Burlison Opens Hearing on Saving the American Dream Through Housing Affordability

WASHINGTON-Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Chairman Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) delivered opening remarks at today's hearing on "Housing Affordability: Saving the American Dream." In his opening statement, Subcommittee Chairman Burlison noted how skyrocketing housing costs and Democrats' excessive regulations and illegal immigration have made homes unaffordable for many young Americans. He also highlighted how President Trump and Congressional Republicans are working to make housing more affordable by removing barriers for building homes and delivering historic tax relief for working families.

Below are Subcommittee Chairman Burlison's remarks as prepared for delivery:

Let's start with a basic reality check.

A young American can work full-time, do everything right, and still have no realistic path to owning a home.

Not because they are lazy.

Not because they made reckless choices.

But because public policy has made ownership more expensive and further out of reach than it has been in decades.

Only twenty-five percent of Americans say they are confident they can afford to buy a home.

More than half say they have little or no confidence at all.

Housing affordability is now at a forty-year low.

At the same time, Americans are seeing something that doesn't add up.

Across the country, people who entered the United States illegally are living in housing that many working Americans cannot afford.

That is not a talking point.

It is a policy outcome.

Young adults who followed the law, entered the workforce, and tried to build a future are told they should accept permanent renting.

Meanwhile, government programs increase housing demand, subsidize select populations, and drive prices higher for everyone else.

That is not fairness.

That is displacement.

Nearly one-quarter of homeowners and almost half of renters spend at least thirty percent of their income on housing.

For millions of families, housing is no longer a foundation for stability-it is a financial choke point.

So how did we get here?

First, the Federal Reserve held interest rates near zero and injected trillions of dollars into the economy leading up to and during the COVID pandemic.

Mortgage rates fell sharply. Demand surged. Home prices skyrocketed while housing supply failed to keep pace.

Then the Federal Reserve reversed course.

Interest rates climbed to their highest levels since 2008.

Americans were left with the worst possible combination: elevated home prices and sharply higher borrowing costs.

At the same time, the Biden administration fueled historic inflation through excessive federal spending.

Paychecks lost purchasing power, while housing costs continued to rise.

Now consider supply.

The United States is short somewhere between 3.8 and 8.2 million homes today.

By 2035, that shortage could approach 10 million units.

Instead of prioritizing supply, federal policy increased demand.

Mass illegal immigration placed immediate pressure on housing markets across the country-especially in working-class communities.

More people competing for too few homes drove rents and prices higher for Americans already struggling to get ahead.

Washington also made housing more expensive to build.

Federal regulations on building codes, energy standards, and home appliances added tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of constructing or renovating a home.

Proposals for nationwide rent control further discouraged new construction and reduced supply.

The result is a system that squeezes working Americans from every direction.

Higher prices.

Higher interest rates.

Too little supply.

And demand competition driven by federal policy.

That is not a failure of the free market.

It is a failure of government.

President Trump and Congressional Republicans are taking a different approach.

On day one, the President directed his Cabinet to deliver emergency price relief by expanding housing supply and eliminating regulations that raise costs.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of the Interior are working to make federal land available for housing development.

Congress passed H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill, which delivered historic tax relief for working families and removed barriers that make it harder to build new homes.

The direction is clear.

Housing affordability will not be restored by trapping Americans in permanent rent.

It will not be restored by distorting markets or importing demand into an already broken system.

It will be restored by unleashing American builders, dismantling the regulatory cartel, mass deportations, and putting HARD-WORKING American families back at the center of national policy-where they belong.

That is why we are here today.