Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, to all my colleagues, I want you to join me in saying congratulations, Cleveland Cavaliers, Eastern Conference champions. Come on now.

It is such a wonderful experience for the great City of Cleveland to have an opportunity to have a team like the Cleveland Cavaliers, to be led by ``King'' Lebron James. We are so excited, because, Cleveland, we needed a boost, and we got a boost in our basketball team, and we ask you to turn us on, because we will turn you up.

Cleveland Cavaliers, Eastern Conference champions.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor United States Marshal Peter J. Elliott on being named ``Top Cop'' of the nation by the National Association of Police Organizations.

The ``Top Cop'' award pays tribute to the men and women in law enforcement for their amazing services to America's communities. Marshal Elliott was chosen from hundreds of nominations from across the nation, and he was the only person selected from the state of Ohio.

Marshal Elliott grew up in Lakewood, Ohio, and graduated from St. Edward High School. He is a third generation law enforcement officer from the Northern District of Ohio. Four years ago, he was appointed by the President of the United States as the U.S. Marshal to manage the forty counties of the Northern District of Ohio. He is the youngest U.S. Marshal appointed in the history of the district.

Marshal Elliott created The Fugitive Safe Surrender (FSS) program after Cleveland Patrolman Leon Wayne was shot and killed by an individual wanted on a warrant. Under this program, U.S. Marshals Service works with local faith and community-based organizations to provide wanted fugitives a chance to surrender to authorities in a safe environment. FSS not only reduces the risk to law enforcement officers but also reduces injuries and deaths in the communities where fugitives live. I have had the pleasure of working with Marshal Elliott in creating legislation for this program. Last year this legislation was passed and signed into law by President George W. Bush. As a result, Marshal Elliott's idea has been adopted as a national program by the United States Marshals Service.

Along with FSS, in 2003, Marshal Elliott created the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force that has worked to greatly reduce crime in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Also, in 2003, Marshal Elliott helped bring the Gang Resistance Education and Training program to the district to help prevent youth crime and gangs. This program has teamed up with professional sports teams, non-profit organizations, universities and others to help youths in northern Ohio.

It is because of his commitment and remarkable innovation in law enforcement that I wish to acknowledge ``Top Cop'' Marshal Peter J. Elliott. Marshal Elliott is an outstanding man who has greatly contributed to the safety of his district and the country.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the 33 African American women, including myself, who were initiated into the Greater Cleveland Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., on April 3, 1982. This month, we celebrate 25

years of sisterhood, scholarship, and service to our beloved sorority.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. is a public service, non-profit organization founded at Howard University in 1913 by 22 brave and ambitious African American women. The major programs of the sorority are the organization's Five Point Thrust of: economic development, educational development, international awareness and involvement, physical and mental health, and political awareness and involvement.

The Sorors of ``The Mighty 33'' have professional and academic accomplishments in the areas of politics, education, law, medicine, finance, business, and government service. The Sorors include: Wanda Rembert Arnold, Esq., Saundra Austin, Saundra Berry, Vera Brooks, Phoebe Carter, Lynn Davis, Ruth Fomby, Dr. Delores Groves, Frances Hunter, Marsha Johnson, Esq., Margaret Killough, Gloria Pace King, Josie Lindsay, Glenda Lottier, Louis Lynch, Ruby McCullough (deceased), Shirley McKinney, Dr. Shirley McNair Robinson, Lucile Minor, Beverley Grace Odeleye, Jewell Painter, Renee Paige, Bernice Phillips Prewitt, Lois Bradford Roberts, Carla Shannon, Barbara Stonebarclay, Renee Pye Street, Mary Taylor, Antoinette Venable, Deborah Allen Ward, Beverly Warfield, Marva Williams, Linda Winston and myself, Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

We continue to carry high the Torch of Wisdom and Pledge to uphold the noble ideals of our sorority.

On behalf of the Congress of the United States and the people of the 11th Congressional District of Ohio, I join with my Sorors and line sisters of ``The Mighty 33'' in celebrating our 25th anniversary in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. I am honored to be counted among such an accomplished and talented group of women. These Sorors will always be honored for their lifetime commitment to Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1592, The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007.

In 2003 the FBI announced that there were more than 9,000 reported hate crime victims in these United States. This means that on average 25 people per day were victims of violence fueled by the toxic fumes of hate. If you are not outraged by this figure then you haven't been paying attention. As a former prosecutor in Cuyohoga County, OH, I know that these numbers are shocking for a number of reasons.

In a country as blessed as we are, and with the resources that we have, we still have an absurdly high crime rate. Violence is taken to be the norm. Local news in most big cities begins with a report on who was shot. Then, we have a country which regularly puts out a report on the human rights records of other countries around the world. Is a hate crime not a human rights issue? It has been long established constitutional doctrine that individuals should not be treated differently based on their race, color, creed, nationality, gender or sexual orientation.

This Act allows the Justice Department to grant local jurisdictions up to $100,000 to help prosecute hate crimes. It also provides moneys for preventative programs to stem the growing tide of hate crimes committed by minors. In the Bible, verse 5:43 in the Gospel of Matthew, it says ``Love thy neighbor.'' That is what this bill is about.

The time is now to pass this legislation. We honor our founders, ancestors, and the people who built this great Nation by ensuring that going forward, Americans from every walk of life can walk down our streets in peace.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the Eddie Bernice Johnson Amendment to H.R. 1429, the Improving Head Start Act of 2007. This amendment will encourage partnerships between Head Start and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The Johnson Amendment will encourage African American students to focus on early childhood education and participate in Head Start. My home is Cleveland, Ohio, and it is one of the poorest cities in the nation, with half of the children living below the poverty line. Head Start provides a vital service to my community, it allows the youngest and most helpless children to have a chance at the developing basic skills so they are not behind when they start attending school. I am so pleased that my colleague from Texas, Eddie Bernice Johnson has offered this amendment. It will encourage more African American teachers to return to some of the most impoverished communities across this country. They will not only serve as teachers but also as role models land mentors to inspire young children to succeed as they have. I would like to once again Congresswoman Johnson for offering this amendment and encourage all of my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct be discharged from further consideration of the resolution (H. Res. 363) amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to clarify certain matters relating to official conduct, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Madam Speaker, I rise in proud recognition of the 45th Anniversary of Senator John Glenn's mission piloting the first manned orbital mission of the United States. This event spawned decades of manned space missions for the United States and eventually a manned mission to the moon with the Apollo 11 mission in July of 1969. Senator Glenn has served this Nation proud as a Marine Corps Pilot, a U.S. Senator, and an Astronaut. He was the third American in Space and the first American to orbit the Earth aboard Friendship 7. He also holds the honor of being the oldest person ever to go into space in 1998 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-95 at age 77. John Glenn was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1974, and served the State of Ohio proudly until 1999, and was a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. The NASA Glenn research center, which is located at Lewis Field in Cleveland, OH, adopted Senator Glenn's name in 1999. I am proud to say that this institution has produced decades of aeronautics research and has become of vital part of our community. It is in no small part to Senator Glenn that this institution will remain a major research center for NASA.

I am especially proud to be able to say that Senator John Glenn comes from my home State of Ohio, he is an icon and a role model for millions of youths in our State. His accomplishments provide inspiration for every young person from our Great State of Ohio.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak out on the issue of predatory lending practices within the subprime lending industry.

Madam Speaker, I have heard from countless constituents in my district regarding this issue. As you may know, Ohio has one of the highest rates of foreclosure in the country. Members of my community that I have known for years are being faced with foreclosure after owning a home for over 40 years in some cases. Seniors are being affected at a disproportionate rate. Lenders prey on seniors who have been in their homes all of their lives, and have a substantial amount of equity in their home. They promote these balloon and adjustable rate mortgages that look attractive and are affordable in their initial stages. However, after 2 years or more, these loans readjust to much higher payments with higher interest rates. For instance, one of my constituents is currently in an adjustable rate mortgage, which locked in a payment of $1088 for 2 years. After 2 years, the mortgage payment increased to $1488. Three months later the payment increased to $1715. This payment increase has had a significant impact on this individual's budget and because they are not in a position to refinance, they are currently facing foreclosure.

Creating wealth is the most fundamental and important goal of minorities that seek economic equity. One of the first steps toward creating wealth is homeownership. The equity from owning a home is often the only means to secure funding for a new business, college tuition, or retirement. Predatory lending targets low income and minority communities. It compromises the opportunity to own a home and hinders economic stability, creating greater disparities in wealth.

The nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending projects that as this year ends, 2.2 million households in the subprime market will either have lost their homes to foreclosure or hold subprime mortgages that will fail over the next several years. These foreclosures will cost homeowners as much as $164 billion, primarily in lost home equity.

It is also projected that one out of five (19 percent) subprime mortgages originated during the past two years will end in foreclosure. This rate is nearly double the projected rate of subprime loans made in 2002, and it exceeds the worst foreclosure experience in the modem mortgage market, which occurred during the ``Oil Patch'' disaster of the 1980s.

The nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending analyzed 15.1 million subprime loans from 1998 through 2006 and found that only about 1.4 million were for first-time home buyers. Most were for refinancing. To date, more than 500,000 of those subprime borrowers have lost their homes to foreclosures. An additional 1.8 million are likely to follow as the market deteriorates. That's nearly 2.4 million lost homes.

In Ohio the foreclosure epidemic went from bad to much worse last year as the number of new cases grew by nearly 24 percent from 2005. Cuyahoga County led the state in new cases with 13,610 new filings last year. This ranking has attracted national attention with Ohio's foreclosure rate currently at 18 percent which is higher than the national average of 17 percent. The problem has gone from bad to worse and from worse to regress in Ohio, with 7,479 filings in February 2007 alone.

Predatory lending has expanded its reach beyond mortgage lending. Predatory practices are becoming increasingly prevalent in refund anticipation, auto, and payday loans.

There were over 12 million Refund Anticipation Loan borrowers in 2003. Tax preparers and lenders strip about $1.57 billion in fees each year from the earned-income tax credits paid to working parents, according to a 2005 study by the National Consumer Law Center.

It is also estimated that Predatory payday lending practices cost American families $4.2 billion annually. In addition, research indicates that minorities pay on average $2,000 more per vehicle purchased than nonminorities. Predatory auto lending is taking an estimated $2 billion dollars a year out of African American communities alone.

Madam Speaker, I have been hollering about this issue since I came to Congress in 1999. It is unfortunate that the issue is being given some serious national attention only after posing a threat to corporations and financial and mortgage security industries. Last August, I along with the Financial Services Committee organized a field hearing in my Congressional District to hear from local officials and community representatives that work with this issue on a day-to-day basis. The hearing brought Ohio to the forefront of the foreclosure issue as it held rankings among the highest in the Nation.

To continue in the fight, this week, I will be introducing the Predatory Lending Practices Reduction Act. This legislation serves to accomplish three main goals: 1) Establish a federal certification program to require mortgage brokers and other agents involved in subprime loan transactions to become certified and pass a written examination that covers, among other things, Federal law relative to Truth in Lending, Fair Housing, Equal Credit Opportunity Act and other Federal legislation. 2) Sets up minimum standards as they relate to providing information to consumers as well as best practices for dispute/complaint resolution; and 3) Creates civil penalties for violations of federal law pertaining to predatory lending; In addition it addresses appraisal fraud which has become increasingly popular among predatory practices.

I commend Chairman Barney Frank of the Financial Services Committee on his commitment to working on this issue. I look forward to working with the Chairman and my colleagues on a solution to an issue that has devastated minority communities for over a decade.

Thank you to my colleague Mr. Cummings for organizing this effort.

I want to thank the Chair of this wonderful committee, Nydia Velazquez. I was on this committee when I came to Congress, and she helped me understand what legislative bodies were all about, and I want to thank her for her leadership because many times people want to give small business to the Republican Party, but this Chair has shown that small business is a Democratic as well as a Republican issue. And I thank my colleague from Ohio (Mr. Chabot) for the work that he has done.

Today, I rise in support of H.R. 1332, the Small Business Lending Improvements Act of 2007. This act is a tremendous effort to adapt the sometimes arcane SBA rules to the American businesswoman.

Among the impressive provisions of this act are a requirement to authorize SBA loans for projects that reduce energy consumption by at least 10 percent. In addition, the rural lending outreach program sends a great message to our small businesses in rural areas, who sometimes have to manage isolation and lack of resources because they have no proximity.

In addition, by making the Community Express Program permanent, you provide an attractive incentive for the erstwhile disenfranchised entrepreneurs to set up legitimate businesses. These businesses help to keep families together, and eventually contribute to our tax base.

I am from Cleveland, Ohio, which at the moment is said to be the poorest city in the Nation. Ninety-five percent of the private sector jobs are provided by small businesses. Therefore, the creation of jobs and growth of our small businesses is vital to our economic recovery.

The Small Business Administration's 7(a) lending program is essential for small business owners who cannot access capital through conventional markets. However, the program has been and is currently underfunded, and the burden has been shifting increasingly onto small business owners. Recent

changes to the program have increased the fees to access 7(a) programs, which diminishes access of small business owners.

I want to thank the chairwoman and the ranking member for their leadership around this issue. I want to thank you for the opportunity to be heard. And small business is not only a Republican issue, it is a Democratic issue. It's an American issue.

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to join my colleague, Mr. Cummings, as he organizes this hour around predatory lending.

I rise today to speak out against the issue of predatory lending within the subprime lending industry.

I came to Congress in 1999, served on the Committee on Financial Services, and started instantly raising the issue of predatory lending practices. One of the things that we have learned is that all subprime lenders are not predatory lenders, but all predatory lenders are subprime lenders.

Let me say it again. All subprime lenders are not predatory lenders, but all predatory lenders are subprime lenders. In fact, subprime lending has been a way in which many people who have been locked out of and left out of the credit area, or having an opportunity to have credit, have been able to come in. But what has come in with that practice are these predators who prey on our communities.

I have heard from countless constituents in my district regarding this issue. As you know, as the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich) said, Ohio has one of the highest rates of foreclosure in the country. Members of my community who have owned homes for years are being forced with foreclosure, after owning a home for more than 40 years in some cases.

Seniors are being affected at a disproportionate rate. Lenders prey on seniors who have been in their homes all of their lives and have a substantial amount of equity in their home. They get them on the phone and say: ``Oh, Ms. Jones, do you need a new kitchen? Oh, I can help you get a new kitchen and it won't cost you any money. But, Ms. Jones, you might need a driveway also. Let me help you out.''

And it goes on. So they enter into this agreement. They enter into these balloon and adjustable rate mortgages that look attractive and are affordable in their initial stages. However, after 2 years or more, these loans readjust to much higher payments with higher interest rates.

For instance, one of my constituents is currently in an adjustable rate mortgage which locked in a payment of $1,088 for 2 years. After 2 years, the mortgage payment increased to $1,488. And 3 months later, the payment increased to $1,715. This payment increase has had a significant impact on this individual's budget, and because they are not in a position to refinance, they are currently facing foreclosure. And that was one of the deals made in the early predatory lending situations.

``Oh, get it now. The interest rate is going to go down, and you will be able to refinance or purchase your house.'' The thing they don't say is often the appraisal far exceeds the value of the home, and if it exceeds the value of the home, by the time they get ready to refinance, they owe more on the home than the home is worth.

Creating wealth is the most fundamental goal of minorities that seek economic equity. One of the first steps towards creating wealth is home ownership. The equity from owning a home is often the only means to secure funding for a new business, college tuition or retirement. I know my girlfriend, Barbara Lee, talked about her home was the way in which she started her first business.

Predatory lending targets low-income and minority communities. It compromises the opportunity to own a home, and hinders economic stability, creating greater disparities in wealth.

Mr. Kucinich went through a lot of the statistics with regard to predatory lending and issues that came through the Nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending, so I won't try and go after that again. But what I will say, predatory lending has expanded its reach beyond mortgage lending. Predatory practices are becoming increasingly prevalent in refund anticipation, auto and payday loans. There were over 12 million refund anticipation loan borrowers in 2003. That is where you go into the place and they say, ``Oh, you are going to file your taxes. Let me give you a loan on your taxes and you can get your money right now,'' and the interest rate is outrageous.

Tax preparers and lenders strip about $1.57 billion in fees each year from the earned income tax credit paid to working families, according to a 2005 study.

It is also estimated that predatory payday lending practices cost American families $4.2 billion annually. Understand that the reason that the payday loan people have been able to come into our community is because often some of the traditional lending institutions have left the community and people have nowhere to operate. There are people who never get a checking or credit account. They pay their bills in cash. How can that be in the United States of America, but it is true. They walk up and want to pay the phone bill and the light bill and gas bill.

Anyway, I have been hollering, screaming, dancing about this issue since 1999. It is unfortunate that the only way we come to pay attention to this issue is when it begins to have an impact or threat to corporations and financial mortgage security industries in our country.

The nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending projects that as this year ends, 2.2 million households in the subprime market will either have lost their homes to foreclosure or hold subprime mortgages that will fail over the next several years. These foreclosures will cost homeowners as much as $164 billion, primarily in lost home equity.

It is also projected that one out of five (19 percent) subprime mortgages originated during the past two years will end in foreclosure. This rate is nearly double the projected rate of subprime loans made in 2002, and it exceeds the worst foreclosure experience in the modern mortgage market, which occurred during the ``Oil Patch'' disaster of the 1980s.

The nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending analyzed 15.1 million subprime loans from 1998 through 2006 and found that only about 1.4 million were for first-time home buyers. Most were for refinancing. To date, more than 500,000 of those subprime borrowers have lost their homes to foreclosures. An additional 1.8 million are likely to follow as the market deteriorates. That's nearly 2.4 million lost homes.

In Ohio the foreclosure epidemic went from bad to much worse last year as the number of new cases grew by nearly 24% from 2005. Cuyahoga county led the state in new cases with 13,610 new filings last year. This ranking has attracted national attention with Ohio's foreclosure rate currently at 18% which is higher than the national average of 17%. The problem has gone from bad to worse and from worse to regress in Ohio, with $7,479 filings in February 2007 alone.

Predatory lending has expanded its reach beyond mortgage lending. Predatory practices are becoming increasingly prevalent in refund anticipation, auto, and payday loans.

There were over 12 million Refund Anticipation Loan borrowers in 2003. Tax preparers and lenders strip about $1.57 billion in fees each year from the earned-income tax credits paid to working parents, according to a 2005 study by the National Consumer Law Center.

It is also estimated that Predatory payday lending practices cost American families $4.2 billion annually. In addition, research indicates that minorities pay on average $2,000 more

per vehicle purchased than nonminorities. Predatory auto lending is taking an estimated $2 billion dollars a year out of African American communities alone.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, Diane Watson, for organizing this event.

You know, when I think of Juanita Millender-McDonald, I think of this

piece of poetry called ``A Phenomenal Woman.'' In one of the lines in that piece of poetry, it says, ``Does my sexiness upset you? Do you find it awful hard that I dance like I have oil wells growing in my back yard?'' And Juanita was like that. She danced and she walked and she showed off, and that is what I loved most about her.

When I came to Congress, I learned that we had Alabama roots. I learned that she was an AKA and I was a Delta. And on the floor of the House I would wear pink, and she would say, oh, you look good in that pink. And I would say, oh it is only faded red that I have on, because Deltas wore red.

We talked about issues affecting women. It was as a result of her work and that of Bob Ney that I had an opportunity to bring the Secretary of State of Ohio before a hearing and get him to answer questions. I thank Juanita for that, to my best.

But I think the thing that Juanita and I talked about most, and my words are to you, Keith, that she loved you. We talked about our sons. And African American sons are so important in the lives of mothers. And we used to talk about you. And I used to talk about Mervyn. And she loved her daughters, but we talked about our boys.

And I just want to say to the family, Jim and all, that we here in the Congress will miss Juanita Millender-McDonald. But the thing that we will always remember is she was right there on that aisle, right there, just sitting there talking, smiling, walking, being involved. And we thank God for Juanita Millender-McDonald.

And, God, you know, AKAs came first, but the Deltas were second. So I will always think of her as my sister. We are from the same root.

Mr. Speaker, last week I had the pleasure of attending a middle school in my congressional district. The middle school is Woodbury. I have a T-shirt to represent Woodbury Middle School. I thought I could wear it on the floor of the House, but they told me it was inappropriate attire so I had to take it off. But this is a Woodbury T-shirt, and I promised those students at Woodbury Middle School that this week on the floor of the House I would talk about what a great time I had at Woodbury Middle School.

The reason I was there, and let me recognize the principal, Barbara Whitaker; the vice principals, WeMet Smith and Eric Grundton; and teacher friends of mine, my neighbor, Barbara Norton; Chante Taylor, who is the wife of one of my district staffers; Aisha Mason, who is the wife of Senator Lance Mason.

But what I was there for we have Ohio achievement tests, and we decided on this particular day at this particular school, we are going to celebrate the achievements of the young people of Woodbury Middle School. We had a wonderful time. The band played. They are doing a production of ``Annie,'' and ``Annie'' did a production. We had a dance troupe that I learned how to do a certain dance with these young people. We even had a chance to quote Nas, a famous rapper, who talks about I can be what I want to be.

We had a great time. We had a wonderful chance to really celebrate the fact that these young people are going to do a great job on this Ohio achievement test. So Woodbury Middle School, I keep my promise. Hurray for Woodbury Middle School. Pass that test.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 1 o'clock and 10 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until Monday, April 23, 2007, at 12:30 p.m., for morning hour debate.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in proud recognition of World Social Work Day. First off I would like to extend my gratitude to all social workers for the important work they do. It is selfless work that impacts the most impoverished and sick among us. Your hard work assists millions of individuals, families and communities across the country and the globe.

I have always been a strong advocate for social workers. The field of social work can be a thankless profession which is not very lucrative, so having fully trained professional social workers is always a blessing. In the 108th and 109th Congresses, I introduced a bill that would provide loan forgiveness to social workers who work for child protective agencies. I hear from students all the time who express desire to work as a social worker, but may choose a different field in order to be able to pay for their education.

I want to encourage people who are interested and have a desire to become a social worker, and not have them choose a different career based on the cost of their education. Their work is vital to my community and to all communities, and we need to encourage young people's interest in social work.

This year's theme for National Professional Social Work Month is ``Hope and Health.'' My home is Cleveland, Ohio, and we have been rated as one of the most impoverished cities in the nation. With so many individuals unemployed and unable to provide for themselves or their families, a strong social worker presence is vital for my community.

Thirty-two percent of Clevelanders live below the poverty line.

Almost half of the children live below the poverty line compared to a national average of 18 percent.

Nineteen percent of those children lack any type of health coverage.

There are over 21,000 social workers in the state of Ohio, and the majority of them work in the fields of Mental Health, Child and Family Welfare, Health, and Aging.

I would like to highlight North East Ohio Health Services, which is a behavioral health care organization that provides services to the residents of Cuyahoga County. They have many programs that reach children through seniors in crisis intervention to continuing care. I am grateful for organizations like North East Ohio Health Services that employ social workers to assist my constituents with the greatest need.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank all my colleagues in the House who are social workers, and especially Congressman Ciro Rodriguez for arranging this special order to recognize World Social Work Day. And I would like to reiterate my deepest respect and admiration to all the people who choose to devote their lives and careers to providing a helping hand to the most desperate among us.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the chairman of the full committee, the Chair of the housing subcommittee, as well as the ranking members.

I used to serve on both of these committees when I was on Financial Services, and my heart longs to address many of the same issues. From the Ways and Means Committee, I hope to try to do some of that.

I have traveled to the Hurricane Katrina area on three occasions. The first time I went, I went to visit some of the folks that were put out of their homes and they were staying in arenas across Houston and across Baton Rouge and across New Orleans.

The second time I went, I went with Leader Pelosi when a group of us had an opportunity to tour the areas about 9 months later. I sat down and talked with officials.

The third time I was there when the people of New Orleans were dying to have an opportunity to vote for the mayoral candidate of their choice.

Louisiana is important to me because a lot of my father's and mother's friends lived in Louisiana when they grew up in Alabama. But the thing I think we need to remember about Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, that is America. That is the United States of America, and the people of those communities deserve to be treated royally. They deserve to have the services and housing that they need. I think that this piece of legislation goes towards that effort.

More importantly, I have run into people from Louisiana who say, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones, I want to help rebuild New Orleans, but somehow I have to be gone. I want to come back and live, and people are coming from all over the world working in New Orleans rebuilding my hometown. I want to be there to have the opportunity to do that.

I believe this legislation gives us an opportunity to do that as well.

I have introduced a piece of legislation, H.R. 1043, which is called the Community Restoration and Revitalization Act of 2007. What that legislation does is allows us to use the historic preservation tax credit in conjunction with low-income housing tax credit so that when we rebuild the historic areas of New Orleans, we won't just rebuild for the people who are coming in with money who want to live in those areas, the gentrified areas; but there will be dollars to provide for people who stayed in the community and want to be there for a while and need to be able to afford to live in those areas.

This is an important day for us. Just as we rebuilt New York after 9/ 11 and everybody bought into the process, and I don't make a comparison between 9/11 and a hurricane, but what I will say to you is that the people of this area are Americans just like the rest of us, and they need a place to live, and they need to be able to bring their children back and restore that culture that is so rich a part of the United States of America.

I stand here today encouraging, urging, pleading with my colleagues to not let this opportunity pass. Don't let it be said that on March 20, 2007, when your children and grandchildren asked where were you and what did you do for the people of New Orleans, Mississippi and Alabama, and you say, I did nothing.

I am glad to stand here in support of the legislation. I celebrate my colleagues and thank you for an opportunity to be heard.