Housing
We are now more than one year removed from the collapse of Lehman Bros. and a crisis that nearly brought about the collapse of our financial system. In many ways, housing led us to the breaking point: home prices rose to unsustainable levels, subprime loans pervaded the real estate market, and, even more detrimental, those risky loans were securitized by Wall Street and sold around the world as "safe" investments.
The ensuing downturn in the housing sector has continued, and poses the most serious threat to the American dream of homeownership since the Great Depression. Today, far too many families across this country have seen their home values significantly depreciate, face foreclosure, or are having trouble making their monthly payments. In the wake of the bursting of the housing bubble, the challenge for Congress and the Obama administration is to keep our housing market on the long-term path to a sustainable recovery.
To be clear, we have a long way to go until our housing market fully recovers, but we're beginning to see modest signs of recovery and hopefully, the worst is behind us. In fact, home prices are beginning to stabilize, and existing home sales have increased five months in a row. Three main factors - the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit, the Federal Reserve driving down 30-year fixed mortgage interest rates, and low home prices - have made this one of the best times in my lifetime to buy or refinance a home.
Having said that, the foreclosure crisis remains a clear and present danger to millions of American families, evidenced by the nearly two million foreclosure filings in the first half of 2009. Thankfully, the Obama administration is committing every resource at its disposal to stem the tide of foreclosures nationwide.
Specifically, the Making Home Affordable Program 
is now helping millions of homeowners avoid foreclosure by modifying at-risk loans or refinancing into lower interest rates. As of August 2009, 2.7 million loans have been refinanced through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSEs) and more than 360,000 trial modifications are underway. These results are encouraging, but it's not enough.
That's why I, along with a number of my colleagues, wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan in July suggesting they encourage the banks and servicers participating in the Making Home Affordable Program. I also worked with my colleagues to enact, in May 2009, the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act. The bill fine-tunes the Hope for Homeowners program to give families another viable option to avoid foreclosure. Additionally, if you or anyone you know is facing foreclosure, do not hesitate to contact one of my offices for assistance.