Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from this Chamber today. I would like the Record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes Nos. 521 and 522.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from this Chamber for one rollcall vote today. I would like the Record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote 520.

Mr. Speaker, I rise toy to discuss the devastating effect HIV/AIDS has had on the Latino community and communities of color across this country. Today, I am also pleased to be an original cosponsor of Congresswoman Hilda Solis' Concurrent Resolution to support the observance of National Latino AIDS Awareness Day. This bill was introduced at a pivotal time: the bedrock of our Nation's response to HIV/AIDS, the Ryan White CARE Act, expired last week on September 30, 2005.

Unfortunately, HIV/AIDS has a disproportionate stronghold in the Latino community. The numbers are disturbing. The CDC has reported that 43,171 people were diagnosed with AIDS in 2003. Twenty percent of those reported were Latino, yet Latinos represent only 14 percent of the population. In the past 3 years, the number of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses among Latinos increased more than 14 percent. This disparity is on track to continue to grow even greater because the latest statistics show that AIDS diagnoses among whites has decreased three percent from 2000 to 2003.

These trends are especially evident in our urban areas. According to the City of Chicago Department of Health, the 2003 AIDS rate was 32.9 per 100,000 people in Chicago. In the United States as a whole, the AIDS rate is half that.

Chicago's high rate reflects the prevalence of AIDS in communities of color. In 2003, the AIDS rate for African-Americans in Chicago was three times the AIDS rate of Whites. Latinos also have a higher AIDS rate than whites in Chicago.

This epidemic has left many of our metropolitan areas struggling to care for those affected by HIV/AIDS. Many of the minorities suffering disproportionately from HIV/AIDS do not have the access to the healthcare and other services they need. When Congress passed the Ryan White CARE act in 1990, we put in place programs that addressed these issues and, as a result, we have seen improvement in the way we treat and care for uninsured and underinsured people living with HIV/AIDS.

But more needs to be done. AIDS has placed our country in a state of emergency. Indeed, this notion is expressed in the title of the legislation, the ``Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency, CARE Act.'' This emergency requires the attention of the Congress, and I am pleased to join Congresswoman

Solis today in calling for the reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act and cosponsoring her bill to support the observance of National Latino AIDS Awareness Day.

Mr. Speaker, we need to recognize the disproportionate affect AIDS has on our communities of color, and I join my fellow Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus tonight to call on Congress to work swiftly to reauthorize and strengthen the Ryan White CARE Act and to make sure these programs are fully funded.

Mr. Speaker, due to a family illness, I was absent from this Chamber today.

I would like the Record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall votes Nos. 502 and 506. I would have also voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes Nos. 503, 505, 507 and 508.

Mr. Speaker, due to a family illness, I was absent from this Chamber today.

I would like the Record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall vote 499. I would have also voted ``yea'' on rollcall 497, 498, 500, and 501.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from this Chamber today. I would like the Record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes Nos. 494, 495 and 496.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce legislation today that continues the long fight to maintain state consumer protections for customers of national banks. In January 2004, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the primary regulator of national banks, introduced regulations to preempt the application of state laws and the authority of state officials over their regulated entities. Since that time, other banking regulators have joined this race to the bottom. My legislation will provide much-needed clarification in this area.

Last year, USA Today, the nation's newspaper, condemned the OCC's preemption rules in an editorial, claiming that they threaten ``strong consumer protection laws that have been the responsibility of states for more than a century.'' The newspaper said the OCC rules will make ``millions of consumers vulnerable'' to illegal loan practices. The OCC's Chief Counsel irreverently characterized these concerns as ``baloney.''

Over the last year, we have worked together as a broad bipartisan coalition who sees state consumer protection as a bread and butter issue, rather than ``baloney.''

This legislation is merely the latest step to ensure that our states have the power to protect consumers.

And to stop the OCC from eroding strong safeguards that have been used by the states for more than a century to enforce consumer protection laws.

The preemption rules were a misguided, unprecedented, unchecked expansion of its authority, especially since the states, rather than the OCC, currently have the tools and resources to effectively enforce consumer protection and other important laws. This agency has repeatedly demonstrated that it is far more concerned with currying favor among the banks it regulates instead of fulfilling its regulatory responsibilities under the law.

Last year, I passed an amendment to the Financial Services Committees Budget Views expressing concern regarding the budgetary effects of the OCC's preemption rules. The budget views put the Financial Services Committee on record that the OCC's preemption rules represent an unprecedented expansion of authority, one that was instituted without Congressional authorization. Subsequently, I introduced legislation to reverse the preemption rules, and then, toward the end of last Congress, Mr. Frank and I introduced a version of what we are again introducing today.

Our bill ensures that national banks will be bound by state consumer protection laws, including predatory mortgage lending statutes. It also prohibits banks from benefiting from part of a state law while refusing to comply with a consumer-friendly portion of the same law. For example, a bank in Ohio is currently using the state law mechanism for foreclosing properties, but failing to abide by another provision in the statute, which limits fees for consumers. This legislation also allows state attorneys general to enforce laws and bring suit against banks when appropriate. As a former City Council member, I believe that the accountability of local officials is crucial. Few consumers can sort through the alphabet soup of regulators and figure out whom to contact if they have a problem with their bank. But almost every consumer knows that their attorney general is there to protect them, so we must ensure that they retain authority over banks.

I am pleased to have been joined on this legislation by Representatives Frank, Lee and McCarthy as original cosponsors and I urge all of my colleagues to support this effort.

Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation that is vital to the interests of minority veterans in our Nation. Current law mandates the termination of the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans, ACMV, on December 31, 2009. My bill would simply repeal the provision of law that discontinues this important committee's mandate so that its critical work on behalf of minority veterans can continue.

The Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans operates in conjunction with the VA Center for Minority Veterans. This committee consists of members appointed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and includes minority veterans, representatives of minority veterans groups and individuals who are recognized authorities in fields pertinent to the needs of minority veterans.

The Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans helps the VA Center for Minority Veterans by advising the Secretary on the adoption and implementation of policies and programs affecting minority veterans, and by making recommendations to the VA for the establishment or improvement of programs in the department for which minority veterans are eligible.

The committee has consistently provided the VA and Congress with balanced, forwardlooking recommendations, many of which go far beyond the unique needs of minority veterans. In 2002, the committee met in my hometown of Chicago and warned that in the Chicago regional office ``it was mentioned that it was much easier to deny benefits than to grant benefits because of stringent requirements of VBA and Court of Appeal for Veterans Claims.''

Two years later, the Chicago Sun-Times exposed that Illinois veterans ranked 50th in disability benefit compensation. That information sparked a campaign by the Illinois congressional delegation to rectify the situation. Since then, the VA Inspector General has issued his report and recommendations and the Secretary has pledged additional staff and resources to the Chicago regional office.

The committee will also be needed in the future since the unique concerns of minority veterans will become increasingly important for our Nation during the next decade.

Currently, 18 percent of the troops serving in Iraq are African- American, while 10 percent are Hispanic. The concerns of these veterans and others will not go away on December 31, 2009, and neither should the committee created to ensure that they are represented. The Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans has helped our minority veterans from past wars with programs to address their concerns. We should not shortchange our newly returning soldiers by allowing this committee's tenure to expire.

Many specific issues of concern to minority veterans need to be addressed further. Minority veterans confront the debilitating effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, and substance abuse in greater numbers. Minority veterans suffer from a higher incidence of homelessness. Access to health care for Native American veterans is also a common problem. In addition, access to adequate job training is a difficulty for many minority veterans, a high percentage of whom qualify as low-income, category A veterans.

Unfortunately, discrimination and cultural insensitivity remain problematic for minority veterans at many VA facilities. The Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans still has a lot of work to do, and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation to make this important committee permanent.

Mr. Speaker, I was inadvertently absent from this Chamber on July 22, 2005. I would like the Record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote 402.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from this Chamber today. I would like to the Record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes 417, 418 and 419.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from this chamber on July 22, 2005. I would like the record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall votes 415 and 416.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from this chamber on July

11, 2005. I would like the record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes No. 363 and No. 364.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from this Chamber today, due to a serious delay in my flight. I would like the Record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes 373, 374, and 375.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly support the Military Personnel Financial Services Protection Act, H.R. 458. We passed this bill last year, and it is designed to prevent predatory companies from using the imprimatur of the U.S. Military to prey on financially vulnerable service members by selling them insurance and investment products with little or no value. During consideration of this bill in the Financial Services Committee, I offered an amendment to extend these protections to abusive lenders who prey on our troops, such as payday lenders. These payday loans are the most abusive financial product being offered to our troops today, and, according to military personnel, payday loans threaten troop readiness. The New York Times and other news outlets have reported extensively on this problem.

Noncommissioned officers at the Army base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, say they counsel two to three soldiers per week who are indebted to payday lenders. ``It's legalized thievery,'' says Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Perrin, a member of the XVIIIth (18th) Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg.

These companies put pressure on soldiers because they can be discharged if they default on too much debt, Perrin says. Staff Sgt. Carlton Brown says soldiers become distracted from their duties as they struggle to make payments and avoid disciplinary action. ``It affects a soldier's mission readiness, and that can affect a whole unit, big time,'' Brown says.

The amendment I offered in Committee drew on the idea of my colleague Sam Graves, who introduced legislation capping interest rates on payday loans for service members. During that markup, Chairman Oxley agreed to work with me to include provisions regarding abusive lending in the manager's amendment for floor consideration. I am very pleased that our work has resulted in the inclusion of some basic, but important protections for our troops, against payday lenders and other abusive lenders who target our troops. I want to thank him and his staff for the countless hours they spent working to hammer out this compromise. I also want to thank Ranking Member Frank, Congressman Davis and their staffs for their hard work bringing this to fruition. Under this legislation, lenders (of both payday and other small loans) who target the military can no longer continue a number of egregious practices, including: requiring the involuntary assignment of military wages to secure payment of a loan; contacting, or threatening to contact the borrower's commanding officer or others in the military chain of command in effort to collect a loan; requiring the borrower to waive any rights under Federal or State law, including the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act; or using any words or symbols that create the impression that any department of the military endorses the lender or any service or product of the lender. I am sorry to say that all of these unconscionable practices are currently used by certain payday or short term lenders.

In addition, extremely high cost loans must be accompanied by a disclosure notice that informs the consumer of these protections and that there are other options available including grants or interest free loans from the military relief societies in the case of a family or other emergency.

This may not sound like a lot, and I do wish that it contained additional limitations on the loan amount and the number of turnovers by payday lenders, similar to legislation recently enacted in my home State of Illinois, but this is a good start, since many of these payday and other short term lenders completely evade regulation by the States and Federal Government. I look forward to continuing to work on this issue.

The Navy's senior enlisted Sailor, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Terry Scott testified earlier this year in front of the House Appropriations Committee about the pernicious nature of these payday loans. Scott characterized the industry as one ``that has made it a practice to prey upon our Sailors.'' Payday loan outlets, he said, often are found within a short walk outside the gates in the communities that surround Navy homeports, offering easy loans but with very high interest rates as compared to commercial lenders. He told the subcommittee that many who turn to these payday loan outlets end up far worse off than before.

``It is not being dramatic to state these payday loans to our troops could be a threat to their military readiness,'' he said.

Payday loans are the most abusive financial product preying on consumers today, but service members, who can lose their job or even be court-martialed if they are in too much debt, suffer disproportionately. Those who claim to support the troops should agree to restrict the worst financial product out there. Once again, I thank my colleagues for their help in securing these provisions and look forward to working with them in the future.

Mr. Speaker, due to a family emergency, I was absent from this Chamber on June 24, 2005.

I would like the record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall votes 308, 312, 313, 315, 317 and 321. I would have also voted ``aye'' on rollcall votes 309, 310, 311, 314, 316, 318, 319 and 320.