Helping Hands for Homeownership Act of 2004

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4363) to facilitate self-help housing homeownership opportunities, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4363, the Helping Hands for Homeownership Act of 2004. I would like to begin by thanking the financial services chairman, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Oxley), the ranking member, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), and the housing subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) for expeditiously considering this bill and, of course, my co-author, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Ford).

Mr. Speaker, it is very fitting that we are taking this measure up this week for three reasons. First, of course, June is Homeownership Month. A lot of things have changed in American culture over the years, but one thing has not, homeownership remains the cornerstone of the American dream. The chance to own, the chance to enhance and improve your own home to suit your needs and reflect your own values and personality is very much at the heart of the American ideal. But it is more than that. Homeownership can be the foundation of vibrant neighborhoods and communities. People take better care of their neighborhood when they have a direct stake, financially and otherwise in that neighborhood's future.

I think one of the greatest responsibilities we have in Congress is to make it possible for more Americans from all backgrounds and all walks of life to grasp on to the dream of home ownership. In other words, we must work to make that dream come true, very true, and not just for the most affluent among us.

The second reason it is so appropriate for us to take up and pass this measure today is that it re-enforces the role and the need for non profit and private organizations to help meet this challenge. Last year, the most famous of these organizations, Habitat For Humanity, dedicated its fifty-thousandth and fifty-thousand and first homes in the United States. In its 27-plus years of work, work that began in very modest, very humble ways, Habitat has provided affordable housing for some 750,000 people worldwide.

In the U.S. alone, Habitat has more than 1,670 affiliates covering approximately 80 percent of our population. One of the top producing affiliates is in my home State of Wisconsin. The Milwaukee area Habitat For Humanity built 21 new homes in 2002 alone. That means 21 Milwaukee families realized the American dream. And many Milwaukee neighborhoods gained new stakeholders in the push for a brighter future.

Habitat is the model for faith-based initiatives that Congress does and

should support. It fulfills its mission not merely by preaching but by example, by putting its compassion to work. As one of its most recent publications states, ``Just as Jesus Christ healed the sick, fed the hungry and restored the soul sick one person at a time, Habitat's strength is in its commitment to eliminate substandard housing one family at a time.''

Now, most Americans have heard of Habitat for Humanity. They probably have not heard, however, of how Congress has helped Habitat enhance and expand its work. For example, in 1996, Congress created the Self-Help Home Ownership Opportunity program, called the SHOP program for short. This program offers competitive grants for non profit groups like habitat for humanity to help with land and infrastructure experiences, clearly the two big-ticket items that are necessary for home building.

SHOP funds help fund local groups across the country, help them acquire sites for affordable home and community building. These funds help housing advocates leverage their precious resources and make them go much further, reaching more families and lifting more communities.

However, recent legal interpretation of the 1996 law is jeopardizing the chance for some local groups like many of Habitat's affiliates, to participate in SHOP funded bills. In its 2004 notice of funds available, HUD has concluded that H.R. 4363, the SHOP program, the sweat equity hours that must be fulfilled by the benefiting homeowners, must be earned constructing their own home.

The problem for groups like Habitat is that they are often built on a community building mission and model. Their programs allow folks to earn sweat equity hours on their homes but also the homes of others. For instance, many habitat affiliates run blitz builds where they build a house in one day. Clearly, 24 hours will not be enough for a homeowner to meet the sweat equity requirements under the SHOP interpretation. So Habitat allows for them to participate in other builds to gain additional hours.

In fact, by working on other family's homes, the program has an even greater community development value. It helps build a sense of neighborhood.

H.R. 4363, introduced by the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Ford), and myself, makes a technical correction to the SHOP Act and restores the original intent of Congress when it created this program. It allows for blitz build and other community building models to continue the access to precious seed money that SHOP offers.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, the timing of today's action is appropriate because this bill also honors one of our most widely respected colleagues in the House. Have had the distinct pleasure of serving with the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter) on both the Committee on Financial Services and Committee on International Relation. He is, as anyone here will attest, one of the brightest and most genuine individuals serving in Congress.

My colleague from Nebraska has made his mark in many different areas, but perhaps one of his greatest legacies of the creation of the USDA section 502 single family housing loan guarantee program. Thousands of Americans living in rural parts of country have been able to achieve homeownership through this program. I am honored that this bill will rename the section 502 program after its founder, the gentleman from Nebraska (Congressman Bereuter). I cannot think of a more fitting tribute. I am honored to have had the chance to work with him for the past few years. I wish he and his family nothing but the best.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cantor).

(Mr. CANTOR asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, this week we began with the consideration of a constitutional amendment on the institution of marriage, an important dialog, I felt, for this body. We had a good debate on both sides of the aisle on the definition of marriage. I thank my colleagues for keeping the debate on the subject, very civil, and handled in a very respectable way.

I personally was disappointed we did not succeed in getting to the consideration of the text of the amendment. As to the timing of the amendment, people kept questioning again and again, Why did you bring it up now? It was clearly determined by the fact that we had activist judges, beginning in the middle of May, in Massachusetts who radically redefined what marriage over the thousands of years has been interpreted to be.

Right now there are lawsuits pending in 11 other States, and it is just a matter of time before the definition of marriage between a man and a woman will be destroyed in all 50 States. Amending the Constitution to protect marriage is the only viable option left to Congress. It is a debate we did not seek, but it was one that was brought to us by another branch of Government by activist judges who determined what that definition is.

It is important for the legislative branch, directly elected by the American people, to express itself on this issue. We simply are not going to shirk from our responsibility to protect marriage, and we deserve to have a say in the matter. Although we were blocked from bringing it to the floor, I can assure everyone it will be back. The issue is not simply going away.

In addition, we completed last night the Australia free-trade bill, a very important bill managed by Chairman Grassley. The outcome of the vote was 80 to 16 last night on final passage.

The significance of this bill was stated on the floor last night and it centers on the fact that two-way trade between the United States and Australia is at a level of about $28 billion each year. We have a little over $89 billion surplus with Australia, which is the greatest with any nation. More than 99 percent of our exports from Australia will enter duty-free once this agreement goes into effect.

The agreement we approved yesterday in this body is expected to produce an increase of about $2 billion annually in trade for both nations. That means the bill we passed last night will result

in the creation of about 40,000 new jobs in my own State of Tennessee.

Australia is a very important market. Tennesseans exported more to Australia than to France last year. Tennessean companies exported $225 million to Australia, which is approximately a 10-percent increase from 1999.

The bill itself is even more than increasing business opportunities. Australia indeed is one of our most steadfast allies and a key partner in the war on terror. I had the opportunity to talk to the Prime Minister of Australia last night after completion of the bill and thanked him for that support of the broad coalition that has been assembled across the world to fight this war on terror.

Australians have fought beside Americans in every major conflict in the last 100 years, and this agreement strengthens that already close bond forged between two old friends.

Thirdly, this week the Senate took an important step with respect to the FSC/ETI, the JOBS bill, by sending it to conference. The Senate had passed a bill. The House had passed a bill. There had been obstruction to going to conference, but we came to an agreement yesterday and the bill has been sent to conference. It is timely legislation. Every month we do not pass the legislation there is a 1-percent Euro tax or a tariff increase each and every month. It is now at 9 percent. That is unfair. It is unfair to consumers and it is unfair to manufacturers.

Once we work this bill through conference and the President signs it and it becomes law, it will create jobs. So there has been real progress in that regard.

Fourthly, this week we passed H.R. 4363, the Helping Hands for Homeownership Act. This bill came out of the Banking Committee, which is chaired by Senator Shelby, and it will go to the President's desk.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support for H.R. 4363, the Helping Hands for Homeownership Act of 2004. This bill will be considered under the suspension of the rules. This legislation passed the House Financial Services Committee, by a unanimous bipartisan voice vote on June 3, 2004.

This legislation was introduced by the distinguished gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Green). This bill will simply make a technical correction to the ``Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1996'' to permit families who receive homes from groups such as Habitat for Humanity (Habitat) to fulfill the ``sweat equity'' requirement for receiving Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) funds by helping to build other Habitat homes in the community, in addition to their own.

In 1996, Congress created the SHOP, which provides competitive grants for groups such as Habitat to help with land and infrastructure expenses. In order to receive SHOP funds, the recipients of a home from groups such as Habitat must contribute a certain amount of physical labor to the home-building process, also known as ``sweat equity.'' In FY 2004, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the first time interpreted the law to preclude the families who receive these homes from fulfilling their ``sweat equity'' requirements by working on program homes other than their own.

This new interpretation could cause problems for Habitat affiliates all over the country. Habitat allows its home recipients to obtain its ``sweat equity'' requirement by working on Habitat homes for others in the community, as well as their own home. H.R. 4363 makes the needed technical change to make sure that Habitat and similar programs can continue to promote homeownership.

Furthermore, H.R. 4363 also contains a provision which names the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Section 502 single-family loan guarantee program after my friend and colleague, the distinguished gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter). This program, like Habitat, promotes the goal of homeownership among those who might otherwise find it out of reach. Those are precisely the people that Mr. Bereuter has spent his career serving, and this provision represents a small thank- you for those efforts.

As many of you know, the distinguished gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter) is leaving the House at the end of August to become the President of the Asia Foundation. He was elected to the House in 1978 to represent the constituents of the First District of Nebraska. Mr. Bereuter has served on the House Financial Services Committee and its predecessor, the House Banking Committee, since 1981. During his service on these committees, he has authored a number of significant bipartisan bills which were enacted into law.

One of his most successful legislative accomplishments is the USDA Section 502 single-family loan guarantee program. This initiative was enacted into law as part of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act in 1990 and authorizes the Department of Agriculture to guarantee a single-family loan made by a commercial lender to moderate- income families in small towns and rural areas where conventional mortgage financing may not always be available.

Since the program's creation in 1991, 316,625 single-family loans have been guaranteed by the USDA. The State of Ohio has been a major beneficiary with 629 single-family loans valued at over $58 million having been guaranteed in Ohio under this program so far this year. This program, like Mr. Bereuter's legislative career, has been a huge success.

In conclusion, I want to urge your support for H.R. 4363. This bipartisan bill contains important provisions to promote homeownership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4363, the Helping Hands for Homeownership Act.

I am pleased to be a cosponsor of this very important legislation.

The legislation corrects an interpretation by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Fiscal Year 2004 which prevents families who received Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program funds from fulfilling their ``sweat equity'' requirement by working on other program homes.

The legislation corrects this interpretation by HUD and clarifies Congress' intent to permit organizations like Habitat for Humanity to allow their homeowners to work on other homes to fulfill their sweat equity requirements.

Each Habitat for Humanity Chapter has established its own requirement for sweat equity hours.

The Habitat for Humanity chapter in Grand Island, Nebraska, requires their homeowners to put in 500 hours of sweat equity.

Mr. Speaker, there have been several instances where the homeowners have put most of their sweat equity into other Habitat for Humanity Homes to fulfill the 500 hour requirement.

I would like to give you two examples.

One Habitat family's home was primarily built by a local high school as learning project.

The family did put sweat equity hours into their home, but had to put the additional required hours into other Habitat homes to complete their sweat equity.

Under this interpretation by HUD, the family would not have been allowed to live in this home since they would not have been able to complete the 500 hours of sweat equity that was required.

Another example from the same chapter was of a family who had completed most of their sweat equity hours in other Habitat homes in the community before construction was to begin on their home.

Before construction was to begin on their home, another Habitat home that had been completed earlier became available when a Habitat family moved out of town, allowing this family an opportunity to purchase the home and move in.

Had this interpretation by HUD been in place, the family would not have been allowed to move into this home because they had not put 500 hours of sweat equity into this Habitat home.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Mr. Green for introducing this important legislation.

I would also like to thank Chairman Oxley and Ranking Member Frank for including an amendment to this legislation that will change the name of the USDA Section 502 Single Family Housing Loan Guarantee Program to the Doug Bereuter Section 502 Single Family Housing Loan Guarantee Program.

My colleague, Mr. Bereuter, was the legislative author of this very important program which was enacted on November 28, 1990.

Since 1990, the program has assisted low- to moderate-income borrowers in obtaining over 316,000 single-family home loans in rural and non-metropolitan communities.

Mr. Bereuter will be retiring from the House at the end of August, 2004, and this is an appropriate way to thank Mr. Bereuter for all of his hard work on this essential program that has helped thousands of families become homeowners in rural and non-metropolitan areas.

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

Mr. Speaker, today the House takes up important housing legislation to help communities across America achieve homeownership. The bill we are taking up today was recently passed by a voice vote from the Committee on Financial Services.

H.R. 4363, Helping Hands For Homeownership Act of 2004, introduced by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Green) would make a technical correction for the Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1996 to permit families who receive homes from groups such as Habitat for Humanity to fulfill the sweat equity requirements for receiving self- help homeownership opportunity program funds or SHOP funds by helping to build other Habitat homes in the community in addition to their own.

SHOP provides competitive grants for groups such as Habitat to help with land and infrastructure expenses. This change fulfills the original intent of Congress and corrects the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development interpretation which create a hurdle to home ownership, the exact opposite of HUD's mission.

In 1996, Congress created the SHOP program to provide grants to non- profit groups like Habitat for Humanity to help with land and infrastructure expenses. However, because of a new interpretation of SHOP by HUD, Habitat's involvement in the program was placed in jeopardy. Under the new interpretation, families are required to contribute sweat equity labor hours towards the construction of their own home. The legislation of the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Green) changes this to allow families to accumulate their sweat equity hours by working on both their own homes and other Habitat homes.

These grants are essential in helping groups like Habitat carry out their mission of building stronger communities. By correcting this problem Congress, will remove a major barrier to home ownership for low income families and give them a chance to help other families in their communities.

Habitat for Humanity's headquarters located Georgia provides information, training and a variety of other support services to Habitat affiliates throughout the world. Habitat for Humanity International is a non-profit, ecumenical, Christian housing ministry. They seek to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from around the world and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Habitat invites people of all backgrounds, races and religions to build houses together in partnership with families in need.

Habitat has built more than 150,000 houses around the world providing more than 750,000 people in more than 3,000 communities with safe, decent, and affordable shelter. They were founded in 1976 by Millard Fuller, along with his wife Linda.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that this bill be passed.

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

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