House Democrats Back Mortgage Aid: House Democrats Back Mortgage Subsidy Plan
The House Democratic leadership, fearing defeat by rebellious Democrats in league with Republicans, yesterday reluctantly embraced a plan to add $1 billion to this yearÛªs budget to help the crippled housing industry by subsidizing mortgage interest rates.</br></br>Since the Senate Banking Committee has also approved such a plan and the full Senate seems poised to follow suit, the House endorsement makes early congressional approval of some form of mortgage subsidy almost certain.</br></br>YesterdayÛªs agreement by the leadership was reached after it appeared likely that the House would instead approve a bipartisan proposal to take $2 billion in synfuels funding to put into housing, despite the leadershipÛªs opposition, congressional sources said.</br></br>Faced with choosing between the devastated but politically powerful housing industry and the ably represented oil industry, the leadership followed a time-honored tradition: it chose both. At the insistence of House Majority Leader James C. Wright Jr. of Texas, all funding is to be retained for the Synthetic Fuels</br></br>Corp., and the $1 billion will be added to the fiscal 1982 urgent supplemental appropriations bill, to go to the House floor next week.