Floor Statements

I want to thank the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros- Lehtinen) for bringing this bill forth and my colleague, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), for supporting this important bill, important not only to the memory of Officer Larry Cox, but important to the memory of law enforcement also.

Yesterday was, of course, the anniversary of 9/11, and so many people, Mr. Speaker, tragically lost their lives, but it was evident and mentioned yesterday so many times over and over about law enforcement and the firefighters that went in to try to save others and put themselves right into harm's way.

We can only remember a few years ago here in the U.S. Capitol when 9/ 11 happened, and at that time the officers were telling people to clear the buildings as thousands of people left this Capitol, yet the officers stayed here to put themselves again in harm's way. So over and over again we have seen it on Capitol Hill with law enforcement, and we have to be so respectful of law enforcement and firefighters.

In today's case, talking about a wonderful individual, I rise today to support H.R. 5434, a bill to name the post office in Chillicothe, Ohio, in the 18th District I represent, in honor of Police Officer Larry Cox. I also want to thank Rob Cogan of our staff and Denise Wilson of Government Reform for making this bill possible today.

Officer Cox was a man of dignity and compassion, a 19-year veteran of the Chillicothe police force in Chillicothe, Ohio. Officer Cox was a devoted law enforcement official who had dedicated his life to one of our Nation's noblest fights, keeping our children away from drugs.

As a DARE officer, Officer Cox was able to provide impressionable elementary school students with the guidance and support that many could not find anywhere else. Having been a star athlete growing up, Officer Cox knew the pressures these young students face, and he was always quick to offer a kind word and listening ear to any student who needed a little extra attention.

On the evening of Thursday, April 21, 2005, as Officer Cox walked home from visiting his parents, he surprised a fleeing robbery suspect, who then shot him in an utterly senseless act of violence. He was 44 years old. Officer Larry Cox is survived by his wife, Teresa, and his son, Evan, as well as his parents and sister.

It is times like these that we can question sometimes the world we live in, but we must not let the senseless act blind us from the good that is around, the compassion of our teachers, the innocence of our children, and the ultimate bravery of our law enforcement officials. For it is these things that Officer Cox was born of and ultimately died for.

So I stand here today to honor the life of Officer Larry Cox, to honor each and every law enforcement official that risks his or her life to protect the most treasured pieces of our community. Officer Cox understood these treasures. Officer Cox years ago, I believe, looked

in the mirror and saw himself as the person who would accept responsibility to make this a safer and better world. That is the type of individual that Officer Larry Cox was. He understood the importance of the treasures and the paramount importance of caring for others.

With that, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation naming the Larry Cox Post Office in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Mr. Speaker,

Whereas, J.R. and Allison Cash were united in marriage June 3, 2006 in Cadiz, Ohio; and

Whereas, J.R. and Allison Cash have dedicated their lives to each other; and

Whereas, J.R. and Allison Cash shared their wedding day with family and friends; and

Whereas, J.R. and Allison Cash have illustrated the love and commitment necessary to live a long and beautiful life together.

Therefore, I join with their family, friends, and the entire 18th Congressional District of Ohio in congratulating J.R. and Allison Cash on the occasion of their marriage.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4804, the FHA Manufactured Housing Loan Modernization Act of 2006. Right off the bat, I want to congratulate Representative Pat Tiberi from Ohio on his effort to modernize the Federal Housing Administration, known as FHA, title I program for manufactured homes and increase the availability of FHA-insured manufactured housing loans to low and moderate income consumers who wish to purchase a manufactured home.

Increasing loan limits for manufactured housing will assist many people, particularly first-time home buyers who are looking for less expensive options for achieving the dream of homeownership.

Reforms to the title I manufactured housing program in this legislation would remove the current cap limiting FHA's ability to insure manufactured home loans to 10 percent of the FHA portfolio; require FHA to insure title I manufactured housing loans on a loan-by- loan basis; raise the maximum loan limits for manufactured homes and lots, with annual indexing using U.S. Census data. It also would allow risk-based premium pricing and tighten underwriting standards for the title I loans.

I want to thank our ranking member, Maxine Waters from California, obviously also our chairman, Mike Oxley and Barney Frank, our ranking member for the full committee. Their perseverance on these issues is going to help a lot of people in this country.

I want to thank again the gentlelady from California, Mr. Frank and also Mr. Oxley, and, above all, Mr. Tiberi, for pursuing this piece of legislation, which is going to help so many people.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Massachusetts makes a good point. We have struggled for quite a few years to get manufactured housing into the sites through HUD for its utilization for people across this country. So I think this bill and all of the steps we have taken to understand both the urban and the rural settings, I think this bill comes a long way to push it to the forefront.

I want to thank Mr. Tiberi and also to yield to the gentleman such time as he may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I just want to again thank the gentlewoman from California, Maxine Waters; Mr. Barney Frank of Massachusetts; Mike Oxley, the Chair; and Pat Tiberi, of course, the author of the bill.

I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, this is a good day for all people throughout the United States that want to achieve homeownership.

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

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5121) to modernize and update the National Housing Act and enable the Federal Housing Administration to use risk-based pricing to more effectively reach underserved borrowers, and for other purposes, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5121, the Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2006. This is a very important piece of legislation. It proposes comprehensive reform of the Federal Housing Administration, known as FHA, single family mortgage insurance activities. Giving FHA the ability to offer an array of products will allow it to more fairly price its guarantee to the individual borrowers and will allow it to base each borrower's mortgage insurance premium on the risk that the borrower poses to the FHA mortgage insurance fund.

Under this proposal, the mortgage insurance premiums will consider the borrower's credit history, loan-to-value ratio, debt-to-income ratio, and will be based on FHA's historical experience with similar borrowers.

This change will decrease premiums for many of the FHA's traditional borrowers, thereby increasing their access to homeownership. It will also allow FHA to reach potential homebuyers who for various reasons do not currently qualify for an FHA loan product.

H.R. 5121 would allow FHA to become more efficient and streamlined. Modernizing FHA will improve competition in the prime home loan mortgage industry, and effectively assist the industry in combating abusive and/or discriminatory lending practices. This bill would not create a new government program. Rather, it would significantly modernize the National Housing Act while reforming and empowering the agency, thereby addressing some of the agency's limitations.

More importantly, I believe that, if enacted, this bill will help further increase the country's homeownership rate, especially among low- and moderate-income and minority families. Since its inception in 1934, FHA has played an innovative role in financing homeownership and affordable housing opportunities for all Americans.

Over the past 8 years alone, FHA has financed nearly 8 million homes and over 754,000 units of affordable rental housing. The mortgage market has changed dramatically in recent years, creating what is today the world's most sophisticated real estate finance system.

This system has led to the highest rate of homeownership in U.S. history and to the efficient production of thousands of units of affordable rental housing each year.

However, in more recent times, FHA has been a mortgage insurer of the last resort. Potential homeowners who can participate in the private mortgage insurance market do so. I believe this is because FHA has become costly and the paperwork unmanageable. Thus, only the riskiest borrowers now use FHA for mortgage insurance.

Moreover, while the prime market remained relatively constant, the nonprime market between 2003 and 2005 grew from $118 billion to $650 billion in mortgages, while FHA went from insuring 9.2 percent to 4.1 percent of the Nation's mortgages. It is important to distinguish the difference between subprime lending, which is necessary and critical for nontraditional borrowers, and predatory/abusive lending, which is designed to take advantage of vulnerable Americans pursuing their American dream of homeownership.

While not predatory, the subprime market is not working for many families. These are the families FHA is really designed to reach. Among other things, H.R. 5121 would allow FHA to provide alternative access as well as standardization of a market niche designed to follow the agency's example.

Moreover, the Federal Government will always have a need for an agency to provide the type of services symbolized by the FHA. While the agency only has a market share of approximately 3 to 4 percent, elimination of FHA will be disastrous if a capital mortgage financial crisis emerges, such as we saw in the United States in the 1980s.

Further, it would be impossible to recreate this agency to respond rapidly to a housing homeownership crisis that could possibly, we hope not, but emerge in the future. H.R. 5121 will allow FHA to fulfill its original mission when similar circumstances exist. In 1934, interest- only and balloon payments were prevalent. Thus, FHA was established to give the private sector avenues to provide long-term fixed-rate financing.

Today, FHA continues to serve its original purpose by giving low- to moderate-income home buyers a safer, more affordable financing option for their homeownership. Mr. Speaker, we have a chance with this legislation to bring FHA back into business and to restore the FHA product to its traditional market position.

American families need safe options when purchasing a home at a fair price. Families need a way to take part in the American Dream without putting themselves at risk. Families, frankly, Mr. Speaker, need FHA.

I just want to conclude my comments for this time by saying this is, in my opinion, one of the most critical pieces of legislation, and if we haven't acted as we have, I wonder where the future of FHA would be, therefore helping so many Americans across this country.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), who stepped up to the plate to address what I consider one of the most important pieces of legislation in quite a few years, of keeping the FHA alive by revitalizing it, by changing it, by streamlining it to help so many people.

I appreciate also Ranking Member Frank, Chairman Mike Oxley, of course, and all of the members of the committee and the staff who have worked on a bipartisan basis to do, I think, a critically needed and wonderful thing. If we did not step up to the plate with this piece of legislation, I wonder what options would be out there for many, many citizens wanting homeownership.

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not have any other speakers.

I did want to take this time to say that I want to also thank Commissioner Brian Montgomery of the FHA. He is really one of those people when he started this, he came into the offices and talked to everybody, he really should probably take off his tie and have a t- shirt that says, ``I'm from the government, I'm here to help you.'' He has a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of belief in this program, and cooperated so much for this important bill. I just want to say that, again, I want to thank the gentlewoman from California, Mr. Frank, Mr. Oxley, both sides of the aisle, and the staff. A wonderful staff.

We present a bill today, it looks kind of easy. A lot of hours were put into it. And also some wonderful, thoughtful suggestions came from Ms. Waters, from Mr. Frank, to take a good bill and I think help improve and make it better, and we appreciated those changes in working with all of you on this issue.

I can't stress, Mr. Speaker, how important a bill this is. If we didn't step

up to the plate now, I really wonder where the FHA would be.

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

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I would like to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Gary G. Miller), the vice chairman of the Housing Opportunity Subcommittee who has done unbelievable work in so many areas to help with the housing bills.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 854) recognizing National Homeownership Month and the importance of homeownership in the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to be here today on the floor with our ranking member, the gentlewoman from California, Congresswoman Maxine Waters.

I rise today in support of House Resolution 854, which recognizes National Homeownership Month and the importance of homeownership in the United States. This resolution is offered by my colleague and friend from California, Congressman Gary Miller, who has really undertaken a robust job in working the housing issues and sponsoring different forums for discussions on

housing and being a very active member of our Housing Subcommittee and also the vice chair of that committee.

June is National Homeownership Month, and so many of our partners celebrate this because, in America, we would hope that everybody would have an opportunity to be able to own a home. A home is more than just a symbol of the American dream; it is the backbone of our American way of life.

Over the past 3 years, the housing market has driven the national economy as Americans bought and refinanced homes in record numbers. Many regions were spared the worst of the recent recession due to the strength of local housing markets.

Homeownership creates community stakeholders who tend to be active in charities, churches, neighborhood activities. Homeownership inspires civic responsibility, and homeowners are more likely to vote and get involved with local issues. Families owning a home offer children a stable living environment, and its influences are great. It helps with their personal development in many positive, measurable ways at home, in school and in our society.

Today, nearly 70 percent of American families own their own homes. Minority homeownership rates have reached an all-time high of almost 50 percent. While many gains have been made though, lagging minority homeownership rates, I think, are a serious concern. That issue has to be addressed.

Minority households are expected to account for two-thirds of household growth over the coming decade. Improving the ability of such households to make the transition to homeownership will be an important test of our Nation's capacity to create economic opportunity for minorities and to build strong, stable communities.

In the last Congress, the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, which I chair, and again the ranking member is the gentlewoman from California, that committee and the members from both sides of the aisle assisted in enactment of 17 housing-related bills.

I want to thank the members of that committee, Gary Miller, the vice chair, and the gentlewoman from California; also, of course, Congressman Oxley and Barney Frank of Massachusetts. Chairman Oxley has worked with us, as Mr. Frank has, to make sure that these bills have gone to the full committee.

So we are very proud of the enactment of 17 housing-related bills. That was through bipartisan cooperation. We have been able to do this to make existing housing programs work better.

Our work continues in the 109th Congress. In the last month, the Housing Subcommittee of the Financial Services Committee has marked up 10 housing bills. For example, we approved a bill that would preserve affordable rural housing opportunities and one that would modernize and increase the availability of FHA-insured manufactured housing loans to low and moderate consumers who wished to purchase a manufactured home.

I am especially proud of H.R. 5121, the Expanding American Home Ownership Act of 2006. This important FHA modernization legislation would allow for risk-based pricing for the Federal Housing Administration. Charging premiums commensurate with risk allows sound pricing and portfolio diversity to sustain the financial strength of the FHA fund.

We want to thank the gentlewoman for taking the lead on this. I feel if we had not done this bill I don't know where FHA would be today. I thank the gentlewoman for all her hard work.

While homeownership is a desired goal for many Americans, and that is why we are here, again I thank Mr. Miller for this resolution, but there are still, and I think we have to face this, many in society are not ready yet or cannot own their own home.

So the Financial Services Committee in this month approved by voice vote H.R. 5443, the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2006. This piece of legislation represents the culmination of a bipartisan negotiation over the last year to craft a compromise proposal to reform HUD's section 8 program.

In the Housing Subcommittee, we do continue to plan to work hard with our ranking member, the gentlewoman from California, and Mr. Miller and all the Members on both sides of the aisle to explore new ways to put people in the path of homeownership so they can realize its benefits.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Gary G. Miller), the author of the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, again I want to thank Congressman Miller from California for bringing this resolution which continues to focus, of course, on June as homeownership month but continues to put this issue out on the table.

We have done that with the Housing Opportunity Subcommittee through our ranking member. We were the first committee of the House to go to New Orleans and Gulfport, Mississippi, where, believe me, there are so many issues for people, but housing and shelter, not being in a shelter but housing and to be sheltered from the elements, were the number one issue down there.

We have addressed, also, so many pieces of legislation, I think it has to make our committee feel good in the sense that they have done something. We won't know the faces or the names of people, in fact, that will now be able to have homeownership or with section 8 to be into apartments, we won't know who they are, but acts of the Congress, working together, which is the right thing to do, will help with the people's lives.

I just want to, on a personal note, say I can remember after World War II, and my father came out of World War II, it took from that period of time to 1963 to, in fact, be able to save enough.

And I have talked to the gentlelady about down payments. I am one who firmly believes that we should help people. Because to take 13 years to save for something, it is a long time.

There is a famous poet, Langston Hughes, who said, ``Dream your dreams, and be willing to pay the sacrifice to make them come true.'' People are willing to sacrifice for that dream of a home, but we, as the government, have to help them. There is a certain point where so much sacrifice has to be given, it is not helping with the family. That is what we need to do.

People will be out there. They will try to make their living, try to pay their bills, try to get into their home. But what we are doing in this committee and what we have to continue to do, and I am sure we will with the ranking member and the gentlelady from California and with her tenacity on this issue, her concern for people, as the members of the committee have been concerned about these issues, we will continue to do that. Because people are willing to sacrifice. But we have got to help them along, and we have got to give them some assistance as a government.

I am very proud of the subcommittee and very proud of Mr. Miller and the resolution.

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

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation, H.R. 42, and H.R. 5341 and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairman Oxley of the committee, and I rise today to support H.R. 4973, the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2006, also known as the FIRM Act.

This important measure, approved by the House Financial Services Committee on March 16, will significantly reform the National Flood Insurance Program and ensure its continued viability by increasing accountability, eliminating unnecessary Federal subsidies, and updating the flood insurance program to meet the needs of the 21st century.

Last year, in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I introduced H.R. 3669, the National Flood Insurance Program Enhanced Borrowing Authority Act of 2005. That piece of legislation increased FEMA's borrowing authority for flood insurance by $2 billion, which went a long way in helping the Department's flood insurance response.

Since that time, FEMA estimates that it will need a total of $25 billion in borrowing authority to cover claims. These claims from homes and businesses that have been damaged or destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma are not a new obligation. They are the result of a legal promise that we made to those homeowners and business owners when the Congress passed the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 and subsequent revisions.

Every single one of these claims represents someone who has taken the responsible course of action by purchasing flood insurance and paying premiums to the government. We not only have a legal obligation to honor our commitments, but we have a moral obligation, Mr. Chairman, to provide the coverage we promised to provide to those citizens.

Small business owners will be eligible to purchase business interruption coverage at actuarial rates to better prepare them to meet payroll and other obligations during the next big storm. And for the first time since 1944, the bill updates maximum insurance coverage limits for residential and nonresidential properties.

Our subcommittee in the Financial Services Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Mike Oxley, Mr. Baker, Mr. Frank, Congresswoman Maxine Waters and others, has spent considerable time on flood insurance reform in the past several years. In 2004, the Bunning, Bereuter, Blumenauer Flood Insurance Reform Act addressed and strengthened the operations.

I urge my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that in the engrossment of the bill, H.R. 4973, the Clerk be authorized to correct section numbers, punctuation, and cross references and to make such other technical and conforming changes as may be necessary to reflect the actions of the House.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2872) to require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of Louis Braille, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2872, a bill designed to advance a nationwide Bsraille literacy campaign by honoring Louis Braille with a commemorative coin to be issued in 2009, the bicentennial year of his birth.

Louis Braille created the code of raised dots for reading and writing that bears his name and brings literacy, independence, and productivity to the blind.

Born in 1809, Louis Braille became blind due to an accident in his father's

workshop. By believing in the capacity of the blind to learn, Braille demonstrated an understanding of blindness that was extraordinarily enlightened and positive for the times in which he lived.

Blind people today would be far less likely to achieve the goals of independence and productive living without the positive contributions Louis Braille made and the example he set throughout his life. Today, blind members of society are teachers, doctors, lawyers, scientists, mathematicians and much, much more because of Louis Braille.

A means of achieving literacy is vital for everyone, including, of course, people who are blind. Therefore, effective use of Braille is one of the most essential skills for blind people to achieve success. Research shows that more than 90 percent of employed persons who are blind use Braille.

Effective use of Braille is as important to the blind as independent mobility, knowledge in the use of adaptive technology, and the core belief that equality, opportunity and security are truly possible for all people who are blind.

The Louis Braille Commemorative Coin will feature representation of the image of Louis Braille on one side and will include the word for Braille in actual Braille code on the other side. The inclusion of Braille code on the commemorative coin is a significant and historic aspect of this bill.

In addition, all sales of the Braille Commemorative Coin will include a surcharge of $10 per coin, which will be distributed to the National Federation of the Blind to promote Braille literacy. As a condition of receiving the proceeds from this surcharge, the National Federation of the Blind will be subject to annual audits to ensure that these proceeds, of course, are being spent for the authorized purpose and will be required to raise matching funds from private sources.

If all the coins authorized under this bill are sold, the surcharges could generate up to $4 million plus the matching $4 million that the National Federation of the Blind would be required to raise privately. That is potentially $8 million to promote Braille literacy for all people in the country who are in need of Braille literacy. The Nation's blind would greatly benefit by this investment in Braille literacy.

The National Federation of the Blind has committed to raising their share of these funds and promoting Braille literacy with the proceeds. Based on our work with the NFB in the past, I know they are up to this task. I worked very closely with the NFB on the Help America Vote Act, Mr. Hoyer and I both did, and Senators Dodd and Bond and McConnell in the Senate, in order to ensure that voting booths were equipped to allow the blind to vote independently without outside assistance. Their grass-roots advocacy and unyielding support on that bill helped that dream become a reality for the Nation's blind.

Again, with this bill, the National Federation of the Blind put their grass-roots network into action to build overwhelming support for this commemorative coin. I'm confident this same grass-roots network will raise the matching funds required and effectively promote Braille literacy on a nationwide basis with the proceeds from this coin's surcharge.

The National Federation of the Blind currently fosters Braille literacy in a number of ways: from mentoring programs, in which experienced Braille readers as volunteers teach and encourage novices, to publishing instructions for schoolchildren, to research in effective methods of teaching and learning Braille, to one-on-one Braille instruction in residential training centers. Literacy in Braille is emphasized throughout its programs and services as an essential tool for blind persons to participate successfully in modern society.

The Federation emphatically links competence in the basic skills of blindness, like Braille, to its broader understanding of blindness, a condition feared above most others by society. When blindness occurs, the federation seeks, through its nationwide membership, to reach individuals, children, or adults who experience sight loss to convey the message that while blindness is not sought by anyone, obviously, everyone can successfully handle lack of sight with proper training and alternative skills, combined with a can-do attitude.

But even with that effort, only about 10 percent of blind children are taught Braille. Issuance of the Louis Braille commemorative coin can aid that effort, forming a springboard for a nationwide Braille literacy campaign drawing all these strands together and focusing the joint energy of thousands of volunteers powered by a big idea, resulting in high-profile attention to the literacy crisis amongst the blind while helping this broad volunteer corps to attract social attention to the positive thrust of the federation.

The story of Braille as a literacy tool and the story of the federation in emphasizing participation are parallel. Given the proper tools, we humans can overcome apparently insurmountable obstacles and achieve great things. Louis Braille, the man, did so. Hundreds of thousands of blind Americans do so every day. Hundreds of thousands of blind Americans could do so much more if they had the tool of literacy easily at hand and the can-do attitude to accompany it.

Honoring Louis Braille and promoting literacy for the blind will have lasting value for our society.

I want to thank Congressman Ben Cardin for his cosponsorship of this important bill, and I want to thank over 300-some of our colleagues who have actually signed on to the bill, and I appreciate the gentleman from Massachusetts being here today on this bill and all the input and work he has done on it.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation to create the Louis Braille commemorative coin and help advance Braille literacy nationwide.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1259) to authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the Congress, collectively, to the Tuskegee Airmen in recognition of their unique military record, which inspired revolutionary reform in the Armed Forces, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1259, introduced by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel), which would award a Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor the Congress can bestow, on the Tuskegee Airmen.

Frankly, Mr. Speaker, this award is long, long overdue. Pilots of the 99th Fighter Squadron, including the first group of black pilots who trained at the little airstrip in Alabama near Tuskegee College, and later the 100th, 301st, and 302nd, were not even expected by some to be capable of meeting the challenge. Cruelly, studies commissioned by the Army War College in the 1920s and 1930s speculated that African Americans were capable neither of military leadership nor of flying increasingly complex fighter aircraft.

Tell that theory to Lee A. Archer, the young man from Yonkers who grew up dreaming of being a fighter pilot and reading comic books about the gallant fighter pilots of the First World War. Lee Archer flew 169 combat missions in his P-40 Tomahawk, P-39 Cobra, P-47 Thunderbolt, and his P-51 Mustang, known as the Macon Belle. He became an ace, notching five downed enemy aircraft in his career.

Tell that also to then-Captain Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., a West Point grad, who was one of the first 13 pilots trained near Tuskegee and became the first black flag officer in the Air Force, retiring with three stars and being granted a fourth in retirement by President Clinton.

Tell that to Lieutenant Clarence ``Lucky'' Luster, who destroyed three German planes and earned a Distinguished Flying Cross the day Archer notched his first victory.

In all, Mr. Speaker, these men, who were not supposed to be able to fly, came home from piloting their distinctive, red-tailed fighters with 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, Bronze and Silver Stars and Legions of Merit, a Presidential Unit Citation, and even the Red Star of Yugoslavia. They also came home with the knowledge that no one could plausibly assert that a segregated armed services made any sense, and integration soon followed.

After the war, these men became business and political and civic leaders, many quite successful both in and outside the military, blazing trails at home the way they had blazed the trails in the skies of North Africa and Europe. Today, Mr. Speaker, we are here during Black History Month to add one more honor to that list.

The legislation before us, cosponsored by 308 Members of the House, seeks to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Tuskegee Airmen as a group and give it to the Smithsonian for display, with provisions that the medal may be loaned out temporarily to appropriate sites: perhaps to Moton Field in Alabama, where they trained, or to the Air Force Academy, where a statute of a Tuskegee Airman stands in Honor Park.

Rarely, Mr. Speaker, do we get to do something in this great Chamber that is so widely supported, so appropriate, and so long overdue. It is a pleasure to be here today with Mr. Watt, who is managing the bill, and also again with Mr. Rangel and the many sponsors of this. Also, I can tell you that we were there for the 60th anniversary with Mr. Rangel and the Speaker and leaders, and my wife and Mrs. Rangel, and it was a pleasure to be there on that historic day with our congressional delegation.

I commend Mr. Rangel and the other Members for supporting this, and I urge immediate passage of H.R. 1259.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Schwarz).

Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, let me just say it is a great day for the Tuskegee Airmen. It is a great day for the United States, and it is a shining day for this institution of the House.

I think that if you look at the quote from Langston Hughes, a great African American poet, ``Dream your dreams, but be willing to pay the sacrifice to make them come true,'' our veterans have done that historically throughout the history of this country, and the Tuskegee Airmen have done that.

Again, I thank Congressman Rangel for giving them the honor they so much deserve.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 1259 and H.R. 2872 and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 2275) to temporarily increase the borrowing authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for carrying out the national flood insurance program, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to be here with my colleague from Massachusetts on an important bill. It is designed, of course, to increase the borrowing authority of the National Flood Insurance Program.

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I introduced H.R. 3669, the National Flood Insurance Program Enhanced Borrowing Authority Act of 2005. That piece of legislation increased insurance by $2 billion, which went a long way in helping the Department's flood insurance response.

The bill before us today would provide a total of about $20.775 billion in borrowing authority to help ensure that the NFIP have sufficient funding on a cash basis in the short-term. This bill would allow FEMA to continue paying claims resulting from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, while the administration further evaluates the extent of the damage and the most appropriate means to cover all potential future claims.

These claims from those whose homes and businesses have been damaged or destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma are not a new obligation. They are the result of a legal promise we made to these homeowners and business owners, a commitment we made when Congress passed the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 and subsequent revisions.

Homeowners and business owners across the country agreed to pay premiums, communities agreed to adopt building codes to mitigate flood dangers, and the Federal Government agreed to provide insurance coverage to policyholders after a disaster. Every single one of these claims represents someone who has taken the responsible course of action by purchasing flood insurance and paying premiums to the government.

We not only have a legal obligation to honor our commitments, we have a moral obligation to provide the coverage we promised to provide to these people. I think the thrust of this bill is so important for people. I understand the argument some of my colleagues are making about the need to have further reforms for the National Flood Insurance Program.

I note the Committee on Financial Services held a markup in November of 2005 that addressed several reform initiatives to enhance accountability and ensure 2004 reforms are implemented. We had the support of Chairman Oxley and our ranking member Mr. Frank of Massachusetts on a bipartisan basis.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to make it clear, we had reforms. This is not going to be the last of these bills that we are going to see, and we will work towards having some reforms.

In addition, the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity held four hearings on this important program last year, including an August field hearing in rural Ohio, in my district. The Housing subcommittee will have continuous oversight of this important program, NFIP and look for all possible legislative solutions that will make this program as efficient and responsive as it can be.

Floods have been and continue to be one of the most destructive and costly natural hazards to our Nation. Early last year, there have been three major floods in the district that I represent, all three of these incidents qualify for Federal relief granted by the President, and this flooding event, in January of last year, resulted in historic levels of damage in several communities.

Now, we have a major disaster of the likes of which we haven't seen before down in the gulf, and the national flood insurance is a valuable tool in addressing the losses incurred throughout the country due to these floods. I urge the support of this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller).

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not have any additional speakers. I want to thank the gentleman from Oregon, and I also want to point out just a few things.

We had the Bunning-Bereuter-Blumenauer provisions in our bill to have FEMA enforce the 2004 that the gentleman from Oregon had mentioned was in there, also increased insurance coverage. We had raising the penalties on lenders who do not enforce the regs. So there were a lot of the reforms that we had in there.

I am going to tell you today, we have a commitment, of course, and I know the gentleman from Oregon understands that and we all do here today, we have a commitment to these people that paid in and we need to pay back to these people because they paid their money; but we need to have the reforms.

The other thing is if anybody stands here today and says this is going to last us, we will be okay until August, I want to tell you we will not be okay until August. This will not take us through to August. I predict to you today FEMA can say what it wants, it can communicate what it wants. This will not last maybe 2 months or more. I predict we will be back. We have to do the reforms. I personally commit to work with you on it.

I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Reclaiming my time, I predict we will be back here within 60 days, 60 or 90 days, I will bet that we will be back here, so we will have to work towards the reforms. Also, our subcommittee was the first committee of the House to go down to New Orleans and to Gulfport, Mississippi. We went down with our ranking member, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters). Some Democrats and Republicans on the staff went down there and they did a fine job. They saw what we saw. This is going to be a long, long process.

I will tell you we will be back here within 90 days again because they can say it will last, but it will not last.

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

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, before we conclude this first session of the 109th Congress, we need to acknowledge the exemplary service of our retiring Clerk of the House, Jeff Trandahl. Before retiring last month, Jeff diligently served this Congress for over 20 years. He began his career in the other body working for Senator James Abdnor from South Dakota, Jeff's home state. Thankfully for those of us who serve in the House, he soon chose to join us on this side of the Capitol, taking a job with Congresswoman Virginia Smith from Nebraska and working on Appropriations Committee matters.

Jeff got his first real experience with House operations working for Congressman Pat Roberts from Kansas who served on the Committee on House Administration.

When the Republicans won the House in 1994, Jeff was promoted to Assistant to the Clerk, and in that capacity was responsible for legislative operations, personnel, and budget. In November 1996, he was appointed Acting Chief Administrative Officer of the House and led a drastic reorganization of that office.

In December 1998 he was made the 32nd Clerk of the House and was elected to four consecutive 2-year terms by the House membership.

For the past 8 years his responsibilities as Clerk have included management of the House Floor operations, legal support for the institution, management of public information and required legal filings, and numerous other duties. Simply put, Jeff was responsible for seeing that the essential tasks that allow this House to operate get carried out.

In addition to his regular duties, he played a pivotal role in numerous historic events including the annual State of the Union address, presidential inaugurations, the response to September 11th, the anthrax attacks, and the national funeral for President Reagan.

Members will always be grateful to him for his extensive efforts to use technology to improve the efficiency of House operations. It truly has made our jobs easier and made the business of the House more accessible and open to the public.

One of the accomplishments of which he is the most proud was the establishment of an office to handle the House's historical, curatorial, and archival needs. Jeff has always had an immense amount of respect for the Institution and he will be remembered for his outstanding service.

While this is a loss to the United States Congress, it is certainly a gain for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation where Jeff will be Executive Director. I am sure he will approach that job with the same determination and perseverance he has shown in his service here. Jeff has always been the consummate professional, and the House is a better place because of his great record of service here.

We thank him and we will miss him, but we wish him the best of luck in his new endeavors.