WASHINGTON  -- U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the following statement today on President Obama’s remarks on housing finance reform during a speech in Phoenix, AZ. On June 25^th, Sen. Warner introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen the housing finance system by replacing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a with a streamlined, privately-capitalized system that preserves market liquidity and protects taxpayers from bailouts during any future economic downturns.

“It’s good to see additional momentum to strengthen the economic recovery by addressing mortgage finance reform. Our bipartisan Senate approach protects taxpayers while maintaining access to affordable mortgage credit. Our proposal also will end the current Fannie and Freddie model of private gains and public losses.  To date, nearly half of the members of the Senate Banking Committee – five Democrats and five Republicans – have signed-on as cosponsors of our reform legislation, and the chairman and ranking member have made housing finance reform a priority. I look forward to getting to work on this issue with my colleagues in September.”

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