Op-Ed: Congressman Pete Sessions: How House Republicans are restoring the American Dream of homeownership
Rep. Pete Sessions explains how House Republicans are addressing the affordability crisis hitting too many Americans.
America is the greatest country on Earth, yet too many families today find that the dream of owning a home is slipping farther out of reach. After years of ineffective governance in Washington, the cost of building and buying a home has climbed beyond what many working families in Texas and across the nation can sustain. House Republicans are committed to changing that. Under the leadership of Chairman French Hill (R., Ark.) on the House Financial Services Committee, we have a clear and focused plan to make homebuilding affordable again and return homeownership to the center of American life.
At a recent hearing, I spoke about what families in Waco and communities across Central Texas face every day. Wages have not kept pace with the burdensome regulations that my colleagues across the aisle have encouraged for far too long. Young families who want to buy their first home cannot compete against higher prices that the government has helped create. Builders in my district tell me the same story each week. They want to build, they want to grow, and they want to meet the needs of Texas families, but federal rules and layers of regulation keep slowing them down and driving up their costs. We need to cut the red tape, not add more.
The data demonstrates why families are feeling squeezed. According to the National Association of Home Builders, regulations at every level add about $93,870 to the price of a new single family home. These costs come from restrictive zoning, environmental mandates, and policies that worsen labor and construction shortages. Other measures such as rent control and repeated eviction moratoria suppress investment and reduce supply.
Nationwide, the typical rent is now about $2,007 a month, and renters are spending nearly 29 percent of their income on housing. For homeowners, data from ATTOM show that in 80 percent of 589 counties studied, households spent more than 28 percent of their wages on housing costs in the second quarter of 2024.
One example of how far Washington has drifted from affordability is the Biden administration’s 2021 update to federal Energy Conservation Standards for new residential construction. The rule was described as a way to save families money, yet studies cited by the National Association of Home Builders show that building to the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code can add as much as $31,000 to the price of a new home and can take up to 90 years for a home buyer to realize a payback on the added cost.
That is the very standard the Biden administration has moved to require for many HUD and USDA financed homes. Families in Waco cannot wait decades to see a financial benefit. They need affordability today. Higher regulatory costs at the start of a project mean fewer homes being built and fewer opportunities for families to buy.
House Republicans are taking a different approach. We are removing barriers, modernizing outdated rules, and encouraging states and local communities to expand supply instead of restricting it. Chairman Hill has emphasized that affordability begins with building more homes and building them faster. Working alongside President Trump, we are committed to restoring a pro-growth environment where builders can succeed and families can put down roots. Throughout my time in Congress, I have supported and championed legislation that lowers the cost of home building, and I remain actively engaged in new solutions to a decades old problem.
My father, Judge William Sessions, taught me through his example that public service requires duty, integrity, and personal responsibility. That is the spirit guiding our work today. The American Dream is not gone. It has been held back. House Republicans are determined to restore it for families in Texas and across this remarkable nation.
Rep. Pete Sessions represents the 17th Congressional District of Texas.