Waiving a requirement of clause 6(a) of Rule XIII with respect to consideration of certain resolutions reported from the Committee on Rules.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 974 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to my friend, the gentleman from Texas, Representative Sessions. All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I also ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials into the Record.

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

Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 974 provides a structured rule for consideration of H.R. 3521, the Public Housing Asset Management Improvement Act of 2007. The rule provides 1 hour of general debate controlled by the Committee on Financial Services. The rule makes in order two amendments printed in the Rules Committee report accompanying this resolution. The rule also provides one motion to recommit, with or without instructions.

Mr. Speaker, I am especially pleased that the rule makes in order an amendment offered by my colleague from Florida, Representative Kendrick Meek. His amendment ensures that in extreme cases where HUD is forced to take over control of a housing authority, it must honor any and all existing agreements between the local housing authority and tenant associations. This amendment is needed in south Florida and throughout the country, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, the skyrocketing number of foreclosures and the lack of affordable housing are some of the greatest financial problems our Nation faces today. In Broward County, the county in which I live in Florida, foreclosure rates tripled in 2007 alone. It is obvious this situation has grown beyond a crisis and extends into our entire economy.

One group of service providers that is suffering significantly from this economic crisis is our public housing authorities. For this reason I support this rule and underlying legislation that will provide flexibility to public housing authorities during our Nation's housing crisis so that they are able to sufficiently meet the needs of our constituents.

There are approximately 3,300 individual public housing authorities in the United States serving 1.2 million households. Low- and middle- income individuals and families making between 50 percent and 80 percent of the median income level in their community are eligible for Federal assistance. Without this assistance, literally millions of people would be homeless or in some cases even worse. Despite this known reality, HUD recently issued a ruling which will result in funding cuts for over 800 housing authorities throughout the country. If the House does not act, then 26 percent of the housing authorities in the United States will lose significant funding because of HUD's decision. To make up for the anticipated funding shortfalls, the underlying legislation gives housing authorities the flexibility to transfer funds from their capital to operational accounts. This move will ensure that housing authorities will not be forced to close down existing public housing units because of HUD's short-sightedness.

Finally and importantly, the legislation also reaffirms the role that tenants play in determining where they live and how those communities are governed.

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the problems addressed in this legislation are not the only obstacles public housing authorities have been forced to deal with over the last 7 years. As my colleagues know, the current administration has a long record of failing to meet America's low- and middle-income housing needs. For example, funding shortfalls have become regular staples in the President's public housing budgets, while the administration continues to neglect the more than $18 billion backlog in deferred maintenance for public housing units, allowing the deterioration of public housing units to the point that many of them are completely uninhabitable. This is simply unacceptable.

In my district some housing units are literally falling apart. Roofs are leaking and in some instances even caving in. Appliances are broken and decades, not years, old. Units are deteriorating, unattractive, and lacking in some of the most basic amenities. Even more is that security in many of the public housing communities has been consistently disappearing. Residents in some public housing units in my congressional district alone are literally afraid to leave their homes.

Yes, we are working to address these and other public housing issues. But we will not be able to fully address these issues if the underlying legislation does not pass.

Mr. Speaker, this housing bill was reported out favorably by the Financial Services Committee, the whole committee, by voice vote. The minority members of the committee did not offer any amendments during markup, and not one Republican amendment was submitted to the Rules Committee.

It is my sincere hope that the House will pass this rule and underlying bill with that same overwhelming bipartisan support. I urge my colleagues to support this rule and the Public Housing Asset Management Improvement Act of 2007 as we work to improve public housing throughout America.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am hard put to move hurriedly, so I will yield myself such time as I may consume. I am also hard put, Mr. Speaker, to restrain myself and not get involved with the ongoing discussion and the numerous ads that I saw during the previous recess that were very much in error concerning the House of Representatives' actions on the FISA legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I served for 7 years on the House Select Committee on Intelligence. I find it hard to believe that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, or that anyone, would believe that the distinguished Chair of the Intelligence Committee, Silvestre Reyes, the distinguished Chair of the Judiciary Committee, John Conyers, the distinguished Chair of the Homeland Security Committee, Bennie Thompson, their counterparts in the United States Senate, all combined would want to put this Nation in jeopardy in any way.

Enough of the fearmongering. Enough of making people think that something is going to happen that is not going to happen. The simple truth is that there will be legislation that will be legislation fashioned by the House and by the United States Senate and not by the United States Senate and not by this administration without those of us who have actual concerns about the United States Constitution having our say in that regard.

Civil liberties and civil rights are critical to America, and the foundational aspects of our country allow full airing before conclusions are made by people that have oriented the most secretive administration that I know of in the history of this country.

I won't go much further on that score on the previous question, Mr. Speaker. I return now to what we have heard about why we must pass this rule and the Public Housing Asset Management Improvement Act, which we are here about today. It is nice to have the nuances. It is nice to have the process. It is nice to have the procedural opportunities that the minority takes, and correctly they can bring up those matters which are not on the agenda today. I can assure my friends on the other side that the Speaker of the House of Representatives and those in this body, including the Blue Dogs, will address FISA legislation, and it will be appropriately undertaken to protect every American, every American's civil liberties and civil rights, and more important, to protect the Constitution of the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, the American people deserve an opportunity to improve their lives. Transitional public housing opportunities have served this purpose for decades, nurturing families and yielding such leaders as some of us who serve in this Congress. Public housing authorities must be empowered to effectively and flexibly manage their assets with appropriate tenant oversight. My colleague on the other side mentioned private sector tools. I am fascinated by the notion that the private sector, which all of us respect, has been so careful with all of their management. If their management has been so successful, why is it, then, that there is a housing crisis in this Nation with reference to foreclosure?

This morning, Mr. Speaker, and I take the liberty of doing this because occasionally we come to the floor and talk about different matters, but a distant cousin of mine in Fort Worth, Texas, called me. Her name is Sharon Samuels. And Sharon shared her story with me about her involvement with her mortgage company, Countrywide. She has been in her home since 1993, she said, and in addition, thereto, had never taken out any of her equity out of her home. She has three children, all of them that she has managed to educate. And she was pursued by Countrywide to enter into a mortgage set of circumstances that has now led from her mortgage rising from $1,100 to $2,200 and foreclosure proceedings going forward without any forbearance or opportunity for her to do anything

other than lose all of her assets that she had developed during the years since 1993. I mention that because that is the private sector that has put an individual in a home, in a position of being in need of this kind of stuff that we are talking about here today. Hardworking Americans families should not suffer as a result of HUD's failed policies.

I applaud my colleagues for joining together in this effort that will benefit the low-income families, the elderly and the disabled Americans who live in public housing. This bill has been endorsed by all the groups that represent not only public housing administrators and agencies but also tenant advocacy groups. The bill is supported by the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association, the National Association of Housing and Development Officials, National Housing Law Project, and the National Training and Information Center.

But guess who doesn't support it? Some people on the other side of the aisle who had an opportunity in the Financial Services Committee to offer amendments if they so choose, and they chose not to do so, and yet they will come here today and say that we are lacking on our side of the aisle in providing the necessary standards and providing the necessary tools for people to live in public housing.

Mr. Speaker, 15 years ago, I ran for the United States Congress, and among the things that I said was I would try to improve public housing in my congressional district and throughout this Nation. I don't feel that I have succeeded. Twelve of those years have been spent under Republic administrations that were controlled by Republicans, 12 years in the House, 8 years just now, ending soon, happily, in November so that these $18 billion backlogs and so that housing won't collapse and fall down around people.

This is the same administration that didn't answer in New Orleans. But what have we done? In the limited time that we are here, and I continue to hear criticism about what we have not done. What we have done in the House, we passed the section 8 voucher reform program that increases the number of families, veterans, and seniors that are able to afford safe homes by adding 20,000 new vouchers. We did expand the Homeownership Act of 2007 that allows the population of borrowers to have access to the Federal Housing Administration. In this House we have passed the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007, which creates a fund to use and build more affordable housing for low- income families and families who have lost their homes to foreclosure.

They keep saying that the agenda isn't good. We passed the Housing Finance Reform Act and expanded the size of loans that can be issued by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. We passed the Mortgage Reform and Anti- Predatory Lending Act that increases transparency and heightens standards to keep brokers from practicing predatory lending. Save us from these people who argue that asset management is a landmark program change now several years in the making? You bet it is.

What I don't understand is why is it poor people are always the ones that have to take it right on the chin every time this Nation gets itself in a crisis. The National Training and Information Center sponsored by La Raza; the Center for Community Change; the Chicago Rehab Network; Cleveland Housing Tenant Association; Fall River Housing Joint Tenants Council; Legal Aid Justice Center; Miami Workers Center, all sorts of organizations. I will include all of the letters of all of the organizations I have for the Record.

National Training

and Information Center,

Chicago, IL, February 7, 2008.

Hon. Nancy Pelosi,

Speaker of the House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Dear Madam Speaker, The undersigned 150 democratic

grassroots resident organizing groups and allies would like

to convey our strong support for protecting the rights of

public housing residents to organize, as delineated in H.R.

3521, the Public Housing Asset Management Improvement Act of

2007. As the transition to a system of asset management is

one of the most significant shifts facing the administration

of public housing in many years, it is more important than

ever that public housing residents are involved in the

decisionmaking processes at the local and national levels.

In April of 2007, the National Training & Information

Center (NTIC) submitted a letter to Congress endorsed by

local, statewide, and national organizations in protest of

recent attempts to undermine the efforts of resident and

community organizations to participate in the decisions

around public housing that impact their communities and their

lives. One of those attempts was a notice by HUD on March 1,

2007 to streamline the process to waive 24 CFR 964, which

outlines the rights of residents to organize, for PHAs

transitioning to asset management. Section 4 of H.R. 3521 is

critical in order to ensure that the congressionally

sanctioned rights to organize for public housing residents

are protected.

The NTIC network is of the perspective that residents must

be central to the discourse around policies that impact

them--both at the local and national level. Section 4 of this

bill will ensure that the voices of public housing residents

are not lost in the implementation of asset management. Over

the past year, NTIC has brought together public housing

residents and allies from 38 cities to identify the most

pressing areas for reform of public housing policy. The right

to organize and meaningful resident participation are among

the highest priorities for residents across the country. In

order to make asset management work for everyone, it is

critical that residents are involved in decisions around its

implementation.

The undersigned 150 local, statewide, and national

organizations would like to convey our support for the

principles outlined in Section 4 of H.R. 3521. Namely, we

feel strongly that residents should have a right to organize

in public housing and should be meaningfully and

substantively involved in the decisions that impact their

lives--both at the local and national level. Specifically, it

is critical that the rights bestowed by 24 CFR 964 not be

undermined by the transition to asset management. We hope

that we can rely on your support for these principles.

Access Living--Chicago, IL.

Annapolis Tenant Task Force--Boston, MA.

Beacon Glen Resident Association--Cincinnati, OH.

Bethel New Life--Chicago, IL.

Bethune Village Resident Council--Daytona Beach, FL.

Border Fair Housing & Economic Justice Center--El Paso,

Texas

Bowen Homes Resident Association--Atlanta, GA.

Cabrini Green Rowhouse Council--Chicago, IL.

California Coalition for Rural Housing--California State

Center for Community Change--National

Central Advisory Council--Chicago, IL.

Central Illinois Organizing Project--Central Illinois

Chicago Coalition for the Homeless--Chicago, IL.

Chicago Rehab Network--Chicago, IL.

Cleveland Housing Resident Association--Cleveland, TN.

Clinton Springs Resident Association--Cincinnati, OH.

Coalition to Protect Public Housing--Chicago, IL.

Communities United for Action--Cincinnati, OH.

Community Voices Heard--New York, NY.

Connecticut Legal Services--Connecticut State

Consumer Action--National

Crossroads Urban Center--Salt Lake City, UT.

Detroit United Organizing for Power--Detroit, MI.

District of Columbia Grassroots Empowerment Project--

Washington, DC.

Empower DC--Washington, DC.

Empowering & Strengthening Ohio's People--Cleveland, OH.

Erie Tenant Council--Erie, PA.

Everywhere & Now Public Housing Residents Organizing

Nationally Together--National

Fall River Housing Joint Tenants Council Inc.--Fall River,

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from Florida for yielding me this time, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

This bill is real simple. It's real simple. For several years there was a negotiation with HUD to look at the best practices across this country from people who are in the housing industry to determine best how to go about and manage assets of housing units. This bill is all about taking away the best practices that exist for nongovernment housing, the rest of the industry, because it will take money away from people who don't engage in best practices. Of course it will take money away from them. But what this is all about is to try to take a negotiation that has happened for about 7 years from what the previous Congresses have passed to say we think that public housing needs to raise its standards to where we do have proper public housing, public housing that works, public housing that can pass the smell test of asset management.

Now my good friends, led by our Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, want to say forget the standards. Forget the standards of the industry. If they have to live up to those standards of proper management, of best practices, do you realize what that would mean to us? We couldn't pass those audits; so we will lose our money. So this rule and this new change that we are having here that's called the Public Housing Asset Management Improvement Act of 2007 is all about trying to say forget trying to do something that's better. Forget following standards that have been established in the public sector. We don't want those to apply. So now we're going to pass a rule and a law that says you don't have to do that because if you did, you would lose money.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition. I rise in opposition not only to the rule, which I believe is unnecessarily restrictive, but also to the provisions in this bill and the underlying legislation that unilaterally and at the last minute seeks to abuse the Congress's power and to undo specific parts of a process that have previously been carefully negotiated over years with the private sector best practices and brokered over the last decade to make public housing more accountable for its spending and more accountable to the public housing units that we don't want to go into disrepair in the United States of America.

In 1998 Congress passed the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act, which among other things required a deliberate and negotiated rule-making process to bring asset management at our Nation's public housing administrations up to a reasonable standard. What we are here to do today is to say we don't want that standard.

And you're right. The gentleman from Florida is right. Public housing units that cannot meet the standards would lose money. That's why we talk about waste, fraud, and abuse. People that do not use the money that has been given them by this Congress, by the taxpayer to work in the best interests, we thought, I think, as we vote to spend money, of people who are in public housing, who, through some sometimes no fault of their own, have to end

up in public housing and find out they are in a rat-infested, bad housing project because asset management standards aren't followed. Amazing.

By adopting widespread private sector common practices such as project-based budgeting and accounting to ensure that costs are known, managed, and maintained at a reasonable level, which is what the current bill is about, which is what we're going to undo, Congress wisely gave public housing administrations the tools they needed, and just like private sector tools, to manage their own finances better, bringing them into line with every other operator of subsidized housing in this country and ensuring that spending moneys to support their tenant and tenants remain the highest priority. We are going to do away with that today. That's what we are going to do away with, and we call that new and approved. I call that a sham and disrespectful of the residents whom we are trying to help.

Today's legislation would overturn these longstanding negotiations and turn back the clock for public housing administrations nationwide by eliminating any restrictions on the amount of management fees they could charge, promoting inefficiency, reducing the level of funding available to tenants, and decreasing oversight and accountability. In other words, making sure that these public housing agencies stay on the watch list for waste, fraud, and abuse rather than using private sector standards of best practices to make them better.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot understand why this self-proclaimed most honest, ethical, and open Congress in history would use this time today to bring this legislation to the floor to make financial management of mid-sized public housing administrations less transparent, less responsive, and not even following the standards established by the private sector and by unilaterally overturning a lengthy and fairly negotiated rule-making process. But here we are.

In fact, if Speaker Pelosi really wanted to demonstrate her commitment to honest, open, and ethical government, she could be using this time instead to take up a resolution that I and over 150 of my Republican colleagues have cosponsored, authored by my good friend, Representative Jack Kingston from Georgia, which is a continuation of House Republicans' long-term commitment to reform the earmark process. Congressman Kingston's bill would create a Joint Committee on Earmark Reform to conduct a full study of the earmark practices of the House, the Senate, and executive branch. Upon completion of this study, the joint committee would file a report of its findings and its recommendations. Most importantly, until this report is filed, the House would put in place an immediate moratorium on the consideration of all earmarks.

By the way, that's the people's money. That's the people's money that people really back home are worried about.

Instead, Mr. Speaker, this House, which recently tied the record as the most closed Congress in history, with 49 closed rules so far in the 110th Congress, will consider this legislation that will impede the successful transition to, and implementation of, asset management by overturning a long negotiated process that is consistent with proper standards of the private sector.

I know that other bills like the bipartisan Senate legislation to give our Nation's intelligence services tools that they need to protect Americans against terrorists is also trying to be taken up by the House. But, instead, this Democrat leadership has chosen to miss yet another opportunity to provide Americans with greater security by instead allowing the Protect America Act to expire. If there is any question as to why the public holds Congress in such low regard, with only about one in five Americans approving the job that this House is doing, one need not look any further than the congressional calendar this week, again, this week, and examine what both the Democrat leadership and the House are doing and what we are neglecting to do.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to insert in the Record a Statement of Administrative Policy explaining their strong opposition to H.R. 3521's passage.

Executive Office of the President, Office of Management

and Budget,

Washington, DC, February 12, 2008.

Statement of Administration Policy

H.R. 3521--Public Housing Asset Management Improvement Act

The Administration is strongly committed to the successful

transition to and implementation of asset management for

Public Housing Agencies (PHAs). Asset management will adopt

widespread private sector practices, including project-based

budgeting and accounting, to assure costs are known, managed,

and maintained at reasonable levels--ensuring public housing

tenants are the first priority. However, the Administration

is deeply concerned that H.R. 3521, as reported by the House

Financial Services Committee, would severely undermine PHAs'

long-awaited conversion to asset management and the adoption

of conventional business practices. For the reasons that

follow, the Administration strongly opposes House passage of

I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and in favor of a bipartisan permanent solution that closes the terrorist loophole.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall Nos. 73 and 74, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on No. 73 and ``aye'' on No. 74.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 74, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

personal explanation

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.