Inclusion of Minority Real Estate Professionals and Asset Managers Urged as
Congress Considers $700 Billion Bailout Plan
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Maria Kong, President of the National
Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) today urged Congressional
leadership, President Bush and Secretary of the Treasury Paulson, to act
fairly and responsibly to ensure that minority-owned real estate, finance and
legal professionals are included among the firms tapped to manage the
multi-billion dollar asset portfolio the government plans to purchase from
failing Wall Street investment houses, and flailing financial institutions.
"Minority business participation in this $700 billion bailout is as
crucial to rebuilding our nation's economy and stemming further community
destabilization as shoring up Wall Street. We wholeheartedly support
Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Housing and Community
Opportunity and urge her colleagues, and the Administration to heed her
consideration in this matter. As compromises are made to gain full support
for the legislation's passage, there should be no compromise with regard to
minority participation in the plan's implementation," said Maria Kong,
President of NAREB, the nation's oldest minority trade association founded in
1947 to ensure equal housing for African-Americans and other disenfranchised
minorities.
"Minority real estate and finance professionals are imminently qualified
and poised to be part of the economic recovery. Urban and minority communities
have been devastated by the economic downturn. And as importantly, minority
professionals are part of these communities. As Secretary Paulson and
Congress extol that transparency is key to the plan's success and restoring
public confidence in the nation's financial system, the transparency in
implementation must show that the expediency of the moment does not negate the
inclusion of America's minority professionals. Our businesses and our
communities deserve the same opportunity for an economic turn-about as Wall
Street does," Ms. Kong concluded.
For more information on NAREB, visit: www.nareb.com.
SOURCE National Association of Real Estate Brokers
Joanne Williams for National Association of Real Estate Brokers,
+1-202-745-0024, +1-215-519-2831, jlwilliams@barrington-associates.com
