Groups Ask Secretary to Clarify Statement
Twenty-one national organizations sent a
letter to HUD Secretary Jackson on June 30 to express dismay
about his nationally broadcast June 17 statement that
“rental housing is affordable and plentiful” in the
United States.
Mr. Jackson made the assertion in an address to the National
Press Club that was carried on National Public Radio.
“As the nation’s highest ranking housing official,
your statements about housing conditions in the United States
have significant influence on the public’s understanding
and opinion of the U.S. housing market. We urge you to
accurately represent what the data clearly show,” the
NLIHC-coordinated letter said. Several recent research
reports that document the affordable rental housing shortage
were enclosed with the letter.
The organizations called upon the Secretary to clarify his
statement. The letter and annotated references can be found
at www.nlihc.org/press/pr070104.html
.