'Everyone Deserves A Fair Shot At The American Dream': Joe Morelle Decries Cuts In FY 2026 THUD Bill

In a House Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) spoke about the FY 2026 THUD Bill.

Transcript

00:00Thanks so much, Mr. Chairman, and to all my colleagues.

00:07Two weeks after this House has passed a bill that will add $4 trillion to the national

00:13debt so we can give tax breaks to billionaires, we're now considering a bill that not only

00:17cuts entire programs dedicated to housing affordability but also pulls the rug out from

00:23under working families trying to stay afloat.

00:25We're at a critical moment for working families across the country.

00:29The cost of living continues to rise, rent is out of reach, and homeownership feels like

00:34an impossible dream.

00:35Instead of investing in homes, transit, and opportunity, my friends across the aisle and

00:41the President continue to pull resources away from working class individuals to further consolidate

00:46more wealth and more power into the hands of the wealthiest Americans.

00:51The bill eliminates the only federal program we have to build affordable housing.

00:54It eliminates housing counseling that helps people become first-time homebuyers and to

00:59build multi-generational wealth.

01:01It eliminates eviction prevention services even as homelessness and housing instability

01:07continues to rise inexplicably pulls the funding away from those eviction efforts.

01:14We should be expanding opportunity, not taking it away.

01:16We should be helping families pursue the American dream, put down roots, investing in the future.

01:23We should not be walking away from them because at the heart of all this is the simple truth.

01:28Everyone deserves a fair shot at the American dream, a safe place to live, a reliable way to

01:33get to work, and the dignity of building a life with stability and hope.

01:37It's the promise grounded in the ideals of our preamble, fairness, opportunity in a government

01:41that works for all.

01:43And I'm going to keep fighting for a budget that reflects that promise, a budget that

01:47works for all the families of America, not just the wealthy few.

01:50With that, Mr. Chair, I yield back.