The next is a transcript of an interview with Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser that aired Sunday, July 17, 2022, on "Face the Nation."
MARGARET BRENNAN: One of many extra startling numbers from final week's Client Value Index was the price of hire, which is hovering on the quickest tempo in 36 years. Right here within the nation's capital, common residence rental prices have jumped greater than 11% in simply the previous 12 months. The nationwide price is sort of 6%. Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser has made the push for inexpensive housing part of her agenda, and he or she joins us. Good morning, Mayor.
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER: Good morning. Thanks for having me.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So I need to ask you, the New York Occasions had this piece on the housing disaster and homelessness in America and it highlighted D.C. as simply a type of cities that has simply persistently not had sufficient housing to fulfill demand. You have been engaged on lowering homelessness. Is the prime difficulty provide?
MAYOR BOWSER: Effectively, we have been engaged on creating inexpensive housing and producing extra and preserving extra, and we're among the many jurisdictions, I might say, that lead the nation in being an area accomplice in-in manufacturing. So simply within the final seven years, we have invested greater than $1.4 billion in doing precisely that. We're equally invested in making homelessness uncommon, temporary and nonrecurring in our metropolis. And now we have a plan to get there. We have seen our charges of household homelessness, for instance, decreased by 78%. Power homelessness, additionally, we're attacking and driving these numbers down for many classes. So what we see is in a metropolis like ours, the place folks need to stay and need to work, that we at all times should be producing extra housing.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, I am questioning then in an surroundings the place we are actually the place rates of interest are going up, is that discouraging builders from producing what you want? Do you want the federal authorities to step in and supply some form of help?
MAYOR BOWSER: Effectively, we actually are going to have the ability to do much less with the very historic investments that we have made. So, we're involved about that. However what I do know that we're-we're doing the whole lot regionally that we will. We've got a software known as the Housing Manufacturing Belief Fund. On this 12 months alone, we'll make investments $450 million in new models. We have set a purpose of constructing 36,000 new models. So, we're at all times searching for the federal authorities to be a accomplice, and I've to say, that in popping out of this pandemic, and the whole lot that the federal authorities was in a position to do to assist cities like ours maintain folks housed with American Rescue Plan dollars, with ensuring that we're stopping evictions, and keep-keep folks from getting evicted, has been very useful.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The Washington Submit reported final week that homeless shelters in D.C. have been filling up. And teams are getting overwhelmed by these buses that the governors of Texas and Arizona are sending right here filled with migrants. How important is that this inflow? How many individuals?
MAYOR BOWSER: Effectively, this can be a very important difficulty. We've got for positive known as on the federal authorities to work throughout state traces to stop folks from actually being tricked into getting on buses. We expect they're largely asylum seekers who're going to closing locations that aren't Washington D.C. I labored with the White Home to ensure that FEMA supplied a grant to an area group that's offering providers to of us. However, I concern that they are being tricked into nationwide bus journeys when their closing locations are locations all around the United States of America.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So it isn't simply native taxpayers selecting up the tab, you are saying the federal authorities helps.
MAYOR BOWSER: Effectively, native taxpayers will not be selecting up the tab and mustn't decide up the tab. And we actually want a coordinated federal response. We all know that it is executed for refugees who come to the States from all factors of the world, and the identical needs to be executed on this state of affairs.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I additionally need to ask you about monkeypox. 108 infections right here within the district, in accordance with the CDC numbers. Is the outbreak extra important than that? And, are you ready for the spike, in terms of obtainable vaccines? Your-your Democratic colleague in New York Metropolis says he wants extra vaccines.
MAYOR BOWSER: We'd like extra vaccines. We have gotten simply over 8,000 doses, we estimate that we want about 100,000 doses to deal with the present goal inhabitants. So, we want extra doses, for positive, and we all know that that work is being executed. We have already got a really strong testing regime, and we have modeled it on what we have been in a position to do with COVID. And we'll proceed to check, and I believe due to that strong testing, we'll see extra circumstances, however we wish folks to concentrate on to methods to defending themselves, particularly by getting vaccinated when the vaccine is offered.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Has the federal authorities promised you these doses?
MAYOR BOWSER: We all know our well being division works with the CDC and others. And in order the-as the vaccine is offered, we'll be able to distribute it.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I additionally need, you've gotten a giant portfolio right here, within the nation's capital.
MAYOR BOWSER: Certainly.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I need to ask you in regards to the danger of political violence. Homeland Safety has warned your entire nation ought to basically be ready for extra political violence. How are you planning for it right here in D.C.?
MAYOR BOWSER: Effectively, we, because the nation's capital, we're form of at all times on excessive alert, as-as a goal of all method of political violence. And sadly, we have seen that of a home nature. Within the final a number of years–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Supreme Court docket justices, January 6.
MAYOR BOWSER: January 6, the occasions of surrounding the homicide of George Floyd, all, however we additionally see, we see demonstrations of First Modification protests all year long. Some you do not hear about however our police are on the market working day by day to ensure folks can peacefully protest, but in addition maintain our metropolis secure. So it's an ongoing high-level interplay with our federal companions, together with federal Homeland Safety, all of the federal businesses which are in D.C., however our Metropolitan Police Division is there to help them, in lots of circumstances and main others.
MARGARET BRENNAN: All proper, Mayor Bowser, thanks in your time.
MAYOR BOWSER: Thanks.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Thanks for coming in immediately.
MAYOR BOWSER: Thanks. My pleasure.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And we can be proper again with extra Face the Nation.