New Housing Chief ‘Ready to Rebuild and to Revitalize American Communities’

Scott Turner, the new secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in his speech Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference promised government accountability and to tackle the housing crisis and to rebuild American society. 

“We will be mission-minded at HUD, so I’m ready. I’m ready to do the work. I’m ready to rebuild and to revitalize American communities and ensure everyone has the opportunity to achieve the American dream.” 

Turner noted that his own 24-year-old son had asked how he was ever going to be able to afford to buy a home and that the young people he mentors expressed the same concerns. 

The new HUD chief described the housing crisis as an opportunity and pledged to make the government more efficient and productive in addressing those issues.

“We will take inventory to see which programs that we have that are serving you and which programs we have that are not serving you,” he said.

Turner also emphasized that the government was meant to be accountable to the American taxpayer. 

“As stewards of the American taxpayer, we will be detailed and deliberate about every single dollar we spend to serve all American communities, rural, tribal, and urban,” he declared.

Turner also highlighted his efforts to apply the concept of federalism to the housing crisis, rather than attempting to centralize control with an inflexible, top-down Washington government apparatus. 

“HUD will partner with local leaders, local leaders who know what their communities need to rebuild their lives and livelihoods, rather than imposing top-down solutions from Washington bureaucrats,” he said.

“My only goal is to do what’s right by the American people,” Turner, a former NFL cornerback, told the packed house at the annual CPAC event, held in the Maryland suburbs of Washington.

Turner described his upbringing in Texas and working his first job at a barbecue joint in Dallas.

“You know, like many of you in this room, I have faced difficulty in my life. I’ve had to rely on God’s grace to overcome obstacles that the enemy tried to use to stop me from carrying out the Lord’s calling on my life,” the businessman and motivational speaker said. 

Turner discussed his NFL career and how he had been seen as an underdog after being picked in the last round of the NFL draft. 

Turner made a point of emphasizing that he had hope for the United States and for each and every American.

“I want to encourage everyone in this room and those that are watching online to never let your circumstance define your ability or your opportunity to succeed,” he said.

Turner thanked his predecessor as HUD secretary during the first Trump administration, Dr. Ben Carson, who had mentored him when Turner was chosen as executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. 

“We must not have a defeatist attitude, but instead we will have a victorious attitude,” he declared. “We will not be victims, but instead, we will be victorious.”

Turner, a part-time Baptist preacher, expressed thankfulness to God for the opportunity to serve the American people as a leader in the federal government. 

“Hope in America does not depend on a man. Our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ,” he told the crowd, to cheers. 

“The best days are yet to come,” Turner said as he concluded his speech.

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