Congressman Al Green Cosponsors Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s Amendment to the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Act

(Washington, DC)--On June 9, 2014, Congressman Al Green cosponsored Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s amendment to H.R. 4745, the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Act.  The amendment would move $10 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) information technology account to the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) account. This move would make FHEO’s funding more consistent with its 2014 fiscal year appropriations level. FHEO provides funds for, among other programs, HUD’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP), which enforces as well as educates communities and the housing industry about laws intended to protect all against invidious housing discrimination.

“I believe it is important to highlight the threat major cuts to fair housing enforcement pose to HUD’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP). FHIP provides unique and vital services to the public and the housing industry to protect consumers against invidious housing discrimination,” Congressman Al Green said. “Private nonprofit fair housing organizations are some of the few qualified private organizations in the country that educate communities as well as the housing industry about this issue. It is irresponsible to drastically cut the funding for such an essential, money-saving program that protects consumers from invidious housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, familial status, disability, or national origin. Furthermore, a cut in funding could leave our veterans, many of whom are disabled, vulnerable to discrimination.”