TRUMP HOUSING CRISIS

On 2026-06-25, Representative Al Green (D-TX-9) delivered a floor speech titled "TRUMP HOUSING CRISIS" in the House.

TRUMP HOUSING CRISIS

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 107 (Thursday, June 25, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 107 (Thursday, June 25, 2026)] [House] [Pages H4254-H4257] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] TRUMP HOUSING CRISIS (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. Green of Texas was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.) Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. And still I rise, unbought, unbossed, unelected, liberated Democrat. And I rise today, Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding the fact that I have been censured by this House, censured but not silenced. And I rise today, Mr. Speaker, because the housing crisis that we confront has taken on a new dimension. I am in full support of the 21st Century [[Page H4255]] ROAD to Housing Act, full support of it. Many others are, but I rise today to announce that this is now the Trump housing crisis. It is the Trump housing crisis, and I should like to present evidence to substantiate my claim. It is the Trump housing crisis because, yesterday, the President declined to sign the bill that was voted on in this House and passed and in the Senate and passed, a bicameral bill. Rarely do we get such a thing, but this one also is bipartisan. It has huge Republican support and huge Democratic support. Let me read from an official document. This is from Congress.gov. The indication here is that this piece of legislation had 191 Democrats vote for it and 166 Republicans, a total of 358 for the legislation. That is the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. In the United States Senate, it had 85 yeas and only 5 nays. It had overwhelming support, the kind of support that would cause people to come to the floor of the House of Representatives, as they did. I was here. I came to the floor of this House of Representatives, and many persons on both sides of the aisle talked about the collegiality--perhaps not using that exact word, but the collegiality-- and talked about how this was one of the rare moments when we have received bipartisan, bicameral support for a piece of legislation--a great piece of legislation, I might add. It is a piece of legislation that was a long time in the making, a piece of legislation that this House passed and the Senate passed, as I have indicated before, by large margins. I heard persons stand here at this podium, at that podium, and the podium in the well and proclaim that this piece of legislation was indicative of what we can do when we work together, the symbiosis that was created by Democrats and Republicans working together. Everyone was in a great mood, a celebratory mood. Persons were ready to move on to the next phase. After all, you have to have the House and the Senate to pass a piece of legislation, and there are many people who say that before you can get a House and Senate to pass a bill, they first have to have the will. They demonstrated the will after having negotiated for some time. That was the first phase of it. The first phase of it included some persons who are of note and should be mentioned. The Honorable Maxine Waters should be mentioned and the Honorable Elizabeth Warren. The two of them worked together to bring this to fruition. They worked together after a chasm had erupted as it relates to the bill. {time} 1400 There was a chasm that many thought would be impossible to span, but I called them the Ws: the Honorable Maxine, I always say that because I have such great respect for her, and the Honorable Elizabeth Warren. I have great respect for the Honorable Elizabeth Warren. They were able to span this chasm and make this difference. I would also mention that in the Senate it had bipartisan support because the majority leader and the leader of the Senate, the majority leader and the minority, they both signed off on it. This was something that took great work to accomplish. I would also add this: It took people who were experienced. This is one of those times when experience with legislation made a difference. I am not sure that a neophyte could pull off what they were able to accomplish, and I am very proud to say that I support what we have done, and I support the bill. So with all that said, everybody was prepared for the signing ceremony. It was going to be a celebratory time, and everyone prepared to receive an indication that the President was going to sign it at the White House. I think everyone was, I was, surely, prepared for this. The President, in his own way, indicated that, no, it would not be signed at the White House. The President said that he would come to this Capitol and he would sign it here. Of course, the Speaker, in preparation for the President's arrival, decided to do all of the things to make sure that we had the proper pomp and circumstance available to the President, the President of the United States. Everything was set. The flags were in place, the table was arranged, and people were notified. Everyone was prepared for the signing of the legislation saving the President. The President sent a message indicating that he would not, N-O-T, would not sign this piece of legislation. The President indicated that he would not sign it and he had some things to say about it that were not flattering. He diminished the magnitude of the legislation. He went on to indicate that this was not something that he thought was appropriate. I don't know what his rationale was. It never comes through clearly because the President contradicts himself in the sentence where he makes any given statement at any given time. I have no idea what that was all about, but I do know this: When he decided not to sign the legislation, when he decided that he would literally allow it to just linger in limbo, I suppose, when he decided to do this, he then took on the housing crisis. The housing crisis is now that of the President of the United States. It belongs to the President of the United States. He decided that he would not sign legislation that is much-needed in this country, legislation that can make a difference in the lives of people in this country. He put in petty politics above a piece of legislation that can make a profound difference, petty politics above a profound difference that can be made by him by only affixing his signature to a piece of historic legislation, landmark legislation in my world. When he decided he wouldn't do it, here is what he also decided: He decided that he was not going to concern himself with the many people who cannot afford a home right now. Many people cannot afford a home. Affordability is a problem. It is a crisis. The President is well aware of this. He either knows or should know that this is a part of the solution, this bill, and he has not given a rationale, a clear rationale, for why he would not sign it. However, he took on the notion that people who cannot acquire a home, that this is now a problem for him to have to resolve in some other way I suppose. I doubt that he will figure out a way to do it. But he is not supporting those people who are in need of a home. There are people who live in areas where the homes are being purchased by corporate America, not all of corporate America, but various companies that are in the business of purchasing homes and then leasing or renting these homes. He is not supportive of this. In something that he said, he was antithetical to that, he was opposed to, but he is now supportive of this because he won't sign the bill that deals with this very issue, the issue of the homes that could go to first-time home buyers being purchased by corporations. As a result, those homes are now being placed on the rental market. The United States would become a country where the American Dream is a dream to rent a home if the President does not sign this bill. He now has embraced these people who would prevent persons from acquiring a home by simply buying up the property and leasing it. He also has done something that I never thought I would see him do because he is, generally speaking, supportive of the construction industry. He says he is a person of great knowledge when it comes to construction and the whole notion of being a great builder. He considers himself a great builder. He now is at odds with the builders in this country. The builders in this country are ready to build more homes. This bill would allow them that opportunity because it eliminates a lot of the red tape. I have had the builders come to me and tell me about the red tape they encounter when they are attempting to build a home on a piece of property. There is red tape associated with the codes across the 50 States, and this red tape associated with these codes across these 50 States is something that they encounter that makes it difficult for them to move expeditiously and construct homes. This piece of legislation deals with this notion that 50 States are going to have 50 different means of getting something done, and it incentivizes the [[Page H4256]] States to allow these homebuilders to have the opportunity to do what they do best, and that is construct homes for persons to purchase and some, of course, for rental purposes, but it would allow the construction process to move forward expeditiously. It may not be as fast as they might want it to move or I might want it to move, but faster than it is moving currently. This would be the case, but the President now is at odds with the builders. He is at odds with those who want to buy homes. He is at odds with those who would like to build homes because he won't sign the bill that would make it easier for the builders to do what they do and for persons who desire to purchase homes for the first time to have the opportunity to do so. This President is going to find himself helping persons who would like to avoid seeing this whole process develop because somehow they believe that if this process develops it will somehow hurt them poli