Today, Congressman David Scott (GA-13) took the House Floor and urged swift passage of H.R. 7301, the Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act, to help homeowners and renters address the dire housing needs arising due to the pandemic. A transcript of his remarks is enclosed below:

“Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen on the floor.

“People across this nation, if you listen to my Republican friends you would think we’re not in a crisis. But we are in a terrible crisis.

“Just think, 42 million Americans didn’t have jobs just 14 weeks ago, and their homes are now on the verge of being foreclosed. They need our help.

“You’re right gentleman from Michigan, we did pass this bill in the HEROES Act. But, your leader said, let’s pause.

“This is the wrong time for this nation to pause because this is a crisis, And let me tell you something, it’s a crisis in terms of health, but it is also a crisis in terms of our great economy going down. The great pillars of our economy are homeownership, real estate values, and the security of our banking system - all of which are at stake here.

“So it makes sense for us to move now. You don’t think with 42 million Americans no longer working that they’re not going to be able to pay their mortgages. They’re not going to be able to keep their water on, their electricity, their utilities. They’re coming due—already.

“So I want to say to you, when Senator McConnell says put a pause on it, that this nation stands in horror when we see this epidemic already creating 42 million jobless people.

“Nothing is more important than showing the American people we care about them.  We can’t tell them to stay inside their homes, if they don’t have a home.”

For more information on H.R. 7301, click here.