Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev., issued the following statement regarding President Obama's recent address to the nation.

"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.

"In normal times, housing accounts for 18 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, and nothing packs a bigger local economic impact than home building. Constructing 100 average single-family homes generates more than 300 full-time jobs, $23.1 million in wage and business income and $8.9 million in federal, state and local tax revenue.

"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."