Every American should be able to count on safe, affordable, high-quality housing.

I helped pass the American Rescue Plan Act, legislation which provided a lifeline to struggling renters and homeowners alike, and I took on both parties to ensure that the funding wasn’t being held up in Harrisburg instead of getting to working and middle-class Pennsylvanians. With major investments in emergency rental assistance, the Homeowner Assistance fund, and Housing Choice Vouchers for the neediest families in our community, I’m proud of the vital assistance we delivered.

Here what we need to do:

• Use the remaining American Rescue Plan funds for housing. I have faith in local stakeholders to hold creative, constructive conversations about this funding, and I believe public-private partnerships hold great promise. Redevelopment programs that address blight, increased training for family-sustaining jobs in the building trades, help for landlords to expand their thriving businesses — all of these ideas could also help the Greater Lehigh Valley become more accessible and livable for everyone, from working families to young people just starting out.

• Provide assistance to homebuyers. We must build on the relief provided by the American Rescue Plan to ensure that working and middle-class Americans can once again become homeowners in the communities they work in. That’s why I’m fighting to pass the Helper Act, a bipartisan bill to ensure frontline workers can live in the communities they serve.

• Build safe, affordable, high-quality housing. We must ensure safe, affordable, high-quality housing is available for tenants in every corner of our community. That’s why I’ve brought national attention to our housing needs, including by hosting Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge in Pennsylvania’s 7th District.

Working together, I know that we can build enough safe, affordable, high-quality housing for every one of our neighbors and finally fulfill President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s pledge to honor “the right of every family to a decent home.”