{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=0022d9ea-3b76-4406-a287-ed7c555f998e", "Heitkamp Pushes to Advance Bipartisan Housing Finance Reform Bill During Hearing", "2013-09-12", "2013", "2013-09", "Democrat", "House", "ND", "Heidi Heitkamp", "H001069", "www.heitkamp.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today used a major Senate Committee hearing to push for a vote on a bipartisan plan she helped introduce to fix America\u2019s broken housing finance system.\r\nAt the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs hearing, which examined various elements of housing finance reform, Heitkamp touted the plan she authored with seven other members of the Committee, and reinforced the need to address North Dakota\u2019s housing crisis in part by fixing our nation\u2019s broken housing finance system.\r\nThe widely praised Housing Finance Reform & Taxpayer Protection Act would strengthen America\u2019s housing finance system by replacing government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a privately capitalized system. Moreover, the legislation protects taxpayers from future economic downturns and preserves the availability of the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for homebuyers.\r\n\u201cIn North Dakota, housing prices are skyrocketing and families are having a hard time finding affordable places to live.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been working to address this housing shortage head on, and an important part of that means reforming our housing finance system so it works for families living in rural areas,\u201d said Heitkamp. \u00a0\u201cAt today\u2019s hearing, the Committee came together for a serious discussion about how to accomplish that, and it\u2019s clear there is wide, bipartisan support for my housing finance reform bill. I\u2019m fighting to bring this bill up for a vote this fall, so we can get a bill signed into law that builds a stronger housing finance system for North Dakota and the whole country.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\r\nHeitkamp was the only freshman Senator to help write the housing finance reform bill. With her background as state Attorney General and Tax Commissioner, Heitkamp was uniquely experienced to tackle the complex issue. She specifically drafted provisions in the bill to make sure rural communities receive the resources they need, and ensure community banks and credit unions have access to the secondary housing market so they can compete and provide long-term mortgages to homebuyers.\u00a0 Click here to view more details about Heitkamp\u2019s efforts to address North Dakota\u2019s housing crisis.\r\nAfter the housing market collapsed in 2008, taxpayers were forced to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.\u00a0 As a result, nearly every loan made in America today comes with a full government guarantee.\u00a0 Despite this unsustainable situation, there has still been no real reform to our housing finance system since the financial crisis.\u00a0 Heitkamp\u2019s bill would prevent such a bailout from happening in the future.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=0022d9ea-3b76-4406-a287-ed7c555f998e"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9362432174384594, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}