An Encouraging Step to Help Stabilize Housing Markets

President Obama's announcement is an encouraging step in the effort to stabilize our nation's housing markets, help unemployed homeowners, and bring relief to many families hardest hit by the recession.

Recognizing that each city and state faces a unique set of challenges, the President's $1.5 billion initiative focuses on local solutions to local problems and rewards the most innovative and effective approaches to help more at-risk families in America stay in their homes.

Standing on the front lines of the foreclosure crisis is my home state of California -- a bastion of hope, promise, and opportunity for so many, and ground zero for some of the worst effects of the downturn in our housing sector. With high unemployment and with so many families having mortgages worth more than their homes, we in California welcome the President's new initiative. Congress will continue to work with President Obama in addressing the difficult and complex foreclosure crisis.