the Nation has not made adequate progress toward the goal of national housing policy, as set out in the Housing Act of 1949 [42 U.S.C. 1441 et seq.] and reaffirmed in the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, which would provide decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable living environments for all Americans;

the supply of affordable rental housing is diminishing;

the Tax Reform Act of 1986 removed major tax incentives for the production of affordable rental housing;

the living environments of an increasing number of Americans have deteriorated over the past several years as a result of reductions in Federal assistance to low-income and moderate-income families;

many Americans face the possibility of homelessness unless Federal, State, and local governments work together with the private sector to develop and rehabilitate the housing stock of the Nation to provide decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable housing for very low-income and low-income families;

reliable Federal leadership is needed to achieve an adequate supply of affordable housing for all Americans;

direct assistance to expand the supply of affordable rental housing should be provided in a way that is more cost-effective and targeted than tax incentives;

much of the Nation’s housing system works very well and provides a strong base on which national housing policy should build;

an increasing number of States and local governments have been successful in producing cost-effective low-income and moderate-income housing by working in partnership with the private sector, including nonprofit community development corporations, community action agencies, neighborhood housing services corporations, trade unions, groups sponsored by religious organizations, limited equity cooperatives, and other tenant organizations;

during the 1980’s, nonprofit community housing development organizations, despite severe obstacles caused by inadequate funding, have played an increasingly important role in the production and rehabilitation of affordable housing in communities across the Nation;

additional financial resources and technical skills must be made available in local communities if the Nation is to mobilize the capacity of the private sector, including nonprofit community housing development organizations, to provide a more adequate supply of decent, safe, and sanitary housing that is affordable to very low-income, low-income, and moderate-income families and meets the need for large family units and other additional units that are available to very low-income families receiving rental assistance payments from Federal, State, and local governments; and

the long-term success of efforts to provide more affordable housing depends upon tenants and homeowners being fiscally responsible and able managers.