Energy Efficient Housing Technical Correction Act

Mr. President, this week the Senate completed action on S. Con. Res. 95, the fiscal year 2005 budget resolution, under the tremendous leadership of Chairman Nickles. As we look over the last 4 days, we have had a very busy course with debating and disposing of 64 amendments to the budget resolution. There were 25 rollcall votes in relation to the amendments, including passage.

We had a long day of voting yesterday until the early hours of this morning with 19 votes, and Senator Nickles guided the budget resolution to passage early this morning by a vote of 51 to 45.

In addition to that business, we were able to clear executive nominations. The Senate confirmed 17 nominations. Two of the nominations confirmed were district judges from Arizona and Mississippi. I am pleased we were able to clear these judicial nominations, and I look forward to continuing this process for the remaining nominations that are on the calendar.

Indeed, there are approximately 22 judges on the calendar, of which I believe 15 or so should move expeditiously. I will continue to work with the Democratic leader in scheduling these when we return from the recess. I understand the Democratic leader mentioned additional nominations, and I will be consulting with him on those as well. He mentioned them earlier today and last night, and we will be consulting on those nominations.

Late last night, as I mentioned earlier, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Mark McClellan to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Yesterday, the Senate also spoke with one voice with regard to a tragedy, the deadly attack yesterday against the people of Spain. Our condolences were expressed. We had a moment of silence yesterday to honor the people of Spain. In addition, we sponsored a resolution that condemned this

cowardly act. Our prayers continue to go out to the leaders and the people of Spain over what we know is a very difficult time.

In addition, we consider other matters that people do not see very much, and I won't go through all of them, but we passed S. 741, the animal drug bill that Senator Sessions sponsored that provides for new drugs on what are called minor animals.

We passed H.R. 3195 just this morning, a bill that extends Small Business Administration programs. That is Senator Snowe's bill.

We passed H.R. 254, which are amendments to the U.S.-Mexico Agreement on the Border Environment Cooperation Commission and the North American Development Bank. Senator Hutchison was instrumental in clearing this bill.

The list goes on. I did want to reflect the amount of work we were able to pull through over the course of the week.

In addition, we were able to ratify the United States-Japan Tax Treaty reported by Chairman Lugar and the Foreign Relations Committee. This is a very important treaty.

We just passed Senator Alexander's S. 1881, the Medical Devices and Technical Correction Act.

Senator Specter secured passage of S. 2043, which designates a Federal building in Harrisburg, PA, as the ``Ronald Reagan Federal Building.''

Senator Shelby assisted in passage of H.R. 3724.

So we had a very productive week by anyone's measure. I wanted to notice the hard work and efforts of all of my colleagues with respect to these legislative and executive accomplishments.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3724) to amend section 220 of the National Housing Act to make a technical correction to restore allowable increases in the maximum mortgage limits for FHA-insured mortgages for multifamily housing projects to cover increased costs of installing a solar energy system or residential energy conservation measures.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation, and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I would like to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Oxley), the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Ney), and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), the ranking members, for agreeing to bring our bill to the floor so expeditiously. I

also would like to thank my friend the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) and my friend, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons) for joining me in introducing this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, during the 107th Congress, we passed the FHA Downpayment Simplification Act, which streamlined the downpayment process and increased the base mortgage amount limits for FHA-insured loans. By increasing access to these loans, Congress helped make the dream of owning a home a reality for many first-time homebuyers.

In passing this legislation, however, we made a seemingly inadvertent change to the law regarding what kind of residential projects qualify for increased loan payments. We restricted the projects that are eligible for increased loan limits to those which contain less than five units and take steps to improve energy efficiency.

Before the FHA Downpayment Simplification Act, this provision read that increased loan limits could be granted to projects that contained less than 5 units or are taking steps to improve energy efficiency. The net effect is large projects that want to employ energy-efficient measures are not eliminated from receiving FHA mortgage insurance.

The need for additional high-quality, affordable housing cannot be overstated. Our bill will correct the mistake and restore FHA mortgage insurance for large residential projects that are also energy efficient.

This is win-win legislation that will help stimulate construction of more responsibly built, affordable housing units, create jobs, and encourage investment, and it obviously is also environmentally responsible.

Again, I would like to thank my colleagues for bringing this bill to the floor so quickly, and I encourage its swift passage.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I would again like to thank the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney). We have worked on a number of issues together and it is always done very professionally. I am always proud to be by her side on legislation, and this is one example. I again thank our leadership on both sides of the aisle. I urge passage of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, today I join my colleague and cosponsor of this bill, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays), in support of the Energy Efficient Housing Technical Correction Act.

This legislation will provide incentives for builders to include environmentally friendly additions to multi-family housing developments, by making projects eligible for 20 percent more FHA mortgage insurance. This is a noncontroversial, technical fix that corrects an oversight in the legislation enacted in the 107th Congress. This legislation is also included in the comprehensive energy bill where it received bipartisan, bicameral support.

Enactment of H.R. 3724 will allow increases in the maximum mortgage limits for FHA insurance for multi-family housing projects that choose to install solar energy systems or residential energy conservation measures. Currently, housing projects with five or fewer units are permitted FHA insurance in amounts up to 20 percent higher than the standard limit for the purpose of making environmental improvements. This legislation on the floor today allows multi-family developments with more than five units to be eligible for this same higher FHA coverage for environmental improvements. Higher FHA coverage was allowed for environmental improvements for multi-family housing prior to the 107th Congress when it was inadvertently deleted.

It only makes sense that projects with more than five units, where the environmental benefits are greater, should be eligible for the extra FHA insurance.

My colleagues who work on housing and environmental issues know that including solar energy systems and conservation measures can add significant building costs. This legislation will provide an important incentive for builders to make these additional investments that benefit their residents and communities as a whole.

It is my hope that this legislation will become law as soon as possible so that its benefits can begin to flow into the community. Whether Members represent urban, suburban or rural districts, I am certain that the benefits of this legislation will potentially be felt by many of our constituents.

Finally I want to thank the leadership of the committee, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Oxley) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) and also my colleague and friend, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) for his work on this issue. It is my pleasure to work on many important environmental causes with him. And I appreciate his dedication to clean air, clean water, and conservation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation and urge a yes vote from my colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to clarify the reason for my absence from this Chamber on January 27, January 28, February 3, and February 4, 2004. I was at my home in Florida recovering from elbow surgery and, unfortunately, was unable to place votes on those days.

As such, please let the Record show that I would have voted as follows:

H. Res. 507: yes

H. Res. 157: yes

H.R. 2264: yes

H.J. Res. 84: yes

H. Res. 274: yes

H.R. 3724: yes

H.R. 3030, final passage: yes; Scott amendment No. 1: no; Scott amendment No. 2: no; Woolsey amendment: no

H.R. 1385: yes

H.R. 3493: yes

S. 610: yes

S. 1920, final passage: yes; Sensenbrenner amendment: yes; Baldwin substitute: no; motion to recommit: no.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Banking Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 3724 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.