Rep. Doris Matsui Statement on President Obama's Housing Plan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

CONTACT: Alexis Marks

(202) 225-7163

Rep. Doris Matsui Statement on President Obama's Housing Plan

Rep. Doris Matsui (CA-05) issued the following statement on President Obama's plan to address the housing crisis:

andquot;Today, President Obama laid out his aggressive agenda for addressing the housing foreclosure crisis. His plan will get at the heart of the national economic crisis we are facing by making it easier for homeowners to afford their monthly payments, thereby reducing the number of foreclosures.

andquot;Sacramento has one of the highest rates of foreclosure in the country, and I have been working in Congress to reduce the number of foreclosures. This year I reintroduced H.R. 527, the Home Retention and Economic Stabilization Act of 2009, with Senator Menendez, which calls for a foreclosure moratorium. Additionally, I successfully amended the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) Reform and Accountability Act, so that the legislation called for institutions who receive TARP funds to stop foreclosure proceedings on any principal homeowner until the new loan modification program in the bill is implemented.

andquot;Most recently, I sent a letter to U.S Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner with Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, urging financial institutions to halt foreclosures until the Administration's plan is in place. Over the weekend, JPMorgan Chase andamp; Co., Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo andamp; Co. announced that they were planning on doing just that.

andquot;The President has taken an important step today in addressing this crisis, and I look forward to working with the Administration and Congress to further bring about comprehensive housing reform.andquot;

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