National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chairman Chuck Fowke participated in an event on Capitol Hill with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and leaders of several other housing organizations to call on Congress to keep housing funding in the Build Back Better package.

The press conference focused on the importance of investing in housing with the theme that housing is infrastructure.

“NAHB applauds Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Maxine Waters for their principled stand on the urgent need to include funding for housing in the Build Back Better Plan when some other leaders in Congress would contemplate jettisoning an opportunity for such a historic investment,” Fowke said.

“Regulatory barriers, coupled with the current building material supply chain crisis, has priced thousands of hard-working American families out of housing at a time when housing demand is at an all-time high,” he added. “An investment in housing will provide the best economic bang for the buck. Safe, decent and affordable rental housing provides the pathway to owning your own home, and the American Dream of homeownership can be the gateway to the middle class.”

“We’re here . . . because housing is infrastructure,” said Sen. Brown. “It’s as important as roads and bridges and buses and broadband and so much else. It’s the foundation for opportunity. It’s vital infrastructure. It’s an issue that matters to everybody around the country.”

“Much of the housing needs in this country have been ignored for far too long,” said Rep. Waters. “We will be fighting very hard. When Sherrod and I take a good look and we see what is being proposed, we are not simply going to go along to get along. We probably are going to have to give an alternative to whatever is being suggested. I certainly hope that there is no attempt to do deep cuts in housing. Our people in this country need their government to come to their assistance to deal with the serious housing crisis in the country.”

Other housing organizations participating in the Capitol Hill event included the National Housing Conference, the National Association of REALTORS, the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, the National Fair Housing Alliance, the National Fair Housing Coalition and Habitat for Humanity.

The entire press event can be viewed here, and Fowke’s remarks begin at the 20:45 mark.