Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 117.djvu/2970

 CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS—JUNE 17, 2003

117 STAT. 2951

economic and civic responsibility, and enhances the financial security of all people in the United States; Whereas although the United States is the first nation in the world to make owning a home a reality for a vast majority 1⁄3 of the families in the United States are not of its families, homeowners; Whereas a disproportionate percentage of families in the United States that are not homeowners are low-income families; Whereas 74.2 percent of Caucasian Americans own their own homes, only 47.1 percent of African Americans, 47.2 percent of Hispanic Americans, and 55.8 percent of Asian Americans and other races are homeowners; Whereas the community building activities of neighborhood-based nonprofit organizations empower individuals to improve their lives and make communities safer and healthier for families; Whereas one of the best known nonprofit housing organizations is Habitat for Humanity, which builds simple but adequate housing for less fortunate families and symbolizes the self-help approach to homeownership; Whereas Habitat for Humanity is organized in all 50 States with 1,655 local affiliates and its own section 501(c)(3) Federal taxexempt status and locally elected completely voluntary board of directors; Whereas Habitat for Humanity has built nearly 150,000 houses worldwide and endeavors to complete another 50,000 homes by the year 2005; Whereas Habitat for Humanity provides opportunities for people from every segment of society to volunteer to help make the American dream a reality for families who otherwise would not own a home; and Whereas the month of June has been designated as ‘‘National Homeownership Month’’: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— (1) everyone in the United States should have a decent home in which to live; (2) Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives should demonstrate the importance of volunteerism; (3) during the years of the 108th and 109th sessions of Congress, Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, Habitat for Humanity, and contributing organizations, should sponsor and construct 2 homes in the Washington, D.C., metro area each as part of the ‘‘Congress Building America’’ program; (4) each Congress Building America house should be constructed primarily by Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, their families and staffs, and the staffs of sponsoring organizations working with local volunteers involving and symbolizing the partnership of the public, private, and nonprofit sectors of society; (5) each Congress Building America house should be constructed with the participation of the family that will own the home; (6) in the future, Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, their families, and their staff should participate in similar house building activities in their own States as part of National Homeownership Month; and

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