Today, the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry (NC-10), sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen formally inviting her to testify before the Committee at Friday’s hearing on Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA). Secretary Yellen is long overdue to answer for the Treasury Department’s failure to administer $46 billion of COVID ERA funds. Committee Republicans look forward to finally hearing directly from Secretary Yellen on her plan to get money into the hands of renters at risk of losing their homes due to Democrats’ inaction.
Republican leader McHenry also sent a letter to Chairwoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) calling on her to include Republicans’ H.R. 3913, the Renter Protection Act, in Friday’s hearing, and consider the bill at the Committee’s September 13th markup. H.R. 3913, introduced by all Committee Republicans in June, is necessary to fix the Administration’s mismanagement of ERA programs and must be passed immediately to keep American families in their homes.
Read Ranking Member McHenry’s full letter to Secretary Yellen here.
The Republican leader writes to Secretary Yellen: “For months, Republicans in the House of Representatives have sought your testimony to help renters and landlords understand why they are still waiting for the Treasury Department to disburse approximately $46 billion of COVID emergency rental assistance (ERA) funds. At a hearing in March, you issued a “pledge to work with this Committee” on matters related to oversight of the Department’s response to the pandemic. You subsequently proceeded to avoid answering questions in public on rental assistance and other pandemic relief programs—in fact, you have not appeared before the Committee since.
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“Your posture with respect to your statutory and constitutional obligations to provide information to Congress has prevented this Committee—indeed, several committees—from understanding conditions that are affecting many thousands of our constituents who may have fallen behind on rent due to the pandemic. The White House called for an “all-hands-on-deck effort by state and local governments, courts, community organizations, and the legal community” to reach renters in need. I trust you will consider this an opportunity to join that effort.”
Read Ranking Member McHenry’s full letter to Chairwoman Waters here.
The Republican leader writes to Chair Waters: “Failure by this Committee to move H.R. 3913 will only prolong the hardships faced by many Americans impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress came together last December to ensure that renters who found themselves in arrears because of COVID-19 would be made whole. Let’s work together to move H.R. 3913 to restore the premise of the agreement we reached last December to focus on individuals and households who find themselves in rental arrears because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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