Memorandum from Jerry Howard, NAHB President/CEO - Fix Housing First Update

Less than 24 hours after members of the 111th Congress were sworn into office, NAHB launched an all-out effort to make housing a centerpiece of the massive economic stimulus package that lawmakers are expected to complete by mid-February.

NAHB arranged a Fix Housing First coalition legislative fly-in. More than 80 builders and EOs from across the country traveled to Washington to meet with targeted members of Congress to convey the message that a housing stimulus is urgently needed and that restoring demand for housing is the fastest and most effective way of reviving the economy. As part of this endeavor, NAHB:

· Provided a briefing for builders before they visited their lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Builders were urged to share their personal stories with their congressmen, focus exclusively on the need for a housing stimulus and to ask their representatives and senators to support the Fix Housing First stimulus plan.

· Invited reporters from major media outlets to the morning briefing to get maximum exposure for our Fix Housing First efforts. News outlets covering the event included Politico, the Associated Press, the Hill , CongressDaily, Dow Jones Newswires, the Columbus Dispatch, National Mortgage News and Builder magazine.

· Issued a Legislative Alert urging members who did not travel to Washington to meet with their lawmakers to contact their Senators and Representatives on Jan. 7 via the NAHB hotline at 1-866-924-NAHB and urge them to support the Fix Housing First stimulus proposals. Builders were also encouraged to send a letter to Congress with the Fix Housing First message by visiting www.capitolconnect.com/builderlink. More than 20,000 telephone calls and e-mails in support of the Fix Housing First proposal were received by the Congress from members of NAHB and the coalition.

· Conducted media interviews following the Hill visits. NAHB President Jerry Howard discussed the Fix Housing First stimulus proposals in a live interview with Fox news reporter Neil Cavuto. Connecticut builder Greg Ugalde was interviewed by CNBC on the Fix Housing First initiative and the Hill visits and the National Journal also followed up with builder spokespeople and published a story.

· Sent out a nationwide press release highlighting the Capitol Hill visits and the urgent need for housing stimulus.

· Held a series of press conferences by telephone with the media in Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina and Tennessee. The media events built on the success of last month’s national and local teleconferences. They showed how the economic crisis is affecting builders and communities across the country and brought public attention to our efforts to urge Congress to move quickly to enact a new housing stimulus package.

I would like to thank the state and local EOs who put these news conferences together as well as the scores of builders who took time away from their families and businesses to travel to Washington to help our industry at this critical time. And congratulations to Michael Dey, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Greenville, S.C., who recently placed an op-ed in the Greenville News under the headline “Congress should listen to ‘Fix Housing First.’”

While we continue to make progress, the battle is far from over. This week, we launched the first salvo in what is going to be a very short-term war. Congress is fast-tracking the massive economic stimulus package and could complete work on the legislation before the end of the month. Our industry stands at a crossroads and our efforts during the next few weeks are vital to the housing industry’s ability to weather this storm and come out the other side healthy and in a position to grow.

That is why it is imperative that we all must continue to redouble our efforts to ensure that housing is a major component of the stimulus package. In the days and weeks ahead, I urge you to continue to schedule meetings, e-mail and write letters to your congressmen; contact your local media; submit letters to the editor and op-eds to your local newspapers; and draft sample press releases on the need for a housing stimulus. Information to assist you can be found at http://www.fixhousingfirst.com/ and on the NAHB web site by clicking here.

As always, we greatly appreciate your help and support. Working together as a team, we can make a difference for housing.

If you have any questions, require any assistance or materials, please call NAHB Public Affairs contacts Robert Pflieger at 1-800-368-5242 x8403 or Donna Reichle at x8473; or Government Affairs contacts Joe Stanton, x8402, or Jim Tobin, x8258.