U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) on Wednesday defended his vote against the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act on Monday, after facing criticism for going against the partisan grain and not voting alongside fellow Alabama U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery).
Despite receiving wide bipartisan support, Tuberville joined U.S. Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) in voting against the bill.
The bipartisan effort is led by U.S. Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with U.S. Reps. French Hill (R-Ark.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) in the U.S. House.
On Wednesday, Tuberville appeared on Fox News Channel's "The Story" to detail his reasons for voting against the bill, citing the growing federal budget deficit. He also stated on social media that while he was “all for making housing more affordable for American families,” he did not want to expand the “already bloated” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
“We’re $39 trillion in debt,” Tuberville told Fox News. “We’re giving more money to a department that, to me, is just pushing money out the door, and we don’t know where it goes most of the time. Right now, most of it’s probably going to illegals living in this country. It’s not going to help the middle class. And if it helped the middle class, I’d be all in, but I think this is a bill that might touch a little bit of the middle class, but it’s going to a lot of people that are here illegally to build houses for them.”
“If you want to fix housing, drop the interest rate. That’s how you fix housing and make it more affordable," he added.
The legislation does not create any new spending. However, it does expand HUD’s authority and scope by assigning it new grant programs to administer, additional oversight and more input into existing programs
Supporters of the bill tout its reported expansion of grants and incentives for new-home construction and streamlining of regulations. The bill is also said to restrict large institutional investors from purchasing family homes en masse.
Britt applauded the Senate’s passage of the bill, calling it “an incredible win for hardworking individuals and families.”
“Today, I was thrilled to join my Senate colleagues in taking a critical step to empower more Alabamians and Americans with the opportunity to own a home as we overwhelmingly passed the most comprehensive housing policy bill in decades,” Britt said. “This is an incredible win for hardworking individuals and families and would not have been possible without the tireless work of Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott. For far too long, the American Dream of homeownership has been completely out of reach—Chair Scott recognized this and worked across the aisle and across chambers to deliver solutions for the American people”
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