[Senate Hearing 117-321]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 117-321
NOMINATIONS OF MATTHEW AXELROD, ALANNA MCCARGO, JAMES ARTHUR JEMISON
II, AND MARK COLON
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON
BANKING,HOUSING,AND URBAN AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON
NOMINATIONS OF:
MATTHEW AXELROD, TO BE AN ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF COMMERCE
__________
ALANNA MCCARGO, TO BE PRESIDENT, GOVERNMENT NATIONAL MORTGAGE
ASSOCIATION, DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
__________
JAMES ARTHUR JEMISON II, TO BE AN ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
__________
MARK COLON, TO BE AN ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN
DEVELOPMENT
__________
OCTOBER 7, 2021
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available at: https: //www.govinfo.gov /
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
48-180PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio, Chairman
JACK REED, Rhode Island PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama
JON TESTER, Montana MIKE CRAPO, Idaho
MARK R. WARNER, Virginia TIM SCOTT, South Carolina
ELIZABETH WARREN, Massachusetts MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland THOM TILLIS, North Carolina
CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana
TINA SMITH, Minnesota BILL HAGERTY, Tennessee
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming
JON OSSOFF, Georgia JERRY MORAN, Kansas
RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia KEVIN CRAMER, North Dakota
STEVE DAINES, Montana
Laura Swanson, Staff Director
Brad Grantz, Republican Staff Director
Elisha Tuku, Chief Counsel
Mohammad Aslami, Counsel
Dan Sullivan, Republican Chief Counsel
John Crews, Republican Policy Director
Cameron Ricker, Chief Clerk
Shelvin Simmons, IT Director
Charles J. Moffat, Hearing Clerk
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
----------
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2021
Page
Opening statement of Chairman Brown.............................. 1
Prepared statement....................................... 28
Opening statements, comments, or prepared statements of:
Senator Toomey............................................... 3
Prepared statement....................................... 29
NOMINEES
Matthew Axelrod, to be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce........ 5
Prepared statement........................................... 30
Biographical sketch of nominee............................... 32
Responses to written questions of:
Chairman Brown........................................... 79
Senator Toomey........................................... 80
Senator Menendez......................................... 83
Alanna McCargo, to be President, Government National Mortgage
Association, Department of Housing and Urban Development....... 7
Prepared statement........................................... 45
Biographical sketch of nominee............................... 47
Responses to written questions of:
Chairman Brown........................................... 84
Senator Toomey........................................... 85
Senator Shelby........................................... 91
Senator Tillis........................................... 92
Senator Moran............................................ 94
James Arthur Jemison II, to be an Assistant Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development.......................................... 8
Prepared statement........................................... 58
Biographical sketch of nominee............................... 59
Responses to written questions of:
Chairman Brown........................................... 95
Senator Toomey........................................... 96
Senator Reed............................................. 103
Senator Sinema........................................... 104
Senator Shelby........................................... 105
Senator Rounds........................................... 107
Senator Tillis........................................... 109
Senator Kennedy.......................................... 111
Senator Moran............................................ 111
Mark Colon, to be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development.................................................... 10
Prepared statement........................................... 67
Biographical sketch of nominee............................... 69
Responses to written questions of:
Chairman Brown........................................... 113
Senator Toomey........................................... 114
Senator Menendez......................................... 120
(iii)
NOMINATIONS OF MATTHEW AXELROD, ALANNA MCCARGO, JAMES ARTHUR JEMISON
II, AND MARK COLON
----------
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2021
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met at 10:02 a.m., via Webex and in room 538,
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Sherrod Brown, Chairman of
the Committee, presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN SHERROD BROWN
Chairman Brown. The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs will come to order. Thank you all for joining
us.
Today's hearing is in a hybrid format. Our witnesses are in
person. Members have the option to appear both in person or
virtually. For those joining remotely, the reminders we give
every hearing, there will be a slight delay before you are
displayed on the screen. To minimize background noise please
click the mute button until it is your turn to speak. You know
of the 30 seconds on the clock. Technology issue, we will move
to the next Member if there is a problem.
Speaking order will be as usual, that is by seniority of
the Members who have checked in before the gavel came down,
either in person or virtually, and then by seniority of Members
arriving later, and we alternate, as you know, from Democrat,
Republican, Democrat, Republican.
First, before addressing the four of you--and again, thank
you for your willingness to serve--I would like to say a word
about our Committee and our tolerance for character
assassinations.
Until yesterday, I thought we all recognized that
McCarthyism has no place in our democratic society. Any
American citizen who fled communist repression, whether FDIC
Chair Jelena McWilliams or OCC nominee Saule Omarova, should be
lauded for her courage and her conviction. Anyone who hears
Professor Omarova's story of life in the Soviet Union, her
family's banishment to Siberia, and other stories will
understand how offensive the attacks on her character are.
I have faith that my colleagues, on both sides of the
aisle, will reject these modern-day ``red scare'' tactics.
The Committee meets today to consider the nominations of
Matthew Axelrod to be Assistant Secretary for Export
Enforcement at the Department of Commerce; Alanna McCargo to be
President for the Government National Mortgage Association,
Ginnie Mae; James Arthur Jemison II to be Assistant Secretary
for Public and Indian Housing at HUD; and Mark Colon to be
Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development at
HUD. Thank you again, all four of you, for joining us and for
your willingness to serve our country. We congratulate you and
we welcome their families and friends.
If confirmed, the nominees before us today would play a
significant role in protecting U.S. national security
interests, expanding housing opportunities for millions of
Americans, and supporting families searching for a safe and
affordable place to live, all important functions of this
Committee, the Senate, and this country's Government.
As Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement, Mr. Axelrod
would be responsible for leading a division within the Commerce
Department's Bureau of Industry and Security that detects,
investigates, and deters illegal behavior.
As President of the Government National Mortgage
Association, or Ginnie Mae, Ms. McCargo would play a
significant role in expanding funding for mortgages and making
home ownership a reality for millions of Americans across the
country, including in my State of Ohio, of course.
As the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing,
Mr. Jemison would be responsible for leading an office
dedicated to ensuring vulnerable families across the country
have a decent place to call home.
And, finally, as Assistant Secretary for Community Planning
and Development, Mr. Colon would be responsible for leading an
office working to support communities in all our States.
All four nominees appearing here today are highly
qualified. Mr. Axelrod has a distinguished record of service as
a Government prosecutor, currently detailed to the Office of
the White House Counsel from the Department of Justice. Before
that, Mr. Axelrod served in several roles at DOJ, working to
protect our national security and working on criminal
prosecutions. Welcome, Mr. Axelrod, to the Committee.
Alanna McCargo currently serves as Senior Advisor for
Housing Finance at HUD. Prior to joining the Biden
administration, she served as Vice President for the Housing
Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute, where she focused
on reducing the racial home ownership gap and making housing
more affordable. She has 10 years' experience at Fannie Mae,
including during the last financial crisis. We are glad to have
you here today, Ms. McCargo.
Mr. Jemison currently serves as the Principal Deputy
Assistant Secretary for the Office of Community Planning and
Development at HUD. Prior to joining the Biden administration,
he held numerous positions for the city of Detroit, most
recently leading the city's development agenda.
He has also served the public in Massachusetts and the
District of Columbia, all working on issues related to creating
vibrant, growing, affordable communities. Welcome, Mr. Jemison.
We are glad to have you here today.
Our fourth nominee today is Mark Colon. He serves as the
President of the Office of Housing Preservation at New York
State Homes and Community Renewal. In various roles at that
agency, Mr. Colon has served the people of New York, working to
build and protect affordable housing, and helping families,
especially families recover from Superstorm Sandy. Welcome, Mr.
Colon.
We are grateful to the nominees for appearing here today,
and for their willingness to serve the American people. I look
forward to your testimonies.
Senator Toomey.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR PATRICK J. TOOMEY
Senator Toomey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, thank you. Since
you brought up the issue that you described as ``red scare''
tactics, let me respond.
What is shocking to me is the notion that a person
nominated for a very high position in our Government should not
be accountable for the things they have advocated for, in
writing, themselves. Every one of my criticisms of Ms. Omarova
are rooted directly in things that she has said and written,
mostly quite recently, and which she has characterized herself
as radical ideas. I agree that they are radical, and they are
dangerous, and they would be enormously harmful to our economy,
and that is exactly what I pointed out in my comments on the
Senate floor.
I also pointed out that some of the most wonderful, loyal,
and greatest Americans that I have ever met are Americans who
happened to have been born and raised behind the Iron Curtain
and came to this country. That fact of her background has no
bearing whatsoever on my judgment about how profoundly
misguided the policies she has advocated are, and it is
perfectly appropriate for us to examine those policies.
As for this morning's hearing, I want to welcome to our
nominees.
Mr. Axelrod has been nominated to serve as Assistant
Secretary for Export Enforcement in the Commerce Department's
Bureau of Industry and Security, or BIS. BIS, of course,
determines which U.S. goods are too sensitive to be shipped
abroad. In the face of China's drive for dominance in key tech
sectors, BIS's mission today is as important as ever.
But export controls are only as good as their enforcement.
Mr. Axelrod would have the important job of overseeing that
enforcement. I expect him, and I look forward to him giving his
own answers to questions from this Committee, including
questions for the record, and I mention that because some BIS
nominees have not done that in the recent past.
Today's other nominees would, if confirmed, fill key
leadership positions at HUD. In response to COVID, Congress
appropriated billions of dollars for HUD programs, in addition
to the billions we normally provide for them. In March, the
Democrats' partisan spending bill sent billions more to HUD.
Now Democrats are trying to use their reckless tax-and-spend
reconciliation bill to provide more than $300 billion, in
addition, to HUD. And unfortunately, based on their records, I
am not certain that all of today's nominees are well-suited to
be good stewards of these taxpayer dollars.
Ms. McCargo has been nominated to serve as the President of
Ginnie Mae. After the 2008 financial crisis, she was
responsible at Fannie Mae for implementing the Home Affordable
Modification Program, or HAMP, which was intended to help
borrowers avoid foreclosure. HAMP was beset with challenges. A
special inspector general found that a significant share of
borrowers in HAMP, people who had already defaulted because
they could not afford their initial mortgage, received loan
modifications then defaulted again, and GAO found
inconsistencies in how loan servicers interfaced with
borrowers, which GAO claimed could lead to inequitable
treatment.
Fast forward to today. Ginnie Mae recently rolled out a
proposal to help borrowers by transitioning them from COVID-
related mortgage forbearance into loan modifications for up to
40 years. Ms. McCargo has endorsed this idea. If confirmed, Ms.
McCargo will need to be vigilant to ensure the challenges that
HAMP faced do not reappear for borrowers, and taxpayers, with
this latest taxpayer-backed plan to subsidize certain people's
mortgages.
Mr. Jemison has been nominated to serve as the Assistant
Secretary responsible for public housing and Indian housing.
For almost 7 years, he worked on housing issues for Detroit, a
city so chronically mismanaged that it had to file for
bankruptcy in 2013. Mr. Jemison contributed to the leadership
of Detroit, and that leadership often failed to revitalize
blighted homes and neighborhoods on time and as promised.
Amazingly, city officials admitted that they set aggressive
construction timelines without any data to support them.
Mr. Jemison's track record in Detroit is concerning because
Democrats and the White House want to spend $80 billion more on
public housing in this reckless spending bill that they are
contemplating. If confirmed, Mr. Jemison would lead HUD's
public housing office, which would be directly responsible for
this enormous amount of money.
Our last nominee today, Mr. Colon, has a particularly
concerning record. He has had senior management roles at New
York housing agencies that have been rife with problems, from
project delays to ignoring ever-increasing tenant complaints,
according to independent auditors. These failures, which
occurred under Mr. Colon's watch, give me little confidence
that he would be a good steward of taxpayer dollars at HUD.
But there is something even more troubling about Mr.
Colon's record is his history of using Twitter to engage in
vitriolic and profane attacks on his political opponents. Over
the years, he has repeatedly mocked and attacked, by name, our
Senate colleagues. He has ridiculed Senator Manchin. He
referred to Senator Collins and other Republicans as
``clowns.'' Senator Graham he referred to as ``Senator
Snagglepuss'' and ``Senator Shameless,'' Senator Rubio as
``Senator Jellyfish,'' Senator Paul as spineless, Senator
McConnell as ``MassacreMitch'' and ``Moscow Mitch.''
He has endorsed the slanderous claim that Republican
Senators, including Members of this Committee, were ``Russian
stooges'' for having traveled to Russia there on a CODEL. And
he has gone on profanity-laced tirades about President Trump.
This is just a small selection.
Unfortunately, we do not know the full extent of Mr.
Colon's statements because he has deleted some of them, shortly
before being nominated. I asked him to try to recover his
deleted tweets from Twitter, but he refused to comply with this
very reasonable request. And, of course, it makes you wonder--
what does he have to hide?
The statements we do have from Mr. Colon are more than
sufficient to demonstrate that he lacks the judgment and
temperament to serve in a senior leadership position at HUD.
Frankly, I am shocked and disappointed that the Biden
administration did not withdraw his nomination months ago after
these statements were uncovered.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Brown. Thank you, Senator Toomey. Will each of you
rise and raise your right hand.
Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to
give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Ms. McCargo. I do.
Mr. Axelrod. I do.
Mr. Jemison. I do.
Mr. Colon. I do.
Chairman Brown. Do you agree to appear and testify before
any duly constituted Committee of the U.S. Senate?
Ms. McCargo. I do.
Mr. Axelrod. I do.
Mr. Jemison. I do.
Mr. Colon. I do.
Chairman Brown. Thank you.
Mr. Axelrod, and all of you, if you feel free, certainly in
your testimony to introduce family members or friends, whether
they are sitting behind you or you want to call them out if
they are watching at home. Presumably they are watching from
home.
Mr. Axelrod, please begin.
TESTIMONY OF MATTHEW AXELROD, TO BE AN ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF
COMMERCE
Mr. Axelrod. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Chairman Brown,
Ranking Member Toomey, and distinguished Members of the
Committee, I am honored to be here today as President Biden's
nominee to become the Assistant Secretary for Export
Enforcement at the Department of Commerce. I want to thank the
President and Secretary Raimondo for my nomination to this
important enforcement and national security position at this
critical time.
I also want to thank my family, both those in the hearing
room with me today--my wife, Jami, and daughter, Sophie, who is
missing her high school American Government class but getting a
firsthand look here today--as well as those watching intently
on their computer screens at home in Massachusetts and
Florida--Sophie's older sister, Emily, my parents, Carl and
Andrea Axelrod, and my in-laws, Jon and Margie Sussman. No one
does these jobs alone. It is only through my family's
collective love, support, and belief in the importance of
Government service that I am able to appear before you today as
a Presidential nominee.
In recent years, the export enforcement work of the
Department of Commerce has become an increasingly pivotal
component of our country's national security efforts. It is
essential that our adversaries do not have access to dual-use
goods and technologies that they can put to malign purposes
like terrorism, WMD proliferation, and human rights abuses. If
confirmed, I believe that my deep criminal and national
security enforcement experience will allow me to effectively
lead the dedicated agents and analysts of BIS in meeting this
national security imperative.
As a career Federal prosecutor in Miami, I was part of one
of the Nation's busiest U.S. Attorney Offices. Given Miami's
role in international commerce, both licit and illicit, our
work often had international dimensions. My cases included ones
against the two founders and highest-ranking members of the
Cali Cartel and against a husband-and-wife team who were spying
for the Cuban Intelligence Service. In all my cases as a
prosecutor, both those with international angles and those that
were purely domestic, I worked alongside Federal law
enforcement agents. I was, and remain, in awe of all they do to
help keep the American people safe.
After 6 years in Miami, I became a career detailee to DOJ
headquarters here in Washington, where I worked as a Senior
Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal
Division and then as an Associate Deputy Attorney General,
responsible for overseeing the criminal enforcement work of the
Department. I also later served as the Principal Associate
Deputy Attorney General, where I worked with the Department's
senior leaders on the most significant national security and
criminal enforcement matters at the Department.
During my time at Main Justice, I also worked closely with
the career prosecutors in the National Security Division, with
Federal law enforcement agencies, and with interagency partners
to protect the country's national security. I am confident that
the relationships I formed, and the knowledge I gained about
the importance of bringing a whole-of-Government approach to
combat national security threats will serve me well, if
confirmed.
While I come from an enforcement background, that is not
the entirety of my professional experience. I spent much of the
past 4 years in an international law firm, where my work took
me around the globe, from Europe to Asia to Africa. No matter
where I was in the world, people wanted to hear about United
States enforcement mechanisms; it was our enforcement regimes
they wanted to make sure they did not run afoul of. That
experience gave me an important perspective on how best to
maximize the impact of our export enforcement work. We must
impose significant penalties against those who break the law
while at the same time incentivizing companies to play by the
rules. That way, we not only punish export violators, but also
deter those violations from occurring in the first place.
I mentioned that my daughter, Sophie, is missing her high
school Government class to be here today. Back when I was in
high school, my classmates and I were consistently told that
``from those to whom much has been given, much will be
expected.'' I am filled with gratitude beyond measure for what
I have been given over the years, by my family, my friends, and
my professional colleagues. I know that means that much will
continue to be expected of me in return. If confirmed, it would
be my great honor to endeavor to fulfill those expectations as
the Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement.
Thank you again for considering my nomination, and I look
forward to your questions.
Chairman Brown. Thank you, Mr. Axelrod.
Ms. McCargo, you are recognized for 5 minutes. Thank you.
TESTIMONY OF ALANNA MCCARGO, TO BE PRESIDENT, GOVERNMENT
NATIONAL MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION, DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN
DEVELOPMENT
Ms. McCargo. Thank you, Chairman Brown, Ranking Member
Toomey, and Members of the Committee. It is an honor to appear
before you as you consider my nomination to serve as the next
President of the Government National Mortgage Association, or
Ginnie Mae.
I am grateful to President Biden for nominating me and
thank Secretary Fudge for her leadership and vision for the
Department of Housing and Urban Development and in trusting me
to lead Ginnie Mae. The historic significance of being the
first woman nominated to this role since Ginnie Mae was created
in 1968 is a distinct honor.
My husband, Jay McCargo, and my daughter, Alexandra, are
here with me today. I thank them for being a loving source of
inspiration, encouragement, and support. I want to thank my
family members and friends watching virtually, and acknowledge
my mother, Veronica Malveaux Brown, who has been my wise and
faithful guide through life. I would also like to especially
thank my amazing sons, Gerrad and Jay-Jay.
Nearly 20 years ago, I came to Washington, DC, to work on
affordable housing programs at Fannie Mae. I spent a decade
there, including the years of the Global Financial Crisis in
2008, which led to a U.S. housing market meltdown that
ultimately left tens of millions of people without homes and
with lost wealth.
Those years became an inflection point for me. I learned
how fragile the system is that supported housing and home
ownership in America and how quickly things could change. I saw
the devastating effects that rippled across neighborhoods and
households. It was heart-wrenching to see so many people in
financial distress and despair and disheartening to find that
many who were losing their homes to foreclosure and eviction
during that time looked like me and my children.
That experience changed my perspective and helped sharpen
my purpose. Stable, affordable, and accessible housing has
since been at the core of my professional work in the private
sector, in the nonprofit policy research work I led at the
Urban Institute, and now in my public sector work with the
Biden-Harris administration at HUD.
My career in housing finance and passion for the field of
affordable housing is driven by my own lived experience. I
understand how powerful asset building and access to credit and
financing are to personal financial security. Property and home
ownership have been vital to my own family for generations, and
I recognize that my personal story is often not typical for a
Black family.
My mother grew up on a farm that my grandfather owned in a
small town near Opelousas, Louisiana, where she picked cotton
and canned and farmed vegetables. Our family roots of property
ownership are deep and have created a value system through
generations of Black farm and landowners in my lineage. My
father was an immigrant from Jamaica who came to New York and
became a U.S. citizen as a child and joined the Navy after high
school.
In 1969, just 1 year after the Fair Housing Act was passed
and racial discrimination in housing became illegal, my parents
purchased a four-unit home in a highly segregated area of the
Bronx for $30,000 with some savings and a small VA mortgage
loan. We lived in one of the apartments and rented out the
others. My parents later bought a home in New York State, in
the suburbs, in search of better schools and a safer
neighborhood, and kept the house in the Bronx as a source of
extra rental income.
My parents built a strong foundation for our family through
home ownership. They were able to pass those benefits on to me
and my siblings in the form of college tuition payments,
helping us avoid student loan debt. They helped me with a gift
to purchase my first home, which I was able to finance with a
low-down-payment FHA mortgage.
Far too many people do not get the opportunity to plant
seeds of ownership because housing is grossly unaffordable, it
is impossible to save, or they lack resources or do not have
parents who can help them get started. Government mortgage
programs help enable home ownership opportunity.
Ginnie Mae's guaranty enables the work of key Government
housing programs that play an essential role in housing
America's veterans, low- and moderate-income households, urban,
rural, and tribal communities, and helps expand access to
affordable home ownership and rental for the historically and
systematically underserved. In 2020, more than 70 percent of
all people served by Ginnie Mae securities were first-time
homebuyers.
Ginnie Mae has remained stable and reliable while quietly
supporting affordable rental and home ownership for millions of
people. If confirmed, I will be a faithful steward of Ginnie
Mae, ensuring the program stays focused on its critical
mission, keeps pace with a rapidly changing market, attracts
global capital into America's housing finance system, and
protects American taxpayers.
I look forward to leading an incredibly dedicated team of
public servants at Ginnie Mae and to working with this
Committee, Secretary Fudge, and housing stakeholders across the
globe to ensure stability, liquidity, affordability, and equity
in our housing finance system.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I look
forward to your questions.
Chairman Brown. Thank you, Ms. McCargo.
Mr. Jemison, you are recognized for 5 minutes. Welcome.
TESTIMONY OF JAMES ARTHUR JEMISON II, TO BE AN ASSISTANT
SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Mr. Jemison. Good morning. Chairman Brown, Ranking Member
Toomey, and distinguished Members of the Committee, thank you
for the opportunity appear before you today as the nominee for
Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing in the
Department of Housing and Urban Development. I want to thank
President Biden for nominating me, and Secretary Fudge for her
support of my candidacy.
I also want to thank my family and friends for their love,
support, and guidance. I am grateful to my father, James, and
particularly my mother, Beverly, and my sister, Jamileh, who is
joining me here today, for their guidance and support. Finally,
I want to thank my wife, Annie. She has been a partner to me,
our three children, and the family for the last 20 years.
HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing funds the
operation and capital that supports 3.2 million American
families every night. Public housing is at the center of many
American neighborhoods, and PIH rental assistance supports many
American households and landlords. Indian Development Block
Grant supports many thousands of families and elders in Tribal
communities every day. I am excited to work with the
professionals who have maintained and supported these capital
assets and voucher resources since 1938.
I have spent the last 25 years working in city planning and
development, first as part of a team and later leading the
development and preservation of market-rate and affordable
housing units as well and the parks, streets, transportation
facilities, commercial districts, downtowns, and employment
centers that bring those communities together.
I have done this by bringing together the feasibility,
planning, design, permitting and financing concepts--private,
public, and philanthropic--required to execute these
strategies. Bringing expertise together with community
engagement, I have performed this work in downtowns,
neighborhoods, and small towns.
Specifically, I have experience in three great American
cities--Boston, Washington, and Detroit, Michigan--as well as
the smaller cities and towns of Massachusetts. As part of
partnerships with developers, community leaders, funders,
boards, and commissions, my work has resulted in the
preservation of more than 4,000 affordable units and over 3,500
new market and affordable housing units, including hundreds of
public housing units.
For the last 9 months, I have had the opportunity to lead
HUD's Community Planning & Development Office as Principal
Deputy Assistant Secretary. I appreciate the partnership CPD
staff members and leaders have extended to me.
However, today I am particularly honored to be nominated to
be the steward of this institution because I grew up in public
housing. From 1983 to 1988, I lived at 693 Main Street in
Amherst Massachusetts. It was a newly built unit, operated by
the Amherst Housing Authority.
Amherst is what would be described as an area of high
opportunity. It is college town surrounded by five colleges and
farming communities.
However, this housing opportunity stabilized my family at a
critical time and made a difference in my life, the difference
that affordable housing makes for so many Americans every
night. Making it work for more Americans has been my mission
ever since I left that unit for college; for a summer
fellowship program that caused me to be interested in planning
and development; and later to become a graduate student in City
Planning. It is also the place that my sister, who is here with
me today, left to go to medical school.
I know that well-designed and well-maintained public
housing and rental assistance can work as part of the American
safety net. I know this personally because I have lived it. I
know it professionally because I have had affordable housing at
the center of every major effort I have been involved in since
I began my career.
I have spent my entire career collaborating to create
better places for every kind of American, where everyone can
live together. Public housing is central to this mission.
If confirmed, I will use all of my energy and experience
working transform public housing, ensure that vouchers
stabilize households and end homelessness, and support the
strength of Tribal communities across America.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today.
I look forward to your questions.
Chairman Brown. Thank you, Mr. Jemison.
Mr. Colon, you are recognized for 5 minutes. Welcome.
TESTIMONY OF MARK COLON, TO BE AN ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF
HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Mr. Colon. Thank you Chairman Brown, Ranking Member Toomey,
and distinguished Members of the Committee. I am deeply honored
to appear before you today as the nominee for Assistant
Secretary of Community Planning and Development at HUD. I would
like to start by thanking President Biden for his trust and
confidence in nominating me. I would also like to thank the
Committee for allowing me this time and for considering my
nomination.
I must also thank my family, friends, and colleagues for
their unwavering support and to recognize my beautiful and
talented wife, Gina Kim, and my brother-in-law, Reverend Ryan
Kim, the Senior Pastor of the Korean Presbyterian Church of
Baltimore, and my cousin, Anthony Salemi [phonetic] recently
retired from serving 38 years with the U.S. Department of
Defense, for being here to support me today.
HUD's Assistant Secretary of CPD oversees many of the
Department's most critical grant programs. If confirmed, I will
bring nearly 20 years of relevant public and private sector
experience to help advance HUD's mission and to support the
constituents who rely on these programs in your States.
But I would like to start by explaining my motivation for
seeking the role. I have experienced, first-hand, the
debilitating effects that substandard housing and limited
economic opportunity can have on a family. My own family lost
our house when I was 12 years old, and we moved into one of the
few unregulated rentals in our area.
I was one of four siblings raised by a single mother, in a
small working-class town in upstate New York. Our family was
easily among the poorest, and we wound up with five people
living in an 800-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment.
After my mom passed away when I was 20, I worked full time
to put myself through college, first at Westchester Community,
then at CUNY Hunter College. I later earned a law degree from
Yale University and spent 6 years working for some of the most
prestigious private law firms in the world. Ultimately,
however, I decided that public service was my calling, and I
have spent the past 13 years overseeing statewide programs for
New York's combined Housing and Community Development Agencies.
My life's experience has given me a unique perspective on
the issues faced by most Americans, whether they are working
class, economically struggling, or solidly middle class. I
understand intimately the difference that well-run Government
programs can make, both as a participant and as a program
administrator. This motivates me every single day to find ways
to improve Government programs so that more Americans from
modest circumstances can access greater opportunities and a
safe, decent place to call home.
I also believe that my professional background is uniquely
aligned with CPD's mission of developing viable communities
through partnerships focused on expanding opportunity for those
most in need.
For instance, I have overseen one of the largest, most
diverse affordable housing portfolios in the country, with more
than 450,000 units, stretching from the eastern tip of Long
Island to the rural North Country, bordering on Canada. I have
also served as my agency's acting ``disaster recovery''
counsel, helping to lead New York's post-Sandy and post-Irene
recovery efforts by designing policies for the award of
billions of dollars in Federal, State, and local funding.
I have also served with nonprofit organizations that
spearheaded disaster recovery efforts. For instance, after
Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2015, I helped lead a
collaborative effort to purchase, import, and distribute,
island-wide, more than 12,000 solar lanterns equipped with
emergency radios and phone chargers, nearly all delivered
within weeks of the hurricane's landfall.
In short, I have worked with a range of organizations and
officials of all political persuasions, in every corner of the
State and beyond. I have compiled a record of providing
efficient and equitable resources to people in need, where and
when they need them. And I believe that those Americans most in
need of these programs would benefit greatly from someone who
shares their experience, can empathize with their struggles,
and has a proven track record of getting things done.
Finally, I recognize the important role that this Committee
plays in overseeing the Department's work. If confirmed, I
commit to work in a bipartisan manner and to be responsive to
the needs every Senator and their constituents, working to
ensure they have access to affordable housing and every
opportunity to realize the American dream.
Thank you once again for your time and this opportunity,
and I look forward to answering any questions that you may
have.
Chairman Brown. Thank you, Mr. Colon. Thank you all.
As you know, we operate around here in 5-minute blocks of
time, and I want to ask a question of each of the four of you,
so be as brief--thorough, certainly, but be as brief as you can
in answering the questions. And I will ask each of you one
question.
Mr. Axelrod, we got a letter signed by former DOJ political
appointees in Democratic and Republican administrations
supporting your nomination, as you know. As an assistant U.S.
attorney you prosecuted two of the founding members of the Cali
Cartel, that you mentioned.
How has your previous experience in enforcement and
national security prepared you for this role?
Mr. Axelrod. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, export
enforcement has not had a Senate-confirmed head in over 5
years, and it has been even longer than that that they have had
a former Federal prosecutor like me. I believe my past work at
the intersection of criminal enforcement and national security
would enable me to lead the agents and analysts of BIS
effectively and with credibility, and focused clearly on our
most pressing threats. And I am confident that my established
relationships within Federal law enforcement, if I were
confirmed, they would allow me to help build partnership and
raise the profile of export enforcement, which, in turn, could
help to increase deterrence and incentivize compliance.
Chairman Brown. Thank you.
Ms. McCargo, you saw the effects of the last financial
crisis first-hand at Ginnie Mae and talked about the personal--
you know, the impact it had on you personally that way. What do
we need to do, what will you do at Ginnie Mae to make sure we
do not have any avoidable foreclosures in the future?
Ms. McCargo. Thank you for the question, Senator Brown. The
last foreclosure crisis did devastate millions of families,
and, you know, we are coming out of a pandemic that has
millions of families still in housing insecure positions,
currently many of those coming out of forbearance programs that
were put in place.
This is something that I know that all of Government has
been focused on in terms of the interagency housing work groups
with FHA, VA, USDA, and Indian Housing, working together to put
strategies in place to help homeowners that are coming out of
forbearances keep their homes. And Ginnie Mae has been a part
of that work, and I believe that if confirmed, I would continue
to work with Ginnie Mae and the teams in the interagency
working group to ensure that those families find security and
have a healthy recovery from this crisis.
Chairman Brown. Thank you.
Mr. Jemison, you have had extensive experience in housing
community development programs at the State and local level,
how important that is in this job. Tell us why investing in
preserving and improving public housing is so important to you.
Mr. Jemison. Thank you, Senator, for the chance to answer
this question. It is essential because so many American lives
could be stabilized in this way. Preserving and creating new
affordable housing, as I have shared before, make a huge
difference in people's lives. We have a chance to revitalize it
in a way that is going to help us fight the impacts of climate
change and it can be designed in a way that allows American
families to really reach their greatest potential.
So for that reason I think it is absolutely essential to
invest now, and it has been a part of the practice I have used
over the last 25 years.
Chairman Brown. Thank you, Mr. Jemison.
Mr. Colon, your personal story was moving, I think, to all
of us. Thank you for that. You have had extensive experience in
housing and community development, including development of
affordable housing and helping your community recover from
Superstorm Sandy.
You would oversee critical affordable housing community
development, if confirmed, homelessness and disaster recovery
programs. Talk about the importance of investing in
sustainable, affordable housing in communities.
Mr. Colon. Thank you for the question, Senator. I can talk
for quite a while on how important the investments are, but to
get to the quickest answer, in my own personal professional
experience, these investments work.
I can give two quick examples. One is rural rental
assistance program that New York State runs and mimics the
Federal Section 8 voucher program for USDA Section 515 projects
in rural areas. We increased the number of those by about 100 a
couple of years ago, out of 5,000 total, and I can tell you the
number of messages, emails that we got thanking us for those,
for doing that and telling us how it changed their lives, one
woman talked about it allowing her to buy Christmas presents,
that extra subsidy money.
So, as I mentioned, these programs work, and they change
lives, and they are critically important to the constituents, I
believe, in all of your States.
Chairman Brown. Thank you, Mr. Colon. Senator Toomey.
Senator Toomey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Colon, as part
of the confirmation process, the Senate, of course, reviews
nominees' past public statements. As you know, they help
provide a complete picture of nominees' policy views, judgment,
and temperament. A nominee should not be able to avoid scrutiny
by merely clicking a button marked Delete, but unfortunately
that appears to be what you have tried to do. You deleted
multiple tweets, including some with profane attacks on
Republicans.
Now we recovered some through an Internet archive website,
but that website is not comprehensive. And so on June 9th, I
sent you a letter asking you to request that Twitter try to
recover your deleted tweets. My staff followed up with you, but
you have refused to comply.
So, Mr. Colon, my question is, why do you think it is OK to
ignore a reasonable request for information from the Ranking
Member of the Committee with jurisdiction over HUD and your
nomination?
Mr. Colon. Thank you for the question, Senator. I would
like to start by stating I am deeply and genuinely sorry for my
prior personal tweets. To be clear, I began to delete those
tweets prior to the election and long before my nomination. It
was an approach that was out of character with everything in my
professional and personal life.
But just to be perfectly clear, that is my way of
explanation. It is not an excuse, Senator. Posting these tweets
was wrong. I take full responsibility for my actions. I have
apologized on the record and publicly.
Senator Toomey. My question is, why did not respond to my
letter and that request that you retrieve those that were
deleted?
Mr. Colon. Thank you, Senator. It is my understanding that
you may have received a letter last night in response to your
letter.
Senator Toomey. Last night? I sent you the letter on June
9th. You send me a letter--this is the first time hearing of
it--the night before the hearing. Did you include all the
tweets that you had deleted?
Mr. Colon. Thank you for the question, Senator. As I
mentioned before, I began to delete any personal tweets long
before my nomination. I have apologized publicly----
Senator Toomey. Well, it was not terribly long before,
because some of the tweets are fairly recent. I mean, January
21st of 2020, you were tweeting about the impeachment. You
replied to a tweet about Senator Collins saying, ``It really
seems like we are reliving the eighth grade with these clowns,
doesn't it?'' and you included a meme of Peewee Herman. Do you
think Senator Collins is a clown?
Mr. Colon. Thank you, Senator. No, I do not. I am deeply
and genuinely sorry for those tweets. They were out of
character with everything that I----
Senator Toomey. You say they are out of character but there
were many that we discovered that were not deleted. Then we
found some through this archive. You, in October of 2019,
seemed to agree with the characterization of Americans who
voted for Donald Trump as ``deplorables''--I would point out
that almost half of Americans did vote for President Trump,
half of the voters--and some of them work at HUD.
Let me bring your attention to one in particular, because
it suggests a disturbing disregard for the law. On September
12, 2019, you retweeted a tweet from another Twitter user who
posed a video and tweeted, quote, ``This hero stopped two
undocumented immigrants who were passengers in his car from
being arrested by ICE.'' In response you wrote, and I quote--I
think we have the tweet here--``This Brian McCormick guy is so
GD badass to stand his ground against two ICE officers on
behalf of two others. I am in awe of his resolve, heroic
resolve, BAMF.''
All right. This is not profane insults but it suggests that
you are celebrating a person who is interfering with the
Federal Government's lawful apprehension of people who entered
this country illegally. Is that your position?
Mr. Colon. Thank you, Senator. It is not my position. As I
mentioned before, I have deleted the tweets, as many as I
found, long before my nomination. Once this became an issue,
rather than continue to delete the remainder of those tweets
and have my motivations be questioned I decided to come here to
the Committee and----
Senator Toomey. Let me ask--do you acknowledge that it is
actually against the law to interfere with a law enforcement
officer's attempt to perform a lawful arrest?
Mr. Colon. Thank you, Senator. I would have--I guess I am--
in the general sense I would have to agree.
Senator Toomey. Right. And it appears in your tweet that
you were celebrating someone who did exactly that unlawful act.
So it goes beyond the profane insults. It suggests a disregard
for the law, at least in this regard, and who knows what the
content is of those that you have chosen not to provide for us.
So, Mr. Chairman, I am running out of time. I do want to
point out I have some concerns about Mr. Jemison's history in
Detroit, Ms. McCargo's tenure at Fannie Mae. I am going to send
specific questions for the record to our nominees, and I expect
that these nominees, not HUD staff, will actually answer the
questions, unlike some other nominees that have come before
this Committee.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Brown. Senator Menendez from New Jersey is
recognized for 5 minutes.
Senator Menendez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, Mr.
Chairman, I am glad to see that our colleagues have found the
Twitter app after years of being unable to find former
President Trump's inflammatory tweets. I do not know when
tweets became disqualifying for nominees, because they were
certainly not a disqualifier for my colleagues on the other
side of the aisle when I was the Ranking Member of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee where I saw a number of nominees
put forward by the last Administration that would clearly not
meet my colleague's new and rigorous standard.
For example, one individual, nominated twice by President
Trump, retweeted offensive and baseless claims about Republican
Senators, that I will not repeat here, including promoting
fringe conspiracy theories about their families. One actually
disregarded the Committee's request, but Republican Senators
voted for that person.
Another one committed IRS fraud and was potentially under
investigation. I brought that to everybody's attention.
Republican Senators voted for him. He subsequently was
indicted.
So this goes far beyond anything that the nominees before
us have said, and I do not recall our colleagues speaking up in
righteous anger, let alone sending letters against the last
Administration's nominees. So I do not think we should be
pretending to hold these nominees before us to a different
standard than those that Republican Senators voted for in the
last Administration.
But there is a fundamental difference between those
nominees and these. These nominees are qualified for their job.
I have to say Mr. Colon brings years of experience and
dedication to HUD, if he were to be confirmed. Not only did he
work on Sandy recovery, which as a New Jerseyan this is very
important to me, but he currently oversees 450,000 affordable
housing units. Mr. Colon embodies the type of nominee we would
like to see more of--highly qualified, experienced, and, by the
way, representatives of the communities that they serve.
So I am happy to see he has been nominated to HUD, and I
would hope the Biden administration follows through with more
Latino nominations for this and every other agency.
With that let me turn to my questions. Mr. Colon, we are
nearly 9 years since Hurricane Sandy, which devastated New
Jersey and New York and Northeast. What followed after the
deadly natural disaster was a manmade disaster caused by a maze
of FEMA, SBA, and HUD programs. After fighting in Congress to
secure billions in CDBG-DR funding, my constituents used that
aid to rebuild their homes and follow the rules in good faith.
Nine years later, HUD is attempting to claw back from New
Jerseyans the money they used to repair their homes and get
back on their feet. I think this is absolutely ridiculous.
So my question to you is, if you are confirmed, will you
commit to working with my office to provide relief for Sandy
survivors so that New Jerseyans who tried to follow the rules
are not faced with unfair clawbacks?
Mr. Colon. Thank you for the question, Senator. I am always
open to legitimate solutions that will help families to better
recover from natural disasters. If confirmed, I would be open
to further discussing this issue with your office.
Senator Menendez. OK. Well, I hope that that leads to a
more conclusive answer. If people followed the rules, as they
existed at the time, were not told that you were going to get a
HUD loan and an SBA loan, and that therefore there was
duplications, but you were not told that at the beginning, it
is unfair to then subsequently tell them, ``Sorry, you should
not have done that.'' But you did not tell they you should not
do that. You don't think that is the way the Government should
act, do you?
Mr. Colon. I do not. I am unfamiliar with the specific
circumstances, Senator.
Senator Menendez. Take my scenario for truth for the
moment. Would you think that is an inappropriate scenario?
Mr. Colon. Inappropriate, I am sure whether it is legal or
not. I am not sure whether the authority for that determination
rests with my office or whether Congress would have to address
it.
Senator Menendez. Mr. Axelrod, the President, as a
candidate, promised that he would return the jurisdiction of
the export licensing of semiautomatic weapons from the Commerce
Department back to the Department of State, from which
President Trump took it. And, of course, the President can do
this by simple regulation without the need for legislative
approval. Until that happens, the Department is providing no
information to Congress as to what lethal weapons, including
sniper rifles, assaults rifles, and others, are being sold to
what countries or foreign persons, in what quantities, and
under what conditions.
Do you support the President's promise to return
jurisdiction to the Department of State, and until that is
ultimately implemented will you commit to provide to the
Committee of jurisdiction over arms sales specific information
about what weapon sales are being considered for export?
Mr. Jemison. Thank you, Senator. I do not know enough about
the policy issue to have a view on--I know you feel very
strongly about it. On the enforcement side I do not have a view
on where those authorities should lie. But I will commit to you
that until they are returned to the munitions that, if
confirmed, I would make sure that we enforce aggressively. I
also would commit to you, Senator----
Senator Menendez. OK. I do not want to hear about
enforcement. I am asking a simple thing, and, you know, it is
amazing. I am trying to help you guys, but you are not helping
yourselves.
Information--that is all I want. I am not asking you to
enforce. I want simple information. I chair the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee. We have jurisdiction over arms sales. All
I want to know is who the hell you are selling it to, and you
cannot tell me that? How do you expect me to give you my vote?
Explain to me.
Mr. Jemison. Well, Senator, when it comes to information--
and apologies for not getting to that part of my answer more
quickly--when it comes to information I do believe it is
important, of course, for committees of jurisdiction to get the
information they need to fulfill their oversight
responsibilities, and I will work with you, with the Department
of Commerce, if confirmed, to make sure you have the
information necessary to do your job.
Chairman Brown. Thank you, Senator Menendez. I believe
Senator Scott and Tillis are not remote. OK. Then Senator
Tester is recognized for 5 minutes.
Senator Tester. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank
you and the Ranking Member for holding this hearing.
I cannot speak for any other State, but have got a notion
they are in the same boat Montana is. Housing is at a premium.
There are businesses that cannot expand because of lack of
workforce housing. There are startups that cannot startup
because of lack of workforce housing. And the houses that are
there are really expensive because demand has driven the price
way up, over the last 18 months.
So, Ms. McCargo, how will you address barriers, or can you
address barriers in your position to home ownership, across the
country but particularly in rural America?
Ms. McCargo. Thank you for the question, Senator Tester.
The issues that you are raising in Montana are present all
across the country. Home ownership--and I said this in my
opening statements--is grossly unaffordable on a nationwide
basis. Housing, not only for homeowners but also for renters,
families are paying incredible amounts and are incredibly cost-
burdened by the cost of their housing.
This is an issue that, if confirmed, you know, my role in
sort of being able to effect home price appreciation and the
things that are happening is limited. But we are going to be
there. Ginnie Mae is there to support millions of families by
providing capital, liquidity, and making sure that new rental
housing projects that are financed and new home ownership
opportunities that require mortgages have the capital that they
need, and that is my commitment to being able to ensure that
that continues.
Senator Tester. Mr. Jemison, you are going to be head of
Public and Indian Housing, in Indian country, at least the
large land-based Tribes that do not have any gaming. I can
speak for them because those are the ones in Montana, and there
are other parts of the country too. Poverty is very high.
I have said this before, but I was wanting to get Booker
out to Montana so we could compare what urban poverty and rural
poverty looks like and the challenges that exist both places,
what is the best way for solutions, and particularly for
housing. Because as people have pointed out in this panel
already there are multiple generations living in one house in
Indian country.
How will you work to make sure that there is more housing
availability in Indian country?
Mr. Jemison. Senator, thank you for the chance to answer
this question. One of the things I am most excited about doing,
as part of this job, if confirmed, is going to Indian country
and engaging in the Nation-to-Nation consultation that our
President has called for, and through that begin to work on a
range of the housing issues in Indian country. You know, by way
of example, there is Section 184 loan guarantee program about
which there has been a lot of recent discussion, working to get
title so that people can acquire homes that they want to
acquire on Indian land.
Another example, I mean, I have had a chance to get focused
on many of the best practices and great projects that have come
out of that Nation-to-Nation Tribal consultation, if I am
confirmed, one of my first actions is going to be to go and
begin that discussion, because I think that is the way, in all
of my work, I have been able to help people develop the housing
that they need in their community, using the resources
available through HUD to make it possible.
Senator Tester. OK. I want to talk a little bit about
vouchers, and help me understand this, OK? I know some people
that have some rental units in a town very close to me that
were approached by a bigger company that says it will rent your
house for you, and we will get your more money than you could
ever get renting it, than you could ever get with somebody
using vouchers.
Can you explain to me why that would be, number one, and
number two, what you would do about it? Because, you know,
vouchers are there to help people pay their rent, but if the
house is not available because people can make more money
renting it to people who do not have vouchers it does not get
us where we need to be. Could you talk about that?
Mr. Jemison. Thank you, Senator, for the chance to answer
your question. To make sure I am understanding, a person, who
you are speaking about, said that they could make more money by
not renting to voucher holders?
Senator Tester. That is correct. That is correct, because a
bigger rental outfit has come in and said, ``Hey, look, you
know, here is the deal. We can make you more money.''
Mr. Jemison. So the issue would probably be that fair
market rents, or FMRs, in that area are lower than market
rents----
Senator Tester. Yep.
Mr. Jemison. ----and that there has maybe been such a rapid
appreciation based on my understanding of your conversation
before, such a rapid appreciation----
Senator Tester. Yep.
Mr. Jemison. ----in price that the FMRs have not been
adjusted yet.
Senator Tester. So I am out of time, but can you tell me
how we fix it? Is it as simple as you fixing the FMRs, or do we
have to fix them, or is it something else that we have to do?
Mr. Jemison. FMRs need to be adjusted so that they better
reflect the market. There is an annual change system that goes
through with that, but I think it is something--it sounds like
we need to move more quickly so that we are more responsive to
every part of the country in this way.
Senator Tester. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman and Ranking Member.
Chairman Brown. Thank you, Senator Tester. Senator Smith, I
believe, is online from her office. She is recognized for 5
minutes.
Senator Smith. Well, good morning, Mr. Chair, Ranking
Member, and welcome and congratulations to all of our nominees
today. I am grateful for your willingness to serve our country.
I am going to direct my questions today to Mr. Jemison.
Thank you so much, sir, for the great conversation we had
recently, and I just want to follow up on those conversations.
So the first question is about life and safety and fire
issues in public housing. As we discussed, on Wednesday morning
at 3:56 a.m., in November of 2019, 1 day before Thanksgiving,
Minneapolis firefighters were dispatched to the Cedar High
high-rise, which is a 49-year-old high-rise public housing
building. And when they arrived they found a fire on the 14th
floor of that building.
The firefighters went to work. They attacked the fire and
they called for backup, but tragically, five people were killed
before firefighters were able to bring the fire under control.
And according to the fire marshal, if the building had been
equipped with fire sprinklers, which it was not, those deaths
would not have occurred.
So I am committed to making sure that this kind of tragedy
does not happen again in public housing. HUD estimates that
there are 185,000 high-rise public housing units in this
country that do not have fire sprinklers.
So, Mr. Jemison, if you are confirmed, what will you do to
make sure that this kind of tragedy does not happen again, and
where does this problem rank, the problem of sprinklers in
buildings, or lack of sprinklers in high-rise buildings? Where
does it rank on your list of priorities to work on in public
and Indian housing?
Mr. Jemison. Senator, thank you for the chance to answer
this question, and I enjoyed our conversation earlier this
week.
As I mentioned, one of the things I am most focused and
interested in is working on Indian housing matters, but first
and foremost we are part of a system of ownership and property
management all around the country. So in that respect, we are
supposed to provide safe, clean, and decent housing. Safe is
the first part of that phrase. So making sure that life safety
improvements are part of the--the number one priority in the
capital rehabilitation of public housing, we share that passion
together. It has got to be number one. Our housing authority
leaders are faced often with more than one crisis that they
have to address, but life safety has got to be the first one.
So what I think you are going to see me focus on is
highlighting the critical nature of these improvements and then
ideally, if there are additional resources available to the
public housing system it will be faster, and we can even
accomplish more above and beyond life safety if we have
additional resources.
So it is going to be my focus, like yours, on life safety
improvements as part of the current capital allocations that
our housing authorities receive.
Senator Smith. Well, Senator Brown and I and many of us on
this Committee are working hard to make sure that you do have
additional resources so that people who are living in public
housing have a decent place to life and a safe place to life,
and putting fire sprinklers, in my mind, at the top of that
list for life safety is urgently important so that the tragedy
of what happened at the Cedar High Apartments in Minneapolis is
not duplicated in the 185,000 units around the country that
also do not have sprinkler systems. So it is crucially
important to me.
We just have a minute left, and I wanted to just maybe
follow up a little bit on Senator Tester's question about the
significant challenges of housing in Native communities. You
and I also had a chance to speak about this earlier this week.
Could you just tell us a little bit more about how you would
approach your leadership of the Office of Native American
Programs at HUD and what you will do to familiarize yourselves
with the unique housing challenges that Native communities
face, especially on Tribal land?
Mr. Jemison. Thank you, Senator, for this question. So as I
mentioned when we talked about this, one of my first actions is
going to be beginning to engage through the Nation-to-Nation
consultation process to get an understanding of what--because
again, each Tribe is different and has different challenges.
But one challenges I know that you and I have talked about,
on which you are particularly focused, is the Section 184 loan
guarantee program, and the hindrance, frankly, that is coming
out of the Administration of that program historically. I am
committed to helping you with that, moving our agency and BIA
together to more quickly clear title.
Senator Smith. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Chairman Brown. Thank you, Senator Smith. Senator Van
Hollen is recognized for 5 minutes.
Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Congratulations to all of you on your nominations.
Mr. Colon, let me start with you, and the question is going
to relate to using home grants to increase home ownership
opportunities, because, as you know, we have a big housing
shortage in the country. But when you look at the HOME
Investments Partnership Program, since it began in 1992, $36
billion in home funding that has been spent, $21 billion of
that has gone to rental housing activities while only $9
billion has gone to home buyer activities. And I have heard
from lots of community groups in Maryland, including an
organization called BUILD--I do not know if you are familiar
with them--also from Metro IAF, and according to them there is
just not enough funding from home directed to these home
ownership purposes.
There was a program, and a successful one, launched a long
time ago called the Nehemiah housing program in Brooklyn. It
was successfully implemented in East Baltimore. Can you
identify some of the barriers that exist in the current HOME
program that is essentially preventing it from being used for
those kinds of, I think, creative and successful housing
programs?
Mr. Colon. Thank you, Senator, for the opportunity to
address this important issue. I share your concern with the
increasing cost of home ownership and home construction. I know
that home ownership is an important priority for Secretary
Fudge.
In my own experience, HOME has been a critical and very
effective program for States and communities. However, I
understand the use of home ownership under HOME has declined
over time, as well as the statistics that you mentioned.
If confirmed, I commit to working with Congress to identify
and address any statutory, and working with my team, to
identify regulatory issues. I do understand that there are some
issues with, I believe, the pricing and some flexibility that I
commit to sitting down with my team, if and when I am
confirmed, and making those a priority to make sure that HOME
is more flexible and that we can get those home ownership rates
up.
Senator Van Hollen. I appreciate that. You know, we have to
obviously focus on both sides of the equation. We have to
increase the supply of homes overall. We also, in my view, need
to ensure supply of choice vouchers, especially focused on
families with kids, and give them mobility and wraparound
services. But just looking at the HOME program, it does seem
like a disproportionate amount of the funds were used to build
the rental properties or help with that piece of the equation
and not enough in terms of providing paths to home ownership
for lower-income and middle-income families. My understanding
is there are these impediments, and hopefully we can address
them in a regulatory manner.
Ms. McCargo, congratulations on your nomination. I want to
ask you about increasing access to consumer credit in a safe
and sound way. In August, Fannie Mae announced that it would
launch a new feature in its underwriting system that
incorporates consumers' rent payments in a mortgage credit
evaluation process. Single family lenders with permission from
mortgage applicants will be able to automatically identify
recurring rent payments in the applicant's bank statement data,
to deliver a more inclusive credit assessment that would also
comply with safety and soundness requirements.
I know you worked at the Urban Institute and your research
focused on reducing racial home ownership gaps, increasing
housing affordability and reducing barriers to accessing
credit. I am asking you at Ginnie Mae, whether you would
consider applying this same expanded, more inclusive credit
rating approach that Fannie Mae has adopted.
Ms. McCargo. Senator, thank you for that important
question. You raised one of the critical barriers to entry into
home ownership which is access to credit and credit history and
credit scoring, and that has been part of my past work has
really focused on the over 25, 30 million Americans that do not
have a credit score at all. Many of them are renters. Many of
them have positive rental history. And that is a major barrier
to being able to get your first home if you do not have a
credit history.
So I have studied this issue. I have seen the
recommendations at Fannie, that the GSEs are putting out around
rental income as a way to become a homeowner. And I, if
confirmed, at Ginnie Mae while we do not do direct underwriting
work, would work with any program that the FHA, VA, Rural
Housing Service, or Indian country home ownership programs
would look at to expand access to credit for more Americans,
and Ginnie Mae would be there to support those programs.
Senator Van Hollen. I appreciate it. It just seems to me a
way to move relatively quickly to expand home ownership
opportunities by addressing the credit issue. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Brown. Thanks, Senator Van Hollen. Senator Tillis
from North Carolina is recognized for 5 minutes.
Senator Tillis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and
congratulations to the nominees before the Committee.
Mr. Colon, I think it is true, and I think some people have
talked about it--I have been watching this from my office--that
some people want to change the discussion back to maybe some of
the inappropriate tweets of President Trump. I actually
publicly criticized some of those tweets, but the American
people elected him. And now it almost seems like these are not
things that we should consider for any nominees coming before
the Committee.
I was just in a Judiciary Committee hearing this week where
one of the nominees, 31 years ago, made a statement, and was
roundly criticized by some of my colleagues on my side of the
aisle, and I saw that as a statement that this person has twice
now before me regretted. That was maybe a lapse of judgment.
But the concern that I have with you, as a nominee, is a
pattern of behavior, and quite honestly, it is unprecedented in
my six-and-a-half years being in the Senate.
We frequently hear that retweets do not equal endorsements.
What are your thoughts on this?
Mr. Colon. Senator, thank you for the question. I would
like to start by saying, again, in connection with those
tweets, they were wrong and a personal approach that I have
never--I engaged in for the first and only time in my life.
Senator Tillis. How about some of your actual quotes, those
that have to naturally--and if it was not just one but
multiple, have to really express your thoughts and feelings.
Mr. Colon. I am sorry, Senator. I did not understand the
question.
Senator Tillis. Well, Mr. Colon, how many people will work
in the organization you are seeking confirmation for?
Mr. Colon. In HUD, Senator?
Senator Tillis. Yeah.
Mr. Colon. Thousands.
Senator Tillis. Mm-hmm. You know, you would be the
administrator of many grant programs run by HUD, and they would
be in blue States, they would be in purple States, they would
be in red States. You would be in an organization that has
thousands of people, who probably run across the political
spectrum.
So with that in mind, many people who probably voted for
Trump, probably supported him both times that he ran, can you
explain to me what the acronym PAB, or PPAB means?
Mr. Colon. To be honest, Senator, I do not recall, but I
can tell you that----
Senator Tillis. Well, we have got a graphic here, if it
helps.
Mr. Colon. Thank you, and I just want to say, I appreciate
your concerns and I understand completely.
Senator Tillis. But coming in as a manager of this
organization, again, I have read your letter. I understand you
are remorseful. But the fact of the matter is the information
is out there, and what Senator Toomey said earlier, some of it
is not out there and we have not been able to get it from you.
We can probably have people go back on WayBack or other
platforms and find it.
This is what we know, and this is what you were comfortable
with saying in what is clearly a public setting. Nobody
believes when they go on Twitter it is a private setting,
people sitting around cutting up, like we all do.
You know, this is a pattern of behavior, and you are
seeking a management role in an organization where I would have
to believe people would say that it would be threatening to
know that their boss has--even if you regret the words, the
sentiment is the same. Even if the language was cleaner, the
sentiment is the same. And it would just lead me to believe it
could create a toxic--how could anybody who has this view, and
maybe they were on Twitter and said, ``I support Donald
Trump,'' how could they have any reasonable expectation that
they would be treated fairly under your management?
Mr. Colon. I can tell you that, Senator, in 13 years of
administering some of the largest housing programs in the
country, working collaboratively across the aisle with both
Republican and Democratic officials, in rural, suburban, and
urban regions, I am unaware of a single complaint of
partisanship or bias or inappropriate behavior against me or my
office. I understand the concerns you are raising. I could only
point out that record, and I could only offer my apology and
commit to you that if confirmed, I can tell you that I am 100
percent committed to working collaboratively, and as I have my
entire career, in a bipartisan fashion to address the important
issues in every State.
Senator Tillis. Well, Mr. Colon, I just feel like
statements that you have made about female anchors on
television, this interaction that I will submit for the record,
it just really makes me wonder why--you knew this going into
it--why you even decided to come forward. I think it raises
questions. There are going to be people in an organization you
are seeking confirmation for that I believe would have grave
concerns.
And to the other nominees, I am going to submit some
questions for the record. I know that it does not completely
swim into your lanes on manufactured housing and a couple of
other issues, affordable housing, but we will get back with you
all for questions for the record.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Chairman Brown. Thank you, Senator Tillis.
Senator Ossoff is recognized for 5 minutes from Georgia,
from his office.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to the
panelists. Congratulations on your nominations, and thank you
for your willingness to serve.
Mr. Jemison, I would like to engage with you on the
question of affordable housing. We have an affordable housing
crisis in Georgia. Just to illustrate that, there is a shortage
of nearly 200,000 affordable housing units in our State. It is
a crisis in all of our major metro areas and in rural areas. It
is a crisis in metro Atlanta. It is a crisis in Savannah. It is
a crisis in Columbus, in Macon, and Athens.
What I want to ask you, Mr. Jemison, is, do you agree that
it is vital that we respond to this crisis by making policy
that increases the available stock of housing for prospective
home buyers and renters, and what policies do you believe that
Congress could implement or the Executive alone could implement
that will increase housing supply, where a shortage of housing
in metro Atlanta, across the State of Georgia, is driving this
crisis?
Mr. Jemison. Senator, thank you for the chance to answer
this question. I agree that there needs to be significant
investment to create additional affordable housing supply. The
role that housing authorities can play in this is very great.
There is current discussion, and I do know that the Build Back
Better proposal includes what would be historic and once-in-a-
generation investments in affordable housing.
In particular, they would address the shortage of
affordable housing in all of our communities. The public
housing section's role in this is to create affordable housing
that serves the very lowest-income Americans and also through
vouchers serves a broad range of Americans. We can be part of
the supply solution if we have the resources to do it.
The resources proposed in the Build Back Better plan have
the chance to really help us bring public housing into the 21st
century and make it the kind of asset that we all know that it
can be, that it needs to be, to answer the supply questions
that you are asking.
Senator Ossoff. Well, thank you, Mr. Jemison.
Mr. Jemison, I would like to secure a commitment from you
and Mr. Colon that you will come to the State of Georgia, that
you will visit, at minimum, the city of Atlanta and the city of
Savannah and the city of Columbus to meet with local elected
officials and leaders and my team to help chart a course, a
strategy, for increasing the availability of affordable housing
in our State, working with Federal partners.
Mr. Jemison, can you give me that commitment?
Mr. Jemison. Senator, I would make that commitment today,
to come to Georgia and meet with you and elected officials
hopefully, housing authority leadership as well. Creating a
strategy with numbers and measurables has been part of my work
for 25 years, along with community engagement, and I would love
to bring that personally to visit with you in Georgia.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you. Mr. Colon, will you head to
Georgia, if confirmed, to help map out a strategy to make more
affordable housing available to Georgians?
Mr. Colon. Thank you, Senator. If confirmed, I would be
more than glad to come to Georgia and to collaborate with my
colleague, Arthur, to do as much as possible as we could to
address the issues in the State of Georgia.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you.
Ms. McCargo, in 2007-2008, GSEs played a significant role
in the development of crises in the housing market and in the
market for mortgage-backed securities that precipitated the
financial crisis. What are the most important lessons learned
from that time that you will apply, if confirmed to this
position, to ensure that we avoid financial contagion that can
emanate from the housing market or the MBS market and threaten
financial stability and the broader economy?
Ms. McCargo. Thank you very much for that question,
Senator. There are many lessons learned from the prior crisis,
and, you know, the current pandemic and the current housing
crisis that we are in is very different than the last crisis,
and many safeguards have been put in place. Many new tools are
now available that were not available during the last crisis.
Congress has moved quickly to put forbearance in place through
the CARES Act, which has had a tremendous effect on giving
ample time for the industry, servicers, and otherwise to
respond to this and to ensure that borrowers stay in their
homes, who are able to do so and endure this recovery.
So I commit to working with you, Senator, if I am
confirmed, to be the President of Ginnie Mae, to ensure that
all the loss mitigation options that are in place are
protective and that we are constantly stewarding and making
sure that there is safety and soundness in the systems, and the
underlying risks that exist with Ginnie Mae issuers, that are
real and important and will be a priority for me.
Thank you, Senator.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Ms. McCargo. Thank you Mr.
Chairman.
Chairman Brown. Thank you, Senator Ossoff. I believe that
is all the Senators who are online or in person.
Oh, Senator Cortez Masto is still here. Senator Cortez
Masto is recognized from her office.
Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you
everyone. Congratulations to the nominees.
Let me say this, Mr. Jemison. You are going to be very
busy, if nominated, because I am going to invite you to Nevada
as well. We have 27 Tribes in the State of Nevada. And let me
align myself with the questioning from Senators Tester and
Smith. My goal has been working with our Tribal communities to
really improve home ownership for Native Americans. And as you
rightfully touched on, unfortunately, in Nevada, very few home
loans were made with HUD Section 184 loan guarantee program.
So I am looking forward to you coming out for that Tribal
consultation and working with our Tribes and so many others on
home ownership.
But let me just put something on your radar as well, which
is manufactured housing. Native Americans who buy homes on
reservation land buy manufactured homes. About one-third of new
homes on Tribal land are manufactured homes, and the Federal
Reserve research finds that manufactured home loans are much
more likely to be high-cost loans.
So, Mr. Jemison, if confirmed, I am hoping that your office
would help us improve the manufactured home market to lower the
cost of mortgages for home buyers, especially Native Americans
purchasing manufactured homes. Can you commit to that?
Mr. Jemison. Thank you, Senator, for the chance to answer
the question. Just to make sure that I am hearing you properly,
the question is, I am definitely interested in meeting the
right group of people to address the home loan crisis that you
are talking about. I am not certain that the specific loan
program that you are talking about is under the control of my
section.
But one of the things that I enjoy about my work, and I
know is true about ONAP, the Office of Native American
Programs, is that we often convene and bring together the
people that are required to resolve an issue. So I would be
very happy to bring together, if it is FHA, if it is my
colleague, Ms. McCargo, whatever organizations are required to
be brought together to address this issue, I am going to be
there to make sure that it happens.
And I would just further say that I have had some
experience with manufactured housing and know some of the
underlying issues there, and as a part of my work at ONAP I am
excited about being able to address some of them, because they
are important. They are important to not just Tribes but every
part of the country and every kind of American.
But I am particularly excited about working with you on
this and convening that group of people.
Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you. And thank you for your
comments because I could not agree more. I am really kind of
disappointed, at times, when individuals just work in their
silos and they do not think outside the box in Federal
Government and pull partners together. And so that is what I am
looking for is that collaboration. When you see an issue it may
not be within your specific jurisdiction, but you reach out to
others within Federal Government to help find solutions to the
problems and bring them into the conversation. So thank you for
that. That is so important.
Ms. McCargo, let me ask you this. Why is it important that
the Senate confirm a Ginnie Mae president? I know we have not
had a Senate-confirmed leader at Ginnie Mae for years.
Ms. McCargo. Thank you for that question, Senator. Ginnie
Mae has been without a Senate-confirmed leader since 2017. You
know, there are a lot of reasons why this is--Ginnie Mae, over
this period of time, over the last decade, has grown
tremendously in terms of the assets under management and the
risks that are present, and there have been great career staff
that have been there. But without a confirmed leader that is--
really, that the Senate has backed, the United States
Government guarantee that Ginnie Mae offers is one of the most
important elements of what Ginnie Mae is and what makes our
securities, puts them in so much demand across the globe.
And so having a leader confirmed by the Senate, and backed
by the Senate, to support the guarantee of the U.S. Government,
full faith in credit, is absolutely crucial. And I look forward
to, if confirmed, having the opportunity to demonstrate that
and show the leadership that Ginnie Mae and the security, the
stability of the security will have and what that will mean for
the growth of the agency going forward.
Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you. I appreciate, again, your
answers. Let me put another thing on your radar.
I know in 2018, Ginnie Mae launched a modernization
campaign called Ginnie Mae 2020. It was a 3-year strategic plan
to have its data centers running on cutting-edge technology, to
realign its counterparty risk management framework, to help
bring in additional financing for mortgage servicing rights,
and expand its global investor base through outreach and
education in dozens of countries across the globe.
If confirmed, would you continue with the Ginnie Mae 2020
initiative, or would you change it in some way?
Ms. McCargo. Thank you for that question. The Ginnie Mae
2020 initiative, you know, by all accounts has been very
successful. The efforts to modernize the securitization
platform are crucial. We need to have state-of-the-art
technology that runs this business. And the counterparty risk
management work that this team has put in place over the last 5
years, and even very recently, in the last two to 3 years, is
critical and has to be second to none.
And so the stress testing, the work that they are doing to
make sure that counterparties are safe, these are really
important innovations, and a lot of the work from the 2020 plan
is still underway. Much of it has been completed and there is a
lot more to do.
So I do commit to you that if confirmed, I would continue
to work with the team on modernization of the platform and
ensuring that our risk management is sound.
Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I know I am
out of time. I will submit the rest of my questions for the
record. Thank you.
Chairman Brown. Thank you, Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you
to the nominees for being here today and providing testimony
and a productive discussion of the issues. I hope we can work
together as a Committee to move forward quickly on the
nominations of these four very qualified nominees.
For Senators who wish to submit questions, those questions
are due at the close of business on Wednesday, October 13th. We
would ask each of the four of you to have your responses back
to us by noon on Tuesday, October 19th.
Thank you again for your testimony. With that the hearing
is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:26 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
[Prepared statements, biographical sketches of nominees,
and responses to written questions supplied for the record
follow:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN SHERROD BROWN
First, I would like to say a word about our Committee and our
tolerance for character assassinations. Until yesterday, I thought we
all recognized that McCarthyism has no place in our democratic society.
Any American citizen who fled communist repression--whether FDIC
Chair Jelena McWilliams or OCC nominee Saule Omarova--should be lauded
for her courage and her conviction.
Anyone who hears Professor Omarova's story of life in the Soviet
Union will understand how offensive the attacks on her character are.
I have faith that my colleagues, on BOTH sides of the aisle, will
reject these modern-day ``red scare'' tactics.
The Committee meets today to consider the nominations of: Matthew
Axelrod to be Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement at the
Department of Commerce; Alanna McCargo to be President for the
Government National Mortgage Association; James Arthur Jemison II to be
Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing at HUD; and Mark
Colon to be Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development
at HUD.
We congratulate the nominees and thank them for appearing here
today. We welcome their families and friends in attendance, and
watching from home. If confirmed, the nominees before us today would
play a significant role in protecting U.S. national security interests,
expanding housing opportunities for millions of Americans, and
supporting families searching for a safe and affordable place to live.
As Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement, Mr. Axelrod would be
responsible for leading a division within the Commerce Department's
Bureau of Industry and Security that detects, investigates, and deters
illegal behavior.
As President of the Government National Mortgage Association, or
Ginnie Mae, Ms. McCargo would play a significant role in expanding
funding for mortgages and making home ownership a reality for millions
of Americans across the country, including in Ohio.
As the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing, Mr.
Jemison would be responsible for leading an office dedicated to
ensuring vulnerable families across the country have a decent place to
call home.
And, finally, as Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and
Development, Mr. Colon would be responsible for leading an office
working to support communities in all our States. All four nominees
appearing here today are highly qualified.
Mr. Axelrod has a distinguished record of service as a Government
prosecutor. He is currently detailed to the Office of the White House
Counsel from the Department of Justice.
Before that, Mr. Axelrod served in several roles at DOJ, working to
protect our national security and working on criminal prosecutions.
Welcome to the Committee, Mr. Axelrod.
Alanna McCargo currently serves as Senior Advisor for housing
finance at HUD. Prior to joining the Biden administration, Ms. McCargo
served as Vice President for the Housing Finance Policy Center at the
Urban Institute, where she focused on reducing the racial home
ownership gap and making housing more affordable.
Ms. McCargo also has 10 years of experience at Fannie Mae,
including during the last financial crisis.
We are glad to have you here today, Ms. McCargo.
Mr. Jemison currently serves as the Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary for the Office of Community Planning and Development at HUD.
Prior to joining the Biden administration, Mr. Jemison held numerous
positions for the City of Detroit--most recently leading the city's
development agenda.
He has also served the public in Massachusetts and the District of
Columbia, all working on issues related to creating vibrant, growing,
affordable communities.
Welcome, Mr. Jemison. We are glad to have you here today.
Our final nominee today is Mark Colon.
Mr. Colon currently serves as the President of the Office of
Housing Preservation at New York State Homes and Community Renewal.
In various roles at that agency, Mr. Colon has served the people of
New York, working to build and protect affordable housing, and helping
families recover from Superstorm Sandy. Welcome, Mr. Colon. We are
grateful to the nominees for appearing here today, and for their
willingness to serve the American people in these important roles. I
look forward to your testimonies.
PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR PATRICK J. TOOMEY
Mr. Chairman, thank you. And welcome to our nominees.
Mr. Axelrod has been nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary for
Export Enforcement in the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and
Security, or BIS. BIS determines which U.S. goods are too sensitive to
be shipped abroad.
In the face of China's drive for dominance in key tech sectors,
BIS's mission today is as important as ever. But export controls are
only as good as their enforcement.
Mr. Axelrod would have the important job of overseeing that
enforcement. I expect him to give his own answers to questions from
this Committee, including questions for the record, in a timely and
transparent manner, which is something BIS nominees have not always
done.
Today's other nominees would, if confirmed, fill key leadership
positions at HUD.
In response to COVID, Congress appropriated billions of dollars for
HUD programs, in addition to the billions we normally provide for them.
In March, the Democrats' partisan spending bill sent billions more to
HUD.
Now Democrats are trying to use their reckless tax-and-spending
reconciliation bill to provide more than $300 billion to HUD.
Unfortunately, based on their records, I'm concerned that today's
nominees may be ill-suited to be good stewards of these taxpayer
dollars.
Ms. McCargo has been nominated to serve as the President of Ginnie
Mae. After the 2008 financial crisis, she was responsible at Fannie Mae
for implementing the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP,
which was intended to help borrowers avoid foreclosure.
HAMP was beset with challenges. A special Inspector General found
that a significant share of borrowers in HAMP--people who had already
defaulted because they couldn't afford their initial mortgage--received
loan modifications then defaulted again. And GAO found inconsistencies
in how loan servicers interfaced with borrowers, which GAO claimed
could lead to inequitable treatment.
Fast forward to today. Ginnie Mae recently rolled out a proposal to
help borrowers by transitioning them from COVID-related mortgage
forbearance into loan modifications for up to 40 years. Ms. McCargo has
endorsed this idea.
If confirmed, Ms. McCargo will need to be vigilant to ensure the
challenges that HAMP faced do not reappear for borrowers--and
taxpayers--with this latest taxpayer-backed scheme to subsidize certain
people's mortgages.
Mr. Jemison has been nominated to serve as the Assistant Secretary
responsible for public housing and Indian housing. For almost 7 years,
he worked on housing issues for Detroit, a city so chronically
mismanaged that it had to file for bankruptcy in 2013.
Under Mr. Jemison's leadership, Detroit often failed to revitalize
blighted homes and neighborhoods on time as promised. Amazingly, city
officials admitted that they set aggressive construction timelines
without any data to support them.
Mr. Jemison's track record in Detroit is concerning because
Democrats and the White House want to spend $80 billion more on public
housing in their reckless tax-and-spend reconciliation bill. If
confirmed, Mr. Jemison, would lead HUD's public housing office, which
would be responsible for this enormous amount of money.
Our last nominee today, Mr. Colon, has a particularly concerning
record. He's had senior management roles at New York housing agencies
that have been rife with problems--from project delays to ignoring
ever--increasing tenant complaints--according to independent auditors.
These failures, which occurred under Mr. Colon's watch, give me no
confidence that he would be a good steward of taxpayer dollars at HUD.
However, what's even more troubling about Mr. Colon's record is his
history of using Twitter to engage in vitriolic and profane attacks on
his political opponents.
Over the years, he's repeatedly mocked and attacked--by name--our
Senate colleagues. He's ridiculed Senator Manchin. He referred to
Senators Collins and other Republicans as ``clowns.'' Senator Graham as
``Senator Snagglepuss'' and ``#SenatorShameless,'' Senator Rubio as
``Senator Jellyfish,'' Senator Paul as spineless, Senator McConnell as
``MassacreMitch'' and ``Moscow Mitch.''
He's endorsed the slanderous claim that Republican Senators,
including Members of this Committee, were ``Russian stooges'' for
traveling there on a CODEL. And he's gone on profanity-laced tirades
about President Trump. This is just a small selection.
Unfortunately, we don't know the full extent of Mr. Colon's
statements because he deleted some of them before being nominated. I
asked him to try to recover his deleted tweets from Twitter. But he
refused to comply with this reasonable request. It makes you wonder,
what does he have to hide?
The statements we do have from Mr. Colon are more than sufficient
to demonstrate that he lacks the judgment and temperament to serve in a
senior leadership position at HUD. Frankly, I'm shocked and
disappointed that the Biden administration did not withdraw his
nomination months ago after his statements were uncovered.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
______
PREPARED STATEMENT OF MATTHEW AXELROD
To Be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce
October 7, 2021
Chairman Brown, Ranking Member Toomey, and distinguished Members of
the Committee, I am honored to be here today as President Biden's
nominee to become the Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement at the
Department of Commerce.
I want to thank President Biden and Secretary Raimondo for
nominating me to this important enforcement and national security
position at this critical time. I also want to thank my family, both
those in the hearing room with me today--my wife, Jami, and daughter,
Sophie, who is missing her high school American Government class but
getting a firsthand look today--as well as those watching intently on
their computer screens in Massachusetts and Florida--Sophie's older
sister, Emily, my parents Carl and Andrea Axelrod, and my in-laws Jon
and Margie Sussman. No one does these jobs alone. It is only through my
family's collective love, support, and belief in the importance of
Government service that I am able to appear before you today as a
Presidential nominee.
In recent years, the export enforcement work of the Department of
Commerce has become an increasingly pivotal component of our country's
national security efforts. It is an essential function that helps
ensure our adversaries don't have access to dual-use goods and
technologies that they can put to malign purposes like terrorism,
weapons-of-mass-destruction proliferation, and human rights abuses. If
confirmed, I believe that my deep criminal and national security
enforcement experience will allow me to effectively lead the dedicated
agents and analysts of BIS in meeting this national security
imperative.
As an Assistant United States Attorney in Miami, I was part of one
of the Nation's busiest U.S. Attorney's Offices. Given Miami's role in
international commerce, both licit and illicit, our work often had
international dimensions. My cases included ones against the two
founders and highest-ranking members of the Cali Cartel and against a
husband-and-wife team who were spying for the Cuban Intelligence
Service. In all my cases as a prosecutor, both those with international
angles and those that were purely domestic, I worked alongside Federal
law enforcement agents. I was--and remain--in awe of all they do to
help keep the American people safe.
After 6 years in Miami, I became a career detailee to Department of
Justice headquarters in Washington, DC, where I worked as a Senior
Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division and
then as an Associate Deputy Attorney General, responsible for
overseeing the criminal enforcement work of the Department. I also
later served as the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, where
I worked with the Department's senior leaders on the Department's most
significant national security and criminal enforcement matters. During
my time at Main Justice, I worked closely with the career prosecutors
in the National Security Division, with Federal law enforcement
agencies, and with interagency partners to protect the country's
national security. I am confident that the relationships I formed, and
the knowledge I gained about the importance of bringing a whole-of-
Government approach to combat national security threats, will serve me
well if confirmed.
While I come from an enforcement background, that's not the
entirety of my professional experience. I spent much of the past 4
years in an international law firm, where my work took me around the
globe, from Europe to Asia to Africa. No matter where I was in the
world, people wanted to hear about United States enforcement
mechanisms; it was our enforcement regimes they wanted to make sure
they did not run afoul of. That experience gave me an important
perspective on how best to maximize the impact of our export
enforcement work--we must impose significant penalties against those
who break the law while at the same time incentivizing companies to
play by the rules. That way, we not only punish export violators, but
also deter those violations from occurring in the first place.
I mentioned that my daughter Sophie is missing her high school
Government class to be here today. Back when I was in high school, my
classmates and I were consistently told that ``from those to whom much
has been given, much will be expected.'' I am filled with gratitude
beyond measure for what I've been given over the years--by my family,
my friends, and my professional colleagues. I know that means that much
will continue to be expected. If confirmed, it would be my great honor
to work to fulfill those expectations as the Assistant Secretary for
Export Enforcement.
Thank you again for considering my nomination, and I look forward
to your questions.
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PREPARED STATEMENT OF ALANNA MCCARGO
To Be President, Government National Mortgage Association, Department
of Housing and Urban Development
October 7, 2021
Chairman Brown, Ranking Member Toomey, and Members of the
Committee, it is an honor to appear before you as you consider my
nomination to serve as the next President of the Government National
Mortgage Association, or Ginnie Mae.
I am grateful to President Biden for nominating me and thank
Secretary Fudge for her leadership and vision for the Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and in trusting me to lead Ginnie
Mae. The historic significance of being the first woman nominated to
this role since Ginnie Mae was created in 1968 is a distinct honor.
My husband Jay McCargo and my daughter Alexandra are here with me
today and I thank them for being a loving source of inspiration,
encouragement, and support. I want to thank my family members and
friends watching virtually, and acknowledge my mother, Veronica
Malveaux Brown, who has been my wise and faithful guide through life. I
would also like to especially thank my amazing sons, Gerrad and Jay-
Jay.
Nearly 20 years ago, I came to Washington, DC, to work on
affordable housing programs at Fannie Mae. I spent a decade there
including the years of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 which led to
a U.S. housing market meltdown that ultimately left tens of millions of
people without homes and with lost wealth.
Those years became an inflection point for me. I learned how
fragile the system that supported housing and home ownership in America
is and how quickly things could change. I saw the devastating effects
that rippled across neighborhoods and households. It was heart
wrenching to see so many people in financial distress and despair and
disheartening to find that many who were losing their homes to
foreclosure and eviction during that time looked like me and my
children.
That experience changed my perspective and helped sharpen my
purpose. Stable, affordable, and accessible housing has since been at
the core of my professional work in the private sector, in the
nonprofit policy research work I led at the Urban Institute, and now in
my public sector work with the Biden-Harris administration at HUD.
My career in housing finance and passion for the field of
affordable housing is driven by my own lived experience. I understand
how powerful asset building, and access to credit and financing are to
personal financial security. Property and home ownership have been
vital to my own family for generations. And I recognize that my
personal story is often not typical for a Black family.
My mother grew up on a farm that my grandfather owned in a small
town near Opelousas, Louisiana, where she picked cotton and canned and
farmed vegetables. Our family roots of property ownership are deep and
have created a value system through generations of Black farm and
landowners in my lineage. My father was an immigrant from Jamaica who
came to New York and became a U.S. citizen as a child and joined the
Navy after high school.
In 1969, just 1 year after the Fair Housing Act was passed and
racial discrimination in housing became illegal, my parents purchased a
4-unit home in a highly segregated area of the Bronx for $30,000 with
some savings and a small VA mortgage loan. We lived in one of the
apartments and rented out the others. My parents later bought a home in
the New York suburbs in search of better schools and a safer
neighborhood and kept the house in the Bronx as a source of extra
rental income.
My parents built a strong foundation for our family through home
ownership. They were able to pass those benefits on to me and my
siblings in the form of college tuition payments helping us avoid
student loan debt. They helped me with a gift to purchase my first
home, which I was able to finance with a low downpayment FHA mortgage.
Far too many people do not get the opportunity to plant seeds of
ownership because housing is grossly unaffordable, it's impossible to
save, or they lack resources or don't have parents who can help them
get started. Government mortgage programs help enable home ownership
opportunity.
Ginnie Mae's guaranty enables the work of key Government housing
programs that play an essential role in housing America's veterans,
low- and moderate-income households, urban, rural, and tribal
communities and helps expand access to affordable home ownership and
rental for the historically and systematically underserved. In 2020,
more than 70 percent of all people served by Ginnie Mae securities were
first time homebuyers.
Ginnie Mae has remained stable and reliable while quietly
supporting affordable rental and home ownership for millions of people.
If confirmed, I will be a faithful steward of Ginnie Mae, ensuring the
program stays focused on its critical mission, keeps pace with a
rapidly changing market, attracts global capital into America's housing
finance system, and protects American taxpayers.
I look forward to leading an incredibly dedicated team of public
servants at Ginnie Mae and to working with this Committee, Secretary
Fudge, and housing stakeholders across the globe to ensure stability,
liquidity, affordability, and equity in our housing finance system.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I look forward to
your questions.
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PREPARED STATEMENT OF JAMES ARTHUR JEMISON II
To Be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
October 7, 2021
Chairman Brown, Ranking Member Toomey, and distinguished Members of
the Committee, thank you for the opportunity appear before you today as
the nominee for Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing (PIH)
in the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
I want to thank President Biden for nominating me, and Secretary
Fudge for her support of my candidacy. I also want to thank my family
and friends for their love, support, and guidance. I am grateful to my
father James and particularly my mother Beverly and my sister Jamileh
for their guidance and support. Finally, I want to thank my wife,
Annie. She has been a partner to me, our three children, and entire
family for the last 20 years.
HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing funds the operation and
capital that supports 3.2 million American families every night. Public
housing is at the center of many American neighborhoods and PIH rental
assistance supports many American households and landlords. Indian
Development Block Grant supports many thousands of families and elders
in Tribal Communities every day. I am excited to work with the
professionals who have maintained these capital assets and voucher
resources since 1938.
I have spent the last 25 years working in city planning and
development first as part of a team, and later leading the development
and preservation of market-rate and affordable housing units as well
and the parks, streets, transportation facilities, commercial
districts, downtowns, and employment centers that bring those
communities together.
I have done this by bringing together the feasibility, planning,
design, permitting and financing concepts (private, public, and
philanthropic) required to execute these strategies. Bringing expertise
together with community engagement, I have performed this work in
downtowns, neighborhoods, and small towns.
Specifically, I have experience in three great American cities--
Boston, Washington, and Detroit--as well as the smaller cities and
towns of Massachusetts. As part of partnerships with developers,
community leaders, funders, boards, and commissions, my work has
resulted in the preservation of more than 4,000 affordable units and
3,500 new market and affordable housing units, including hundreds of
public housing units.
For the last 9 months, I have had the opportunity to lead HUD's
Community Planning & Development (CPD) Office as Principal Deputy
Assistant Secretary. I appreciate the partnership CPD staff members
have extended to me.
However, I am particularly honored to be nominated to be the
steward of this institution because I grew up in public housing. From
1983 to 1988, I lived at 693 Main Street, Apartment #14, in Amherst
Massachusetts. It was a newly built unit, operated by the Amherst
Housing Authority.
Amherst is what would be described as an area of high opportunity.
It is college town surrounded by five colleges and farming communities
where I worked in the summers.
This housing opportunity stabilized my family and made a difference
in my life as affordable housing does for so many Americans. Making it
work for more Americans has been my mission ever since I left that
apartment for college; later for a summer fellowship program that grew
my interest in housing; and later for graduate school in City Planning.
I know that well-designed and well-maintained public housing and
rental assistance can work as part of the American safety net. I know
this personally because I have lived it. I know it professionally
because I have worked to make sure affordable housing is part of every
development initiative in which I have been involved.
I have spent my entire career collaborating to create better places
for every kind of American, where everyone can live together. Public
housing is central to that mission.
If confirmed, I will use all of my energy and experience working
transform the public housing; ensure vouchers stabilize households and
end homelessness; and support the strength of tribal communities across
America.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. I look
forward to your questions.
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PREPARED STATEMENT OF MARK COLON
To Be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
October 7, 2021
Thank you Chairman Brown, Ranking Member Toomey, and distinguished
Members of the Committee.
I am deeply honored to appear before you today as the nominee for
Assistant Secretary of Community Planning and Development at the
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). I would like to
start by thanking President Biden for his confidence and trust in
nominating me. I would also like to thank the Committee Members for
allowing me this time and for considering my nomination.
I must also thank my family, friends and colleagues for their
unwavering support and to recognize my beautiful and talented wife,
Gina Kim and my brother-in-law, Rev. Ryan Kim, the Senior Pastor of the
Korean Presbyterian Church of Baltimore, for being here to support me
today.
HUD's Assistant Secretary of Community Planning and Development
oversees many of the Department's most critical grant programs,
including the Housing Trust Fund, the Community Development Block
Grant, disaster recovery and mitigation programs and numerous homeless
prevention programs.
If confirmed, I will bring nearly 20 years of relevant public and
private sector experience, to help advance HUD's mission and to support
the constituents who rely on these programs in your States. But before
describing that experience, I'd like to start by explaining my
motivation for seeking the role:
During my life, I have experienced, first-hand, the debilitating
effects that substandard housing and limited economic opportunity can
have on a family. My own family lost our house when I was 12 and we
moved into one of the few, largely unregulated rentals in our area.
I was one of four siblings raised by a single mother, in, a small,
working class town, in upstate New York. Our family was easily among
the poorest and we wound up with five people living in an 800 sq. ft.,
two-bedroom apartment.
After my mom passed away when I was 20, I put myself through
college, working full-time, first at Westchester Community, then at
Hunter College of the City University of New York.
I later earned a law degree from Yale University and spent 6 years
working for some of the most prestigious, private law firms in the
world. However, ultimately, I decided that public service was my
calling and I have spent the past 13 years overseeing programs at New
York State's integrated housing & community development agencies.
My life's experience has given me a unique perspective on the
issues faced by most Americans, whether they're working class,
economically struggling or solidly middle class. I understand
intimately the difference that well-run Government programs can make,
both as a participant and as a program administrator. And this
experience motivates me every day to find ways to improve Government
programs, so that more Americans from modest circumstances can access
greater opportunities and a safe, decent place to call home.
I also believe that my professional background is uniquely aligned
with CPD's mission of developing viable communities, through
partnerships among private industry, nonprofit organizations, and all
levels of Government, focused on expanding opportunity for those most
in need.
For instance, I have overseen one of the largest, most diverse
affordable housing portfolios in the country, with more than 450,000
units, from the Eastern tip of Long Island to the rural North Country,
bordering on Canada.
I have also served as my agency's acting ``disaster recovery''
counsel, helping to lead New York's post-Hurricane Sandy and Irene
housing recovery efforts, by designing policies for the award of
billions of dollars in Federal, State, and local, publicly and
privately sourced relief funding.
I have also served with nonprofit organizations that have
spearheaded disaster recovery efforts. For instance, after Hurricane
Maria devastated Puerto Rico, I helped lead a collaborative effort to
purchase, import and distribute, island-wide, more than 12,000 solar
lanterns equipped with emergency radios and phone charging capability,
most within weeks of Hurricane Maria's landfall.
In short, I have worked with a range of organizations and officials
of all political persuasions, in every corner of the State, and beyond.
I have compiled a record of providing efficient and equitable resources
to people in need, where and when they need them. And I believe that
those Americans most in need of these programs would benefit greatly
from someone who shares their experience, can empathize with their
struggles and has a proven track record of getting things done.
Finally, I recognize the important role this Committee plays in
overseeing the Department's work. If confirmed, I commit to work in a
bipartisan manner and to be responsive to the needs every Senator and
their constituents, working to ensure they have access to affordable
housing and every opportunity to realize the American dream.
Thank you once again for your time and this opportunity and I look
forward to answering any questions that you may have.
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RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF CHAIRMAN BROWN
FROM MATTHEW AXELROD
Q.1. Where have you excelled in past positions in attracting,
hiring, and promoting people of color in positions in your
organization? Where might there be room for improvement?
What specific measures will you use to evaluate the success
of the Department of Commerce in understanding and addressing
the needs of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)?
And, will you work with the Secretary and senior officials to
keep Congress apprised, as appropriate, on the progress being
made on these measures?
What is your plan for creating an inclusive working
environment for employees within your office?
A.1. If confirmed, I will be deeply committed to attracting,
hiring, and promoting a diverse workforce and building an
inclusive workplace culture at the Department of Commerce. I
have past experience working at intentionally diverse
organizations and believe that diversity is an essential
component of strong organizations.
In 1988, I was one of the founding corps members of City
Year, a forerunner and eventual inspiration for the AmeriCorps
national service program, which brought together racially
diverse teams of young adults to do full-time community service
in the City of Boston. After college, I deferred admission to
law school for 2 years to go back to City Year, where I
supervised a diverse team of young adults in their year of
full-time community service. It was my job to get this group of
young adults from different backgrounds and races not only to
get along, but to perform high-quality community service in a
Boston elementary school. That experience working closely with
people of all different socioeconomic, racial, and educational
backgrounds prepared me well for later jobs doing pro bono
defense work in the Boston Municipal Court and as a prosecutor
in Miami.
My time at City Year also impressed on me the importance of
assembling and promoting diverse teams, something I worked hard
to do as the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General at the
Department of Justice and then worked hard to do again as a
Senior Counselor at DOJ at the beginning of this
Administration. If confirmed, I would similarly work to build a
diverse organization at Export Enforcement.
It is particularly important that law enforcement
organizations be diverse--racially and otherwise. If confirmed,
I will work with my staff on ways to diversify the workforce,
including ways to recruit a diverse applicant pool and retain a
diverse workforce. I will also be intentional about building an
inclusive atmosphere at work, where people are valued and
celebrated for their differences. I would be happy to keep you
and your staff apprised on my efforts and progress in these
areas.
Q.2. How do you plan to use Export Enforcement's authorities
and resources to address genocide, human rights violations, and
oppressive surveillance in China or other authoritarian
countries?
A.2. I will use all of the enforcement tools at my disposal--
including criminal enforcement options, administrative
enforcement options, and other administrative actions such as
denial orders--to protect our national security and to make
sure that authoritarian countries like China do not have access
to U.S. technologies that they can put to malign purposes like
genocide, human rights violations, and oppressive surveillance.
One of my top priorities, if confirmed, would be to ensure
that Export Enforcement is deploying its resources in the way
best positioned to meet the national security threat posed by
the Chinese Government, especially when it comes to
technologies that can be used to conduct unauthorized end uses,
including genocide and other human rights abuses, WMD
proliferation, military modernization, and terrorism. I would
also work in partnership with other Federal law enforcement
agencies and with foreign counterparts so that the efforts of
the Export Enforcement agents and analysts concerning China are
amplified and reinforced.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR TOOMEY
FROM MATTHEW AXELROD
Q.1. Congressional Oversight--Please provide your philosophy on
how the Office of Export Enforcement at the Department of
Commerce (Commerce) will approach and respond to Congressional
information requests (both for documentary information and oral
testimony), if you are confirmed.
A.1. I deeply respect the oversight role of the Senate Banking,
Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Congress and take
the statutory requirements of the Export Control Reform Act
(ECRA) of 2018 seriously. If confirmed, I intend to sustain a
strong working relationship with the Committee and Congress,
whether it is through statutorily required reports, briefings
on the work of Export Enforcement, or other matters affecting
businesses and industries in your State. If confirmed, I will
work diligently to respond to requests for information
consistent with the constitutional and statutory obligations of
the executive branch.
Q.2. If confirmed, do you intend to respond to information
requests differently depending on who is making the
Congressional information request (whether it's the chair of
the Congressional Committee, the Ranking Member, or another
member of Congress)? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If your
answer is ``yes,'' please explain.
A.2. I deeply respect the oversight role of the Senate Banking,
Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Congress and take
the statutory requirements of the Export Control Reform Act
(ECRA) of 2018 seriously. If confirmed, I intend to sustain a
strong relationship with the Committee and the Congress,
whether it is through statutorily required reports, briefings
on the work of Export Enforcement, or other matters affecting
businesses and industries in your State. If confirmed, I will
work diligently to respond to requests for information
consistent with the constitutional and statutory obligations of
the executive branch.
I understand that information submitted or obtained in
connection with export license applications is subject to
Section 1761(h) of ECRA and is provided to the Chair or Ranking
Member of committees of appropriate jurisdiction.
Q.3. Will you commit that, if confirmed, you will respond in a
timely manner and fully comply with all information requests
from me? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If your answer is
``no,'' please explain.
A.3. Yes. If confirmed, I commit to responding to any
information requests from Congress consistent with the
constitutional and statutory obligations of the executive
branch.
Q.4. Will you commit that, if confirmed, you will make yourself
and any other Office of Export Enforcement employee
expeditiously available to provide oral testimony (including
but not limited to briefings, hearings, and transcribed
interviews) to the Committee on any matter within its
jurisdiction, upon the request of either the Chairman or
Ranking Member? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If your answer
is ``no,'' please explain why.
A.4. Yes. If confirmed, I commit to responding to any requests
for testimony consistent with the constitutional and statutory
obligations of the executive branch.
Q.5. China--In enforcing export control policy, Commerce's
Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) mission is important to
the United States' high-tech competition with China. Do you
agree that China's technological, military, and economic rise
poses one of the greatest current challenges to the safety and
well-being of the United States?
A.5. Yes.
Q.6. Please detail your understanding of the national security
threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including
your assessment of the CCP's military modernization ambitions,
intellectual property theft campaign, and coercion targeting
United States' allies and partners.
A.6. The Chinese Government's unfair and coercive trade
practices hurt American workers and American businesses. Those
actions, combined with the Chinese Government's human rights
abuses, including the genocide in Xinjiang, and other malign
activities are contrary to our values and interests and those
of our allies and partners.
One of my top priorities, if confirmed, would be to ensure
that Export Enforcement is deploying its resources in the way
best positioned to meet the national security threat posed by
the Chinese Government, especially when it comes to
technologies that can be used to conduct unauthorized end uses,
including genocide and other human rights abuses, WMD
proliferation, military modernization, and terrorism. I would
also work in partnership with other Federal law enforcement
agencies and with foreign counterparts so that the efforts of
the Export Enforcement agents and analysts concerning China are
amplified and reinforced.
Q.7. In 2017, Chinese telecom giant ZTE reached a settlement
with the U.S. Government after the company was caught illegally
selling equipment to North Korea and Iran, in violation of U.S.
export laws. \1\ But ZTE violated that deal and lied to U.S.
investigators about it. As such in 2018, Commerce banned U.S.
exports to ZTE as punishment. Later that year however, the
export ban was removed as part of another settlement. \2\ This
agreement set a new precedent for monitoring compliance with
U.S. export laws. U.S. enforcement of this agreement will be
watched closely by Beijing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/zte-corporation-agrees-plead-
guilty-and-pay-over-4304-million-violating-us-sanctions-sending
\2\ https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/07/23/2018-
15633/order-terminating-denial-order-issued-on-april-15-2018-against-
zhongxing-telecommunications
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Will you commit to robustly enforcing this agreement to
ensure ZTE does not violate this settlement, as it did with the
previous agreement?
If ZTE is found to breach the terms of the agreement, will
you commit to enforcing the appropriate penalties?
A.7. If confirmed, I would robustly enforce the superseding
settlement agreement with ZTE. My understanding, from publicly
available information, is that ZTE is at present being heavily
scrutinized by its third-party monitor under the agreement. If
the monitor uncovers a material violation of the agreement, I
would enforce aggressively and appropriately, especially given
the past history of ZTE's noncompliance with settlement terms
it accepted.
Q.8. End-use checks verifying compliance with Export
Administration Regulations (EAR) is critical to upholding the
legitimacy of the U.S. export control regime. Please describe
how you would approach an end-user who refuses to comply
properly with BIS enforcement agents and end-use check
requirements.
A.8. I agree that end-use checks are a critically important
part of the licensing process. End-users who refuse to comply
with the Export Control Officers (ECOs) who perform the end-use
checks or with the end-use requirements themselves must face
consequences. If confirmed, I would not hesitate to use the
full range of sanctions at my disposal for such end users,
including--depending of course on the severity of the
misconduct--denying them the ability to receive future exports,
imposing civil penalties, and working with the Department of
Justice to bring criminal charges.
Q.9. U.S. goods have been exported through third countries for
eventual use in embargoed States like Iran. Iran has long
sought to acquire sensitive military and dual-use hardware from
the United States through the use of front companies and other
schemes meant to avoid detection. C4ADS, a Washington-based
think tank, found that ``Gaps in the global export control
regime and its enforcement enable Iran to procure these items
and enable Houthi-linked networks to procure critical
components without going through Iran.'' \3\ If confirmed, what
steps will you undertake to stop the flow of unauthorized U.S.
goods to Iran and other terror supporting countries such as
North Korea and Syria?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ https://www.wsj.com/articles/irans-armed-drone-prowess-
reshapes-security-in-middle-east-11633530266
A.9. The flow of unauthorized U.S. goods and technologies to
Iran, North Korea, and Syria is a significant national security
challenge. If confirmed, I plan to use all available
enforcement options--including criminal enforcement options,
administrative enforcement options, and other administrative
actions such as denial orders--to ensure that our adversaries
do not have access to U.S. goods and technologies that they can
put to malign purposes like terrorism, WMD proliferation, and
human rights abuses. The use of front companies and other
middlemen is a continuing problem that must be confronted head
on. If confirmed, I would work to ensure that Export
Enforcement's resources are properly matched against the most
pressing national security threats, including Iran, North
Korea, and Syria, and those middlemen and front companies that
do their bidding. I would also work in partnership with other
Federal law enforcement agencies and with foreign counterparts
so that the efforts of the Export Enforcement agents and
analysts in this area are amplified and reinforced.
Q.10. Anti-Boycott Compliance--Through the Office of Anti-
Boycott Compliance, BIS leads the enforcement of anti-boycott
laws to counter malign foreign boycott campaigns. If confirmed,
do you commit to fully enforcing U.S. anti-boycott laws and to
discouraging foreign counterparts from participating in the
boycott of Israel?
A.10. If confirmed, I will ensure that BIS continues to
aggressively and appropriately enforce the anti-boycott laws
and continues to work to end unsanctioned boycotts against
Israel.
Q.11. Answering Questions for the Record--Please describe with
particularity the process by which you answered these questions
for the record, including identifying who assisted you in
answering these questions along with a brief description of
their assistance.
A.11. I drafted the answers to these questions, with assistance
from staff of the Commerce Department and the interagency as
appropriate.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF
SENATOR MENENDEZ FROM MATTHEW AXELROD
Q.1. Mr. Axelrod, the President, as a candidate, promised that
he would return the jurisdiction of the export licensing of
semiautomatic weapons from the Commerce Department back to the
Department of State, from which the Trump administration took
it. This the President can do by simple regulation, without the
need for legislative approval. Until that happens, however, the
Department is providing no information to the Congress as to
what lethal weapons, including sniper rifles and assault
rifles, are being sold to what countries, foreign person, in
what quantities and under what conditions, if any.
Do you agree that the President made a campaign promise as
a candidate to return the export control jurisdiction over
semiautomatic weapons, including assault rifles and sniper
rifles, to the Department of State?
Has a decision been made by the President, personally,
regarding the fulfillment of his campaign promise? If not, will
the final decision be put to the President to decide? If not,
why not, and who made the decision to not put the issue before
the President?
Why has the Department of Commerce not alerted the
Congress, and the SFRC specifically, to pending exports of
semiautomatic weapons, including assault rifles and sniper
rifles? Will the Department of Commerce do so? And when?
How many semiautomatic weapons, including assault rifles
and sniper rifles, has the Department of Commerce authorized
for export, to what countries, in what amounts, since the
export jurisdiction of such weapons was transferred from the
Department of State?
A.1. I am aware of the commitment made by Joe Biden on this
issue when he was a candidate for President. I understand and
respect your concern that export licensing jurisdiction for
semiautomatic weapons has been moved from the State Department
to the Commerce Department and the need to ensure appropriate
oversight over these exports by the relevant committees of
jurisdiction, including the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
If confirmed, I will not be responsible for deciding
whether that licensing jurisdiction remains with the Commerce
Department. But I very much appreciate your desire to maintain
oversight in this area, and commit to the following: if
confirmed, (1) I will work to ensure that you receive licensing
information concerning the export of semiautomatic weapons,
including those that have been authorized for export to date,
consistent with applicable law; (2) I will use all of the
enforcement tools at my disposal--including criminal
enforcement options, administrative enforcement options, and
other administrative actions such as denial orders--in
partnership with other Federal law enforcement agencies and
foreign counterparts, to aggressively and appropriately enforce
against licensing violations related to semiautomatic weapons;
and (3) I will keep you and your staff apprised of enforcement
efforts and progress in this area consistent with ECRA. If
confirmed, I would also be happy to meet with you or your staff
to discuss this matter further.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF CHAIRMAN BROWN
FROM ALANNA MCCARGO
Q.1. Where have you excelled in past positions in attracting,
hiring, and promoting people of color in positions in your
organization? Where might there be room for improvement?
A.1. I am proud of my track record of hiring, attracting,
promoting, and coaching/mentoring people of color, especially
as a person of color who has worked in leadership ranks in
different types of organizations. I embrace and believe that
diversity, inclusion, and equity are critical to an
organization's success, and this does not only mean diversity
in race and ethnicity, but also diversity in gender, age,
organization types and political ideas. Throughout my career in
financial services sector, I have worked with diverse groups
effectively. I believe there is always room to do more and do
better, and if confirmed, I would work to ensure that Ginnie
Mae embraces a culture of inclusion, and that staff are heard
and able to contribute their talents to the important work of
the agency. I would also ensure that Ginnie Mae works not only
internally but reaches out to other agencies and stakeholders
for input and collaboration on critical issues to ensure
perspectives and decisions are not insular. Every organization
in America, including the Federal Government, has room for
improvement and it requires intentionality, continuous
education, and communication to break down organizational
barriers and create healthy organizational norms that promote a
diverse and inclusive workplace.
Q.2. What specific measures will you use to evaluate the
success of the Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) in understanding and addressing the needs of Black,
Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)? And, will you work
with the Secretary and senior officials to keep Congress
apprised, as appropriate, on the progress being made on these
measures?
A.2. If confirmed, I commit to working with the Secretary and
HUD team on the equity-related assessments and activities the
agency has been directed to engage in pursuant to Executive
orders including the Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity
and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal
Government. \1\ If confirmed, I commit to working with
Secretary Fudge, senior officials and Congress to ensure
transparency and progress on Ginnie Mae's equity actions and
intend to fully assess Ginnie Mae's inclusion and equity
efforts underway, both internal staffing efforts and external
efforts to ensure diversity with procurement, issuers, and
investors.
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\1\ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/
2021/01/20/executive-order-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-
underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government/
Q.3. What is your plan for creating an inclusive working
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environment for employees within your office?
A.3. If confirmed, I plan do a series of listening sessions
with Ginnie Mae staff at all levels and quickly devise a shared
vision and plan that all staff can participate in developing
and leading. I am eager to listen and learn, and to empower
employees to bring necessary change and be part of an inclusive
agenda for moving the agency forward so we can deliver on our
mission.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR TOOMEY
FROM ALANNA MCCARGO
Q.1. Congressional Oversight--Please provide your philosophy on
how Ginnie Mae will approach and respond to Congressional
information requests (both for documentary information and oral
testimony), if you are confirmed.
A.1. If I am confirmed, my approach to Congressional inquiries
will be to act swiftly and transparently in responding. I
respect the oversight role Congress plays, and I believe it
helps to ensure continuous improvement for the agency in making
sure it is meeting its commitments and abiding by the law in
ways that are just and protect the American taxpayer.
Q.2. If confirmed, do you intend to respond to information
requests differently depending on who is making the
Congressional information request (whether it's the chair of
the Congressional Committee, the Ranking Member, or another
member of Congress)? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If your
answer is ``yes,'' please explain.
A.2. Yes. If confirmed, I will work to ensure HUD responds in a
timely manner to all to Congressional requests for information,
consistent with applicable law and regulations.
Q.3. Will you commit that, if confirmed, you will timely
respond to and fully comply with all information requests from
me? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If your answer is ``no,''
please explain.
A.3. Yes. If confirmed, I would expect to provide responses to
requests, with reasonable understanding of the time required to
produce documentation and consistent with applicable law and
regulations.
Q.4. Will you commit that, if confirmed, you will make yourself
and any other Ginnie Mae employee expeditiously available to
provide oral testimony (including but not limited to briefings,
hearings, and transcribed interviews) to the Committee on any
matter within its jurisdiction, upon the request of either the
Chairman or Ranking Member? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If
your answer is ``no,'' please explain why.
A.4. Yes. If confirmed, I would ensure HUD responds to
Congressional requests for information, consistent with
applicable law and regulations.
Q.5. Do you believe that Ginnie Mae may assert any privileges
or other legal justifications to withhold information (whether
records or oral testimony) from Congress? Please answer ``yes''
or ``no.''
A.5. If confirmed, I would prioritize working with Congress and
would be responsive to all reasonable information requests that
come to Ginnie Mae. I would defer to the Office of General
Counsel, which would determine whether Ginnie Mae has an
applicable privilege or other legal justification for
withholding information.
Q.6. If you answered ``yes'' to the preceding question, please
list every such privilege or other legal justification and
provide the legal basis for why you believe Ginnie Mae may use
such privilege or legal justification to withhold information
from Congress.
A.6. As noted above, any determination as to whether HUD has an
applicable privilege or other justification to withhold
information from Congress would be made by the Office of
General Counsel and identified clearly as such at that time.
Q.7. In an effort to be open and transparent with Congress and
the public, will you commit not to assert any such privilege or
legal justification against Congress that you listed above?
A.7. I commit to lead Ginnie Mae with full transparency and to
working with Congress within legal bounds on any reasonable
requests if I am confirmed.
Q.8. If not, why not? If so, please identify all such
privileges or legal justifications that you will commit to not
assert against Congress.
A.8. If confirmed, I will consult with the Office of General
Counsel to ensure Ginnie Mae responds to Congressional requests
in a manner consistent with the law and responsive to Congress.
Q.9. Housing Finance Reform--Pursuant to the Presidential
Memorandum issued March 27, 2019, HUD submitted its Housing
Finance Reform Plan (Plan) laying out reforms to HUD, including
the Federal Housing Administration and Ginnie Mae. \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ HUD, Housing Finance Reform Plan, (Sept. 2019), available at
https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/Main/documents/Housing-Finance-Reform-
Plan0919.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Which of the Plan's recommendations do you agree with?
Which of the Plan's recommendations do you disagree with?
A.9. I support comprehensive housing finance reform and believe
it should be inclusive of the entirety of the system when
Congress takes this issue up in the future. The HUD plans that
were previously submitted included Ginnie Mae and FHA, which I
believe to be an important step forward. I appreciated the
focus on risk mitigation, management and liquidity which I have
stated publicly as top priorities, and I look forward to
working with the Ginnie Mae team on and further strengthening
these efforts, if I am confirmed.
Q.10. Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund--You are currently
serving as the HUD Secretary's Senior Advisor for housing
finance. The fiscal year 2020 (FY20) Report on the MMI Fund
shows that subjecting the FY20 portfolio to the same
macroeconomic conditions faced during the housing crisis would
create losses in excess of MMI Fund capital, resulting in a MMI
Fund capital ratio of -0.63 percent, below the statutory 2
percent minimum, and requiring a bailout. Would you consider it
a failure if the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) draws
funds from the Treasury to cover losses, or put more simply,
requires a bailout?
A.10. The FHA leadership and risk management teams closely
monitor and manage the MMI Fund performance, and the Secretary
has been clear that ensuring adequate capital to endure all
cycles, including the deep distress created by the pandemic, is
paramount. Consistent with statements \2\ made during the last
quarterly report to Congress on the MMIF, I support prudent
management of the fund and keeping adequate capital reserves to
weather current and future events that pose risks to it. The
health of the fund has direct impact on the underlying
homeowners who tend to be lower income, first time borrowers,
as well as borrowers of color. It is imperative that FHA manage
the fund in a way that protects it from losses that would have
an adverse impact on the most vulnerable existing FHA borrowers
and future homeowners.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Secretary Fudge Statement on the State of the FHA Mutual
Mortgage Insurance Fund https://www.hud.gov/press/press-releases-media-
advisories/hud-no-21-049.
Q.11. Do you think the MMI Fund as of FY20 has sufficient
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
capital reserves?
A.11. The MMI fund in the FY20 report indicated a healthy
reserve ratio that was more than three times the 2 percent
required capital level. There are several assumptions and
market factors like home price appreciation that must be
considered and a number of scenarios that could change the
reserve rate in either direction. A healthy fund is vital to
the FHA program, and the FHA program is a critical and large
share of the Ginnie Mae MBS program. If confirmed, I would work
closely with Secretary Fudge and the FHA Commissioner on risks
and closely monitor how the fund performs. I hope to also work
closely with VA and USDA leadership on performance trends and
risks ensuring those programs remain healthy as well.
Q.12. Do you think it is inappropriate to build a capital
buffer able to withstand a shock of the kind experienced during
the 2008 housing crisis?
A.12. I think it is appropriate to closely monitor the fund and
run numerous scenarios that stress test the fund and ensure
viability during economic shocks. The 2008 crisis is one such
experience, as are shocks from natural disasters, pandemics,
national home price declines, recessionary periods, and so on.
Knowing how the fund would sustain numerous stress scenarios is
critical to determining how much buffer is sufficient, and
something the Secretary and FHA Commissioner should prioritize.
Q.13. Is the statutory 2 percent MMI Fund capital ratio a
sufficient buffer to protect against taxpayer losses? If not,
what do you believe is appropriate? If not the 2008 housing
crisis, what stress level scenario should FHA consider when
deciding what capital buffer is sufficient?
A.13. The 2 percent minimum requirement is set by Congress and
represents a floor. I believe the buffer should be continuously
evaluated by the Secretary and FHA leadership and risk
management teams based on the many variables and market
conditions they monitor and the probabilities of significant
event of default at a given time. Being prepared to weather
storms, expected or unexpected, is critical for managing the
FHA insurance program to ensure the program remains a strong
and credible tool to help homeowners.
Q.14. Do you have plans to impose the same climate stress tests
and climate change regulatory standards on mortgage backed
securities (MBS) issued by Ginnie Mae issuers as several Biden
administration officials have discussed doing for private
sector market participants?
A.14. The Administration has been focused on the effects of
climate change, and the FSOC is assessing the financial
regulatory actions that are needed to address climate change
related issues our Nation faces in the future. If confirmed, I
will assess the climate related risks to Ginnie Mae's MBS
program and work with issuers and other housing finance
agencies to determine what steps make sense to ensure that risk
is appropriately understood and disclosed for those who do
business with Ginnie Mae as that would be prudent and in the
best interest of taxpayers.
Q.15. Downpayment Assistance--You are currently serving as the
HUD Secretary's Senior Advisor for housing finance. 12 U.S.C.
1709(b)(9)(C) prohibits the ``seller or any other person or
entity that financially benefits from the transaction'' from
providing funds as part of the downpayment for an FHA-insured
loan. What does ``financially benefits from the transaction''
mean to you as the Secretary's Senior Advisor for housing
finance?
A.15. In my role as Senior Advisor, I do not interpret the law
for HUD. Broadly speaking, this language clearly speaks to
ensuring that nefarious or predatory seller practices that are
detrimental to the borrower are prohibited in an FHA insured
transaction.
Q.16. Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP)--Fannie Mae
was contracted by the Treasury Department to administer HAMP,
the Federal Government's flagship loan modification program
established in response to the 2008 financial crisis. At Fannie
Mae, you played a role in implementing HAMP. There were many
problems with the implementation of HAMP. The Office of the
Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program
(SIGTARP) discovered that a significant share of borrowers
redefaulted after receiving HAMP loan modifications, costing
taxpayers money. \3\ In addition, the Government Accountability
Office (GAO) reported that while one of the ``stated goals for
HAMP was to standardize the loan modification process across
the servicing industry, GAO found inconsistencies in how
servicers were treating borrowers under HAMP that could lead to
inequitable treatment of similarly situated borrowers.'' \4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ SIGTARP, ``Rising Redefaults of HAMP Mortgage Modifications
Hurt Homeowners, Communities, and Taxpayers'' 3 (July 24, 2013),
https://www.sigtarp.gov/sites/sigtarp/files/Audit-Reports/Rising-
Redefaults-of-HAMP-Mortgage-Modifications.pdf.
\4\ GAO, GAO-10-634 ``Further Actions Needed to Fully and
Equitably Implement Foreclosure Mitigation Programs'' 2 (June 24,
2010), https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-10-634.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
What lessons did you learn from the problems identified
with the implementation of HAMP? How will you apply those
lessons at Ginnie Mae?
A.16. I agree there were challenges with implementing a
Government program of the size, scale, and complexity of HAMP
during an unprecedented financial institution meltdown and
overall economic crisis. Millions of Americans lost their homes
and wealth. I continue to carry lessons and learnings about the
importance of the mortgage servicing industry in enabling
sustainable home ownership, and how the overall system benefits
from a rational set of standards that protect consumers and
ensure safe and sound financial institution practices. If
confirmed, I will take many lessons to the work of Ginnie Mae
and provide leadership informed by my experience managing a
very complex and large Government program.
Q.17. What steps will you take to ensure that taxpayer dollars
are better protected at Ginne Mae than they were in the
implementation of HAMP?
A.17. Protecting taxpayers and creating value and returns to
the United States treasury is something Ginnie Mae has done in
all economic cycles and is proud of. If confirmed, I will
continue to ensure the performance of the Ginnie Mae operation
and the value of the Ginnie Mae bond continue to create value
for American taxpayers.
Q.18. How will you ensure that the problems identified with the
implementation of HAMP will not resurface for HUD borrowers
entering into loan modifications ultimately backed-up by Ginnie
Mae?
A.18. If confirmed, I will ensure that the Ginnie Mae team
monitors the performance and policy choices being made by all
the underlying agencies who make up Ginnie Mae securities. My
experience working across agencies and in collaboration with
key stakeholders will be an asset to ensuring early detection
of any indications of problems and having tools in place to
mitigate risks.
Q.19. Do you commit to make protecting taxpayer dollars one of
your top priorities at Ginnie Mae? If not, please explain why
protecting taxpayer dollars will not be a top priority for you.
A.19. Yes, if confirmed, it is my top priority to ensure that
the Ginnie Mae guaranty and security operations remain strong
and continues to deliver value back to taxpayers by managing an
efficient budget, investing in Ginnie Mae people and
technology, prudent risk management, and expanding the agency's
reach with global investors.
Q.20. Ginnie Mae 40-Year Loan Modifications--Ginnie Mae
recently announced a new mortgage-backed security (MBS) pool
type, enabling the securitization of 40-year mortgage
modifications. And FHA is now proposing a new 40-year loan
modification option. Do you believe there will be adequate
investor interest in MBS containing modified loans (for
borrowers who have previously defaulted) in a rising interest
rate environment? If yes, please include any reports, evidence,
or data supporting your view.
A.20. Forty-year loan modification programs have been available
for Government mortgage programs and at Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac for some time. Ginnie Mae has not historically had a
securitization option for this duration. A 40-year loan
modification option, while not a first resort, can provide
additional flexibility for servicers who need to get deeper
payment reduction to a homeowner to make mortgage payments
affordable and home ownership sustainable. This is especially
true for FHA, which has few levers for payment reduction
modifications if interest rates begin to rise. \5\ The 40-year
security will be available for any USDA and VA loan
modification programs before year end and volume is expected to
be very low initially. If FHA implements a 40-year loan
modification to bring them in line with what Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac already offer and securitize, volumes will
increase. The GSEs have 40-year modification and performing
loan MBS but there is very little and infrequent issuance
activity. The outstanding volume of past issuances amounts to
$2.3 billion in 2021 YTD and $10 billion since Jan 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ ``Government Loan Modifications: What Happens When Interest
Rates Rise?'' https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/
95671/government-loan-modifications-5.pdf.
Q.21. Borrowers entering into 40-year loan modifications may,
unwittingly, be paying more in interest for their homes on a
40-year mortgage than they would on a 30-year loan. How will
you ensure these borrowers are not paying more for their homes
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
over the course of their modified loans?
A.21. The terms of the mortgage modification agreements are
negotiated by the mortgage servicer with the borrower.
Extending term would create longer term interest due by the
borrower but would also lower monthly payments, increasing
affordability of the mortgage for the borrower immediately.
This could be the difference between keeping or losing a home
and should be discussed and well understood before the borrower
opts into any loan modification agreement. Ginnie Mae's role is
not to dictate such terms, but to ensure that the ultimate loan
modification that is best for the borrower can be sold back
into a liquid secondary market.
Q.22. A significant share of borrowers redefaulted after
receiving HAMP loan modifications. Do you anticipate similarly
high redefault rates for borrowers coming out of COVID-
forbearance status and entering into 40-year loan modifications
being pooled by Ginnie Mae issuers?
A.22. The foreclosure prevention tools that have been put in
place by the mortgage agencies in response to COVID have been
developed with sustainability in mind. My hope is that COVID
mortgage modifications perform well, especially given the
sizable equity many households have and the tools that have
been put in place under this Administration to ensure long term
affordability. If confirmed, this performance is something I
would monitor closely and discuss regularly with my leadership
team.
Q.23. Answering Questions for the Record--Please describe with
particularity the process by which you answered these questions
for the record, including identifying who assisted you in
answering these questions along with a brief description of
their assistance.
A.23. I have answered all these questions independently and to
the best of my ability and consulted with a review by relevant
staff only where necessary to ensure each Senator's question is
fully addressed with sufficient detail and insight. I have
answered these questions with the intent to provide you with
the information you need to be comfortable voting to support my
nomination to be the next President of Ginnie Mae. Thank you
for the opportunity to respond.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR SHELBY
FROM ALANNA MCCARGO
Q.1. The Obama administration created the Home Affordable
Modification Program (HAMP) to try to help homeowners stay in
their homes during the financial crisis. Unfortunately, many
borrowers that obtained loan modifications through HAMP ended
up redefaulting on their loans. \1\ This result was both bad
for them and for Federal taxpayers. Fannie Mae implemented HAMP
on behalf of the Treasury Department, and you worked on that
implementation at Fannie Mae.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ SIGTARP, ``Rising Redefaults of HAMP Mortgage Modifications
Hurt Homeowners, Communities, and Taxpayers''.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do you agree that the HAMP had unacceptably high redefault
rates for borrowers receiving HAMP loan modifications?
A.1. My work with the mortgage servicing industry and Treasury
while I was at Fannie Mae involved efforts to mitigate the
worst outcomes for homeowners from the global financial crisis,
helping to avoid foreclosures and working with the industry to
mitigate losses and failures in the system that was broken and
ill-equipped to deal with the home price declines and
delinquencies that followed. The goal was helping people stay
in their homes with sustainable mortgage payments and our job
at Fannie Mae was to support Treasury in building the
infrastructure to aid the industry by helping the millions of
distressed homeowners avoid foreclosure. The level of
unemployment experienced during that time was high, and many
borrowers were unable to regain incomes, which led to
unaffordable mortgages on houses that were no longer worth
their mortgage debt, and a series of redefaults occurred. I
don't find any of that acceptable and remain disappointed that
so many people were not afforded time to get on their feet and
keep their homes because if they had made it through that
period, many of them would be experiencing and benefiting from
what has been a very healthy and appreciating housing market
since that time.
Q.2. What will you do to make sure that borrowers insured or
guaranteed by HUD will not redefault in any loan modification
programs that are being implemented now in response to COVID-
19?
A.2. The Administration and Secretary Fudge made clear from day
one that helping homeowners keep their homes and recover from
the pandemic economic crisis was a top priority. HUD's FHA
insurance program has implemented significant policy
improvements to its loan modification options with the specific
goal of avoiding redefaults and creating a sustainable and
affordable loan modification that will succeed. If confirmed, I
will work with the FHA team and support the work they have done
in coordination with other agencies, including the FHFA, to
align efforts and ensure that the tools available for servicers
are robust and help homeowners keep their homes whenever
possible.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR TILLIS
FROM ALANNA MCCARGO
Q.1. During your tenure at Fannie Mae, you helped to implement
the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which was
created in response to the 2008 financial crisis. According to
a June 2010 GAO report, there were multiple challenges in
implementing HAMP. \1\ For example, the report noted that while
one of the ``stated goals for HAMP was to standardize the loan
modification process across the servicing industry, GAO found
inconsistencies in how servicers were treating borrowers under
HAMP that could lead to inequitable treatment of similarly
situated borrowers.'' \2\ How will you ensure that any
problems identified with HAMP will not resurface for HUD
borrowers entering into loan modifications?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-10-634.pdf
\2\ https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-10-634.pdf
A.1. The HAMP program that was created to address the 2008
Global Financial Crisis (GFC) was unprecedented and the
learnings and findings from the reports and analysis you
reference have been incredibly insightful for helping
policymakers, industry, and Government agencies address the
current crisis and other disaster events that have required
servicers and policy to help borrowers who are at risk of
losing their homes. The 2008 GFC exposed several major flaws in
America's housing finance system and the mortgage servicing
infrastructure. I have spent significant time studying the GFC
and I helped create and lead the Mortgage Servicing
Collaborative \3\ at the Urban Institute which brought together
a diverse coalition of housing finance industry experts and
stakeholders to fully understand the challenges faced during
the 2008 crisis and ensure the system and mortgage servicers
are more stable and prepared for any future crisis of that
scale. The pandemic has been a test of the current system, and
although the COVID-19 economic crisis is very different, the
policy choices and actions taken by Congress and Government
agencies demonstrates an understanding from lessons learned in
the past and is resulting in far better outcomes for homeowners
and a better coordinated and standard response from industry.
If confirmed, I would work with the appropriate oversight
bodies to continuously learn and apply improvements at Ginnie
Mae that ensure a stable and equitable system.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ ``The Mortgage Servicing Collaborative'', https://
www.urban.org/policy-centers/housing-finance-policy-center/projects/
mortgage-servicing-collaborative.
Q.2. The Obama administration originally estimated that HAMP
could help between three million and four million homeowners,
but as of June 30, 2021, only around 1.7 million borrowers
received HAMP modifications. \4\ Do you believe HAMP succeeded
in helping families stay in their homes and avoid foreclosure?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Dep't of the Treasury, ``Home Affordable Modification Program
(HAMP) Performance Summary'' (June, 30, 2021), https://
home.treasury.gov/system/files/256/129-HAMP-Modification-Performance-
Summary-Jun2021-v1.0.pdf.
A.2. The unprecedented nature of the 2008 housing crisis called
for new and untested steps to address the millions of
homeowners who fell behind on their mortgages and who also saw
their home values plummet, losing much of their wealth. The
Making Home Affordable (MHA) program Treasury put in place
helped millions of people avoid foreclosure, though many still
did end up losing their homes. The MHA program (which includes
HAMP) was ultimately responsible for helping transform the
mortgage servicing sector, standardizing new loan modification
options to help borrowers avoid foreclosure, refinancing
millions of homeowners into more affordable housing payments
through HARP, and modifying over 1.8 million loans in the HAMP
program (which ended in 2016), millions more modifications in
Government Sponsored Enterprise and FHA and VA insured
modification programs. I believe these outcomes are far better
than what would have happened if nothing had been done. I also
wish more families could have kept their homes. Those who lost
their homes were disproportionately lower income households,
and people of color and they lost a tremendous amount of wealth
which exacerbates the racial home ownership and wealth gaps.
The mortgage industry is better prepared for crisis today
because of what was learned during that period, and while not
perfect, the infrastructure to withstand massive delinquencies
and their ripple effects far better in today's system. If
confirmed, I would bring deep and unique insights from the 2008
crisis to Ginnie Mae as we address current and future economic
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
events.
Q.3. HAMP modifications resulted in high redefault rates,
harming borrowers and delaying eventual foreclosure. Such
borrowers may have been in a better position had they gone
through a foreclosure earlier rather modified their mortgages
and delay a foreclosure. How will you ensure borrowers entering
into loan modifications now with HUD are not at risk of
redefault and eventual foreclosure?
A.3. I do not think foreclosure ever puts a borrower in a
better position, whether it happens early in the process or
later after attempts to modify or restructure a loan.
Foreclosure is a bad outcome for a consumer's credit, housing
and community stability, and wealth. In my opinion, keeping
people in their homes is usually the best outcome when
financial distress occurs or helping those who need to leave,
exit through a normal home sale that they can benefit from.
However, sometimes foreclosure is the only option remaining,
and when it must occur, it should be accomplished as
efficiently and transparently as possible. If confirmed to lead
Ginnie Mae, I will work with the FHA, VA, and USDA mortgage
policy teams who create the loan modification policies for
borrowers and ensure that the risks to Ginnie Mae securities
backing those modified loans are fully understood and
mitigated. There is always some probability of default and
redefault though it is hard to predict, and the agencies have
better tools and models in place today than in 2008 to provide
the time for mortgage servicers to work with borrowers to give
them the best chance at success.
Q.4. The risk of redefault increases as home values fall and
delaying an eventual foreclosure only reduces the value that
can be recouped through a foreclosure sale, increasing the
claim amount paid to Government-insured lenders.
Do you believe home values will continue rising?
How will you ensure that taxpayer interests are protected
if home prices fall?
A.4. Home price fluctuations are very market specific, and home
prices have been steadily increasing nationwide for some time.
I follow economic and home price trends and the many indices to
get a sense of forecasted home values, but I don't make
predictions or speculate. Right now, homeowners' equity is at
record highs, standing at over $25 trillion \5\ according to
the Federal Reserve's Flow of Funds Report. Even if home prices
fall slightly, the debt-to-equity ratio favors homeowners. If
confirmed, I will work with the Ginnie Mae team to ensure
continuous and rigorous risk management continues, and I will
continue to work to protect taxpayers by delivering value on
the securities issued by Ginnie Mae and ensuring stability
through all economic cycles.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ ``September 2021 Housing Finance At a Glance Report'', https:/
/www.urban.org/research/publication/housing-finance-glance-monthly-
chartbook-september-2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR MORAN
FROM ALANNA MCCARGO
Q.1. The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was
established in response to the impact of the financial crisis
on homeowners. The Obama Treasury Department tasked Fannie Mae
with the responsibility of implementing HAMP. You worked at
Fannie Mae on the implementation of HAMP. HAMP had numerous
difficulties documented by the Office of the Special Inspector
General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) \1\ and
the Government Accountability Office (GAO). \2\ These
difficulties included many borrowers participating in HAMP loan
modifications ultimately redefaulting, putting taxpayer dollars
at risk. \3\ As president of Ginnie Mae, you will be running an
organization which also exposes taxpayer dollars at risk.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ SIGTARP, ``Rising Redefaults of HAMP Mortgage Modifications
Hurt Homeowners, Communities, and Taxpayers'' 3 (July 24, 2013),
https://www.sigtarp.gov/sites/sigtarp/files/Audit-Reports/Rising-
Redefaults-of-HAMP-Mortgage-Modifications.pdf.
\2\ GAO, GAO-10-634 ``Further Actions Needed to Fully and Equitably
Implement Foreclosure Mitigation Programs'' 2 (June 24, 2010), https://
www.gao.gov/assets/gao-10-634.pdf.
\3\ SIGTARP, ``Rising Redefaults of HAMP Mortgage Modifications
Hurt Homeowners, Communities, and Taxpayers'' 3 (July 24, 2013),
https://www.sigtarp.gov/sites/sigtarp/files/Audit-Reports/Rising-
Redefaults-of-HAMP-Mortgage-Modifications.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
What assurances can you provide that decisions made at
Ginnie Mae will prioritize protecting taxpayer dollars?
A.1. Ginnie Mae's mission since its founding has been to bring
capital into the housing finance market while minimizing risk
to taxpayers. The agency has delivered on this mission for over
50 years. If confirmed, my top priority will be to mitigate
risks to taxpayers, strengthen Ginnie Mae's securitization
operations and risk management, and attract global capital that
continues to expand the value of Ginnie Mae securities to
investors across the globe in order to ensure our veterans,
first time homebuyers and lower income households have access
to affordable mortgage credit.
Q.2. What steps will you take to prevent HAMP's difficulties
from developing in any programs where Ginnie Mae mortgage-
backed securities include loan modifications?
A.2. While HAMP was a novel program designed to address the
global financial crisis of 2008, there have since been many new
and more efficient loss mitigation programs and tools
implemented and adopted by mortgage servicers that have been
far more effective in addressing natural disasters and large
economic loss events, like the pandemic. If confirmed, I will
work with the Ginnie Mae risk and capital markets teams to
monitor the loss mitigation and modification activities taking
place at FHA, VA, and USDA and the impacts that will have on
Ginnie Mae prepayment speeds and market pricing. I will work
with the issuer management team to make sure those mortgage
servicers and issuers of Ginnie Mae MBS are complying with the
latest policies and manage their performance, liquidity, and
financial risks.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF CHAIRMAN BROWN
FROM JAMES ARTHUR JEMISON II
Q.1. Where have you excelled in past positions in attracting,
hiring, and promoting people of color in positions in your
organization? Where might there be room for improvement?
A.1. I would point to the initial staffing of the City of
Detroit Housing & Revitalization Department (HRD) and
restaffing of the Planning and Development Department (PDD) as
examples. In 2014 and 2015, my then Deputy Director Hunter
Kurtz and I had to restructure the staff of both departments as
part of the Bankruptcy. (Mr. Kurtz used to work for me in
Detroit before becoming PIH Assistant Secretary under the
previous Administration.) I recruited Planning Director Maurice
Cox (now Planning Director of Chicago, IL) and collaborated him
in recruiting a diverse staff of planners to lead the City of
Detroit's Planning Department. While I am certainly proud of
the diversity of the new staff--in particular the number of
women leaders--I am equally proud of the retention and
promotion of staff of color who had served the city for long
periods without recognition. The planning field and public
housing field need significant inflows of BIPOC graduates.
Twenty-five years ago, I was one of those BIPOC students
entering the field. As a result, in my leadership in prior
positions have worked with academic departments to recruit
staff and make sure future generations of my departments have
diverse leadership and staff.
Q.2. What specific measures will you use to evaluate the
success of the Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) in understanding and addressing the needs of Black,
Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)? And, will you work
with the Secretary and senior officials to keep Congress
apprised, as appropriate, on the progress being made on these
measures?
A.2. Throughout my 25-year career, I have focused on using data
and measurable results and would use similar approaches in my
work at PIH. Many public housing developments, units occupied
by voucher holders, and Tribal communities are within
communities of color or on Tribal land. If confirmed, I will
make sure PIH is a partner with FHEO and informing fair housing
oversight and working with PIH stakeholders to fulfill their
role locally. Reports including data on the preservation,
rehabilitation and operating results for PIH-related units will
allow me to highlight specific areas where progress is being
made or where improvement is needed. If confirmed, I will work
with the Secretary and other senior officials to keep Congress
apprised of progress on these issues.
Q.3. What is your plan for creating an inclusive working
environment for employees within your office?
A.3. Creating an inclusive working environment requires a
careful process of staff engagement, listening and consensus
building. It also involves, where possible, using a transparent
process for the creation of the vision, major decisions, and
measurement of outcomes. The testimony from my supporting
letters and track record in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
Washington, DC, and Detroit show that I have used these methods
in my work.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR TOOMEY
FROM JAMES ARTHUR JEMISON II
Q.1. Congressional Oversight--Please provide your philosophy on
how HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) will
approach and respond to Congressional information requests
(both for documentary information and oral testimony) if you
are confirmed.
A.1. If confirmed, I would provide responses to requests with
reasonable understanding of the time required to produce
documentation.
Q.2. If confirmed, do you intend to respond to information
requests differently depending on who is making the
Congressional information request (whether it's the chair of
the Congressional Committee, the Ranking Member, or another
member of Congress)? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If your
answer is ``yes,'' please explain.
A.2. Yes. If confirmed, I will work to ensure HUD responds in a
timely manner to all congressional requests for information,
consistent with applicable law and regulations.
Q.3. If confirmed, I would work to ensure HUD responds in a
timely way to congressional requests for information, including
from both Chairs and Ranking Members, consistent with
applicable law and regulations. Will you commit that, if
confirmed, you will timely respond to and fully comply with all
information requests from me? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.''
If your answer is ``no,'' please explain.
A.3. Yes. If confirmed, I would expect to provide responses to
requests, with reasonable understanding of the time required to
produce documentation and consistent with applicable law and
regulations.
Q.4. Will you commit that, if confirmed, you will make yourself
and any other PIH employee expeditiously available to provide
oral testimony (including but not limited to briefings,
hearings, and transcribed interviews) to the Committee on any
matter within its jurisdiction, upon the request of either the
Chairman or Ranking Member? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If
your answer is ``no,'' please explain why.
A.4. If confirmed, I would seek to respond to such requests
with reasonable understanding of the time required to prepare
briefings and make sure appropriate staff are prepared to offer
substantive responses.
Q.5. Do you believe that PIH may assert any privileges or other
legal justifications to withhold information (whether records
or oral testimony) from Congress? Please answer ``yes'' or
``no.''
A.5. If confirmed, I would consult with the agency's Office of
General Counsel to ensure HUD responds to Congressional
requests in a manner that is consistent with appropriate law
and regulations.
Q.6. If you answered ``yes'' to the preceding question, please
list every such privilege or other legal justification, and
provide the legal basis for why you believe PIH may use such
privilege or legal justification to withhold information from
Congress.
A.6. N/A.
Q.7. In an effort to be open and transparent with Congress and
the public, will you commit not to assert any such privilege or
legal justification against Congress that you listed above? If
not, why not? If so, please identify all such privileges or
legal justifications that you will commit to not assert against
Congress.
A.7. If confirmed, I would work with the Office of General
Counsel to ensure that I am complying with any and all legal
requirements.
Q.8. HUD Pilot Projects--In recent years, HUD has started some
pilot programs to study the effectiveness of Housing Choice
Vouchers and to try to improve them for beneficiaries. Would
you be open to additional pilots? If so, what kinds of pilots?
A.8. If confirmed, I would be open to additional pilots in
consultation with the Secretary.
Q.9. Ensuring That HUD Assistance Is Not for a ``Lifetime''--In
December 2020, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge said that ``public
housing or low income housing should not be a lifetime, it
should be just a stopping point.'' \1\ What do you intend to do
during your time as the Assistant Secretary for Public and
Indian Housing to advance that goal?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Errin Haines, `` `I Want To Be Part of Making This Work:'
Marcia Fudge Talks About How She Plans To Lead HUD'', The 19th (Dec.
10, 2020), available at https://19thnews.org/2020/12/marcia-fudge-
interview-nomination-department-of-housing-and-urban-development/.
A.9. Programs like Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) help tenants
achieve financial and employment goals, including many who
transition to home ownership. Rental assistance alone is vital
for those experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness,
but it offers families stability and the ability to pursue
employment and educational goals and improve their health
status and wellbeing. If confirmed, I would work with OGC to
review the limitations on discretion that I have to support
resources appropriated for this type of program by Congress to
identify additional ways to support programs like FSS that
build on rental assistance to help tenants achieve asset
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
building, employment, and educational goals.
Q.10. Moving to Work--The Moving to Work (MTW) Demonstration
Program provides public housing agencies (PHAs) with exemptions
from many existing public housing and voucher rules and grants
flexibility with how to use Federal funds. Do you support
expanding the number of eligible jurisdictions to allow more
communities to experiment with MTW?
A.10. From my experience in the field, I know the value of
flexibility for public housing authority leaders. I do not
currently have a position on expanding the MTW program but look
forward to consulting with PIH staff, stakeholders, and the
Secretary.
Q.11. Would you consider expanding MTW to allow defined-stay
tenancy for new tenants (i.e., time limits) in exchange for a
set rent that will not increase with income?
A.11. I do not currently have a position on expanding the MTW
program but look forward to consulting PIH staff, stakeholders,
and the Secretary. I would like to learn more about that
approach, if confirmed and will work with your office and other
interested policymakers to ensure that I have the latest
thinking on this subject.
Q.12. After years of research, the Moving-to-Work Research
Advisory Committee, comprised of public housing agencies,
current and former public housing residents, and researchers
recommended the MTW expansion include work requirements as a
policy cohort to evaluate (along with general flexibility for
small/medium PHAs, rent reform, and landlord incentives). Do
you agree with this committee's recommendations?
A.12. I have not seen the committee's recommendations and so
cannot respond to them. I do not currently have a position on
expanding the MTW program but look forward to consulting with
interested Congressional offices, PIH staff, stakeholders, and
the Secretary.
Q.13. Despite years spent designing a study for work
requirements and enough PHAs applying to participate in the
study, in June 2021, HUD unilaterally decided to cancel this
study. HUD justified this cancellation by suggesting a need to
be ``responsive to the economic realities and current needs of
low-income families.'' \2\ PHAs have expressed disappointment
in HUD's decision to cancel this important research. HUD's
justification for cancelling this study does not make sense
given that any work or volunteer requirements studied by PHAs
participating in the study would be set years from now. Do you
agree with HUD's decision to cancel this study? Please explain
why you agree or disagree with this decision.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ HUD, ``Moving to Work (MTW) Expansion--Work Requirements
Cohort'' (Rescinded), https://www.hud.gov/program--offices/public--
indian--housing/programs/ph/mtw/expansion/cohort3 (last updated June
21, 2021).
A.13. Respectfully, I do not know enough about the committee's
recommendations or the decision to cancel the study. If
confirmed, I would learn more and meet with the Committee, HUD
staff, and PHA leaders to understand the future of the MTW,
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
including its recent expansion.
Q.14. Indian Housing--You have been nominated to lead HUD's
Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH). It appears you have
no experience related to Indian housing. Why should the public
have confidence that you will be able to effectively administer
PIH's role in Indian housing affairs?
A.14. If confirmed, I will have the opportunity to work with
the experienced leadership of the Office of Native American
Programs which is located in PIH. Success in Indian housing
requires respect for Tribal sovereignty and Nation-to-Nation
relationships that the President has called on the Federal
Government to strengthen across the board. If confirmed, I will
embody this commitment and exhibit the flexibility and range of
experience needed to address Tribal communities' housing and
community development needs. Recent best practice projects from
Tribal communities range from urban affordable housing in
Portland, Oregon, to new public housing on islands in the
Bering Straits. I have a range of experience from big cities to
small cities and towns. While Tribal communities are unique and
each one is different, I have the wide array of experience
required to consult with Tribes on a wide range of issues on
behalf of the Office of Public and Indian Housing.
Q.15. Public Housing--Public housing is costlier than other
forms of housing assistance. \3\ And public housing projects
have long been concentrated areas of poverty and crime. Do you
agree that public housing is a less effective form of housing
assistance than tenant-based vouchers that provides families
freedom to live elsewhere?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Gov't Accountability Office, GAO-02-76 ``Characteristics and
Costs of Federal Housing Programs'' (Jan. 31, 2002), available at
https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-02-76.pdf.
A.15. I believe in both vouchers and public housing. I believe
in both because I have lived in public housing and seen that it
can be as good as private affordable housing when properly
managed and supported. Public housing developments represent
the cornerstone of the affordable housing system. While
vouchers provide a flexible form of housing assistance, there
will always be a need for affordable housing units in the
community. The transformation of affordable housing often seen
through Choice Neighborhoods and before that HOPE VI shows the
potential that public housing has as a platform for
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
revitalizing neighborhoods and entire communities.
Q.16. Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) are routinely found to
mismanage programs and are plagued by scandals. How will you
ensure PHAs remain responsible stewards of Federal taxpayer
dollars?
A.16. If confirmed, achieving the best outcomes for tenants and
voucher-holders will be at the center of my approach to working
with PHAs. I will consistently choose the most deliberate and
appropriate path to obtain improved conditions. I will make
sure PHAs remain responsible stewards through transparent
incentive systems for good performance, drawing on resources at
HUD headquarters and in the field. Where PHAs struggle, we will
use audits, engagement of PHA leadership, and, where necessary,
HUD receivership when PHAs are mismanaged.
Q.17. Detroit's History of Project Delays--Detroit has invested
heavily to revitalize blighted neighborhoods using substantial
Federal resources. However, one project in particular has
fallen well behind schedule and lost some of its Federal
funding. According to news reports, when you served as
Detroit's Chief of Services and Infrastructure, you reduced
Federal grants for this project because delays in the
revitalization of Detroit's Fitzgerald neighborhood raised
doubts that all the money would be spent in time. \4\ The city
also set overly ambitious completion timelines. \5\ According
to one news report, ``Those initial plans were developed
without any data--officials admitted in interviews with the
Free Press--to support the notion that so many blighted houses
could be rehabbed under the original 2-year timeframe.'' \6\
You admitted to the press: ``I wish we had been more
conservative about the timelines.'' \7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Joe Guillen, ``Detroit's Showcase Neighborhood Project Falls a
Year Behind Schedule'', Detroit Free Press (July 6, 2018), available at
https://www.freep.com/story/news/2018/07/06/detroits-fitzgerald-
neighborhood-remake-full-year-behind-plan/745950002/.
\5\ Joe Guillen, ``Detroit Neighborhood Redevelopment Project To
Take 3 Times Longer Than Promised'', Detroit Free Press (Feb. 21,
2020), available at https://www.freep.com/story/news/investigations/
2020/02/21/detroit-fitzgerald-neighborhood-rehab/4646941002/.
\6\ Id.
\7\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why did Detroit set overly ambitious project completion
timelines?
A.17. Fitzgerald was one of approximately 35 housing and
commercial developments in which I was involved during my time
in Detroit. Detroit does not have the benefit of a strong
market and the approach to work there is very different than my
experience in strong markets of Washington, DC, and the City of
Boston.
The Fitzgerald project called for public sector agencies to
conduct the demolition of approximately 25 vacant houses,
construction of a new park, the construction of a Greenway and
significant improvements in alley and roadway systems. The
project also called for a market-led, phased rehabilitation of
vacant single-family houses over 5-year period with some City
funding support.
The scope controlled by public sector entities took place
on time. The rehabilitation of the houses which required
layered financing and market demand moved more slowly.
Unfortunately, there was not recent market experience for
the kind of project proposed here, especially relative to
market demand in a single neighborhood. We had to rely on the
projections of the developer who won the RFP process. When I
left the City in January 2021, the project's last phase is
scheduled for completion by City affiliates in the 2022
construction season with the final set of home rehabilitations
to be completed and another set of houses to be sold to a
neighborhood group in that same period.
Q.18. Why did Detroit set these timelines without any data to
support them?
A.18. We did use data to support our conclusions. There was not
very much applicable market data to draw from, however. The
City was bankrupt just 3 years earlier. It had been a
generation since there was large scale subdivision development
in the city. As a result, there was little good indication on
how quickly houses would be absorbed by the market.
In approximately the same timeframe, the City of Detroit
and the Detroit Land Bank Authority launched programs which
have had significant success in rehabilitation of large numbers
of houses. Programs such as the City's 0 percent Home Repair
Loan Program, Bridging Neighborhoods program (BNP) and the
Detroit Land Bank Authority's (DLBA) Rehabbed & Ready program.
I was involved with conceiving 0 percent and BNP and
fundraising capital support for the Rehabbed & Ready program.
When I left the City in January 2021, these programs were
approaching completion of 600 0 percent home repairs, 50 BNP
home swaps and 90 Rehabbed & Ready sales, respectively.\8\ \9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ Shawn Lewis, ``Leaving Detroit's Delray: A Family Swaps Homes
for Better Life'', https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/
detroit-city/2019/01/27/delray-neighborhood-home-swap/2596281002/.
\9\ Andrew Ackerman, ``Biden's Neighborhood Revitalization Plan
Looks to Detroit for Inspiration'', https://www.wsj.com/articles/
bidens-neighborhood-revitalization-plan-looks-to-detroit-for-
inspiration-11621935002.
Q.19. Have you overseen other redevelopment projects whose
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
completion was similarly delayed?
A.19. Development in Detroit takes longer because it is not as
strong a market as others in which I have worked. Other large
and ambitious projects like the private redevelopment of the
former Herman Kiefer Hospital property also moved slowly.
While recovery in Detroit is underway, it is a process and
takes time. It took many years for the current market
conditions to develop; and it will take time for conditions to
go in a new direction. I believe we began moving it in the
right direction during my tenure.
Q.20. The PIH Assistant Secretary is delegated significant
authority to waive requirements meant to reduce the risk of
waste, fraud, and abuse in federally funded housing programs.
Will you commit to not waiving such requirements even if faced
with pressure to meet unrealistic spending goals?
A.20. I have certainly learned a lot from my 25 years of
experience in development. I have not waived Federal
requirements to meet goals before. If confirmed, I would use my
judgment and avoid waiving requirements to meet spending goals.
There is evidence of my approach to this kind of challenge.
When I arrived in Detroit in 2014, the City had never spent its
funds on a timely basis according to the timeliness test, which
put the City at risk of fund recapture. Under the leadership of
Hunter Kurtz and I, from 2016 to 2020 when the test was
suspended due to COVID-19, we spent our funds on a timely
basis.
Q.21. HUD has already waived requirements for documenting
lawful immigration status before awarding housing vouchers made
available through the American Rescue Plan Act. Are you
considering additional waivers of such safeguards?
A.21. If confirmed, I will always consult with the Office of
General Counsel to make sure actions are within the laws and
regulations that guides our work.
Q.22. Targeting Low- to Moderate-Income Areas--Detroit funded a
program to provide financial and technical assistance to
potential and existing small businesses through a Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG) award. According to news
reports, however, HUD requested Detroit suspend CDBG spending
until the city better targeted low- to moderate-income areas.
\10\ At the time of HUD's request, you stated that you were
``confident we're going to satisfy HUD's request.'' \11\
However, earlier this year, [The City of] Detroit's Office of
Inspector General found that the program had an array of other
deficiencies, including ``excessive spending, a lack of
oversight, weak controls for issuing payments and ultimately
nearly 77 percent of the businesses the program assisted
failed.'' \12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ Candice Williams, ``Feds Review Motor City Match Over
Documentation, Low-Income Assistance'', Detroit News (June 19, 2019),
available at https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/
2019/06/19/feds-probe-whether-detroits-motor-city-match-program-
misused-funds/1482635001/.
\11\ Id.
\12\ Christine Ferretti, ``Duggan's Motor City Match Program Had
Excessive Spending, Lack of Oversight: Report'', Detroit News (Jan. 4,
2021), available at https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/
detroit-city/2021/01/04/detroit-motor-city-match-program-had-excessive-
spending-report/3776502002/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do you think HUD's programs should target low- to moderate-
income areas and families?
A.22. Yes.
Q.23. Under what specific circumstances do you think money made
available through HUD should not target low- to moderate-income
areas or families?
A.23. None. The rules governing the targeting of PIH resources
are different and if confirmed would adhere closely to them
with the guidance of OGC.
Q.24. Why were you confident HUD's requests would be satisfied?
A.24. I had seen the information and changes to billing
approach that the HUD Field Office was requesting, and I
believed that the data existed to meet their requirements.
Q.25. Given that this Detroit program had an array of
deficiencies, including excessive spending, a lack of
oversight, and weak controls for issuing payments, why should
Federal taxpayers have confidence that you will be a good
steward of their tax dollars at HUD?
A.25. HRD leadership did not run this program; rather, we were
called in to help correct the identified problems. This was a
program run by a subrecipient contractor of the city, the
Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC/EDC).
When HUD monitoring identified a problem with way that the
DEGC/EDC was maintaining its Books and Records, the City of
Detroit Office of Chief Financial Officer and HRD team leader
who reported to me performed a forensic audit to identify the
problems, cited contract violations of the DEGC/EDC, and worked
with the DEGC/EDC made the Books and Records better conform
with the requests of the HUD Detroit Field Office staff.
Due to the work of the City OCFO and HRD staff to resolve
questions, HUD reinstated the City's ability to contract CDBG
with DEGC/EDC for the Motor City Match program in May 2020.
Q.26. To what do you attribute the program's high failure rate,
as 77 percent by businesses receiving assistance through the
program failed?
A.26. Please see answer above.
Q.27. How will you implement any lessons learned from this
program to ensure success for families assisted through PIH?
A.27. Some troubled PHAs will require strong intervention from
HUD PIH and if confirmed, I will use the same approach of
forensic auditing and if necessary, installing HUD supervision
to make sure taxpayer dollars are protected.
Q.28. Will you ensure that any provisions in law, regulation,
or other subregulatory guidance requiring targeting of
assistance remain in place for families served by PIH programs?
A.28. Yes, I will comply with all statutory and regulatory
authorities when it comes to such guidance.
Q.29. Answering Questions for the Record--Please describe with
particularity the process by which you answered these questions
for the record, including identifying who assisted you in
answering these questions along with a brief description of
their assistance.
A.29. I prepared all answers personally. I worked with relevant
staff to complete them in a manner consistent with HUD and the
position's responsibilities.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR REED
FROM JAMES ARTHUR JEMISON II
Q.1. The Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program is an important
employment and savings incentive initiative that I have worked
over the years to strengthen and expand.
If confirmed, do you commit to prioritizing FSS as a key
tool to giving those in public housing the incentives and tools
to meet their financial goals?
A.1. FSS is a key tool in helping public housing residents,
voucher holders, and NAHASDA-assisted households achieve their
financial goals. If confirmed, I will emphasize asset building
efforts like FSS to support residents.
Q.2. What strategies and ideas do you have for further
improving access to the FSS program and provide the support
needed for more public housing agencies to implement it?
A.2. FSS requires local PHA staff leadership to achieve success
for tenants. Making sure that housing authorities have the
administrative staff and technical assistance required to work
with residents will be the key to broader acceptance of the
program as a part of PHA core programming.
Q.3. Research has shown that the threat to affordable housing
from flooding and other effects driven by climate change will
likely triple in the next 30 years, which is why I recently
introduced legislation (the Green Retrofits Act, S.2361), to
bolster public-private partnerships to make green upgrades to
HUD-assisted multifamily homes and create a new program to
distribute energy efficiency grants and loans. If confirmed,
how will you work to make public housing stock more resilient
in the face of climate change? How do we protect our most
vulnerable populations from future hurricanes, heat waves, and
cold snaps?
A.3. Public housing authorities receive annual capital
allocations to address emergency capital needs and otherwise
maintain their properties. In addition, the Choice
Neighborhoods program provides significant new capital for
particularly distressed properties. If confirmed, I will work
with PHAs to prioritize resilient rehabilitation as part of
their capital programs. If significant new funds come from
Congress for capital improvements in public housing, we will
have an even greater opportunity to make sure rehabilitation
and new development are resilient to disasters and other
impacts of climate change.
Q.4. If you are confirmed, can you commit to prioritizing HUD-
VASH and working to ensure that no servicemember is discharged
into homelessness? What ideas and strategies do you have for
improving the HUD-VASH program?
A.4. Yes. No veteran who has raised their hand and committed to
serve the United States should experience homelessness. If
confirmed, I will prioritize VASH, including Tribal VASH, in my
work to make sure we improve utilization of VASH through, among
other methods, more focused engagement between PHAs, Continuums
of Care, and Tribes, and continuing engagement with the VA and
DOD.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR SINEMA
FROM JAMES ARTHUR JEMISON II
Q.1. In 2017, HUD reported finding much higher rates of
building deficiencies and overcrowding in housing in tribal
areas than in other U.S. housing. Arizona is home to 22 Native
American tribes and 20 reservations. These issues continue to
affect Arizonans who belong to these tribes and live on these
reservations. If confirmed, how will you ensure that housing
development projects on tribal land in Arizona are safe and
affordable? How will you work with tribal leadership and the
State of Arizona to ensure the efficacy of these projects?
A.1. If confirmed, I will work to make sure that housing
development projects on tribal land are safe and will work to
reduce overcrowding. We will do this in coordination with
Tribes, engaging in meaningful and robust consultation. Tribes'
needs may vary greatly, but they all want to be able to provide
housing and other community resources for families. Where
Tribes request best practices and support in working with
property owners on safety and overcrowding, our office will
provide that support.
If confirmed, I will also focus on helping Tribes meet
these needs and fully leverage resources available from the
American Rescue Plan enacted earlier in 2021.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR SHELBY
FROM JAMES ARTHUR JEMISON II
Q.1. During your time in a senior housing position for the City
of Detroit, efforts to redevelop certain neighborhoods
experienced significant delays. According to press reports, on
one particular project, timelines that you set up were
``developed without any data'' and were missed. \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Joe Guillen, ``Detroit Neighborhood Redevelopment Project To
Take 3 Times Longer Than Promised'', Detroit Free Press (Feb. 21,
2020), available at https://www.freep.com/story/news/investigations/
2020/02/21/detroit-fitzgerald-neighborhood-rehab/4646941002/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
What was your justification for developing timelines
without any data to support them?
A.1. We did use data to support our conclusions. There was not
very much applicable data to draw from, however. The article
this question cites to refers to the Fitzgerald project. The
Fitzgerald project was one of approximately 35 housing and
commercial developments in which I was involved during my time
in Detroit.
The Fitzgerald project called for public sector agencies to
conduct the demolition of approximately 25 vacant houses, the
construction of a new park, the construction of a greenway and
significant improvements in alley and roadway systems. The
project also called for a market-led, phased rehabilitation of
vacant single-family houses over a 5-year period with some City
funding support.
The scope of work controlled by public sector entities took
place on time. The rehabilitation of the houses, which required
layered financing and market demand, moved more slowly.
When I arrived in Detroit from Massachusetts in 2014, the
City's bankruptcy was being resolved and I was part of a team
of people whose job it was to help the city recover. This
required trying new approaches. In a city recovering from
bankruptcy, there was no data or comparable recent programs in
which a private, single-family rehabber had delivered
significant numbers of single-family home rehabilitations
successfully. As a result, there was no data or benchmark from
which to measure the proposed pace of rehabilitation. The
selected developer cited their track record of rehabilitations
in other city neighborhoods.
In approximately the same timeframe, the City of Detroit
and the Detroit Land Bank Authority launched programs which
have had significant success in rehabilitation of large numbers
of houses. Programs such as the City's 0 percent Home Repair
Loan Program, Bridging Neighborhoods program (BNP) and the
Detroit Land Bank Authority's (DLBA) Rehabbed & Ready program.
I was involved with conceiving 0 percent and BNP; and was part
of fundraising capital support for the Rehabbed and Ready
program. When I left the City in January 2021, these programs
were approaching completion of nearly 600 0-percent home
repairs, nearly 50 BNP home swaps and close to 90 Rehabbed and
Ready sales, respectively. Articles about both these programs
are referenced below as footnotes.\2\ \3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Shawn Lewis, ``Leaving Detroit's Delray: A Family Swaps Homes
for Better Life'', https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/
detroit-city/2019/01/27/delray-neighborhood-home-swap/2596281002/.
\3\ Andrew Ackerman, ``Biden's Neighborhood Revitalization Plan
Looks to Detroit for Inspiration'', https://www.wsj.com/articles/
bidens-neighborhood-revitalization-plan-looks-to-detroit-for-
inspiration-11621935002.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over the last 25 years I've been directly involved in the
preservation of over 4,000 and development of over 3,500 market
and affordable units and hundreds of public housing units. I
have been involved in the permitting and development of over $2
billion in economic development projects and been part of the
recovery of two public housing authorities: in Boston under the
leadership of Sandi Henriquez former Assistant Secretary for
Public and Indian Housing (PIH); and the Detroit Housing
Commission with my former Deputy Director in Detroit, Hunter
Kurtz. Hunter went on to become the Assistant Secretary for
Public and Indian Housing in the prior Administration.
I have done my work in recovering cities, working to hasten
positive change. I hope to bring my energy and reform
experience, if confirmed, to the Office of Public and Indian
Housing.
Q.2. If confirmed, what factors will you consider in order to
ensure taxpayer funds are allocated efficiently at HUD?
A.2. If confirmed, the factors to consider include making sure
the programs are simple to implement so the full range of local
approaches can be used. We should also consider the use of
known programmatic and regulatory channels, such as basing new
programs on regulatory frameworks like CDBG, for example. This
process allows efficient deployment of the funds.
My experience as a practitioner will inform the way in
which we ensure the efficient deployment of taxpayer funds I
have already spent 10 months at HUD leading the Office of
Community Planning and Development. Just since January 2021,
CPD has issued implementing notices for over $5 billion in
funds through the HOME-ARP program.
If confirmed I would bring my field experience to bear in
headquarters. My experience with the field will also ensure
that taxpayer funds are allocated efficiently. When I arrived
in Detroit in 2014, the City had never spent its funds on a
timely basis according to the CDBG Timeliness Test, putting
those funds at risk of recapture. From 2016 to 2020, we spent
our funds on a timely basis. The test was suspended in 2020 due
to the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We made these marked improvements to timely expenditures of
funds by supporting staff focus and close working relationships
with the field office and technical assistance providers. If
confirmed, I will bring my extensive reform experience in the
field and my recent experience at HUD headquarters to bear in
this new position.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR ROUNDS
FROM JAMES ARTHUR JEMISON II
Q.1. Mr. Jemison II, could you explain to me how you plan to
succeed in this position when you have very little direct
public housing experience and, from what I can tell, no Indian
housing experience?
A.1. I have extensive experience working with Public Housing
Authorities to rehabilitate and develop public housing and use
voucher resources to create more affordable housing. I worked
at the Boston Housing Authority for Sandi Henriquez who went on
to become the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian
Housing. I also worked with the Detroit Housing Commission
which was in receivership when I arrived in 2014. In 2015, HUD
ended receivership based on our work and the Commission was put
under the control of a locally appointed board. We performed
that work when Hunter Kurtz the outgoing Assistant Secretary
and I worked together as the leaders of the Housing &
Revitalization Department in Detroit.
Indian housing requires a professional with the flexibility
and experience to work through Tribal consultation process to
help Tribes address their housing and community development
goals. Because Tribes are each unique, they may need the kind
of housing for urban housing needs that has been developed in
Portland; or they may need the kind of housing developed in the
Bering Straits for the Tribes of that region. I have experience
working in a wide range of environments from big cities to
small towns and I have shown the flexibility to create success
working with a wide range of different kinds of people. I'm
confident I have the range of experience to successfully work
with Tribes in your State and others.
Q.2. Mr. Jemison, if you are confirmed to this position, the
Office of Native American Programs (ONAP) will fall under your
purview. For years ONAP has been a mismanaged, nightmare to
work with. Can I get your commitment today to work on fixing
ONAP and making it an effective office for tribes, and entities
that serve tribes, to work with?
A.2. If confirmed, I would be happy to understand your concerns
further and would strive to improve the performance of ONAP to
best serve Tribal Communities.
Q.3. Mr. Jemison, one program that falls under ONAP is the
Section 184 lending program, of which I'm sure you are
familiar. There are significant issues with this program
including:
Large numbers of loan guarantee endorsements that are
overdue, sometimes by more than 1 year. For reference, ONAP's
guidelines require issuance of the Loan Guarantee Certificate
within 60 days of receipt of the endorsement file.
There is a huge backlog of unpaid claims, which is reported
to exceed 250 loans.
Outdated loan underwriting guidelines that have fallen far
behind other Federal programs and are causing much higher
qualification hurdles for Native American borrowers.
A lack of updating technology to match that of other HUD
programs, such as FHA.
Can I get your assurances that if you are confirmed you
will work to fix all of the aforementioned inadequacies in the
Section 184 lending program? Specifically, can I get your
commitment to examine the underwriting process ONAP uses for
its Section 184 program and look for ways it can be improved to
match that of other HUD lending programs?
A.3. You have my commitment to work with your office and Tribes
in your State to improve the performance of the Section 184
program so that it is a closer match to other HUD lending
programs.
Q.4. Mr. Jemison, in my State of South Dakota, approximately 9
percent of our citizens are Native American. My staff and I
have been working closely with the SD Native Homeownership
Coalition to improve home ownership opportunities for Native
people, especially Native American veterans. As I understand
it, the HUD Section 184 home loan guaranty program is a pretty
powerful loan program, but it has not lived up to its potential
over the past decade. In fact, only about 10 percent of Section
184 loans have gone to borrowers living on Indian reservations,
where the program is needed most.
A.4. The issues affecting the Section 184 program are primarily
related to resolution of title issues which rest with both the
Department of Interior and HUD. If confirmed, I would work to
resolve the known cases while also creating an improved title
process. I have some experience with this kind of challenge: in
2014, the City of Detroit empowered its Land Bank to handle
complicated title issues en masse to support a stronger home
ownership market. This was one of the factors that allowed the
Detroit Land Bank to sell and enable private rehabilitation of
over 8,000 single family rehabilitations over the last 7 years.
Each tribe and its title issues will be different but with
other experience to bring to bear, we can use the Nation-to-
Nation relationship to speed progress.
Q.5. Since this program will be under your jurisdiction, what
can you do to make certain the Section 184 loan program
receives the attention it needs to help bring more home
ownership opportunities to Native people in South Dakota?
A.5. The issues affecting the Section 184 program are primarily
related to resolution of title issues which rest with both the
Department of Interior and HUD. If confirmed, I would convene
the offices across the Departments to resolve the known cases
while also creating an improved title process. I have some
experience with this kind of challenge: in 2014, the City of
Detroit empowered its Land Bank to handle complicated title
issues en masse to support a stronger home ownership market.
This was one of the factors that allowed the Detroit Land Bank
to sell and enable private rehabilitation of over 8,000 single
family rehabilitations over the last 7 years. Each Tribe and
its title issues will be different but with other experience to
bring to bear, we can use the Nation-to-Nation relationship to
speed progress.
Q.6. Mr. Jemison, it's come to my attention that the current
relationship and communication, or lack thereof, between ONAP
leadership and the Native lending community is extremely
severed. Without the participating lending community, the
Section 184 program would not exist and therefore the staff
would not need to exist. I have heard from lenders in my State
that this is the worst relationship between ONAP and 184
lenders in 20 years. Can I get a commitment from you to make
certain that this relationship is mended so the Section 184
lending program can continue to grow and flourish?
A.6. If confirmed, I will look into these concerns and would
strive to strengthen ONAP to best serve Tribal Communities.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR TILLIS
FROM JAMES ARTHUR JEMISON II
Q.1. A [City of Detroit] Detroit Office of Inspect General
(OIG) report from January 4, 2021, found that a Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG) program developed by Detroit
while you were a senior city official awarded grants to
businesses in the metro-Detroit suburbs and not inside the City
of Detroit. In addition, Detroit awarded CDBG funds to
businesses in States as far away as Georgia and California and
to businesses in foreign countries, like Canada and France. \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ City of Detroit OIG, 2019-0018-INV Motor City Match & Motor
City Re-Store Programs 29 (Jan. 4, 2021), https://detroitmi.gov/sites/
detroitmi.localhost/files/2021-01/OIG%20Case%20No.%202019-0018-
INV%20Motor%20City%20Match.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why was it in Detroit's interest to award CDBG funds to
entities so far removed from the City of Detroit?
A.1. In 2014, the Administration believed that the city needed
an entrepreneurship program. The field office of HUD in Detroit
worked closely with the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation
(DEGC) to design the ``Motor City Match'' program, which is
partially funded with CDBG dollars. DEGC/EDC operated the Motor
City Match Program and was responsible for its oversight.
The program's purpose was to open businesses in Detroit
neighborhoods and employ Detroit residents. This included
companies with founders from outside City boundaries if they
committed to creating jobs for low-income Detroit residents. As
of January 2021, 64 percent of the new Motor City Match
businesses had Detroit-based owners, 81 percent were minority-
owned, and 71 percent were women-owned.
The program was designed to have CDBG funds allocated to
give entrepreneurs business planning and design advice and
allow philanthropic funders to support the capital expenses of
new businesses.
The City of Detroit Housing & Revitalization Department,
entered into a subrecipient contract with the DEGC/EDC for
Economic Development programs in 2015. HRD did not operate
Motor City Match. That was the responsibility of DEGC/EDC,
which is separate from the department I led.
Q.2. Did the City of Detroit have sufficient controls to ensure
that CDBG funds would be appropriately targeted to benefit
Detroit?
A.2. The City had controls in place for all payments and also
an office for focus on consistency with grants through an
Office of Grants Management within the Office of the Chief
Financial Officer. By the time I left in January 2021, the
program had had a significant positive impact in Detroit,
including the opening of over 111 new brick-and-mortar small
businesses and significant numbers of new pop-up and home-based
businesses.
When HUD monitoring identified a problem with way that the
DEGC/EDC was maintaining its Books and Records, the City of
Detroit Office of Chief Financial Officer and the HRD team
whose leader reported to me, performed a forensic audit to
identify the problems, cited contract violations of the DEGC/
EDC, and worked with the DEGC/EDC to make the Books and Records
better conform with the requests of the HUD Detroit Field
Office staff.
Because of the work of the City OCFO and HRD staff to
resolve questions from the agency, HUD reinstated the City's
ability to contract CDBG with DEGC/EDC for the Motor City Match
program in May 2020.
Q.3. This same [City of Detroit] OIG report uncovered multiple
problems with this Detroit CDBG program. These problems
included ``excessive spending, a lack of oversight, weak
controls for issuing payments and ultimately nearly 77 percent
of the businesses the program assisted failed.'' \2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Christine Ferretti, ``Duggan's Motor City Match Program Had
Excessive Spending, Lack of Oversight: Report'', Detroit News (Jan. 4,
2021), available at https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/
detroit-city/2021/01/04/detroit-motor-city-match-program-had-excessive-
spending-report/3776502002/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
How will you ensure that the programs you administer for
the HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) do not
experience similar problems?
A.3. HRD leadership did not run this program; rather, they were
called in to help correct the identified problems. This was a
program run by a subrecipient contractor of the City, the
Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC).
In my current position at HUD, I take seriously the
responsibility to ensure taxpayer dollars are protected. If
confirmed as Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing,
I will take appropriate action to conduct this oversight.
Q.4. How will you ensure that taxpayer funds administered by
PIH are not wasted as they were in Detroit?
A.4. If confirmed, I would diligently oversee PIH's annual
appropriations with the support of extensive expertise and
personnel dedicated to PHA oversight in the field. The vast
majority of PIH's funding goes directly to residents for rental
assistance and resources for capital needs and operations.
Proper oversight of this vital funding is critical to maximize
PHAs' ability to serve residents' needs.
Q.5. This same Detroit CDBG program was also the subject of a
review by HUD due to its poor targeting of low- to moderate-
income areas. In fact, HUD called on Detroit to cease this CDBG
spending until the city improved this targeting. \3\ At the
time of HUD's request, you stated that you were ``confident
we're going to satisfy HUD's request.'' \4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Candice Williams, ``Feds Review Motor City Match Over
Documentation, Low-Income Assistance'' Detroit News (June 19, 2019),
available at https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/
2019/06/19/feds-probe-whether-detroits-motor-city-match-program-
misused-funds/1482635001/.
\4\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Should CDBG dollars be targeted to serve low- to moderate-
income areas?
A.5. This targeting was improved and because of the work of the
City OCFO and HRD staff to resolve questions, HUD reinstated
the City's ability to contract CDBG with DEGC/EDC for the Motor
City Match program in May 2020.
While this question does not pertain to the scope of the
Office of Public and Indian Housing, I believe that grantees
should follow the law and regulation.
Q.6. Should other HUD programs--particularly those administered
by HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH)--also be
targeted to support low- to moderate-income families?
A.6. PIH programs are critical to low- to moderate-income
families, providing essential housing assistance. There are
strict income eligibility requirements for public housing to
which PHAs must adhere.
Q.7. Do you commit to not remove any oversight controls that
ensure PIH programs target low- to moderate-income families?
A.7. I do not intend to remove any oversight controls for
public housing to which PHAs must adhere.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR KENNEDY
FROM JAMES ARTHUR JEMISON II
Q.1. Risk Rating 2.0--Mr. Jemison, the National Flood Insurance
Program (NFIP) has undergone significant changes to its rate
setting methodology (Risk Rating 2.0) that may cause
policyholders to pay more in monthly premiums, impact housing
affordability, and, in some instances, constrain the supply of
housing.
What will you do to ensure that implementation of these
changes do not negatively impact the affordability and
availability of housing?
A.1. This is a question best posed to the Federal Housing
Administration leadership. It falls outside of both the Office
of Public and Indian Housing and the Office of Community
Planning and Development.
Q.2. Will you compel the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) to disclose this data for multifamily properties?
A.2. This is a question best posed to the Federal Housing
Administration leadership. It falls outside of both the Office
of Public and Indian Housing and the Office of Community
Planning and Development.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR MORAN
FROM JAMES ARTHUR JEMISON II
Q.1. A recent [City of] Detroit Office of Inspector General
(OIG) report published in January 2021 revealed that one of
Detroit's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) programs
used Federal funds to support many businesses that ultimately
failed. \1\ In fact, the OIG found that ``ultimately nearly 77
percent of the businesses the program assisted failed.'' \2\
You served as a senior city official in Detroit during the
period reviewed by the OIG. At HUD, you would administer the
Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH), which allocates
substantial amounts of taxpayer dollars.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Detroit OIG, 2019-0018-INV Motor City Match & Motor City Re-
Store Programs 29 (Jan. 4, 2021), https://detroitmi.gov/sites/
detroitmi.localhost/files/2021-01/OIG%20Case%20No.%202019-0018-
INV%20Motor%20City%20Match.pdf.
\2\ Christine Ferretti, ``Duggan's Motor City Match Program Had
Excessive Spending, Lack of Oversight: Report'', Detroit News (Jan. 4,
2021), available at https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/
detroit-city/2021/01/04/detroit-motor-city-match-program-had-excessive-
spending-report/3776502002/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Given your record of performance in Detroit, how can
Congress be sure that you will help families supported by HUD
reach self-sufficiency while protecting taxpayer dollars?
A.1. HRD leadership did not run this program. This was a
program run by a subrecipient contractor of the city, the
Detroit Economic Growth Corporation.
The contention of the City of Detroit OIG referenced above
is not accurate. Put simply, the failed business percentage
cited includes businesses that were still receiving technical
assistance but had yet to open. The eligibility criteria would
be met when businesses open and hire a low-income Detroiter.
Many of these businesses were en route to open but were slowed
by COVID-19.
When HUD monitoring identified a problem with way that the
DEGC/EDC was maintaining its Books and Records on the program,
the City of Detroit Office of Chief Financial Officer and HRD
team leader who reported to me performed a forensic audit to
identify the problems, cited subrecipient contract violations
of the DEGC/EDC , and working with the DEGC/EDC , made the
Books and Records better conform with the requests of the HUD
Detroit Field Office staff.
Because of the work of the City OCFO and HRD staff to
resolve questions, HUD reinstated the City's ability to
contract CDBG with DEGC/EDC for the Motor City Match program in
May 2020.
As far as my record is concerned, I stand by my record.
Over the last 25 years I've been directly involved in the
preservation of 4,000 and development of over 3,500 market and
affordable units and hundreds of public housing units. I have
been involved in the permitting and development of over $2B in
economic development projects and been part of the recovery of
two public housing authorities in Boston under the leadership
of Sandi Henriquez former Assistant Secretary for Public and
Indian Housing (PIH); and the Detroit Housing Commission with
my former Deputy Director in Detroit, Hunter Kurtz, who went on
to become the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing
in the prior Administration.
I have done my work in recovering cities, working to hasten
positive change. I hope to bring my energy and reform
experience, if confirmed to the Office of Public and Indian
Housing.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF CHAIRMAN BROWN
FROM MARK COLON
Q.1. Where have you excelled in past positions in attracting,
hiring, and promoting people of color in positions in your
organization? Where might there be room for improvement?
A.1. I am extremely proud of my record in attracting, hiring,
and promoting people of color in the State-wide offices that I
have led over the past 13 years.
For instance, it is my understanding that I have promoted
the most diverse class of supervisory personnel in agency
history, to oversee some of the largest housing programs in the
country. This includes BIPOC and/or female Directors and
Assistant Directors of (a) the Nation's third largest Section 8
Housing Choice Voucher program, (b) the 100,000+ unit Mitchell-
Lama (moderate income) housing portfolio, and (c) NY State's
Low Income Housing Tax Credit portfolio.
If confirmed, I am committed to continuing this record and
attracting, retaining, and promoting a work force at HUD CPD
that reflects the diversity of our Nation.
Q.2. What specific measures will you use to evaluate the
success of the Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) in understanding and addressing the needs of Black,
Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)? And, will you work
with the Secretary and senior officials to keep Congress
apprised, as appropriate, on the progress being made on these
measures?
A.2. I am aware of, and support, President Biden and Secretary
Fudge's strong commitment to understanding and addressing the
needs of BIPOC communities and to ensuring racial equity across
all Federal programs.
If confirmed, I would first want to understand the
Secretary's vision for evaluating success in this critical
area. I would also confer with my team, starting on Day One, in
order to (a) familiarize myself with those systems already in
place for evaluating equity, and (b) understand how we might
work with our partners and facilitate communications with BIPOC
communities to better identify the most pressing needs and
collaborate on the most effective remedies.
I recognize the critical role that Congress plays in
overseeing the Department's work and, if confirmed, I commit to
working with the Secretary and senior officials to keep the
Members apprised of our progress on these matters.
Q.3. What is your plan for creating an inclusive working
environment for employees within your office?
A.3. I have always believed that good workplace morale and an
inclusive work environment are critical to providing the best
possible Government services, as well as to administering the
most efficient, effective and equitable Government programs.
If confirmed, my first priority would be to understand
Secretary Fudge's vision and plan for ensuring an inclusive
working environment. I would also sit with CPD's Operations and
Human Resources staff to discuss and evaluate any existing
plans.
At its core, though, I have found that an inclusive working
environment begins with ensuring that all staff believes that
their efforts are adequately recognized and that their voices
are heard. I have always done my best to communicate this, as a
leader, both by my words and by my actions.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR TOOMEY
FROM MARK COLON
Q.1. Congressional Oversight--Please provide your philosophy on
how HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD)
will approach and respond to Congressional information requests
(both for documentary information and oral testimony), if you
are confirmed.
A.1. I recognize the critical role that Congress plays in
overseeing the Department's work. If confirmed, I would work to
ensure that CPD is responsive to Congressional information
requests, in as thorough and efficient manner as possible.
Q.2. If confirmed, do you intend to respond to information
requests differently depending on who is making the
Congressional information request (whether it's the chair of
the Congressional Committee, the Ranking Member, or another
member of Congress)? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If your
answer is ``yes,'' please explain.
A.2. No. If confirmed, I would ensure HUD responds to
Congressional requests for information, consistent with
applicable law and regulations.
Q.3. Will you commit that, if confirmed, you will timely
respond to and fully comply with all information requests from
me? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If your answer is ``no,''
please explain.
A.3. Yes, if confirmed, I would ensure HUD responds to
Congressional requests for information, consistent with
applicable law and regulations.
Q.4. Will you commit that, if confirmed, you will make yourself
and any other CPD employee expeditiously available to provide
oral testimony (including but not limited to briefings,
hearings, and transcribed interviews) to the Committee on any
matter within its jurisdiction, upon the request of either the
Chairman or Ranking Member? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If
your answer is ``no,'' please explain why.
A.4. Yes, if confirmed, I would ensure HUD responds to
Congressional requests for information, consistent with
appropriate law and regulations.
Q.5. Do you believe that CPD may assert any privileges or other
legal justifications to withhold information (whether records
or oral testimony) from Congress? Please answer ``yes'' or
``no.''
A.5. If confirmed, I would confer with HUD's Office of General
Counsel regarding all matters involving claims of privilege or
other legal justification.
Q.6. If you answered ``yes'' to the preceding question, please
list every such privilege or other legal justification and
provide the legal basis for why you believe CPD may use such
privilege or legal justification to withhold information from
Congress.
A.6. N/A.
Q.7. In an effort to be open and transparent with Congress and
the public, will you commit not to assert any such privilege or
legal justification against Congress that you listed above? If
not, why not? If so, please identify all such privileges or
legal justifications that you will commit to not assert against
Congress.
A.7. If confirmed, I would confer with HUD's Office of General
Counsel regarding all matters involving claims of privilege or
other legal justification.
Q.8. Barriers to Affordable Housing--In January 2021, HUD
released a report entitled ``Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to
Affordable Housing: Federal, State, Local, and Tribal
Opportunities'', which ``identifies many Federal regulations
and practices that could be revised to eliminate unnecessary
burdens to providing Americans with affordable, safe, quality
places to live, including opportunities to make sustainable
home ownership more achievable.'' \1\ Which of the report's
recommendations do you agree with?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ HUD, ``Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing:
Federal, State, Local, and Tribal Opportunities'', (Jan. 19, 2021),
available at https://www.huduser.gov/portal//portal/sites/default/
files/pdf/eliminating-regulatory-barriers-to-affordable-housing.pdf.
A.8. I am encouraged by President Biden and Secretary Fudge's
commitment to increasing the supply of safe, decent, and
affordable housing, including both privately owned and rental
housing. If confirmed, I would want to understand Secretary
Fudge's vision for the role that HUD and CPD can play in
encouraging greater production and removing barriers to the
development of affordable housing. I would also commit to
familiarizing myself with all the current sources of guidance
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
on this topic, including the report cited here.
Q.9. Ensuring That HUD Assistance Is Not for a ``Lifetime''--In
December 2020, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge said that ``public
housing or low income housing should not be a lifetime, it
should be just a stopping point.'' \2\ What do you intend to do
during your time as the Assistant Secretary for Community
Planning and Development to advance that goal?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Errin Haines, `` `I Want To Be Part of Making This Work:'
Marcia Fudge Talks About How She Plans To Lead HUD'', The 19th (Dec.
10, 2020), available at https://19thnews.org/2020/12/marcia-fudge-
interview-nomination-department-of-housing-and-urban-development/.
A.9. I am unaware of the context in which Secretary Fudge may
have made that remark. If confirmed, I would be reticent to
forecast any policy initiatives for CPD based on such a brief
remark, without first fully understanding the Secretary's
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
intent, as well as the context.
Q.10. Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program--Will
you commit to evaluating whether the CDBG program formula
allocates too much money to wealthier areas, at the expense of
funding poorer and more rural areas? If so, will you consider
implementing CDBG reforms that could address this issue?
A.10. If confirmed, I would first want to understand any
recently concluded or ongoing studies in this area, as well as
any empirical findings and the Secretary's thoughts.
Q.11. Will you commit to evaluating whether the CDBG program
insufficiently prioritizes the building of affordable housing
because of other allowable uses for CDBG dollars? If so, will
you consider implementing CDBG reforms that could address this
issue?
A.11. I would want to defer to the Secretary regarding this
issue, and, if confirmed, I look forward to discussing this
further with her.
Q.12. What are appropriate guardrails to enact in HUD's CDBG
Disaster Recovery program to ensure that disaster relief
reaches a community swiftly but in a manner that minimizes
fraud?
A.12. As a former grantee of CDBG Disaster Recovery funding, I
understand well the risks that come with disaster recovery
grants--communities must create and administer programs, and
award funding, all while dealing with the after-effects of a
major disaster.
If confirmed, I commit to working with my team, the Office
of the Inspector General, and the Government Accountability
Office to protect against waste, fraud, and abuse, while also
ensuring that all grantees are treated equally and fairly.
Q.13. On December 4, 2019, you tweeted about the response of
Republican members of Congress to the House impeachment
hearings against President Trump. You tweeted ``Yes,
#WellDoneTraitors.'' What did you mean when you wrote
``#WellDoneTraitors''? At the time did you believe
Congressional Republicans were traitors?
A.13. No, I did not.
I am deeply and genuinely sorry for my prior, personal
tweets. Posting those tweets was wrong and out of character
with my personal life and my entire professional career. That
is why I stopped posting, and began to delete, those tweets
prior to the 2020 election and long before my nomination.
That is also why I have apologized publicly, on the record,
and in every meeting that I have had with any Committee Member
or staff person.
While I sincerely regret engaging in that type of activity,
I am also immensely proud of the substantive, bipartisan means
in which I have addressed housing and economic issues in every
region of New York State (and beyond) for nearly 20 years. I am
also immensely proud of my office's record in preserving
housing affordability for tens of thousands of New Yorkers, in
every region, regardless of party affiliation and, to my
knowledge, without a single claim of partisanship against me or
my office.
As such, if given the opportunity to serve, I am thoroughly
committed to working collaboratively and, as I have my entire
career, on a fully bipartisan basis, in order to address the
truly pressing issues facing our Nation.
Q.14. On October 16, 2019, another Twitter user tweeted ``I see
deplorables'' in reference to the 62 million Americans who
voted for President Trump in 2016. To which you responded,
``Same . . . ''. Do you view your fellow Americans who voted
for President Trump in 2016 as deplorables? If not, why did you
say that you did in the above tweet?
A.14. No, I do not.
I am deeply and genuinely sorry for my prior, personal
tweets. Posting those tweets was wrong and out of character
with my personal life and my entire professional career. That
is why I stopped posting, and began to delete, those tweets
prior to the 2020 election and long before my nomination.
That is also why I have apologized publicly, on the record,
and in every meeting that I have had with any Committee Member
or staff person.
While I sincerely regret engaging in that type of activity,
I am also immensely proud of the substantive, bipartisan means
in which I have addressed housing and economic issues in every
region of New York State (and beyond) for nearly 20 years. I am
also immensely proud of my office's record in preserving
housing affordability for tens of thousands of New Yorkers, in
every region, regardless of party affiliation and, to my
knowledge, without a single claim of partisanship against me or
my office.
As such, if given the opportunity to serve, I am thoroughly
committed to working collaboratively and, as I have my entire
career, on a fully bipartisan basis, in order to address the
truly pressing issues facing our Nation.
Q.15. On November 5, 2019, apparently at 4:00 a.m. on a
Tuesday, you tweeted: ``Hey, I can assure you that Rand Paul
has a spine,'' and then you wrote ``Its just too puny &
insignificant to support any sense of dignity.'' Do you think
Senator Paul lacks ``any sense of dignity?'' Why did you write
this about Senator Paul?
A.15. No, I do not.
I am deeply and genuinely sorry for my prior, personal
tweets. Posting those tweets was wrong and out of character
with my personal life and my entire professional career. That
is why I stopped posting, and began to delete, those tweets
prior to the 2020 election and long before my nomination.
That is also why I have apologized publicly, on the record,
and in every meeting that I have had with any Committee Member
or staff person.
While I sincerely regret engaging in that type of activity,
I am also immensely proud of the substantive, bipartisan means
in which I have addressed housing and economic issues in every
region of New York State (and beyond) for nearly 20 years. I am
also immensely proud of my office's record in preserving
housing affordability for tens of thousands of New Yorkers, in
every region, regardless of party affiliation and, to my
knowledge, without a single claim of partisanship against me or
my office.
As such, if given the opportunity to serve, I am thoroughly
committed to working collaboratively and, as I have my entire
career, on a fully bipartisan basis, in order to address the
truly pressing issues facing our Nation.
Q.16. On Friday October 4, 2019, at 9:15 a.m.--working hours
for most Government workers like yourself--a tweet with a
picture of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Attorney General
Barr, Vice President Pence, and President Trump asked fellow
Twitter users ``name this band.'' You responded with ``The Wu
Tang (Ku Klux) Klan.'' Do you think Secretary of State Pompeo,
Attorney General Barr, Vice President Pence, and President
Trump are members of the Ku Klux Klan?
A.16. No.
I am deeply and genuinely sorry for my prior, personal
tweets. Posting those tweets was wrong and out of character
with my personal life and my entire professional career. That
is why I stopped posting, and began to delete, those tweets
prior to the 2020 election and long before my nomination.
That is also why I have apologized publicly, on the record,
and in every meeting that I have had with any Committee Member
or staff person.
While I sincerely regret engaging in that type of activity,
I am also immensely proud of the substantive, bipartisan means
in which I have addressed housing and economic issues in every
region of New York State (and beyond) for nearly 20 years. I am
also immensely proud of my office's record in preserving
housing affordability for tens of thousands of New Yorkers, in
every region, regardless of party affiliation and, to my
knowledge, without a single claim of partisanship against me or
my office.
As such, if given the opportunity to serve, I am thoroughly
committed to working collaboratively and, as I have my entire
career, on a fully bipartisan basis, in order to address the
truly pressing issues facing our Nation.
Q.17. On September 4, 2019, you Tweeted ``Stop trying to scare
the stupid people, #MoscowMitch. It's not cool.'' Did you think
Senator McConnell was working with Russia to the detriment of
the United States? If you did not believe Senator McConnell was
working with Russia to the detriment of the United States, why
would you tweet ``#Moscow Mitch''? At any later point, did you
Tweet did you tweet that you did not actually believe Senator
McConnell was working for Russia?
A.17. No, I did not.
I am deeply and genuinely sorry for my prior, personal
tweets. Posting those tweets was wrong and out of character
with my personal life and my entire professional career. That
is why I stopped posting, and began to delete, those tweets
prior to the 2020 election and long before my nomination.
That is also why I have apologized publicly, on the record,
and in every meeting that I have had with any Committee Member
or staff person.
While I sincerely regret engaging in that type of activity,
I am also immensely proud of the substantive, bipartisan means
in which I have addressed housing and economic issues in every
region of New York State (and beyond) for nearly 20 years. I am
also immensely proud of my office's record in preserving
housing affordability for tens of thousands of New Yorkers, in
every region, regardless of party affiliation and, to my
knowledge, without a single claim of partisanship against me or
my office.
As such, if given the opportunity to serve, I am thoroughly
committed to working collaboratively and, as I have my entire
career, on a fully bipartisan basis, in order to address the
truly pressing issues facing our Nation.
Q.18. You had the above Twitter exchange with user
@CrankyBelle. Do you know who the person or entity is behind
``@CrankyBelle''? Is it an adult? Is it a United States based
user? Did you receive anything from @CrankyBelle? Do you think
you exercised good judgment in having this exchange?
A.18. My engagement with Twitter was strictly personal and
strictly related to tweeting and/or responding to tweets. I
have never met, nor spoken with, anyone through my Twitter
account whom I did not already know personally or
professionally in real life.
Q.19. Based on a review of your Twitter account, including your
deleted tweets that have been archived by the Wayback Machine,
it appears that you posted more than a thousand tweets about
Donald Trump or his family, at seemingly all hours of the day
and night between March 2019 and January 2021. Many of these
recent public statements were highly derogatory and
inflammatory. You also posted dozens of offensive statements
about members of Congress, particularly those affiliated with
the Republican Party. All of these tweets were posted while you
were serving in your current position as President of the
Office of Housing Preservation at the New York State Homes and
Community Renewal (HCR). Why did you choose to behave this way,
in a manner that is highly partisan and derogatory toward these
Republican officials and their family members, while serving as
a senior State Government official?
A.19. As noted above, I am deeply and genuinely sorry for my
prior, personal tweets.
Posting those tweets was wrong and out of character with my
personal life and my entire professional career. I have
apologized publicly, on the record, and in every meeting that I
have had with any Committee Member or staff person.
Regretfully, I let myself get caught up in the heat of a
political back-and-forth, for the first, and only time in my
life. I have never campaigned for, nor held, any political
office. Rather, I am a practitioner and a problem-solver.
That's why I stopped posting, and began to delete, those tweets
prior to the election and long before my nomination.
While I sincerely regret engaging in that type of activity,
I am also immensely proud of the substantive, bipartisan means
in which I have addressed housing and economic opportunity for
every New Yorker (and others) for nearly 20 years. I am also
immensely proud of my office's record in preserving housing
affordability for tens of thousands of New Yorkers, in every
region, regardless of party affiliation and, to my knowledge,
without a single claim of partisanship against me or my office.
As such, if given the opportunity to serve, I am thoroughly
committed to working collaboratively and, as I have my entire
career, on a fully bipartisan basis, in order to address the
truly pressing issues facing our Nation.
Q.20. On October 14, 2019, in response to a tweet from then-
Presidential candidate Joe Biden, you wrote: ``Fixed it for
you: Donald Trump is the Devil, only stupider and in human
form.'' Why did you find it necessary to ``fix'' Joe Biden's
tweet in this way?
A.20. I am deeply and genuinely sorry for my prior, personal
tweets. Posting those tweets was wrong and out of character
with my personal life and my entire professional career. That
is why I stopped posting, and began to delete, those tweets
prior to the 2020 election and long before my nomination.
That is also why I have apologized publicly, on the record,
and in every meeting that I have had with any Committee Member
or staff person.
While I sincerely regret engaging in that type of activity,
I am also immensely proud of the substantive, bipartisan means
in which I have addressed housing and economic issues in every
region of New York State (and beyond) for nearly 20 years. I am
also immensely proud of my office's record in preserving
housing affordability for tens of thousands of New Yorkers, in
every region, regardless of party affiliation and, to my
knowledge, without a single claim of partisanship against me or
my office.
As such, if given the opportunity to serve, I am thoroughly
committed to working collaboratively and, as I have my entire
career, on a fully bipartisan basis, in order to address the
truly pressing issues facing our Nation.
Q.21. Answering Questions for the Record--Please describe with
particularity the process by which you answered these questions
for the record, including identifying who assisted you in
answering these questions along with a brief description of his
or her assistance.
A.21. I responded to each question myself and then worked with
counsel and through an interagency process. These answers are
my own.
------
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF
SENATOR MENENDEZ FROM MARK COLON
Q.1. It has been 4 years since Puerto Rico was hit by an
unprecedented natural tragedy, Hurricane Maria. The damage was
exacerbated by the human-made tragedy of the Trump's
administration's cruel response.
According to a HUD Inspector General report, the Trump
administration successfully delayed and stonewalled Puerto
Rico's disaster funding by setting unprecedented procedural
hurdles. No future Administration should be allowed to so
cruelly and deliberately inflict harm on its citizens.
The HUD IG report focuses on the interactions between OMB
and HUD and how OMB imposed new burdensome requirements for
releasing disaster aid to Puerto Rico. As Assistant Secretary,
how would you work to standardize the process for releasing
funds, to ensure that a future Administration cannot
purposefully delay funds?
A.1. I am well aware of the additional requirements imposed on,
and delays involved with, Federal disaster recovery funding for
Puerto Rico, based, in part, on my personal involvement with
nonprofit Hurricane Maria relief efforts on the Island.
I am also encouraged that President Biden and Secretary
Fudge have acted quickly to release long-promised
reconstruction funding for Puerto Rico, as well as to rescind
certain additional reporting requirements not imposed on other
jurisdictions.
If confirmed, I am committed to ensuring that all disaster
recovery funds allocated by Congress are made available to all
communities as quickly, efficiently, and equitably as possible.
I am also in favor of permanent solutions to providing
timely disaster recovery assistance. Finally, I understand that
Congress recently appropriated $5B to HUD related to major
disasters in 2020 and 2021. This time period includes Puerto
Rico's most recent, Presidentially declared disaster. Knowing
this, I commit to making it one of my first priorities to get
the necessary guidance issued and those funds awarded to the
most impacted and distressed areas with unmet recovery needs.
Q.2. If confirmed, how will you ensure that Puerto Rican
citizens are provided the respect and consideration that HUD
and the U.S. Government should afford to every American
citizen, regardless of race, political affiliation, or
location?
A.2. Based on my first-hand observations, I believe that the
Federal response to Hurricane Maria was inadequate, slow, and
unacceptable. I believe that it is both a moral and a legal
imperative to treat all HUD grantees equally and fairly. Our
fellow citizens of Puerto Rico deserve nothing less.
Given the size and the scope of the recovery, resilience,
and mitigation efforts needed in Puerto Rico, if confirmed, I
commit to working closely and collaboratively with Puerto
Rico's leaders, civic organizations, and citizens, and to
having CPD provide clear guidance and adequate oversight and
technical assistance in order to rapidly and effectively
facilitate the best possible recovery for Puerto Rico.
Nine years later, HUD is attempting to clawback from New
Jerseyans the money they used to repair their homes and get
back on their feet. The clawbacks that some of my constituents
are facing is because CDBG GRANT money duplicated a benefit
with SBA LOAN money. We all know that a loan is very different
than a grant. I understand that this particular issue was fixed
for Harvey survivors and future storms, but Sandy survivors
still have this issue.
Q.3. Can you commit to working with my office to provide relief
for Sandy survivors so that New Jerseyans who tried to follow
the rules are not faced with unfair clawbacks?
A.3. I have always been open to legitimate solutions that help
families to better recover for natural disasters. If confirmed,
I commit to further discussing this issue with your office, to
determine whether regulatory relief might be available.
I also look forward to working with Congress to ensure that
HUD's role in disaster recovery is complementary of SBA, FEMA,
and other programs.
Q.4. Hurricane Sandy survivors faced a maze of disaster relief
between SBA, FEMA, and HUD. And yet, nearly 9 years after the
storm, some New Jerseyans are facing unfair and costly
clawbacks of the very disaster relief funds they relied on to
rebuild their homes. During her confirmation hearing on January
28th, 2021, Secretary Fudge responded to my question on the
matter of HUD clawing back Sandy CDBG-DR aid with this
commitment ``if confirmed it would be one of the early things I
would take a look at and be happy to work with you.''
Will you make the same commitment, if confirmed, to work my
office to find a way for New Jerseyans facing clawbacks to get
relief?
A.4. If confirmed, it would be one of my first priorities to
discuss this issue with Secretary Fudge, HUD's Office of
General Counsel and the CPD team. If confirmed, I also commit
to working with your office on this important issue.