It will come to order. Without objection the chair is authorized to declare a ressz of the committee at any time. All members have five legislative days in which to submit extraneous materials to the chair for inclusion in the record. Entitled the future of housing in america. Over sight of the department of housing in urban development. I recognize myself for three and a half minutes to give an Opening Statement. We welcome the 17th secretary of the department of housing and urban development. Dr. Ben carson. For his first appearance before the committee. Welcome sir. In one respect he maybe among the most qualified individuals to ever serve as hud secretary. Why . Because secretary carson was raised by a single mother who had a third grade education. He grew up in poor communities in detroit and boston. Lived in multifamily housing with boarded up windows and doors. Surrounded by sirens. Gangs, and murder. Not only does he understand poverty personally, he understands what it takes to escape it. He is passionate about helping others escape as well. He also understands that huds approach to eliminating poverty in urban decay too often fails and thankfully hes committed to changing it. When it was created 52 years ago. It was intended to be the map weapon in the war on poverty. 52 years later, and 1. 6 trillion later the poverty rate remains unchanged. Sadly despite all the spending hud failed to live up to the noble aspiration of its birth. I do not wish to diminish the valuable work it does. Especially tenant based section 8 housing for the eld r ri and disabled. I remind all for the able bodied there is no better Affordable Housing program than a growing economy that creates better jobs, bigger paychecks sdp brighter tomorrow. After suffering from eight years of bad Public Policy leading to a sluggish economy, that has been growing at barely half of the historic norm, working americans deserve better. They deserve fundamental tax reform proposed by the president and republicans. A fair, flatter, simpler more competitive tax system. There hasnt been significant tax reform in a century that hasnt grown the economy and grown tax revenue. I remind all in the first five years after the kennedy tax reform plan was passed the economy grew by 48 . This growth erased a 5. Billion deficit ento a surplus. The economy grew 42 over five years and federal revenue surged by 28 . Even going back to the coolage era. Resulted in annual average Economic Growth of 4. 7 . So we have seen it time and time again. When we ruf the burden of excessive taxes and allow the American People to keep more of what they earn, we unleash the potential to create prosperity and opportunity for everyone. Thats not economic theory. Its history. And its the very em bodiment of Affordable Housing. I wonder, how can one be for Affordable Housing yet oppose allowing working americans to keep more of the paycheck . Thats exactly what the republican tax reform frame work does. Allows working americaning to keep more of their paycheck. I look fwad to hearing more of the secretaries new vision for hud. And the programs that he and his team are beginning to reform. I now yield to the rarnging member. For an Opening Statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman. America is currently in the middle of the worst housing crisis we have experienced. It is hitting the lowest income families the hardest. According to to National Low Income coalition, the United States has a shortage of 7. 2 milli 7. 2 million affordable rental units for low income households. Our country is at standstill. When it comes to reducing homelessness, and some parts of the country homelessness has reached crisis. We face homeowner ship challenges with minority homeowner ship rates continuing to lag. Even as the Housing Market recovers. In the face of the immense Housing Needs in our country, President Trump chose doctor ben carson to serve as the head of the department of housing and urban development. The secretary of hud is supposed to be at the forefront of our efforts to create strong communities. Expand, access to safe, decent and Affordable Housing. And enforce fair housing rights. Housing is the foundation on which the entire society is built. It is a platform for economic mobility and well being. It is a crucial part of the national economy. It is a necessary human right. We need strong leadership, and a bold vision for hud. And in order to expand access to Affordable Housing in the country. Unfortunately, i have seen nothing to indicate that secretary carson is up to the challenge. Secretary carson has expressed views that are deeply alarming and antithet kal to his role a nud. Such as describing poverty as quote more of a choice than anything else. And saying he doesnt think Public Housing should be too comfortable. His few actions so far as hud secretary are deeply troubling as well. Secretary carson has supported a budget that slashes funding for critical housing programs and proposes harmful rent increases on some of the most vulnerable American Families. Hes moved to roll back important Obama Administration policy. And initiative. With little or no explanation. So im very much looking forward to hearing from secretary carson today about his actions so far and his plans for serving our nations most vulnerable families. I thank you, and i yield back. Chair recognizes the gentleman from wisconsin. The chairman of the housing and insurance subcommittee. Thank you. Over here mr. Carson. Hi. Its hard to find people. Welcome, i dont know if its secretary or doctor. Welcome. Either way. Whatever the proper title is. I think you can tell youll be in for an interesting hearing. Based on the Opening Statement of the Ranking Member. I would note that poor people have been worse off over the last eight years. Mirpties have fared worse than the rest of the population. I would argue that with a growing bureaucracy a bigger government a. You got the middle class. Poor people get poorer. Rich people get richer. It happens when you implement the policies. And to go back to a system that gives people a hand up to move them from poverty like yourself into the middle class. One of the greatest Brain Surgeons the country has seen is the american droem. Im looking forward to your testimony. You have a lot of reform that you want to discuss with us. Im looking forward to hearing it. Id like to hear your vision on the prior secretary when they would look at success of hud. It was viewed in the realm of how many people do we get into the system . How many people do we help through hud . Versus the mentality of how many people do i get in, how many people can i move out of the system . How many people can i get to stand on their own two feet. Whats the measure of success. Look forward to your views on Housing Finance reform. The chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri. For one minute. Thank you. The future of housing in america strikes me as significant. Thank you for being here mr. Secretary. I have opening comments. But i maybe of greater value if i just tell you that i sat down with shack. To tell him how his fatherinlaw and i grew up. Two blocks apart. 405. He lived at 512 in the projects. I ended up getting the opportunity to move out faster than they did. We my father saved money. Bought a lot, bought a house. Moved the house to the lot. I mentioned to you. And i always think what would have happened if nobody helped my mother and father as they were struggling to make a living for four children . I end the story. Just to say that i have Three Sisters all with degrees. One with a phd. What happened if they ignored us . Housing is important to me. I yield back. The chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. For one minute. Thank you. Im glad were having this hearing. Im glad youre here. The condition of americas cities and towns is a subject that is the jurisdiction of this committee and your department. In neither case for stoom to be fair to you, proceeding your entry into the position, that subject lant gotten nearly the attention that it should. Unfortunately for decades important investment in cities and towns. The home program, have faced really dope cuts. I grew up in flint. Just around the same time you were growing up in detroit. We had a similar childhood experience. In a lot of people know flint now because of the terrible crisis that its facing. Coming out of this poisoning of the water. The truth behind flints story is it was on the brink of insolvency because the state of michigan and the federal government had eliminated essential support for the development and redevelopment of the places. Im anxious to hear how you can square your suggestions to cut further those programs with the sworn oath you took to uphold the mission. Time has expired. Today we welcome the testimony of the honorable ben carson. This is the first time secretary carson has appeared before this committee. Dr. Ben carson was sworn in as ts 17th secretary of the u. S. Department of housing and urban development on march 2, 2017. Secretary carson earned bachelors degree from yale university. And received his md from the university of michigan medical school. Previously secretary carson served as director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins center. Without objection the witnesses written statement will be made part of the record. Secretary carson you are recognized of paediatric surgery at Johns Hopkins childrens center. Without objection the witnesss written statement will be made part of the record. Youre recognized to give an oral presentation. It is on now. Ranking member waters, thank you for inviting me to discuss the work that we do at the department of housing and urban development. And my plans for fulfilling our mission with fidelity to our congressional mandate in the best interest of the American People. First, please know that right now hud is involved in the federal response to multiple hurricanes that devastated areas of texas, florida, georgia, puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands. Huds team is coordinating with our territorial and local Agency Partners providing Housing Solution for survivors and helping hud assisted clients and fha insured borrowers. It is the Recovery Efforts in these disaster impacted regions as they rebuild. Helping these communities is and will remain a priority for me and this administration. America has changed greatly since hud was established as part of Lyndon JohnsonsGreat Society programs half a century ago. We must learn to evolve with the country. Many Americans Still struggle to find Affordable Housing. Chronic homelessness continues to plague tens of thousands of our country men and many millions remain mired in poverty rather than being guided on a path out of it. History has made it clear that spending more dollars does not equal ensuring delivering services effectively and efficiently with the best practices and technologies since i arrived at hud in march it has been my mission to employ the wealth of knowledge held by career staff and remain careful stewards of taxpayer dollars. After several months of hard work, our team has outlined a bold plan for institutional reform and improvement that will better serve all americans. Its called the Forward Initiative. The policy elements of a Forward Initiative each fall under what we have named the three rs, reimagine how hud works, restore the American Dream and rethink American Communities. First reimagining how hud works refers to internal processes, working conditions and training. The goal of every improvement made at hud is to provide Better Service to those. Second, our job is to restored American Dream, getting americans back on their feet and permanently improving their lives. Of course hud is committed to continuing to serve those families that might always need someone to lean on. Additionally we have an opportunity to eliminate veterans homelessness in america. They sacrificed for our country and deserve all of the support we can give. And finally we need to rethink American Communities and how we can make them thrive. Expanding Community Investment through Public Private partnerships produces better results than heavyhanded government intervention. It is also our special priority to help more americans live in Healthy Homes free of lead hazards and other hazards. The hud team is cognizant. The president has directed federal agencies to take special care against burdening American Families and their businesses with unnecessary and expensive regulations. Hud is reviewing its existing regulations to assess their compliance costs, reduce Regulatory Burden and build a more efficient and effective agency. Let me close by reiterating the interest of our administration and my personal interest in working with this committee on Housing Finance reform. Hud will be an active participant in this critical dialogue because of our fundamental Housing Mission and because our fha Mortgage Insurance Program and our ginny may Mortgage Backed security guarantee. Large and vital components. Reform should be built on shared goals of ensuring a well functioning Housing Finance system that provides access for creditworthy bosch borrowers who are ready to own arrowers w ready to own a home. Expands the role of the private sector and reduces overall taxpayer exposure. Thank you for inviting me to testify today and i welcome any questions. Chair recognizes himself for five minutes for questions. My colleague, mr. Duffy, alluded in his Opening Statement to kind of metrics of success. And there are some who view the success of hud to be tied to the size of its budget or the number of people who have section 8 vouchers. But i am curious, does hud have or is hud developing any different metric . I mean, how many people actually get to escape poverty . How many ablebodied individuals are able to escape poverty to move beyond section 8 housing and maybe at one point enjoy the dream of Home Ownership . Does hud have any way to measure this . Are we looking at this wrong . Should there be a different metric of success for what youre doing . There have been a number of studies over the course of decades. And as was mentioned in your Opening Statement, there hasnt been a tremendous amount of progress there. This is not because the people who have been there have had bad intentions. I think they have very good intentions. But we do have to look at the fact that were not making a great deal with progress with poverty. And thats why we are looking to reform this whole thing. And really looking more at the person than at the housing complex. Housing is a component of developing people. We have to recognize that we only have 330 Million People in this country. We have to compete in the future with china and india, who have four times that many people. That means, if we dont develop all of our people, we are not going to be able to keep up in the future. Its as simple as that. We have to start thinking in terms of Holistic Development of people and communities. How do we enable people to climb that ladder of opportunity. How do we incentivize them to climb that ladder of opportunity so that they become part of the strength of this country. Part of Affordable Housing is obviously tied to our Housing Finance system. Recently Federal Reserve governor Jerome Powell said, if congress does not enact reforms over the next few years we are at risk of settling for the status quo, a government dominated Mortgage Market with insufficient private capital to protect taxpayers and insufficient competition to drive innovation. Do you agree or disagree with governor powells assessment . There is no question that we need to engage in a serious discussion about finance reform. A lot of progress has been made, by the way. Ten years ago we were talking about how important it is to get everybody into Home Ownership. And again, i am not criticizing the people who did that. But i dont think they realized that to put somebody in a home that they cant afford is not really doing them a favor. They lose the home. They lose their credit. They lose their future opportunities. We have to learn from those kinds of situations. And innovation is the hallmark of america. Mr. Secretary, can we reform our Housing Finance system without reforming fha, which