STATEMENT OF U.S. SEN. MARK WARNER

~ On Housing Finance Reform Markup ~

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, issued the following statement today after Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) announced the committee will continue discussions on the Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act (S.1217), bipartisan reform legislation introduced last year by Sens. Warner and Bob Corker (R-TN) and cosponsored by a bipartisan group of 10 senators:

“This broad, bipartisan reform proposal reflects more than 18 months of solid work, and has been examined during a dozen public hearings by the Banking Committee. It’s a complicated bill that impacts 20% of our economy, and the continued government conservatorship of Fannie and Freddie is not a responsible option. It is worth taking a bit more time to see if ongoing and productive conversations might broaden support for this proposal.”

In June 2013, Sens. Warner and Corker introduced S.1217 to strengthen America’s housing finance system by replacing government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a privately capitalized system that preserves the 30-year fixed rate mortgage for American families while protecting taxpayers from future economic downturns.

In addition to Warner and Corker, S. 1217 is currently cosponsored by Sens. Mike Johanns (R-NE), Jon Tester (D-MT), Dean Heller (R-NV), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Kay Hagan (D-NC), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), and Mark Begich (D-AK), which includes five Republicans and five Democrats from the Senate Banking Committee.