The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted to pass the Housing Bill and send it to President Bush for his signature. The bill, formally called the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, included four provisions that Senator Kerry introduced and helped guide through the legislative process this year. The Senator's office explained the four provisions in a press release that went out shortly after the 72-13 vote on the bill in an unusual Saturday session:

• Kerry worked with Senator Gordon Smith (R-Oregon) to include the Mortgage Revenue Bond Provision, which provides an additional $11 billion of tax-exempt private activity bonds to housing finance agencies. The provision would allow the proceeds from the bonds to be used to refinance subprime loans, provide mortgages for first time homebuyers and for multifamily rental housing. This means that approximately $209 million in targeted mortgage relief will be available to the homeowners of Massachusetts, which could result in as may as 1,000 new loans in Massachusetts. Nationwide this would result in close to 87,000 additional loans.
• The bill also contains provisions to amend the Service Members Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by extending the period a lender must wait before starting disclosure procedures from 90 days to nine months after a service member has returned from active duty and capping interest on mortgages at 6 percent for one year after a serviceperson completes his/her services.
• The bill also establishes a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund, introduced by Kerry and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) which requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to set aside a portion of their profits of which, 65 percent will be used for the Housing Trust Fund (approximately $3.4 billion over ten years), and 35 percent will go toward a Capital Magnet Fund to leverage affordable housing development and community development activities. In 2000, Kerry wrote the first National Affordable Housing Trust Fund legislation to construct, rehabilitate, and preserve 1.5 million units of housing over the next 10 years.
• The bill includes $3.92 billion for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program which will help local communities fight the effects of foreclosure. Earlier this year, Kerry, along with Senator Edward Kennedy, sent a letter to the Senate leadership underscoring the need for $2 billion in additional funding for CDBG in the upcoming housing legislation.

Senator Reid said today that 8,500 people receive a foresclosure warning every working day in America.  That's 8,500 working families that have to face the agony of being forced out of their homes.  This bill offers some relief to those hard-pressed Americans who simply want to be given a chance to fairly pay off their loans and keep their homes.  Congratulations to all who helped this bill pass.  The American people won this victory today and thousands of people will be the beneficiaries of this legislation.