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Congressional Daily Record
This section captures a formal floor step rather than a policy debate. It mentions legislation such as 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, committees such as Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, members such as John Thune.
Official title: LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Issued
June 18, 2026
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Download official Senate Record PDFReturn to issue context21ST CENTURY ROAD TO HOUSING ACT—Resumed
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the Senate will resume consideration of the House message to accompany H.R. 6644, which the clerk will report.
The senior assistant executive clerk read as follows:
House message to accompany H.R. 6644, a bill to increase
the supply of housing in America, and for other purposes.
Pending:
Thune motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate
amendment to the bill, with Thune (for Scott (SC)-Warren)
amendment No. 5823 (to the House amendment to the Senate
amendment), in the nature of a substitute.
Thune amendment No. 5824 (to amendment No. 5823), to change
the enactment date.
Thune motion to refer the message of the House to accompany
the bill to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs, with instructions, Thune amendment No. 5825, to
change the enactment date.
Thune amendment No. 5826 (to the instructions (amendment
No. 5825) of the motion to refer), of a perfecting nature.
Thune amendment No. 5827 (to amendment No. 5826), of a
perfecting nature.
recognition of the majority leader
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.
h.r. 6644
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, this week, the Senate takes a big step forward on an issue that is important to many Americans, and that is homeownership.
conversation with friends and family members, most people know that the dream of homeownership is out of reach for too many people in our country. Limited housing supply and burdensome regulations have contributed to higher prices, and many Americans are simply being priced out of the housing market. That is a problem, and it is a problem we aim to address with the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.
the higher prices that are preventing too many Americans from realizing the dream of homeownership.
home comes from regulations. That figure rises to 40 percent for multifamily construction. As you can imagine, that contributes quite a bit to the price that Americans pay for that home.
and driving up prices. For example, it removes the outdated chassis requirement for manufactured housing, which will not only reduce the cost of manufactured homes but allow for more innovation in manufactured home design.
environmental review process. This bill enables State, local, and Tribal governments to streamline environmental reviews. It rightsizes the NEPA process and exempts certain rural housing projects from these extensive and often burdensome reviews, and it directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the USDA to coordinate joint environmental reviews for housing projects funded by both Agencies. It should go without saying that if it is one project, there should be one review.
burdens placed on new home construction, this bill also encourages local governments to reform zoning laws to encourage home construction.
and encourage more construction, but it is not the only aspect of encouraging homeownership. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act also takes meaningful steps to support financing the purchase of a new home. It lifts regulatory burdens on community banks and credit unions to ensure that these local lending institutions can be focused on people rather than paperwork, and it tailors regulations for smaller and new financial institutions, which will help increase competition that benefits the American people.
colleagues, as well as months of negotiations with our colleagues in the House. They have worked tirelessly to produce a bill that addresses some of the barriers to homeownership in this country.
housing in rural areas, for Senators Moreno and Hagerty's contributions to the financial institutions component of this bill, and for Senators Kennedy and Crapo's efforts to support work at the local level to build more housing.
is almost across the finish line. But no one has been more committed to the success of this legislation than Chairman Tim Scott, and I am especially grateful to Chairman Scott for his leadership in getting this landmark bill on a path to becoming law very soon.
life more affordable for hard-working Americans, and it is just the latest item on Republicans' agenda to address the cost of living.
landmark bill which cut taxes for lower and middle-income Americans. This year, these hard-working people saw larger tax refunds and larger paychecks, and I wouldn't be surprised if many of them put some of that money away to save for their dream of buying a home—a dream that the ROAD to Housing Act will help put within their reach.
percent expensing for investments are also contributing to addressing housing shortages by making it easier for builders to—well—build.
As one realtor in Sioux Falls wrote last year:
Developers now have stronger incentives—and fewer
barriers—to build more affordable units. . . . For Sioux
Falls, where we see steady population growth and a strong
workforce influx, this is a game-changer.
housing affordability as a major issue, and they want to see Congress address it. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act does just that. I am proud that it garners support from a similarly overwhelming majority here in the Senate, and I expect it will in the House as well.
sending it to the President's desk, and delivering another major win for the American people.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant executive clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Recognition of the Minority Leader
The Democratic leader is recognized.
Iran
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, well, everyone who bought Trump's book “The Art of the Deal” ought to ask him for a refund because what Trump has done in Iran is the “art of the disaster.”
ego, his inability to listen to facts. Iran took Trump to the cleaners with this so-called understanding.
Iran doesn't have to cut off support for its terrorist proxies. Iran doesn't have to give up ballistic missile production. Iran doesn't have to make any hard commitments on its nuclear program now, and there is no guarantee they make any in 60 days. But Iran does get to rake in billions of dollars in oil sales, hundreds of billions in reconstruction aid, and God knows how much more in potential fees Trump may let it impose on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Again, Iran took Trump to the cleaners. In Iran, “the art of the deal” has turned into the “art of disaster.”
he will need to do it with Republican votes because I will tell you, Democrats certainly won't be helping Trump send $300 billion to Iran.
Iran $300 billion when economic needs are so severe here at home? But that is what Trump wants them to do.
Now, back in 2015, Trump said that America's “deal with Iran will go down as one of the most incompetent ever made. The U.S. lost on virtually every point. We just don't win anymore!”
Trump is eating these words on a silver platter served up by Iran. Again, in 2015 he said the “deal with Iran will go down as one of the most incompetent ever. The U.S. lost on virtually every point. We just don't win anymore!”
that he just announced, so-called understanding, with Iran. He is eating those words on a silver platter served up by Iran.
some distance between themselves and this so-called understanding, telling the public not to read too far into the text and that there are secret deals in the works. Well, I will tell you right now, Trump needs to reveal any secret deals to Congress and the public immediately. He has got to do it right away.
This war needs to end permanently. Americans need to know how Trump plans to do it. Crucially, Americans are wondering what they got out of this war because Trump's blunder has left our country worse off by every measure. Thirteen Americans have been killed and hundreds more wounded. The Iranian regime is richer and more radical than before Trump's war. Iran has greater control over the Strait of Hormuz than before the war began.
having paid hundreds of dollars extra to fill up their tanks these past few months.
are higher than before the war as well. Trump's so-called understanding is the culmination and representation of his ruinous strategy in Iran since day one and his inability to govern in general.
greed. His strategy doesn't work in the time of peace, and it certainly doesn't work in the time of war.
He is about the most incompetent President we have ever seen. In Iran, as in everything, the American people pay the price for Trump's incompetence.
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
Mr. President, on FISA, Trump has made it clear beyond a shadow of a
less about reauthorizing FISA. Trump has embarrassed Republicans, pulled the rug out from under them, and blown up the FISA negotiations at every step.
Trump has lobbed a grenade into Jay Clayton's nomination. Insisted on making his personal fixer, his own attack dog, Bill Pulte, the Acting DNI. And he is demanding to tie FISA to the extreme SAVE Act to attack Americans' voting rights.
is willing to put them in danger to do it. Trump would rather have our intelligence community go after his political opponents than protect the American people.
Can Trump get any more reckless?
hostage for his own political gain. Republicans can point fingers at Democrats all they want, but Trump has himself owned up to blocking FISA.
Here is what he said, this is Donald Trump:
I will not approve FISA . . .
We are canceling the Senate hearing . . .
[B]ill Pulte will remain as the Acting Director of National
Intelligence.
H.R. 6644
Mr. President, finally on housing, Donald Trump may show Americans how government should not function, but our bipartisan housing bill shows Americans how we should govern. The housing shortage in the United States is nothing less than an existential threat to the American dream.
the ROAD to Housing at a time of such division shows just how dire America's housing crisis is today.
getting more and more expensive and more and more out of reach. One of the most effective ways to meaningfully lower housing costs for Americans is to build more, build faster, and build everywhere.
affordability crisis and ensuring Americans don't have to break the bank to keep a roof over their head.
bottlenecks that have slowed construction from one end of this country to the other. The bill supports new manufactured and modular housing that makes building cheaper, faster, and easier.
to all my colleagues, both Democrat and Republican, who supported it. I am pleased we have seized this opportunity to come up with a reasonable, bipartisan solution to help the American people— opportunities that have become few and far between thanks to the chaos coming out of the White House.
This is how Americans want Congress to govern.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority whip.
Waiving Quorum Call
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to waive the mandatory quorum call with respect to the cloture motion with respect to the House message to accompany H.R. 6644.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
H.R. 6644
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to say that Republicans believe Americans who work hard and who play by the rules deserve to have a good life.
Americans deserve to keep more of what they earn. The Working Families Tax Cut law put more money into their pockets. It means financial relief not just tomorrow but today.
Republicans' new tax cuts. Tax refunds were supersized this year. The Department of Treasury has confirmed that 97 percent of Americans received a tax cut this year. They went on to point out that the people who benefited the most were Americans earning less than $200,000 a year. Republicans cut taxes for working families all across America. Families can use the money however they want. They can use it to pay down debt, to cover everyday expenses, or to save for the future.
voted against the Working Families Tax Cut law. Democrats instead voted to raise taxes by $4 trillion. Had Democrats gotten their way, everything would cost much more.
Democrats talk about affordability; Republicans delivered. We delivered more money into the pockets, the purses, and the paychecks of the American people. For most Americans, this money is for their families, not for the government.
homeschools two children during the day, and in the evening, she goes out and waits tables. Her husband operates heavy machinery, and he works a lot of overtime. The Working Families Tax Cut law was written for families like theirs. The family is going to take home an extra $5,000 this year. Why? Well, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and the expanded child tax credit—all three of those advantages passed in the Working Families Tax Cut law.
more opportunities for families tomorrow. And this is only the beginning. This week, the Senate is going to move to address the cost of housing.
Buying a home in America costs too much. Building a home in America takes too long. Everyone from President of the United States to the mayor of New York City agrees housing is too expensive. Americans who want to buy a home worry they won't ever be able to afford a home. That must change.
Today, the median age of first-time home buyers is 38 years old. Young Americans should not have to wait nearly four decades to buy their first home.
A headline from USA TODAY illustrates the problem. It says: “Why is housing so expensive? There simply aren't enough homes.” Supply and demand.
Well, then, what is the reason there aren't enough homes? The reason is burdensome government regulations.
Regulations account for a quarter of the cost of a new home. This is the cost of applying for zoning permits from the local government, the county government, and even the State government. It causes delays and money expense. There is the cost of studies on environmental impact and on the impact on traffic. There is the cost of energy efficiency mandates for home appliances. Then there is the cost of Federal workplace regulations.
problems, all of these regulations, many of which are duplicative. By some estimates, regulators add an extra $130,000 to the cost of a home.
American dream. It is called the ROAD to Housing Act. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina has led the effort.
This bipartisan bill includes dozens of Member-driven policies. It is going to increase the supply of housing, it will lower the cost of housing, and it will expand the ability of families to own a home. It does all of this the right way without imposing one-size-fits-all Washington mandates.
The American dream should not be regulated out of reach; it should be within reach for every American willing to work for it. And the Senate is ready to get the ROAD to Housing Act signed into law.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
Ms. SMITH. Mr. President, I ask for consent for 10 minutes prior to the scheduled vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Ms. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today as the Senate takes the next important step toward passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.
passed in decades to lower housing costs and boost the construction of homes for Americans.
live, nothing in your life works—not your job, not your family, not your education, not your health. Our homes are a source of stability and comfort and dignity, and they give us the freedom and the opportunity to build the lives we want to live.
lives and how to hold it together as prices skyrocket and paychecks aren't keeping up. Millions of people in big cities and small towns and rural communities that we all represent stretch to pay their mortgage or make their rent payment. And the American dream of owning your own home? It feels like a pipe dream to working families. I hear from young Minnesotans who tell me they can't even imagine a future where they own their own home.
So why is this happening? There are simply more people who need a place to live than there are houses that people can afford to rent or buy. And affordable places to live for people working in low-wage jobs, for veterans, or for folks living on a fixed income? We don't have nearly enough places for these people to live.
The result is that the cost of housing is soaring higher and higher. Over 22 million people in this country are paying more than 30 percent of their income on rent, which means that they don't have enough money for the other necessities in their lives. Over 12 million people pay more than half of their income on rent. In Minnesota alone, there is a shortage of 100,000 affordable homes.
Home ownership, as we have heard today, is increasingly out of reach. Mortgage payments are roughly 40 percent higher than they were in 1990, and that is even after adjusting for inflation. And in the past few years, the median home price has reached $400,000.
such a difference. This bill will boost housing supply by cutting redtape and empowering local governments to make it easier and less expensive to build good places for people to live. It creates incentives for cities and towns to build more housing. It removes regulatory barriers to help streamline environmental review and to speed up construction and make it less expensive. It strengthens existing programs that help local communities address their housing and infrastructure needs—especially when it comes to natural disasters.
modular and manufactured housing, including doing away with outdated chassis requirements for manufactured homes that add thousands of dollars in costs but no value. And thanks to the important work of Senator Cortez Masto, this bill will also help preserve and upgrade manufactured home communities.
investors who swoop in, make all-cash offers on homes, and then buy up single-family homes as investments and rent them back to people for a profit. Out-of-State landlords have gobbled up homes, leaving properties in disrepair, tenants in the lurch, and jacking up the rent.
investors from buying up the American dream of home ownership, because homes should be for people, not corporations.
Housing Service to preserve over 400,000 very affordable homes in rural communities. This has been a project I have been working on for quite a few years, and I am so excited that it is included in this big bill.
Senate over 8 years ago, and people in Minnesota were telling me that they couldn't find an affordable place to live. Businesses were telling me that housing shortages were making it impossible for them to recruit talent to their communities. Mayors told me that the housing shortage was hurting the vitality of their communities. Homebuilders were telling me it was too complex and expensive to build new homes.
Subcommittee, Senator Mike Rounds and I started to hold hearings that dug into the challenges that faced the Rural Housing Service at the USDA.
it, but it has played a vital role across the country for decades in helping to finance very affordable places for people to live in rural communities. We are talking about elders living on a fixed income who want to stay in the places where they raised their families. We are talking about people living with disabilities and working families, folks working in low-wage jobs that can't afford a place to live.
built in the 1960s with the help of Federal mortgages to finance them, and often, they are literally the only affordable place to call home in many rural communities.
and the Rural Housing Service is in desperate need of reform and modernization. So Senator Mike Rounds and I got to work. Our bill, the Rural Housing Service Reform Act, makes simple, commonsense improvements.
mortgages of these properties when the private sector can't manage them anymore and then go ahead and fix them up and preserve them for low- income renters for years to come.
and protect tenants so that properties can be transferred to new owners.
Here is what all this work can look like. Last August, I visited the Maplewood Apartments in Saint Peter, MN, which is a small and wonderful community in southern Minnesota. Maplewood needed a lot of TLC to be a decent place for people to live, and so local nonprofits and public partners joined together to fix it up.
resident in particular, Lisa Gallegos, who welcomed me to her new home in Maplewood. Lisa told me about how in her apartment she finally had the space to be able to focus on her life instead of worrying each month about how she would make rent.
included in the larger ROAD to Housing Act, will recreate the success in Saint Peter across the country, and 400,000 apartments and homes in rural communities will remain available, high quality, and affordable.
together. This has been a yearslong labor of love, and with the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, we are going to get it done.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act will do a lot of good. Of course, there is always more work to do. There will be more work to make it possible so that, every day, every American will have a home that they can afford, but this bill is an incredible step forward.
staffs for their creativity and diligence and optimism to put this bill together at a time when Congress needs more bipartisan work.
lives and help them afford a decent place to live, and that is well worth our effort.
I yield the floor.
Cloture Motion
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair
The bill clerk read as follows:
Cloture Motion
We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the
provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate,
do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to
concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R.
6644, a bill to increase the supply of housing in America,
and for other purposes, with amendment No. 5823.
John Thune, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Katie Boyd
Britt, Pete Ricketts, John Barrasso, Bernie Moreno, Tim
Sheehy, Mike Crapo, Joni Ernst, John Cornyn, Cindy
Hyde-Smith, Jon Husted, Mike Rounds, John Boozman, Jim
Banks, John R. Curtis, Lindsey Graham.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the mandatory quorum call under rule XXII has been waived.
motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 6644, a bill to increase the supply of housing in America, and for other purposes, with amendment No. 5823, offered by the Senator from South Dakota, Mr. Thune, shall be brought to a close?
The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk called the roll.
Mr. BARRASSO. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Hoeven) and the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. McConnell).
Further, if present and voting: the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Hoeven) would have voted “yea.”
Mr. SCHUMER. I announce that the Senator from Maryland (Ms. Alsobrooks), the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Bennet), the Senator from Delaware (Ms. Blunt Rochester), the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), and the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kelly) are necessarily absent.
The yeas and nays resulted—yeas 84, nays 8, as follows:
Rollcall Vote No. 180 Leg.
YEAS—84
Baldwin
Banks
Barrasso
Blackburn
Blumenthal
Booker
Boozman
Britt
Budd
Cantwell
Capito
Cassidy
Collins
Coons
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Curtis
Daines
Ernst
Fetterman
Fischer
Gallego
Gillibrand
Graham
Grassley
Hagerty
Hassan
Hawley
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Husted
Hyde-Smith
Justice
Kaine
Kennedy
Kim
King
Klobuchar
Lankford
Lujan
Lummis
Markey
Marshall
McCormick
Merkley
Moody
Moran
Moreno
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Peters
Reed
Ricketts
Risch
Rosen
Rounds
Sanders
Schatz
Schiff
Schmitt
Schumer
Scott (SC)
Shaheen
Sheehy
Slotkin
Smith
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Van Hollen
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Welch
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
NAYS—8
Armstrong
Cruz
Johnson
Lee
Paul
Scott (FL)
Tuberville
Young
NOT VOTING—8
Alsobrooks
Bennet
Blunt Rochester
Duckworth
Durbin
Hoeven
Kelly
McConnell
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. On this vote, the yeas are 84, the nays are 8.
the affirmative, cloture on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment with an amendment numbered 5823 is agreed to.
The motion was agreed to.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Missouri.