Cantor was speaking to nearly 200 members of the Richmond Association of REALTORs. It was his second speech this week on economic issues.

“Before we start thinking about some other scheme that the
government can do to help us, let’s get government to stop harming us,” Cantor
said in response to a question from the audience about ways to increase purchases
of distressed housing.

Much of Cantor’s address repeated his remarks earlier this
week at Stanford University, where he called for the government to allow
companies to repatriate income back to the U.S. at a reduced tax rate to
stimulate the economy and discussed the need to cut regulations.

He also discussed the need to improve the housing market and suggested any GOP-led reforms to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be done
in a way that would not damage the real estate industry. The two government
entities back more than 90 percent of the nation’s mortgages.

“Our goal is to create an environment for the private sector
to engage in lending again, where the federal government has filled a void in
the market through Fannie and Freddie and FHA,” Cantor said.

“We will work to eliminate the systemic risk that GSEs pose
to our nation, but are committed to doing it in a way that does not jeopardize
the prospects for a rebound in the real estate industry,” he continued. “We
need smart regulations for mortgage applications that mitigate risk but do not close
the doors to homeownership to responsible borrowers.”