USCM President Manny Diaz Releases Statement on Senate Passage of Housing Bill

I recently released a statement commending the Senate and House for passage of a Housing Bill which will go very far in assisting our nation's communities in the present foreclosure crisis. Along with the nation's mayors, I now urge President Bush to sign the bill as soon as possible. Below is my full statement:

As President of The U.S. Conference of Mayors, and on behalf of the American people and America's cities, we commend the Senate, specifically Senators Harry Reid and Christopher Dodd, for their courage and action today in the passage of this most urgent and landmark housing bill. We also commend House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for standing with us, and we urge President Bush to sign this act immediately.

We stand ready to work with Washington as we go forward to stabilize our neighborhoods and further assure that millions of Americans are provided a Federal Government that will never again permit the pain and economic hardship caused to millions of our people by the current home mortgage crisis.

Further, this legislation contains proposed reforms that the US Conference of Mayors has advocated for years. Together, we urge that Federal officials to work directly with the nation’s mayors in a true federal-city partnership to establish a new federal-city working governmental structure that will benefit our citizens and their housing needs – so critical during the economic challenges America faces in 2008.