For Immediate Release
Rep. Bowman Contact: bowman.press@mail.house.gov (914-463-0041)
Sen. Warren Contact: 202-224-2292
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, in the midst of historically high housing costs, Rep. Jamaal Bowman Ed.D (D-NY) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) led a bicameral letter urging President Biden to pursue all possible strategies to address rent inflation, end corporate price gouging in the real estate sector, and ensure that renters and people experiencing homelessness across this country are stably housed this winter.
“My community is being crushed by the burden of high prices and wages that can’t keep pace. Meanwhile, corporate landlords and other profit-driven companies are bringing in record profits. People simply cannot afford to live anymore,” said Congressman Jamaal Bowman Ed.D (NY-16). “We must pursue all options on the table that will help renters stay housed in the short-term, while also continuing to collaborate on efforts to realize long-term investments in our nation’s affordable and decommodified housing supply. I look forward to working with the Biden Administration to implement the policies outlined in our bicameral letter and do everything in our collective power to keep renters housed.”
“The cost of rent for Americans is simply too high. In addition to making robust investments to address the housing shortage, we must use all our tools to protect tenants and reverse consolidation in the housing market that has given corporations unchecked power to inflate rents,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). “This is why Rep. Bowman and I are encouraging the Biden Administration to make use of these tools and adopt a whole-of-government approach to address the housing crisis in America.”
The full letter text is available here. This letter is also signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Christopher Murphy (D-CT), Bernard Sanders (D-VT), and Representatives Alma Adams (D-NC), Nanette Barragán (D-CA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Cori Bush (D-MO), André Carson (D-IN), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), Judy Chu (D-CA), Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Veronica Escobar (D-TX), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Dwight Evans (D-PA), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (D-IL), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Al Green (D-TX), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Steven Horsford (D-NV), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), James P. McGovern (D-MA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Katie Porter (D-CA), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Delia C. Ramirez, Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Mary Scanlon (D-PA), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Mark Takano (D-CA), Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ).
This letter is endorsed by over 80 housing, climate, education, and immigration organizations including Homes Guarantee Campaign, People’s Action, National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Housing Law Project, Groundwork Collaborative, Center for Popular Democracy Action, Debt Collective, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Liberation in a Generation, PolicyLink, Private Equity Stakeholder Project, Revolving Door Project, Sunrise Movement, ADOS Advocacy Organization, ACT UP Philadelphia, Affordable Housing Network of Santa Clara County, African Communities Together, Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, Amped, Appalachian GameChangers, Arizona Students' Association, AZ AANHPI for Equity, Berkeley Tenants Union, Black Leadership Action Coalition of Kentucky (BLACK), Broken Hearted Homes, CADEM Renters Council, Cape Girardeau Tenants, Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, Center for Neighborhoods, Charleston SC DSA Chapter, Citizen Action of Wisconsin, Community Alliance of Tenants, Community Development Technologies (CDTech), CT Citizen Action Group, El Shaddai Refuge Homes CDC, Faith in Action Nevada, Faith in the Valley, Florida Rising, For Our Future NV, Freedom BLOC, Fuerte Arts Movement, Ground Game LA, Hometown Action, Housing Justice for All, Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia, Jane Addams Senior Caucus, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Living United for Change in Arizona, Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, Louisville Metro Council District 4, Madison County Tenants Union (Kentucky), Maine People’s Alliance, Make it Work Nevada, Monterey County Renters United, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD), National Women’s Law Center, Neighbor to Neighbor, Nevada Housing Justice Alliance, New Jersey Citizen Action, PA Stands Up, Parable of the Sower Intentional Community Cooperative, Partnership for the Public Good, Pennsylvania Stands Up, Pennsylvania United, Pioneer Village Tenants Association, Pittsburgh United, PLAN, Poder In Action, Progressive Maryland, Prosperity Now, Public Counsel, PUSH Buffalo, reclaim philadelphia, Rights and Democracy (NH & VT), Rise Up WV, Rural Arizona Engagement, Sami bourma, San Gabriel Valley Tenants Alliance, TakeAction Minnesota, Tenants Political Action Committee, Thai Community Development Center, The 490 Project, The Women’s Building, Unity Fellowship of Christ Church - NYC, VOCAL-NY, Western Regional Advocacy Project, and Youth Alliance for Housing.
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