Fighting for Affordable Housing for All

“Housing should be a basic right of every human being, and therefore it is imperative that we have an honest and fair system that works to secure homes for all, regardless of race, nationality, disability, age, sex, sexual orientation, religion, or familial status.”

- Congresswoman Barbara Lee

As a member of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, Congresswoman Barbara Lee has fought for laws that:

• Rehabilitate existing housing and construct new affordable housing and rental units
• Protect and fully fund vital housing programs
• Educate and protect consumers
• Increase funding for community projects and grants that provide housing opportunities to low-income families

Congresswoman Lee has done extensive work to:

• Cosponsor H.R. 2349, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act, to create and preserve 1.5 million housing units nationwide over the next decade while creating millions of jobs and billions in wages
• Protect home purchasers from high annual percentage rates that define a high-cost mortgage and lower the threshold for high-cost loans
• Allow local housing officials the eligibility to use left over Section 8 funds in areas of public housing where there is a need for funding instead of recycling recaptured dollars into the President’s budget
  

Congresswoman Lee is a champion for the consumer. She has:

• Successfully passed amendment to the Housing Affordability for America Act ending evictions under one-strike policy as it relates to domestic violence victims.
• Continued to fight for a broader innocent tenant defense under the one-strike policy
• Advocated legislation that protects consumers from the dangerous practice of predatory lending and supporting grants to educate consumers
• Demanded equality from creditors to applicants for most favorable credit terms
• Cosponsored legislation that provides transitional housing assistance to individuals fleeing domestic abuse situations

Congresswoman Lee has worked to increase the number of housing programs and the amount of funding by:

• Promoting laws that would provide grants to nonprofit community development corporations
• Establishing elderly housing and health support demonstration program to modernize public housing for elderly and disabled persons
• Introducing legislation to reauthorize and fund PHDEP, which has been proven to reduce crime while funding educational and cultural programs for tenants and youth.
• Cosponsoring legislation that would authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to states to pay for assistance to preserve affordable housing for low-income families

Congresswoman Lee has worked tirelessly to ensure quality and affordable housing in her own district. She has:

• Anchored a $12.7 million HOPE VI grant from Housing and Urban Development for 151 new affordable apartments in West Oakland
• Supported the Oakland Housing Authority federal application for its Moving to Work demonstration program giving flexibility in using funds
• Hosted a Congressional field hearing in Oakland to examine its housing crisis in addition to holding town hall meetings on housing
• Continued to work with corporate partners like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to build affordable housing in Alameda County
  

As a member of the Poor People’s Caucus, Congresswoman Lee has championed several homeless initiatives that include:

• Appropriating $600,000 for the Continuum of Care homeless project in Alameda Pointe
• Supporting the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Act that provides technical assistance and support to homeless children and youth and promptly integrates them into the school system
• Advocating for the Shelter Plus Care Program that provides rental assistance and supportive services on a long term basis for hard-to-serve homeless persons with disabilities
  

Back To Issues & Ideas

Back To Top

Back To Home