Patrick McHenryChairman

Washington, June 12, 2015 - Committee Questions HUD Secretary on Ineffectiveness of Agency After 50 Years

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was created 50 years ago to serve as a main weapon in the “War on Poverty” and the agency has received more than $1.6 trillion in annual appropriations over its lifetime.  On Thursday, members of the Financial Services Committee questioned HUD Secretary Julian Castro on his agency’s failure to achieve measurable results.

“By nearly every official measure, poverty and its consequences are as bad as they were 50 years ago.  The poverty rate today is essentially unchanged from when HUD was founded,” said Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX).  "If we truly care about the least of these among us, we can no longer measure success by the number of dollars appropriated to HUD. That should be obvious. Instead, success must be measured in the number of our fellow citizens who rise from lives of poverty and dependency to lives of hope, self-sufficiency, and pride. That’s true success."

Throughout the hearing, members expressed concerns that HUD has created a bureaucratic, complex tangle of programs that foster dependency rather than promote economic freedom and provide a roadmap out of poverty.

"Our aspirations need to be much higher. Our expectations are far too low. The expectation should be that success is measured not just by how many people we're moving into dependency on the department but how many people we are moving out of dependency," said Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY).

The Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee continued its review of legislative proposals aimed at helping Americans achieve financial independence and preserving consumer choice.

Subcommittee Chairman Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) said the hearing was another “opportunity for members to continue the discussion of regulatory relief for community financial institutions and the protection of consumer financial choice. Many members here today have put in a tremendous amount of work to build bipartisan coalitions for their legislation."

The hearing covered 12 bills designed to reduce regulatory burdens and streamline regulatory compliance, ensuring consumers have greater access to the financial services they want and need.

Witness Hester Peirce from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University testified how financial regulation needs to be revisited and updated to allow for well-functioning markets. "A well-functioning market enables people who need financing to obtain it efficiently and at a competitive price,” she said.  “Market forces reward financial companies that serve consumers well and discipline firms that fail to provide products and services in a form and at a price that consumers want."