Kucinich Defends Neighborhood Stabilization Program in Debate Today
Washington, DC – March 16, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today took to the House floor once again to stand up for programs designed to help homeowners struggling to keep their homes. Today he challenged H.R. 861 – The Neighborhood Stabilization Program Termination Act. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program was authorized in the 111th Congress to help neighborhoods deal with the blight and rising crime rates associated with foreclosed homes.
See the video here. The full text of Congressman Kucinich’s remarks follow:
“You know, Mr. Speaker and to my friends on both sides of the aisle, we could very easily come up with money to save this program if we just put a windfall profits tax on the oil companies. I am here today to point out the critical importance the Neighborhood Stabilization Program and to urge my fellow members to vote against canceling it.
“Over the past decade, the people of Ohio and my district in particular have weathered a terrible perfect storm of foreclosures, devastating entire communities. While some neighborhoods in my district have been hollowed out by the effects of this storm, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds have made neighborhoods and communities safer.
“Those communities faced the constant risk of crime and of vandals taking advantage of empty structures, and Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds have been used to demolish hundreds of abandoned homes in those neighborhoods. They have helped protect existing home values and prevented neighborhoods from falling apart.
“But the NSP program has not just financed the demolition of abandoned structures. In Cuyahoga County alone, this program funded the creation of 237 units of affordable rental housing and 25 single-family home renovations and neighborhood greenspace improvements.
“It has also been used to leverage non-federal money to fund the innovative Land Bank—a public entity which buys vacant and abandoned land and puts ownership of that land back in the hands of the public so that it can be used again, often in conjunction with private development, to renew and revitalize communities.
“Anyone who has spent any time in blighted communities knows that they cry out for innovative solutions like the Land Bank. When NSP was still being developed, I held hearings to find out how specifically the Department of Housing and Urban Development planned to allocate the funds. I convinced them of the wisdom of using US Postal Service and census tract data on residential home vacancies and because of that they adopted a need-based formula. Thank you very much.”
Contact:
Nathan White (202)225-5871
