"While the nation's home builders commend President Obama for tackling critical employment issues, it's discouraging that the Administration still fails to recognize that housing has a central role to play in restoring the nation's workforce.

"Housing has traditionally led the nation out of past recessions and needs to be playing a far bigger role than it has so far in today's lackluster recovery. That won't happen until federal regulators move to end the credit freeze for new home production, banks allow qualified home buyers access to affordable home loans and policymakers acknowledge there is a clear need to support homeownership and get housing moving again to spur growth, create jobs and restore consumer confidence."

  - National Association of Home Builders Chairman Bob Nielsen