy.
Because the truth is, there's no better housing policy than
a strong economy. One that provides jobs and opportunities for
advancement -- interest rates that open ownership opportunities
to hundreds of thousands of first-time home buyers. I know just
how important interest rates are when it comes to home buying: a
1 1/2 point drop means an additional 670,000 families able to
purchase that home they want.
And all signs point to continued strength in the economy.
November marks the seventh full year of economic expansion -- the
longest peacetime expansion in our nation's history.
Unemployment is lower now than at any point since the early 70s.
And here's one statistic that has to please all of you: home
3
mortgage rates are down from almost 14% back in November, 1982 to
less than 10% today.
All of us know that the way to keep this expansion alive is
to stick with the pro-growth policies that set it in motion --
the policies that provide the private sector room to do what only
it can do: create prosperity and higher standards of living.
Of course, part of any reasonable economic policy is getting
our fiscal house in order. 11 I want you to know that my
Administration is hanging tough for a responsible budget -- with
real deficit reduction, no smoke and mirrors.
We don't like sequestration -- no one does. But we'll live
with it if we have to -- if it's the only way to rein in spending
and bring that deficit down to the Gramm-Rudman target. I'm
ready to sign a budget bill -- whenever Congress is ready to
strip off all the expensive extras and add-ons hidden away in
those omnibus spending bills. A responsible budget is one of the
best signals the government can send for the sake of continued
growth.
And I'm optimistic -- optimistic that this economic
expansion will continue. Hopeful my Administration and the
Congress -- with the help of members like Bill and Claudine --
can agree on a responsible budget. Hopeful that we'll see more
and more Americans prospering -- providing better lives for their
families, and looking to all of you to help them realize their
dreams.
4
Today, as I told you a few moments ago, I've chosen this
occasion to announce a wide-ranging set of housing initiatives I
call Project Hope -- an initiative that stands for Homeownership
and Opportunity for People Everywhere.
Project HOPE addresses the full range of housing concerns:
from shelter for the homeless to affordable housing for low-
income families -- to initiatives that will help millions more
Americans achieve the American Dream: owning their own home.
Let's start with what Project HOPE will do for first-time
home buyers. You know first-hand about families working hard to
buy that first home -- families whose savings are no match for
skyrocketing prices. First-time buyers deserve our help -- and
they're going to get it. I will ask Congress to enact
to
& 2 &
rey
imp
legislation allowing first-time buyers -- or their parents
draw without penalty on IRA savings as a downpayment for that
first home.
And we've got to expand the home-buying base -- bring more
to-moderate-
-
low-income families into the ranks of homeowners. I will earmark
funds from the Federal Housing Financing Board, to be used for
mortgage rate buy-downs to make homeowning an option for more
-to-moderate-
low-income families.
Now, I know you've all seen the news on new housing starts.
It's time for all levels of government to take a second look at
some of the well-intended housing policies that actually decrease
our housing supply. I'm talking about the excessive rules,
regulations and red tape that add unnecessarily to the cost of
5
housing -- tens of thousands of dollars in some cases -- or
create perverse incentives to allow existing housing to
deteriorate.
I have asked my very able Secretary of HUD, Jack Kemp, to
convene a Blue Ribbon Commission to identify barriers to
affordable housing and to make recommendations on how those
barriers can be removed. And let me make the first
recommendation myself: no city, state or town should receive a
Participated in proces
single cent of Project HOPE funds until they have identifieds back
helped
barriers to affordable housing -- and devise a plan to remove
them. ///
Project HOPE also means initiatives to improve low-income
housing. Let me say right away that my Administration rejects
costly new construction programs that, in the past, have too
often produced the housing projects that symbolize the very
absence of hope in our inner cities. This Administration remains
100% behind housing vouchers that let low-income families choose
for themselves where they wish to live.
Our challenge is to create incentives that maintain the low-
income housing we need. I will ask Congress to renew the Low-
verginartant
60+ 3
Income Housing Tax Credit -- on one condition: that the Low-
should tea
change
Income Housing Tax Credit part of a package that includes a
cut in the capital gains tax. I know the National Association of
Realtors has fought hard to make a capital gains cut a reality.
Well, the fight's not over. We're going to keep up the fight for
6
one simple reason: because a cut in capital gains is good for
growth. ///
And Project HOPE can help us reverse a trend that's stunting
some of the growth and development that would otherwise take
place in low-income areas. Too many poverty-stricken areas have
simply been redlined -- ruled too risky for lending. I am asking
Shrest!
the Federal Housing Authority to work with neighborhood non-
profit groups to identify responsible credit risks in poor areas,
and open a flow of credit for new low and moderate income
housing. The time has come to replace the redline with a
greenline -- to color these inner-city neighborhoods green for
growth.
But the real centerpiece of our plan for public housing is
resident management and, yes, resident ownership. That's the
idea behind our HOPE Grants initiative. It's already working:
In Kenilworth-Parkside, back in Washington, D.C. In Cochran
Gardens in St. Louis. And it's going to work right here -- at
the nation's second-largest public housing project in West
Dallas.
And the results are promising: with tenants in control, we
see better maintenance, more rents paid on time, a decrease in
people on the welfare roles as job opportunities emerge. And we
see something more: a sense of pride that is the very core of
any thriving community.
I hope these successes are only the beginning -- of a
nationwide shift towards tenant control, and ultimately towards
7
tenant ownership. I don't know any better way to revive hope in
our inner cities than to give tenants a say in running their
communities, a stake in the future and the hope that they, too,
can own a home. 11
That's worth remembering. Because the true measure of
success isn't how many families we add to housing assistance
roles. It's how many families move up and out -- and into the
ranks of homeowners. ///
Project HOPE can make a difference for millions of Americans
who want to buy a home -- or who simply want to provide their
families decent housing and better hopes for the future. But
there are other people out there we've got to help. People who
stand in the shadows of what is otherwise a very bright economic
picture -- who live a nightmare in the midst of the American
Dream. We see them every day -- on the streets of our cities,
sleeping on steam grates, living out of cardboard boxes. The
homeless. //
Back in June, I went up to Covenant House in New York. I
met children there who've been out on the street for 4 or 5 years
-- from the time they were 12 and 13 years old. /// We can't
begin to imagine the horrors they go through.
For all of us, November is the time of year we start looking
forward to the holiday season: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New
Years. For the homeless, November is the time of year the
temperature starts to drop, and simply making it through the
night becomes a life and death struggle. // Homelessness is a
8
tragedy -- and Project HOPE won't be complete unless it reaches
out to help the homeless. 11 Because no child in America should
have to grow up on the streets. And every family in America
should have a roof over its head. 111
Now, my Administration is going to do its part to expand
emergency shelters. We're committed to fully funding the
McKinney Act. We're directing the FHA to set aside 10% of its
foreclosed housing for lease to homeless groups. And today, I
want to announce that as part of the savings and loans
recovery program I will make certain that a portion of the
Undaking No this law, hove.
properties from failed S&Ls be put to public use as facilities
for the homeless.
4,
3,
takin
But we can't begin to eliminate homelessness -- to really
get at the root of the problem -- until we understand the various
reasons that lead to life on the streets. Homelessness isn't
just a matter of too little shelter space. There are the working
homeless, men and women -- some with children -- who hold down a
job, but still can't afford a home. But they are only a fraction
of the many homeless men and women who are literally incapable of
caring for themselves. And if we care about them we've got to
take more than a one-dimensional approach to the problem.
The fact is this: Two-thirds of the homeless out on our
From
streets suffer from drug dependency or mental illness. For these
study
men and women, shelter alone is not enough. Homelessness is just
lagar member got
one symptom of the larger problems that prevent them from caring
for themselves.
lotol uck saying this
9
The answer for the homeless who are mentally ill or addicted
to drugs is shelter plus: shelter supplemented by the necessary
support-services to get these people the help they need to live
in dignity. And that means a partnership -- a combined federal,
state and local effort -- to supply the funding and other
resources that constitute a comprehensive solution for the hard-
core homeless.
The key here is coordinating basic needs like shelter with
other social services -- to help the homeless get the treatment
they need to get control of their lives. To help them find and
hold down jobs. To help them manage a home. To help them regain
hope -- and leave life on the streets behind for good, 111
Helping the homeless. Helping low-income families find
affordable housing, decent housing. Helping more of the 80
million Americans who don't own a home join the ranks of
homeowners. Those are the aims of Project HOPE -- aims well
within our reach. And they are aims that deserve the active
support of every American who believes in the American Dream.
///
Thank you. God bless you -- and God bless the United States
of America.
# # #
11/07/89
17:43
202 786 8433
PA
002
November 7, 1989
To
Denise Schwarz
From
Desiree Tucker-Sorini
Subj
Presidential Remarks: Natl. Assn of Realtors
Page 6, first paragraph -
And project HOPE can help us reverse a trend that's stunting
some of the growth and development that would otherwise take
place in low-income areas. Too many poverty-stricken areas have
too little access to housing credit to meet their housing needs.
Moreover, illegal redlining has recently been alleged -- that
whole areas have been ruled too risky for lending. I am asking
the Federal Housing Administration to work with neighborhood non-
profit groups to identify responsible credit risks in poor areas,
and open a flow of credit for new low and moderate income
housing. The time has come to assume once and for all that the
redline has been replaced with a greenline -- to color these
inner-city neighborhoods green for growth.
11/07/89 17:47
202 786 8433
PA
002
comes
Redlining is illegal. Moreover, under the Community Re-
Investment Act of 1977, commercial banks have the affirmative
duty to seek to lend to low-moderate income households in poverty
neighborhoods. Moreover, in his bank examination practices, the
Comptroller of the Currency is obliged to examine the extent to
which banks are fulfilling their duties under this statute.
The proposed Presidential language strongly suggests that
illegal red-lining is occurring. Indeed, there apparently have
been recent studies that allege that illegal redlining is
occurring. Staff of the Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency believe that the studies that have been carried out have
conceptual flaws that may invalidate the results. Without
generally assaulting the commercial banking industry, the
proposed alternate language takes a stand against red-lining.
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
November 8, 1989
MEMORANDUM FOR CHRISS WINSTON
FROM:
ROGER B. PORTER
RBP
SUBJECT:
National Association of Realtors Speech
We are happy to provide comments on the draft remarks for
the National Association of Realtors address in Dallas.
1. On pg. 2, the empirical support for the claim that a
1.5 percentage point drop in interest rates means an
additional 670,000 home purchases is extremely weak
More significantly, it could be read as more homes
being constructed; we have had a 1.5 percentage point
drop since March and housing starts have fallen.
I suggest that instead, we use some less precise
figure, such as: "thousands more American families
can buy a home each time interest rates fall".
2. Also on pg. 2, use 84 months instead of 7th full year,
it sounds more impressive. Or, say that next month
will mark the start of the 8th year.
3. There are a number of good news points to make on
housing. Some of them include:
O
Housing Starts have never stayed this high for
this long in history. The typical "housing
cycle" used to be 4 to 5 years.
O
Housing affordability is holding up well. The
index stood at 104.7 in September. That's up
about 25 percent since the recovery began in
1983 and up more than 50 percent since the high
interest rate days of the late 1970s and early
1980s.
O
There are two keys to affordability and both are
moving in the right direction.
-
Real Income has been growing since 1982.
Between 1973 and 1981, the real income of
the median family declined 9 percent. By
It :2d 8 we'd made up for that decline and last
year and again this year, we hit new records
in real income.
-2-
-
Interest rates are way down. Fixed rate
mortgages (FHMLC) are now in single digits
-- 9.8 percent. Long term interest rates
are down 150 basis points since March.
4. On page 4, we have no interagency agreement or
Presidential decision to allow the parents of first-
time home buyers to withdraw without penalty their IRA
savings as a down payment for a first home. The
phrase "or their parents" should be deleted.
5. On page 4, we do not have authority to earmark funds
from the Federal Housing Financing Board to be used
for mortgage rate buy-downs to make home owning an
option for more low income families. This paragraph
should be deleted.
6. On page 8, there is not agreement to set aside 10
percent of foreclosed housing from the FHA stock for
homeless groups. This sentence should be changed to
read: "We're directing the FHA to make its foreclosed
housing more accessible to the homeless."
2
7. I also suggest removing the word "just" in the second
sentence of the second full paragraph on page 8.
If you have any questions or if I can be of any further
help, please let me know.
Document No. 088452SS
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
11/7/89
11/8/89 10:00 AM
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
ROGERS
WINSTON
CICCONI
DEMAREST
PINKERTON
FITZWATER
BOSKIN
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please forward any comments directly to Chriss Winston, Rm. 122,
x2930, no later than 10:00 AM, Wednesday, November 8, with a
copy to my office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
McGroarty/Dooley
November 7, 1989
12:30 pm
1983 NOV -7 PM 31
[REALTORS]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
DALLAS, TEXAS
NOVEMBER 10, 1989
2:15 P.M.
[Introductory remarks.] Thank you, Ira [Griben] -- the very
able President of the National Association of Realtors. And let
me say hello to two fine members of Congress who have travelled
down to Dallas today, Representatives Bill Thomas and Claudine
Schneider.
[[ Ira mentioned to me on my way in this afternoon that my
speech is a special occasion for this association. // I said I
was honored -- and then Ira said "It's not often that we're
addressed by someone who lives in public housing." ]] ////
[[ The truth is, I am not a real estate wizard. When I was
elected to Congress back in 1966, we needed to make housing
arrangements up in Washington. At that time, Senator Al
Simpson's father, Millward, was retiring and moving back to
Wyoming. So I bought the Simpson place -- sight unseen -- made
the deal over the phone. When we got to Washington, there were
just two problems: we found out right away the house wasn't
quite big enough for the Bush family -- and we found out when we
put the place up for sale that it wasn't worth quite as much as
we paid for it. /// That's my claim to fame: I'm the only
2
person who ever lost money in Washington real estate in the last
20 years. /// Ira, where were you when I needed you? ]]
But few people have done more for the real estate industry
than I have. // Barbara and I have moved 28 times in our 44
years of marriage. /// Now I know what you're thinking -- what
a dream client my family would make for any realtor. /// In
fact, OMB is calculating the commissions we've paid over the
years -- measured as a percentage of the GNP. 11 ////
I came here today to lay out a set of housing initiatives --
a comprehensive plan to bring basic shelter and affordable
housing within reach of every American.
But before I outline my housing proposals, I want to speak
for a moment about the single most important factor in helping
millions of Americans realize the American Dream: the economy.
Because the truth is, there's no better housing policy than
a strong economy. One that provides jobs and opportunities for
advancement -- interest rates that open ownership opportunities
to hundreds of thousands of first-time home buyers. I know just
how important interest rates are when it comes to home buying: a
1 1/2 point drop means an additional 670,000 families able to
purchase that home they want.
And all signs point to continued strength in the economy.
November marks the seventh full year of economic expansion -- the
longest peacetime expansion in our nation's history.
Unemployment is lower now than at any point since the early 70s.
And here's one statistic that has to please all of you: home
3
mortgage rates are down from almost 14% back in November, 1982 to
less than 10% today.
All of us know that the way to keep this expansion alive is
to stick with the pro-growth policies that set it in motion --
the policies that provide the private sector room to do what only
it can do: create prosperity and higher standards of living.
Of course, part of any reasonable economic policy is getting
our fiscal house in order. // I want you to know that my
Administration is hanging tough for a responsible budget -- with
real deficit reduction, no smoke and mirrors.
We don't like sequestration -- no one does. But we'll live
with it if we have to -- if it's the only way to rein in spending
and bring that deficit down to the Gramm-Rudman target. I'm
ready to sign a budget bill -- whenever Congress is ready to
strip off all the expensive extras and add-ons hidden away in
those omnibus spending bills. A responsible budget is one of the
best signals the government can send for the sake of continued
growth.
And I'm optimistic -- optimistic that this economic
expansion will continue. Hopeful my Administration and the
Congress -- with the help of members like Bill and Claudine --
can agree on a responsible budget. Hopeful that we'll see more
and more Americans prospering -- providing better lives for their
families, and looking to all of you to help them realize their
dreams.
4
Today, as I told you a few moments ago, I've chosen this
occasion to announce a wide-ranging set of housing initiatives I
call Project Hope -- an initiative that stands for Homeownership
and Opportunity for People Everywhere.
Project HOPE addresses the full range of housing concerns:
from shelter for the homeless to affordable housing for low-
income families -- to initiatives that will help millions more
Americans achieve the American Dream: owning their own home.
Let's start with what Project HOPE will do for first-time
home buyers. You know first-hand about families working hard to
buy that first home -- families whose savings are no match for
skyrocketing prices. First-time buyers deserve our help -- and
they're going to get it. I will ask Congress to enact
legislation allowing first-time buyers -- or their parents -- to
draw without penalty on IRA savings as a downpayment for that
first home.
And we've got to expand the home-buying base -- bring more
low-income families into the ranks of homeowners. I will earmark
funds from the Federal Housing Financing Board, to be used for
mortgage rate buy-downs to make homeowning an option for more
low-income families.
Now, I know you've all seen the news on new housing starts.
It's time for all levels of government to take a second look at
some of the well-intended housing policies that actually decrease
our housing supply. I'm talking about the excessive rules,
regulations and red tape that add unnecessarily to the cost of
5
housing -- tens of thousands of dollars in some cases -- or
create perverse incentives to allow existing housing to
deteriorate.
I have asked my very able Secretary of HUD, Jack Kemp, to
convene a Blue Ribbon Commission to identify barriers to
affordable housing and to make recommendations on how those
barriers can be removed. And let me make the first
recommendation myself: no city, state or town should receive a
single cent of Project HOPE funds until they have identified
barriers to affordable housing -- and devise a plan to remove
them. ////
Project HOPE also means initiatives to improve low-income
housing. Let me say right away that my Administration rejects
costly new construction programs that, in the past, have too
often produced the housing projects that symbolize the very
absence of hope in our inner cities. This Administration remains
100% behind housing vouchers that let low-income families choose
for themselves where they wish to live.
Our challenge is to create incentives that maintain the low-
income housing we need. I will ask Congress to renew the Low-
Income Housing Tax Credit -- on one condition: that the Low-
Income Housing Tax Credit is part of a package that includes a
cut in the capital gains tax. I know the National Association of
Realtors has fought hard to make a capital gains cut a reality.
Well, the fight's not over. We're going to keep up the fight for
6
one simple reason: because a cut in capital gains is good for
growth. ///
And Project HOPE can help us reverse a trend that's stunting
some of the growth and development that would otherwise take
place in low-income areas. Too many poverty-stricken areas have
simply been redlined -- ruled too risky for lending. I am asking
the Federal Housing Authority to work with neighborhood non-
profit groups to identify responsible credit risks in poor areas,
and open a flow of credit for new low and moderate income
housing. The time has come to replace the redline with a
greenline -- to color these inner-city neighborhoods green for
growth.
But the real centerpiece of our plan for public housing is
resident management and, yes, resident ownership. That's the
idea behind our HOPE Grants initiative. It's already working:
In Kenilworth-Parkside, back in Washington, D.C. In Cochran
Gardens in St. Louis. And it's going to work right here -- at
the nation's second-largest public housing project in West
Dallas.
And the results are promising: with tenants in control, we
see better maintenance, more rents paid on time, a decrease in
people on the welfare roles as job opportunities emerge. And we
see something more: a sense of pride that is the very core of
any thriving community.
I hope these successes are only the beginning -- of a
nationwide shift towards tenant control, and ultimately towards
7
tenant ownership. I don't know any better way to revive hope in
our inner cities than to give tenants a say in running their
communities, a stake in the future and the hope that they, too,
can own a home. //
That's worth remembering. Because the true measure of
success isn't how many families we add to housing assistance
roles. It's how many families move up and out -- and into the
ranks of homeowners. ///
Project HOPE can make a difference for millions of Americans
who want to buy a home -- or who simply want to provide their
families decent housing and better hopes for the future. But
there are other people out there we've got to help. People who
stand in the shadows of what is otherwise a very bright economic
picture -- who live a nightmare in the midst of the American
Dream. We see them every day -- on the streets of our cities,
sleeping on steam grates, living out of cardboard boxes. The
homeless. //
Back in June, I went up to Covenant House in New York. I
met children there who've been out on the street for 4 or 5 years
-- from the time they were 12 and 13 years old. /// We can't
begin to imagine the horrors they go through.
For all of us, November is the time of year we start looking
forward to the holiday season: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New
Years. For the homeless, November is the time of year the
temperature starts to drop, and simply making it through the
night becomes a life and death struggle. // Homelessness is a
8
tragedy -- and Project HOPE won't be complete unless it reaches
out to help the homeless. // Because no child in America should
have to grow up on the streets. And every family in America
should have a roof over its head. ///
Now, my Administration is going to do its part to expand
emergency shelters. We're committed to fully funding the
MAKE ITS
McKinney Act. We're directing the FHA to set aside 10% of its
MORE ACCESSIBLE THE
foreclosed housing for lease to homeless. groups. And today, I
want to announce that -- as part of the savings and loans
recovery program -- I will make certain that a portion of the
properties from failed S&Ls be put to public use as facilities
for the homeless.
But we can't begin to eliminate homelessness -- to really
get at the root of the problem -- until we understand the various
reasons that lead to life on the streets. Homelessness isn't
just a matter of too little shelter space. There are the working
homeless, men and women -- some with children -- who hold down a
job, but still can't afford a home. But they are only a fraction
of the many homeless men and women who are literally incapable of
caring for themselves. And if we care about them, we've got to
take more than a one-dimensional approach to the problem.
The fact is this: Two-thirds of the homeless out on our
streets suffer from drug dependency or mental illness. For these
men and women, shelter alone is not enough. Homelessness is just
one symptom of the larger problems that prevent them from caring
for themselves.
9
The answer for the homeless who are mentally ill or addicted
to drugs is shelter plus: shelter supplemented by the necessary
support-services to get these people the help they need to live
in dignity. And that means a partnership -- a combined federal,
state and local effort -- to supply the funding and other
resources that constitute a comprehensive solution for the hard-
core homeless.
The key here is coordinating basic needs like shelter with
other social services -- to help the homeless get the treatment
they need to get control of their lives. To help them find and
hold down jobs. To help them manage a home. To help them regain
hope -- and leave life on the streets behind for good. 111
Helping the homeless. Helping low-income families find
affordable housing, decent housing. Helping more of the 80
million Americans who don't own a home join the ranks of
homeowners. Those are the aims of Project HOPE -- aims well
within our reach. And they are aims that deserve the active
support of every American who believes in the American Dream.
///
Thank you. God bless you -- and God bless the United States
of. America.
# # #
Document No. 088452SS
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
11/7/89
11/8/89 10:00 AM
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
ROGERS
WINSTON
CICCONI
DEMAREST
PINKERTON
FITZWATER
BOSKIN
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please forward any comments directly to Chriss Winston, Rm. 122,
x2930, no later than 10:00 AM, Wednesday, November 8, with a
copy to my office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
See Commonts:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Theosury
Commerts
McGroarty/Dooley
November 7, 1989
12:30 pm
1933 NOV -7 PM 1: 31
[REALTORS]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
DALLAS, TEXAS
NOVEMBER 10, 1989
2:15 P.M.
[Introductory remarks.] Thank you, Ira [Griben] -- the very
able President of the National Association of Realtors. And let
me say hello to two fine members of Congress who have travelled
down to Dallas today, Representatives Bill Thomas and Claudine
Schneider.
[[ Ira mentioned to me on my way in this afternoon that my
speech is a special occasion for this association. // I said I
was honored -- and then Ira said "It's not often that we're
addressed by someone who lives in public housing." ]] ////
[[ The truth is, I am not a real estate wizard. When I was
elected to Congress back in 1966, we needed to make housing
arrangements up in Washington. At that time, Senator Al
Simpson's father, Millward, was retiring and moving back to
Wyoming. So I bought the Simpson place -- sight unseen -- made
the deal over the phone. When we got to Washington, there were
just two problems: we found out right away the house wasn't
quite big enough for the Bush family -- and we found out when we
put the place up for sale that it wasn't worth quite as much as
we paid for it. /// That's my claim to fame: I'm the only
Treasury - Desire - 566-8773.
2
person who ever lost money in Washington real estate in the last
20 years. /// Ira, where were you when I needed you? ]]
But few people have done more for the real estate industry
than I have. // Barbara and I have moved 28 times in our 44
years of marriage. /// Now I know what you're thinking -- what
a dream client my family would make for any realtor. /// In
fact, OMB is calculating the commissions we've paid over the
years -- measured as a percentage of the GNP. 1] 1111
I came here today to lay out a set of housing initiatives --
a comprehensive plan to bring basic shelter and affordable
housing within reach of every American.
But before I outline my housing proposals, I want to speak
for a moment about the single most important factor in helping
millions of Americans realize the American Dream: the economy.
Because the truth is, there's no better housing policy than
a strong economy. One that provides jobs and opportunities for
advancement -- interest rates that open ownership opportunities
to hundreds of thousands of first-time home buyers. I know just
how important interest rates are when it comes to home buying: a
1 1/2 point drop means an additional 670,000 families able to
purchase that home they want.
And all signs point to continued strength in the economy.
November marks the seventh full year of economic expansion -- the
longest peacetime expansion in our nation's history.
Unemployment is lower now than at any point since the early 70s.
And here's one statistic that has to please all of you: home
3
mortgage rates are down from almost 14% back in November, 1982 to
less than 10% today.
All of us know that the way to keep this expansion alive is
to stick with the pro-growth policies that set it in motion --
the policies that provide the private sector room to do what only
it can do: create prosperity and higher standards of living.
Of course, part of any reasonable economic policy is getting
our fiscal house in order. // I want you to know that my
Administration is hanging tough for a responsible budget -- with
real deficit reduction, no smoke and mirrors.
We don't like sequestration -- no one does. But we'll live
with it if we have to -- if it's the only way to rein in spending
and bring that deficit down to the Gramm-Rudman target. I'm
ready to sign a budget bill -- whenever Congress is ready to
strip off all the expensive extras and add-ons hidden away in
those omnibus spending bills. A responsible budget is one of the
best signals the government can send for the sake of continued
growth.
And I'm optimistic -- optimistic that this economic
expansion will continue. Hopeful my Administration and the
Congress -- with the help of members like Bill and Claudine --
can agree on a responsible budget. Hopeful that we'll see more
and more Americans prospering -- providing better lives for their
families, and looking to all of you to help them realize their
dreams.
4
Today, as I told you a few moments ago, I've chosen this
occasion to announce a wide-ranging set of housing initiatives I
call Project Hope -- an initiative that stands for Homeownership
and Opportunity for People Everywhere.
Project HOPE addresses the full range of housing concerns:
from shelter for the homeless to affordable housing for low-
income families -- to initiatives that will help millions more
Americans achieve the American Dream: owning their own home.
Let's start with what Project HOPE will do for first-time
home buyers. You know first-hand about families working hard to
buy that first home -- families whose savings are no match for
skyrocketing prices. First-time buyers deserve our help -- and
they're going to get it. I will ask Congress to enact
very
importo
for
legislation allowing first-time buyers -- or their parents
to
draw without penalty on IRA savings as a downpayment for that
first home.
And we've got to expand the home-buying base -- bring more
to-moderate -
low-income families into the ranks of homeowners. I will earmark
funds from the Federal Housing Financing Board, to be used for
mortgage rate buy-downs to make homeowning an option for more
to-moderate-
low-income families.
Now, I know you've all seen the news on new housing starts.
It's time for all levels of government to take a second look at
some of the well-intended housing policies that actually decrease
our housing supply. I'm talking about the excessive rules,
regulations and red tape that add unnecessarily to the cost of
5
housing -- tens of thousands of dollars in some cases -- or
create perverse incentives to allow existing housing to
deteriorate.
I have asked my very able Secretary of HUD, Jack Kemp, to
convene a Blue Ribbon Commission to identify barriers to
affordable housing and to make recommendations on how those
barriers can be removed. And let me make the first
recommendation myself: no city, state or town should receive a
Participated in process
single cent of Project HOPE funds until they have identifieds back.
helped
barriers to affordable housing -- and devise a plan to remove
them. ///
Project HOPE also means initiatives to improve low-income
housing. Let me say right away that my Administration rejects
costly new construction programs that, in the past, have too
often produced the housing projects that symbolize the very
absence of hope in our inner cities. This Administration remains
100% behind housing vouchers that let low-income families choose
for themselves where they wish to live.
Our challenge is to create incentives that maintain the low-
income housing we need. I will ask Congress to renew the Low-
veryinpment
but &
Income Housing Tax Credit -- on one condition: that the Low-
change
should be a
Income Housing Tax Credit part of a package that includes a
cut in the capital gains tax. I know the National Association of
Realtors has fought hard to make a capital gains cut a reality.
Well, the fight's not over. We're going to keep up the fight for
6
one simple reason: because a cut in capital gains is good for
growth. ///
And Project HOPE can help us reverse a trend that's stunting
some of the growth and development that would otherwise take
place in low-income areas. Too many poverty-stricken areas have
simply been redlined -- ruled too risky for lending. I am asking
Shreet!
the Federal Housing Authority to work with neighborhood non-
profit groups to identify responsible credit risks in poor areas,
and open a flow of credit for new low and moderate income
housing. The time has come to replace the redline with a
greenline -- to color these inner-city neighborhoods green for
growth.
But the real centerpiece of our plan for public housing is
resident management and, yes, resident ownership. That's the
idea behind our HOPE Grants initiative. It's already working:
In Kenilworth-Parkside, back in Washington, D.C. In Cochran
Gardens in St. Louis. And it's going to work right here -- at
the nation's second-largest public housing project in West
Dallas.
And the results are promising: with tenants in control, we
see better maintenance, more rents paid on time, a decrease in
people on the welfare roles as job opportunities emerge. And we
see something more: a sense of pride that is the very core of
any thriving community.
I hope these successes are only the beginning -- of a
nationwide shift towards tenant control, and ultimately towards
7
tenant ownership. I don't know any better way to revive hope in
our inner cities than to give tenants a say in running their
communities, a stake in the future and the hope that they, too,
can own a home. //
That's worth remembering. Because the true measure of
success isn't how many families we add to housing assistance
roles. It's how many families move up and out -- and into the
ranks of homeowners. ///
Project HOPE can make a difference for millions of Americans
who want to buy a home -- or who simply want to provide their
families decent housing and better hopes for the future. But
there are other people out there we've got to help. People who
stand in the shadows of what is otherwise a very bright economic
picture -- who live a nightmare in the midst of the American
Dream. We see them every day -- on the streets of our cities,
sleeping on steam grates, living out of cardboard boxes. The
homeless. //
Back in June, I went up to Covenant House in New York. I
met children there who've been out on the street for 4 or 5 years
-- from the time they were 12 and 13 years old. /// We can't
begin to imagine the horrors they go through.
For all of us, November is the time of year we start looking
forward to the holiday season: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New
Years. For the homeless, November is the time of year the
temperature starts to drop, and simply making it through the
night becomes a life and death struggle. 11 Homelessness is a
8
tragedy -- and Project HOPE won't be complete unless it reaches
out to help the homeless. // Because no child in America should
have to grow up on the streets. And every family in America
should have a roof over its head. ///
Now, my Administration is going to do its part to expand
emergency shelters. We're committed to fully funding the
McKinney Act. We're directing the FHA to set aside 10% of its
foreclosed housing for lease to homeless groups. And today, I
want to announce that as part of the savings and loans
recovery program I will make certain that a portion of the
No law,
properties from failed S&Ls be put to public use as facilities
Codanis 05 Lao Joken
for the homeless.
But we can't begin to eliminate homelessness -- to really
get at the root of the problem -- until we understand the various
reasons that lead to life on the streets. Homelessness isn't
just a matter of too little shelter space. There are the working
homeless, men and women -- some with children -- who hold down a
job, but still can't afford a home. But they are only a fraction
of the many homeless men and women who are literally incapable of
caring for themselves. And if we care about them, we've got to
take more than a one-dimensional approach to the problem.
The fact is this: Two-thirds of the homeless out on our
from!
streets suffer from drug dependency or mental illness. For these
Study-
men and women, shelter alone is not enough. Homelessness is just
remember
one symptom of the larger problems that prevent them from caring
Reagar got
for themselves.
alotof
flack saying this
9
The answer for the homeless who are mentally ill or addicted
to drugs is shelter plus: shelter supplemented by the necessary
support-services to get these people the help they need to live
in dignity. And that means a partnership -- a combined federal,
state and local effort -- to supply the funding and other
resources that constitute a comprehensive solution for the hard-
core homeless.
The key here is coordinating basic needs like shelter with
other social services -- to help the homeless get the treatment
they need to get control of their lives. To help them find and
hold down jobs. To help them manage a home. To help them regain
hope -- and leave life on the streets behind for good. ///
Helping the homeless. Helping low-income families find
affordable housing, decent housing. Helping more of the 80
million Americans who don't own a home join the ranks of
homeowners. Those are the aims of Project HOPE -- aims well
within our reach. And they are aims that deserve the active
support of every American who believes in the American Dream.
///
Thank you. God bless you -- and God bless the United States
of America.
# # #
11/07/89
17:43
202 786 8433
PA
002
November 7, 1989
To
Denise Schwarz
From
Desiree Tucker-Sorini
Subj
Presidential Remarks: Natl. Assn of Realtors
Page 6, first paragraph --
And project HOPE can help us reverse a trend that's stunting
some of the growth and development that would otherwise take
place in low-income areas. Too many poverty-stricken areas have
too little access to housing credit to meet their housing needs.
Moreover, illegal redlining has recently been alleged -- that
whole areas have been ruled too risky for lending. I am asking
the Federal Housing Administration to work with neighborhood non-
profit groups to identify responsible credit risks in poor areas,
and open a flow of credit for new low and moderate income
housing. The time has come to assume once and for all that the
redline has been replaced with a greenline -- to color these
inner-city neighborhoods green for growth.
11/07/89 17:47
202 786 8433
PA
002
comes
Redlining is illegal. Moreover, under the Community Re-
Investment Act of 1977, commercial banks have the affirmative
duty to seek to lend to low-moderate income households in poverty
neighborhoods. Moreover, in his bank examination practices, the
Comptroller of the Currency is obliged to examine the extent to
which banks are fulfilling their duties under this statute.
The proposed Presidential language strongly suggests that
illegal red-lining is occurring. Indeed, there apparently have
been recent studies that allege that illegal redlining is
occurring. Staff of the Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency believe that the studies that have been carried out have
conceptual flaws that may invalidate the results. Without
generally assaulting the commercial banking industry, the
proposed alternate language takes a stand against red-lining.
Secretary Kemp's edits and additions to the draft Realtors
speech:
PAGE 1, Insert A: I especially want to thank Ira and all the
realtors for your strong support and able guidance in helping to
pass the 1988 Fair Housing Act. Your efforts are a tribute to
Z
your dedication to the right of all people to be free from
discrimination and prejudice. (NOTE: The Realtors have told
us that they would like the President to recognize their efforts
in Fair Housing.)
PAGE 2, Insert B: I also want to pledge my Administration to
vigorous support of the mortgage interest and property tax
deductions. These deductions encourage homeownership, and are
important to our overall economic prosperity. (NOTE: The
Realtors strongly support these provisions)
PAGE 4, LINE 3 and thereafter: HOPE should not be called a
"project, there is a charitable organization called Project
Hope which provides food and other assistance to developing
countries.
PAGE 4: Other edits as noted in text
PAGE 5: Other edits as noted in the text
PAGE 6, Insert C:
good for jobs, and good for the expansion
of seed capital for new entrepreneurs. Not only do I want to cut
the capital gains tax to 15% for the nation, I want to eliminate
in pockets of poverty by passing Enterprise Zone legislation.
Enterprise Zones will help create the jobs and incomes that are
hand. the real keys to affordable housing. Jobs and housing go hand in
PAGE 6, Insert D: Over nine million Americans live in FHA-
insured homes, and every year nearly half a million first-time
homebuyers use FHA to help them make their dream affordable. My
Administration has announced major reforms to ensure that FHA is
true to its primary mission of making housing affordable for low
and moderate income families. We will change the destructive
practices which have kept FHA out of the inner cities and
distressed communities that most need its support.
PAGE 6, Insert E: By encouraging non-profit and resident
groups, our nation will be blessed with new property owners who
will bring stability, pride and self-help to low income
neighborhoods.
PAGE 6: Other edits as noted in the text
PAGE 7: Edits are noted in the text
PAGE 8: Edits are noted in the text
PAGE 9, Insert F: Therefore, I am announcing a new initiative to
fund service-supported housing for the homeless who are mentally
impaired or are substance abusers.
The
in this initiative .but
PAGE 9, Insert G: Our $6.8 billion dollarsagenda is only a part
of what we must do to unleash the resources of the profit and
non-profit sectors, of churches and synagogues, states and
localities in our great national enterprise to assure safe,
decent, and affordable housing for all. Only then will we be
able to replace hopelessness with hope. Only then will we be
able to wage war on poverty and despair. And only then will we
be able to complete our vision of a free and prosperous America,
full of opportunity for people everywhere.
0.01PM
380121470 S VERI ur MUD - Uri# 2
McGroarty/Dooley
November 7, 1989
12:30 pm
1983 NOV -7 PM 1: 31
[REALTORS]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
DALLAS, TEXAS
NOVEMBER 10, 1989
2:15 P.M.
Insert
[Introductory remarks.] Thank you, Ira [Griben]
the very
able President of the National Association of Realtors. And let
me say hello to two fine members of Congress who have travelled
down to Dallas today, Representatives Bill Thomas and Claudine
Schneider.
[[ Ira mentioned to me on my way in this afternoon that my
speech is a special occasion for this association. 11 I said I
was honored --- and then Ira said "It's not often that we're
addressed by someone who lives in public housing." ]] 1111
[[ The truth is, I am not a real estate wizard. When I was
elected to Congress back in 1966, we needed to make housing
arrangements up in Washington. At that time, Senator Al
Simpson's father, Millward, was retiring and moving back to
Wyoming. so I bought the Simpson place -- sight unseen -- made
the deal over the phone. When we got to Washington, there were
just two problems: we found out right away the house wasn't
quite big enough for the Bush family -- and we found out when we
put the place up for sale that it wasn't worth quite as much as
we paid for it. 111 That's my claim to fame: I'm the only
2
person who ever lost money in Washington real estate in the last
20 years. 111 Ira, where were you when I needed you? 11
But few people have done more for the real estate industry
than I have. 11 Barbara and I have moved 28 times in our 44
years of marriage. 111 Now I know what you're thinking -- what
a dream client my family would make for any realtor. 111 In
fact, OMB is calculating the commissions we've paid over the
years -- measured as a percentage of the GNP. 1] 1111
I came here today to lay out a set of housing initiatives --
agenda help
a comprehensive plan to bring basic shelter and affordable
housing within reach of every American.
But before I outline my housing proposals, I want to speak
for a moment about the single most important factor in helping
millions of Americans realize the American Dream: the economy.
Because the truth is, there's no better housing policy than
wages
wer
a strong economy. One that provides jobs and opportunities for
advancement longtorm torest rates that open ownership opportunities
to hundreds of thousands of first-time home buyers. I know just
how important interest rates are when it comes to home buying: a
2
almost one million more
I
point drop means an additional 670, 000 families able to
purchase that home they want.
Insert B
And all signs point to continued strength in the economy.
November marks the seventh full year of economic expansion -- the
longest peacetime expansion in our nation's history.
Unemployment is lower now than at any point since the early 70s.
And here's one statistic that has to please all of you: home
vr
4
3
mortgage rates are down from almost 14% back in November, 1982 to
less than 10% today. And my goal IS to pursue policies that will bring
them down even further.
All of us know that the way to keep this expansion alive is
to stick with the pro-growth policies that set it in motion --
the policies that provide the private sector room to do what only
it can do: create prosperity and higher standards of living.
Of course, part of any reasonable economic policy is getting
our fiscal house in order. 11 I want you to know that my
Administration is hanging tough for a responsible budget -- with
real deficit reduction, no smoke and mirrors.
We don't like sequestration --- no one does. But we'll live
with it if we have to -- if it's the only way to rein in spending
and bring that deficit down to the Gramm-Rudman target. I'm
ready to sign a budget bill -- whenever Congress is ready to
strip off all the expensive extras and add-ons hidden away in
those omnibus spending bills. A responsible budget is one of the
best signals the government can send for the sake of continued
growth.
And I'm optimistic -- optimistic that this economic
expansion will continue. Hopeful my Administration and the
Congress -- with the help of members like Bill and Claudine --
can agree on a responsible budget. Hopeful that we'll see more
and more Americans prospering -- providing better lives for their
families, and looking to all of you to help them realize their
dreams.
385721470 0 VEPI vr nuu - UPG# 5
4
Today, as I told you a few moments ago, I've chosen this
occasion to announce a wide-ranging set of housing initiatives I
call Desject Hope -- an initiative that stands for Homeownership
(capitalize)
and Opportunity for People Everywhere.
Project HOPE addresses the full range of housing concerns:
from shelter for the homeless to affordable housing for low-
income families -- to initiatives that will help millions more
Americans achieve the American Dream: owning their own home.
Let's start with what Resease HOPE will do for first-time
home buyers. You know first-hand about families working hard to
buy that first home -- families whose savings are no match for
skyrocketing prices. First-time buyers deserve our help -- and
they're going to get it. I will ask Congress to enact
legislation allowing first-time buyers
OF
their
parents
to
draw without penalty on IRA savings as a downpayment for that
first home.
And we've got to expand the home-buying base -- bring more
and moderate income
low Vineeme families into the ranks of homeowners. I will earmark
funds from the Federal Housing Financing Board, to be used for
and other incentives
mortgage rate buy-downs Vto make homeowning an option for more
vand and moderate income
low income families.
Now, I know you've all seen the news on new housing starts.
It's time for all levels of government to take a second look at
some of the well-intended housing policies that actually decrease
our housing supply. I'm talking about the excessive rules, fees,
rent controls
regulations and red tape that add unnecessarily to the cost of
0
5
housing -- tens of thousands of dollars in some cases -- or
create perverse incentives to allow existing housing to
deteriorate.
I have asked able Secretary of HUD, Jack Kemp, to
convene a Blue Ribbon Commission to identify barriers to
affordable housing and to make recommendations on how those
barriers can be removed. And let me make the first
recommendation myself: no city, state or town should receive a
HOPE
single cent of
funds until they have identified
barriers to affordable housing -- and devise a plan to remove
them.
Project HOPE also means initiatives to improve low-income
housing. Let me say right away that my Administration rejects
public
costly new construction programs that, in the past, have too
often produced the housing projects that symbolize the very
absence of hope in our inner cities. This Administration remains
empower
to
100% behind housing vouchers that lak low-income families choose
for themselves where they wish to live.
maintain the housing stock ane
expand and rehabilitate
Our challenge is to create incentives that maintain the low-
income housing we need. I will ask Congress to renew the Low-
but
Income Housing Tax Credit on one conditions that the Low-
Income Housing Tax Credit is part of a package that includes a
cut in the capital gains tax. I know the National Association of
Realtors has fought hard to make a capital gains cut a reality.
Well, the fight's not over. We're going to keep up the fight for
5
6
one simple reason: because a out in capital gains is good for
growth, (11) Insert C
And Project HOPE can help us reverse a trend that's stunting
expand homeownership by making
the Federal Housing Administration is strong and financially sound.
some of the growth and development that would otherwise take
INSERT D
place in low income areas. Too many poverty stricken areas have
simply been redlined ruled too risky for lending I am asking
the Federal Housing Authority to work with neighborhood non
profit groups to identify responsible credit risks in poor areas,
and open a flow of credit for new low and moderate income
housing. The time has come to replace the redline with a
greenline to color these inner-city neighborheods green for
growth.
HOPE STRATEGY
But the real centerpiece of ourAplan for public housing is to
recapture the Americandream of homeownership for those who have been left behind.
resident management and, yes, resident ownership. That's the
insert E
idea behind our HOPE Grants initiative. It's already working:
In Kenilworth-Parkside, back in Washington, D.C. In Cochran
At Chicago's Leclaire Courts.
Gardens in St. Louis. V And it's going to work right here -- at
Rhoads Terrace, the
the nation's second-largest public housing project in Heat
Dallas.
And the results are promising: with tenants in control, we
see better maintenance, more rents paid on time, a decrease in
people on the welfare roles as job opportunities emerge. And we
see something more: a sense of pride that is the very core of
any thriving community.
I hope these successes are only the beginning -- of a
resident
nationwide shift towards tonant control, and ultimately towards
not only in public 7 housing, but for housing low income at risk prepayment. due to mortgag,
tenant resident ownership. I don't know any better way to revive hope in
our inner cities than to give tenants a say in running their
communities, a stake in the future and the hope that they, too,
can own a home
and IP gain equity in the American dream.
That's worth remembering. Because the true measure of
success isn't how many families we add to housing assistance
roles. It's how many families move up and out -- and into the
ranks of homeowners. 111
Project HOPE can make a difference for millions of Americans
who want to buy a home -- or who simply want to provide their
families decent housing and better hopes for the future. But
there are other people out there we've got to help. People who
stand in the shadows of what is otherwise a very bright economic
picture -- who live a nightmare in the midst of the American
Dream. We see them every day -- on the streets of our cities,
sleeping on steam grates, living out of cardboard boxes. The
homeless. 11
Father Bruce Ritter's
Back in June, I went up to Covenant House in New York. I
met children there who've been out on the street for 4 or 5 years
-- from the time they were 12 and 13 years old. 111 We can't
begin to imagine the horrors they go through.
For all of us, November is the time of year we start looking
forward to the holiday season: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New
Years. For the homeless, November is the time of year the
temperature starts to drop, and simply making it through the
night becomes a life and death struggle. 11 Homelessness is a
8
tragedy -- and Project HOPE won't be complete unless it reaches
out to help the homeless. 11 Because no child in America should
have to grow up on the streets. And every family in America
should have a roof over its head. 111
Now, my Administration is going to do its part to expand
emergency shelters. We're committed to fully funding the
McKinney Act. We're directing the FHA to set aside 10% of its
foreclosed housing for lease to homeless groups. And today, I
want to announce that -- as part of the savings and loans
recovery program -- I will make certain that a portion of the
properties from failed S&Ls be put to public use, as facilities
to fight poverty and
homelessness.
But we can't begin to eliminate homelessness -- to really
get at the root of the problem -- until we understand the various
reasons that lead to life on the streets. Homelessness isn't
just a matter of too little shelter space. There are the working
homeless, men and women -- some with children -- who hold down a
job, but still can't afford a home. But they are only a fraction
of the many homeless men and women who are literally incapable of
caring for themselves. And if we care about them, we've got to
take more than a one-dimensional approach to the problem.
Most studies show that more than half
The fact is this: Two thirds of the homeless out on our
impairment.
streets suffer from drug dependency or mental illness. For these
men and women, shelter alone is not enough. Homelessness is just
one symptom of the larger problems that prevent them from caring
for themselves.
9
The answer for the homeless who are mentally ill or addicted
to drugs is shelter plus: shelter supplemented by the necessary
support-services to get these people the help they need to live
in dignity. And that means a partnership -- a combined federal,
state and local effort -- to supply the funding and other
resources that constitute a comprehensive solution for the hard-
core homeless.
The key here is coordinating basic needs like shelter with
other social services -- to help the homeless get the treatment
they need to get control of their lives. To help them find and
hold down jobs. To help them manage a home To help them regain
hope -- and leave life on the streets behind for good. # Insert F
Helping the homeless. Helping low income families find
affordable housing, decent housing. Helping more of the 80
Insert G
million Americans who don't own a home join the ranks of
homeowners. Those are the aims of Project HOPE -- aims well
within our reach. And they are aims that deserve the active
support of every American who believes in the American Dream.
111
Thank you. God bless you -- and God bless the United States
of America.
# # #