{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=befd3433-9885-40a9-b0b6-25374cdf38b4", "Banking Committee Senators Introduce Legislation to Modernize and Reform America\u2019s Broken Housing Finance System", "2013-06-25", "2013", "2013-06", "Democrat", "House", "ND", "Heidi Heitkamp", "H001069", "www.heitkamp.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Contact: Todd Deutsch 202-224-9921 \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tWASHINGTON\u2014U.S. Senators Bob Corker, R-Tenn., Mark Warner, D-Va., Mike Johanns, R-Neb., Jon Tester, D-Mont., Dean Heller, R-Nev., Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Kay Hagan, D-N.C., all members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, today introduced legislation to strengthen America\u2019s housing finance system by replacing\u00a0government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a privately capitalized system that preserves market liquidity and protects taxpayers from future economic downturns.\r\n\u201cFive years after the financial crisis, it is past time for us to modernize our unstable system of housing finance,\u201d said Corker. \u201cThe framework we\u2019re presenting here will protect taxpayers while maintaining market liquidity, and is the best opportunity we\u2019ll have to finally move beyond the failed GSE model of private gains and public losses.\u201d\r\n\u201cHousing finance is the last piece of unfinished business remaining after the 2008 economic meltdown,\u201d Warner said. \u201cWe have designed thoughtful reforms that will protect taxpayers from future downturns while responsibly preserving the availability of the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for homebuyers. We believe the housing market is ready for reforms like this, and that the private sector has been waiting for new rules of the road.\u201d\r\n\u201cWe owe it to American taxpayers to listen to the lessons of history and work to prevent massive bailouts at their expense,\u201d Johanns said. \u201cWith nearly 90 percent of home loans backed by government guarantees, we need a better model that takes taxpayers off the hook for future bailouts if we ever have a repeat of the 2008 housing crisis. This bill fully pays back taxpayers for the last bailout, and ends the risk of another one in the future.\u201d\r\n\u201cWe\u2019ve come a long way since the economic crisis, but the housing market remains our greatest piece of unfinished business,\u201d Tester said. \u00a0\u201cWith the housing market beginning to show signs of strength, now is the time to create a framework built to withstand the next financial crisis \u2013 a system that protects taxpayers, preserves the 30-year fixed rate mortgage, and ensures that small financial institutions can continue to serve rural communities.\u201d\r\n\u201cMuch of the difficulty Nevadans are facing today can be traced back to the collapse of the housing market,\u201d said Heller. \u201cMy state and Americans across the country cannot wait any longer for Congress to finally tackle a major contributing factor to the 2008 economic downturn. I am pleased that my Republican and Democratic colleagues could come together to address this piece of the puzzle and prevent another devastating housing crisis in the future.\u201d\r\n\u201cI ran for the U.S. Senate because I wanted to help find solutions to major problems facing our country,\u201d said Heitkamp. \u201cFor far too long, Washington has kicked the can down the road when it comes to our housing financing system. I am committed to moving forward a bipartisan plan that protects taxpayers, provides certainty to the industry, and ensures that the 30-year-fixed-rate mortgage is available for North Dakotans in the future.\u201d \u00a0\r\n\u201cGrowing our economy will require a change in the way Washington does business with respect to housing financing,\u201d Moran said.\u00a0\u201cThe overwhelming number of mortgages written in this country are done so with substantial backing by the American taxpayer. I am encouraged by the positive steps this bill takes to return private investment to the housing finance sector. This is a conversation that matters a great deal as housing and homeownership play vital roles in the health of our economy. I look forward to working with my colleagues on this issue as we seek to make a good bill even better.\u201d\r\n\u201cThis bipartisan bill provides an important roadmap for strengthening our housing finance system and protecting taxpayers while ensuring access to affordable, long-term, fixed rate mortgage products for borrowers,\u201d Hagan said. \u00a0\u201cI look forward to working with my colleagues to debate this important issue and advance bipartisan legislation that will put our housing finance system on a stable path.\u201d\r\nIn 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken into government conservatorship and given a $188 billion capital injection from taxpayers to stay afloat.\u00a0As a result of this bailout, the private market has almost completely disappeared, and so 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.\r\nThe Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act (S. 1217):\r\n \r\nMandates 10 percent capital, up front, for the system to protect taxpayers against future bailouts. \u00a0\r\nWinds down Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) within five years of bill passage.\r\nTransfers appropriate utility duties and functions to the modernized, streamlined and accountable Federal Mortgage Insurance Corporation (FMIC), modeled in part after the FDIC.\r\nReplaces the failed \u201chousing goals\u201d of the past with a transparent and accountable market access fund that focuses on ensuring there is sufficient decent housing available. The fund is NOT paid for with tax dollars, but through a small FMIC user fee that only those who choose to use the system pay.\r\nEnsures institutions of all sizes have direct access to the secondary market so local banks and credit unions aren\u2019t gobbled up by the mega banks when Fannie and Freddie are dissolved.\r\n \r\nA summary of the legislation and bill text are attached. \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=befd3433-9885-40a9-b0b6-25374cdf38b4"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.061821822077036, "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"}