Washington, D.C. – Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke on the Senate floor slamming Donald Trump for putting his own agenda before lowering costs for the American people and not signing the bipartisan ROAD to Housing bill until Congress passes his radical voter suppression bill, the SAVE Act. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
Trump’s clown car gets more and more laughable, ridiculous. Here’s what he just did. He canceled his bill signing on the housing bill. It’s utterly amazing: Trump is running away from one of the very few accomplishments that could actually help the American people.
Any time there’s an opportunity for Trump to help the American people, he runs the other way, comes up with some idiot thing in his head that this may hurt this one or help this one. His pettiness with his enemies, and he throws up roadblocks.
The bipartisan housing bill was an accomplishment that the American people want, are proud of, and need. Trump runs away from it. He’s not going to sign it. He’s petulant, he’s angry, and he looks ridiculous, cancelling it just two hours before he is supposed to sign it and saying we should do the SAVE Act instead. How does the SAVE Act lower the American people’s housing costs? It doesn’t. How does the SAVE Act do anything good? It doesn’t. It’s a vicious, nasty piece of material and probably in Trump’s ridiculous mind, “Oh, I don’t want to sign the housing bill because it might detract from the SAVE Act.” The SAVE Act – not the saving bill. The SAVE Act will not pass, Donald Trump. Get on board with this housing bill. Don’t veto it. Because it’s so important to the American people. The passage of our bipartisan housing bill, it was bipartisan, ought to remind the nation how government can deliver when we put aside the partisan chaos we see coming out of the White House every day.
Listen to me Trump: sign this thing. Get something good done for the American people for once.
The American people are counting on us to make life more affordable, and lowering housing costs is absolutely essential to that effort. The ROAD to Housing helps put our country on the right track toward fixing the housing shortage that drives up costs for the American people.
Our bill streamlines local zoning and permitting, provides new flexible funding to expand supply, supports manufacturing and modular housing, helps convert old office buildings into new housing, stops institutional investors from crowding Americans out of the housing market.
Our legislation is going to help build more, faster, better, cheaper housing and build everywhere so we can get more homes on the market. What’s wrong with that, Donald Trump? Why do you run away from signing it when it would be so beneficial to the American people?
Trump, the housing crisis in America is too severe to let partisanship get in the way of commonsense solutions.
The ROAD to Housing is an important first step towards ending the affordability crisis, it must not be the last, we’ll keep at it, particularly if we regain the majority. But now, for once, Trump should sign it, and stop running away from it, and stop making such a fool of himself.
I thank Senator Warren for her leadership on this bill, as well as all of the members of the Banking Committee and everyone else who helped make the ROAD to Housing a success. And it looks like even if Trump decides to veto it, there are probably enough votes in both houses to override that veto.
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