Emergency Home Purchase Assistance Act of 1974
Public Law 93-449 · S. 3979 · 93rd Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Gerald Ford (R) on Oct 18, 1974 · Housing and Community Development
Sponsor: Sen. Alan Cranston (D-CA)
Cosponsors (13): Sen. Edward Brooke, Sen. Jacob Javits,
Passage votesYeaNay
- HouseMethod not stated
- SenateRecorded vote: 77 yea, 0 nay77–0
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Emergency Home Purchase Assistance Act - Requires that whenever the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development finds inflationary conditions and related governmental actions are having a severely disproportionate effect on the housing industry and the resulting reduction in the volume of home construction or acquisition threatens seriously to affect the economy and to delay the orderly achievement of the national housing goals contained in the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, he shall direct the Government National Mortgage Association to begin making commitments to purchase and to purchase mortgages in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
States that upon direction from the Secretary the Association shall purchase, sell and otherwise deal in mortgages covering more than four-family residences or covering one to four-family residences, both to be insured as provided in this Act.
Provides that if mortgages are to be purchased they must involve an original principal obligation not to exceed $42,000 ($55,000 in Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam) per family residence, and must not involve in excess of prescribed maximum interest rates (8 1/4%) or in excess of that which the Secretary prescribes.
Authorizes the Association to guarantee securities based on pools or trusts of the mortgages purchased by it under this Act with respect to federally insured or guaranteed mortgages and to act issuer of such guaranteed securities. Allows the Association to sell securities guaranteed under this Act to Federal Reserve banks.
Sets a limit on the total amount of purchases and commitments under this Act of $7,750,000,000.
States that the provisions of this Act shall remain in effect for one year.
Authorizes home improvement loans of up to $15,000 per family unit for preservation of historic structures.
Authorizes insurance of mortgages involving a dwelling unit in a cooperative housing project which is covered by a blanket mortgage insured under this Act.
Requires the Council on Wage and Price Stability to report to the President on a quarterly basis its activities, findings, and recommendations with respect to the containment of inflation and maintenance of the economy.
Who voted for it
Every senator of the 93rd Congress on the ideology compass. Highlighted: the 86 who voted yea on final passage. Faded: everyone else, including those who voted nay, did not vote, or had not yet taken office.
86 yea0 nay15 present or did not vote
Democrats who voted yea(53)
- Sen. James AbourezkD-SD
- Sen. Harold HughesD-IA
- Sen. Mike MansfieldD-MT
- Sen. William ProxmireD-WI
- Sen. Gaylord NelsonD-WI
- Sen. George McGovernD-SD
- Sen. Dick ClarkD-IA
- Sen. Lee MetcalfD-MT
- Sen. Howard MetzenbaumD-OH
- Sen. William HathawayD-ME
- Sen. Philip HartD-MI
Sen. Ted KennedyD-MA- Sen. Rupert HartkeD-IN
- Sen. James FulbrightD-AR
Sen. Joseph BidenD-DE- Sen. Floyd HaskellD-CO
- Sen. Walter MondaleD-MN
- Sen. Quentin BurdickD-ND
- Sen. Birch BayhD-IN
- Sen. Stuart SymingtonD-MO
- Sen. Adlai StevensonD-IL
- Sen. Edmund MuskieD-ME
- Sen. Dee HuddlestonD-KY
- Sen. Alan CranstonD-CA
- Sen. Harrison WilliamsD-NJ
- Sen. Frank MossD-UT
- Sen. Abraham RibicoffD-CT
- Sen. Hubert HumphreyD-MN
- Sen. Claiborne PellD-RI
- Sen. Warren MagnusonD-WA
- Sen. Lawton ChilesD-FL
Sen. Robert ByrdD-WV- Sen. Joseph MontoyaD-NM
- Sen. John TunneyD-CA
- Sen. John PastoreD-RI
- Sen. Jennings RandolphD-WV
- Sen. Thomas McIntyreD-NH
Sen. Daniel InouyeD-HI- Sen. Fritz HollingsD-SC
- Sen. Howard CannonD-NV
- Sen. Scoop JacksonD-WA
- Sen. Russell LongD-LA
- Sen. Lloyd BentsenD-TX
- Sen. John JohnstonD-LA
- Sen. Gale McGeeD-WY
- Sen. Samuel NunnD-GA
- Sen. Samuel ErvinD-NC
- Sen. John SparkmanD-AL
- Sen. John McClellanD-AR
- Sen. John StennisD-MS
- Sen. James AllenD-AL
- Sen. James EastlandD-MS
- Sen. Harry ByrdD-VA
Republicans who voted yea(33)
- Sen. Clifford CaseR-NJ
- Sen. Richard SchweikerR-PA
- Sen. Edward BrookeR-MA
- Sen. Jacob JavitsR-NY
- Sen. Charles MathiasR-MD
- Sen. Mark HatfieldR-OR
- Sen. Charles PercyR-IL
- Sen. Lowell WeickerR-CT
- Sen. George AikenR-VT
Sen. Ted StevensR-AK- Sen. Marlow CookR-KY
- Sen. John BeallR-MD
- Sen. Hugh ScottR-PA
Sen. Pete DomeniciR-NM- Sen. Robert DoleR-KS
- Sen. Edward GurneyR-FL
- Sen. Howard BakerR-TN
- Sen. Robert TaftR-OH
- Sen. William RothR-DE
- Sen. Peter DominickR-CO
- Sen. Robert GriffinR-MI
- Sen. William BrockR-TN
- Sen. James McClureR-ID
- Sen. Strom ThurmondR-SC
- Sen. Norris CottonR-NH
- Sen. Dewey BartlettR-OK
- Sen. Roman HruskaR-NE
- Sen. John TowerR-TX
- Sen. Carl CurtisR-NE
- Sen. Clifford HansenR-WY
- Sen. Wallace BennettR-UT
- Sen. Paul FanninR-AZ
- Sen. Barry GoldwaterR-AZ
Data notes
The Senate’s recorded vote on the final version of the law (roll call 1046 in Voteview), matched to the vote the record cites and checked against its totals. Positions are each member’s DW-NOMINATE score for that Congress, as on the Ideology page; left to right is more liberal to more conservative. Paired and announced yea votes count as yea. Lists follow the compass, most liberal first. A name links to a profile only for members of the current Congress. A law passed by voice vote or unanimous consent has no member list, and neither does a vote Voteview has not yet recorded.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 8 actions.
- Oct 18, 1974Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public law 93-449.
- Oct 17, 1974PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- Oct 15, 1974FloorFloor · Measure passed House.
- Oct 10, 1974FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate, amended, roll call #474 (77-0).Senate roll call 474
- Oct 3, 1974CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee
- Sep 10, 1974CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.