Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, announced that he will retire from Congress at the end of his current term and not seek reelection in 2012. It will be a very different Congress without Mr. Frank, who has been a stalwart champion for addressing the housing needs of low income people since he came to Congress in 1980. He was recognized by NLIHC with its Housing Leadership Award in 1989.

Mr. Frank is a regular speaker at the NLIHC annual conference, where he is always greeted with admiration and affection.

During his tenure as Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee from 2007 through 2010, Mr. Frank advanced legislation that established the NHTF in 2008. He continues to work toward finding a way to capitalize the NHTF.

With Mr. Frank’s retirement, the next senior Democrat on the committee is Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), who is expected to step into the ranking member role. Herself a committed low income housing advocate and former recipient of the NLIHC Housing Leadership Award in 1996, Ms. Waters will be a worthy successor to Mr. Frank.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition thanks Mr. Frank for his extraordinary service to his country. Low income people in the United States are losing one of their truest friends in Congress.