Congressional Advocacy and Key Housing Committees By Kimberly Johnson, Policy Analyst, • The Senate Committee on Appropriations . NLIHC • The Senate Committee on Finance . obbying Congress is a direct way to advocate See below for details on these key committees for the issues and programs important to as of December 1, 2019 . For all committees, you . Members of Congress are accountable to members are listed in order of seniority and Ltheir constituents and as a constituent, you have members who sit on key housing subcommittees the right to lobby the members who represent are marked with an asterisk (*) . you . As a housing advocate, you should exercise that right . HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL CONTACT YOUR MEMBER OF SERVICES CONGRESS Visit the committee’s website at To obtain the contact information for your http://financialservices.house.gov. member of Congress, call the U S. Capitol The House Committee on Financial Services Switchboard at 202-224-3121 . oversees all components of the nation’s housing MEETING WITH YOUR MEMBER OF and financial services sectors, including banking, CONGRESS insurance, real estate, public and assisted housing, and securities . The committee reviews Scheduling a meeting, determining your main laws and programs related to HUD, the Federal “ask” or “asks,” developing an agenda, creating Reserve Bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance appropriate materials to take with you, ensuring Corporation, government sponsored enterprises your meeting does not veer off topic, and including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and following-up afterward are all crucial to holding international development and finance agencies effective meetings with Members of Congress . such as the World Bank and the International For more tips on how to lobby effectively, refer to Monetary Fund . the lobbying section of this chapter . The Committee also ensures the enforcement of housing and consumer protection laws such the KEY CONGRESSIONAL “U S. Housing Act,” the “Truth in Lending Act,” COMMITTEES the “Housing and Community Development Act,” The following are key housing authorizing and the “Fair Credit Reporting Act,” the “Real Estate appropriating committees in Congress: Settlement Procedures Act,” the “Community Reinvestment Act,” and financial privacy laws . • The House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services . The Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance oversees HUD and the Government National • The House of Representatives Committee on Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) . The Appropriations . Subcommittee also handles matters related to • The House of Representatives Committee on housing affordability, rural housing, community Ways and Means . development including Opportunity Zones, and • The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, government sponsored insurance programs such and Urban Affairs . as the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the National Flood Insurance Program . 2–20 2020 ADVOCATES’ GUIDE *Members marked with an asterisk sit on the • Sylvia Garcia (TX) Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance . • Dean Phillips (MN) Majority Members (Democrats) Minority Members (Republicans) • Maxine Waters (CA), Chair • Patrick McHenry (NC), Ranking Member • Carolyn B . Maloney* (NY) • Peter T . King (NY) • Nydia M . Velázquez* (NY) • Frank D . Lucas (OK) • Brad Sherman* (CA) • Bill Posey (FL) • Gregory Meeks (NY) • Blaine Luetkemeyer* (MO) • Wm . Lacy Clay* (MO), Subcommittee Chair • Bill Huizenga* (MI) • David Scott (GA) • Steve Stivers* (OH), Subcommittee Ranking • Al Green* (TX) Member • Emanuel Cleaver* (MO) • Ann Wagner (MO) • Ed Perlmutter (CO) • Andy Barr (KY) • Jim A . Himes (CT) • Scott Tipton* (CO) • Bill Foster (IL) • Roger Williams (TX) • Joyce Beatty* (OH) • French Hill (AR) • Denny Heck* (WA) • Tom Emmer (MN) • Juan Vargas* (CA) • Lee M . Zeldin* (NY) • Josh Gottheimer (NJ) • Barry Loudermilk (GA) • Vicente Gonzalez* (TX) • Alexander X . Mooney (WV) • Al Lawson* (FL) • Warren Davidson (OH) • Michael San Nicolas (GU) • Ted Budd (NC) • Rashida Tlaib* (MI) • David Kustoff* (TN) • Katie Porter (CA) • Trey Hollingsworth (IN) • Cindy Axne* (IA) • Anthony Gonzalez* (OH) • Sean Casten (IL) • John Rose* (TN) • Ayanna Pressley (MA) • Bryan Steil* (WI) • Ben McAdams (UT) • Lance Gooden* (TX) • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) • Denver Riggleman (VA) • Jennifer Wexton (VA) • William Timmons (SC) • Stephen F . Lynch (MA) • Tulsi Gabbard (HI) • Alma Adams (NC) • Madeleine Dean (PA) • Jesús “Chuy” García (IL) NATIONAL LOW INCOME HOUSING COALITION 2–21 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES • Katherine Clark* (MA) COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS • Pete Aguilar* (CA) Visit the committee’s website at • Lois Frankel (FL) http://appropriations.house.gov. • Cheri Bustos (IL) The House Committee on Appropriations • Bonnie Watson Coleman* (NJ) is responsible for determining the amount of funding made available to all authorized • Brenda Lawrence* (MI) programs each year . • Norma Torres* (CA) The Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, • Charlie Crist (FL) and Urban Development and Related Agencies (THUD) determines the amount of government • Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ) revenues dedicated to HUD and other relevant • Ed Case (HI) agencies, including the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness . Minority Members (Republicans) • Kay Granger (TX), Ranking Member *Members marked with an asterisk sit on the THUD Subcommittee . • Harold Rogers (KY) Majority Members (Democrats) • Robert Aderholt (AL) • Nita Lowey (NY), Chair • Michael Simpson (ID) • Marcy Kaptur (OH) • John Carter (TX) • Peter Visclosky (IN) • Ken Calvert (CA) • José Serrano (NY) • Tom Cole (OK) • Rosa DeLauro (CT) • Mario Diaz-Balart* (FL), Subcommittee Ranking Member • David Price* (NC), Subcommittee Chair • Tom Graves (GA) • Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA) • Steve Womack* (AR) • Sanford Bishop (GA) • Jeff Fortenberry (NE) • Barbara Lee (CA) • Charles Fleischmann (TN) • Betty McCollum (MN) • Jamie Herrera Beutler (WA) • Tim Ryan (OH) • David Joyce (OH) • C . A . Dutch Ruppersberger (MD) • Andy Harris (MD) • Debbie Wasserman Shultz (FL) • Martha Roby (AL) • Henry Cuellar (TX) • Mark Amodei (NV) • Chellie Pingree (ME) • Chris Stewart (UT) • Mike Quigley* (IL) • Stephen Palazzo (MS) • Derek Kilmer (WA) • Dan Newhouse (WA) • Matt Cartwright (PA) • John Moolenaar (MI) • Grace Meng (NY) • John Rutherford* (FL) • Mark Pocan (WI) • Will Hurd* (TX) 2–22 2020 ADVOCATES’ GUIDE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES • Jimmy Gomez (CA) COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND • Steven Horsford (NV) MEANS Minority Members (Republicans) Visit the committee’s website at • Kevin Brady (TX), Ranking Member http://waysandmeans.house.gov. • Devin Nunes (CA) The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax writing committee in the House of • Vern Buchanan (FL) Representatives and has jurisdiction over • Adrian Smith (NE) taxation, tariffs, and a number of programs • Kenny Marchant (TX) including Social Security, Medicare, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and • Tom Reed (NY) unemployment insurance. • Mike Kelly (PA) Majority Members (Democrats) • George Holding (NC) • Richard Neal (MA), Chair • Jason Smith (MO) • John Lewis (GA) • Tom Rice (SC) • Lloyd Doggett (TX) • David Schweikert (AZ) • Mike Thompson (CA) • Jackie Walorski (IN) • John Larson (CT) • Darin LaHood (IL) • Earl Blumenauer (OR) • Brad Wenstrup (OH) • Ron Kind (WI) • Jodey Arrington (TX) • Bill Pascrell (NJ) • Drew Ferguson (GA) • Danny Davis (IL) • Ron Estes (KS) • Linda Sanchez (CA) • Brian Higgins (NY) SENATE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN • Terri Sewell (AL) AFFAIRS • Suzan DelBene (WA) Visit the committee’s website at • Judy Chu (CA) www.banking.senate.gov. • Gwen Moore (WI) The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs oversees legislation, petitions, and • Dan Kildee (MI) other matters related to financial institutions, • Brendan Boyle (PA) economic policy, housing, transportation, urban development, international trade and finance, • Don Beyer (VA) and securities and investments . • Dwight Evans (PA) The Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, • Brad Schneider (IL) and Community Development oversees mass • Tom Suozzi (NY) transit systems, general urban affairs and development issues and is the primary oversight • Jimmy Panetta (CA) committee for HUD . The subcommittee oversees • Stephanie Murphy (FL) HUD community development programs, the FHA, the Rural Housing Service, Fannie Mae and NATIONAL LOW INCOME HOUSING COALITION 2–23 Freddie Mac, and all issues related to public and SENATE COMMITTEE ON private housing, senior housing, nursing home APPROPRIATIONS construction, and indigenous housing issues . Visit the committee’s website at *Members marked with an asterisk sit on the http://www.appropriations.senate.gov. Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development . The Senate Committee on Appropriations is responsible for determining the amount Majority Members (Republicans) of funding made available to all authorized • Michael Crapo (ID), Chair programs each year . • Richard Shelby* (AL) The Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies • Patrick Toomey (PA) (THUD) has jurisdiction over funding for • Tim Scott (SC) the Department of Transportation and HUD, • Ben Sasse (NE) including community planning and development, fair housing and equal opportunity, the FHA, • Tom Cotton* (AR) Ginnie Mae, public housing, and indigenous • Mike Rounds* (SD) housing issues . • David Perdue* (GA), Subcommittee Chair *Members marked with an asterisk sit on the THUD Subcommittee