NFHA Statement on Nomination of Solomon Greene for HUD Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 28, 2021
Contact: Izzy Woodruff | 202-898-1661 | IWoodruff@nationalfairhousing.org
NFHA Statement on Nomination of Solomon Greene for HUD Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research
Washington, D.C. — Today, Lisa Rice, President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), issued the following statement on President Joe Biden’s nomination of Solomon Greene to serve as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD):
“Solomon Greene is an excellent choice to serve as HUD Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, and we commend President Biden for nominating such a staunch fair housing ally to fill this crucial role.
“Simply put, Solomon Greene has been an excellent research partner to NFHA both during his previous time at HUD as a senior adviser and more recently as an Urban Institute Senior Fellow. His strong evidence-based approach to tackling fair housing issues will make him a great asset to HUD and to the greater fair housing movement. NFHA is thrilled to have someone of his caliber leading up the research and policy arm at HUD, and we look forward to strengthening our existing partnership.
“Over the years, Mr. Greene has spoken in support of the “disparate impact” standard, a longstanding legal tool to fight discrimination and ensure equal housing opportunity under the Fair Housing Act. When this tool came under attack by the Trump administration in 2019, Mr. Green wrote an article highlighting the importance of the Obama-era Disparate Impact rule put in place specifically to help root out unintentional, but equally harmful, acts of discrimination that are all too common but often more difficult to prove. He also pushed back against the Trump administration’s dangerous attempt to reinterpret the Fair Housing Act’s provision to “affirmatively further fair housing” in ways that would have made it more difficult to address segregation and discrimination in housing.
“Mr. Greene has also spoken about a topic that is near and dear to NFHA — source of income discrimination, something that NFHA has worked to address via litigation over the last few years in Washington, D.C.
“Recently, I had the honor of participating in an Urban Institute panel event with Mr. Greene, during which we explored ways to tackle housing inequities that have deepened in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In these and many other ways, Mr. Greene has demonstrated that he has the knowledge, skills, and commitment to lead HUD’s policy development and research efforts at this critical time, as our country strives to expand access to opportunity and create more equitable communities.”
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Founded in 1988, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) is a consortium of more than 200 private, nonprofit fair housing organizations and state and local civil rights agencies from throughout the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NFHA works to eliminate housing discrimination and ensure equal housing opportunity for all people through leadership, education, outreach, membership services, public policy initiatives, community development, advocacy, and enforcement.