Providing for Consideration of H.R. 1461, Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2005
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1461, FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE REFORM ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - October 26, 2005)
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 509 and ask for its immediate consideration.
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Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.
This structured rule provides for 1 hour of general debate, equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Financial Services. It waives all points of order against consideration of the bill, and provides that the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Financial Services now printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill for the purpose of amendment and shall be considered as read. It waives all points of order against the amendment in the nature of a substitute and makes in order only those amendments printed in the Rules Committee report accompanying the resolution.
It provides that the amendments made in order may be offered only in the order printed in the report, offered only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, and shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and opponent. They shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for a division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole.
Finally, the rule waives all points of order against the amendments printed in the report and provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this rule and the underlying legislation, H.R. 1461, the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2005. This bill, cosponsored by my good friend, Chairman RICHARD BAKER, was accepted at its full committee markup last May and reported to the House by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 65 to 5. This balanced rule under debate makes in order a manager's amendment and an equal number of additional amendments from Members of both sides of the aisle, with four Republican and four Democrat amendments also made in order.
The purpose of this legislation is simple: to provide for the creation of a world-class regulator to oversee the housing government-sponsored entities that help make America's mortgage and capital markets the envy of the world.
Currently, approximately 70 percent of American households own their own home, a fact that is due in no small part to the liquid and strong capital markets that allow families to achieve the American dream of homeownership at rates never seen before.
But the same GSEs that help to drive high ownership rates are also among the largest U.S. financial institutions, with approximately $2.5 billion in assets. Between the two largest GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, nearly half the residential market is either owned or guaranteed. Because of their size and potential to have a disproportionate impact on America's capital markets, they require strong and effective oversight of their operations. The Federal Housing Finance Reform Act, brought forth by Chairman MIKE OXLEY and Chairman RICHARD BAKER, will accomplish this goal.
This bill will provide for the continued strength of our mortgage markets by creating a new, world-class regulator with strong safety and soundness and mission powers to oversee these GSEs. It merges the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which currently regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with the Federal Housing Finance Board, which currently regulates the Federal home loan banks, into a single entity. This new entity, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, will be headed by a Director who is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. It will also be comprised of an advisory board, represented by the Department of the Treasury, HUD, and two nongovernmental members.
This regulator will be empowered to ensure the safety and soundness of GSEs through a number of increased powers similar to ones already given to bank regulators, including the ability to determine minimum and risk-based capital standards, to review and adjust portfolio holdings, to approve new programs and business activities, to mandate prudent management and operational standards, to take prompt corrective and enforcement actions, and to put critically undercapitalized GSEs into receivership, to require corporate governance improvements, and, lastly, to hire examination and accounting experts.
This legislation also establishes an Affordable Housing Fund, based on the Affordable Housing Program already in place for the Federal home loan banks. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will now have the opportunity to manage affordable housing programs funded by a percentage of their earnings. These funds will be awarded through a competitive application process to for-profit builders, State housing agencies, and nonprofit organizations; and, this fund will streamline HUD's current affordable housing goals for the GSEs to meet pressing needs in low-income and rural communities.
Under this rule we also have the opportunity to discuss a manager's amendment to this legislation, which makes a significant number of improvements to the bill. Chief among these is the recognition that Congress must provide strong, market-based incentives to rebuild the devastated gulf coast region in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The manager's amendment will ensure that during the first 2 years, additional weight will be given to Hurricane Katrina and Rita disaster areas and to those families affected by these catastrophes. Priority will be given for other disaster areas and to areas of greatest impact and geographic diversity.
The manager's amendment also recognizes the need for fast action in the gulf region, and speeds up the effective dates of this legislation from 1 year to 6 months after enactment. Finally, the manager's amendment sunsets the fund after 5 years, at which point the Director will report to Congress on whether funds should be extended or modified to improve its efficiency and effectiveness so that Congress can exercise appropriate oversight of this new program.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this legislation to reform and improve oversight of housing GSEs, and I would like to thank Chairman RICHARD BAKER and Chairman MIKE OXLEY and their colleagues on the Financial Services Committee for their hard work on this important legislation. I encourage my colleagues to support this fair and balanced rule and the underlying legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, it is right out there in front of everybody: Republicans are good on policy and, evidently, the Democrats do not like the politics. The policy is what this Financial Services Committee is all about. That is why they produced this great bill.
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Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I am very disappointed that the gentleman from Maryland referred to this as a closed rule, when in fact he knows it is not a closed rule.
The gentleman from Maryland understands that what we have done and undertaken in this rule is the opportunity that would allow any Member, but in particular a Member of the minority, a chance to vote on a manager's amendment, a motion to recommit, and certainly final passage.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. SESSIONS. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, so the public understands and our colleagues understand, what I indicated was that the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), the ranking Democrat on this committee, who has been here over a quarter of a century, wants to offer an amendment that was supported in the committee; and he has been precluded from offering that amendment.
To that extent, the Republicans have undermined the free and fair debate on this floor. That was my point. And I believe I was absolutely correct.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, so that the gentleman does understand the facts of the case, the committee had no discussion on this point. The discussion took place in the Rules Committee, because a decision was made well after May, at the time that the committee brought it forward.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. SESSIONS. I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I agree with the gentleman, it was never discussed in committee. That is precisely the point. The restrictive language being put forward, which would say no faith-based group could participate, has never been debated in this committee and we are not allowed to do an amendment on the floor.
Yes, it is part of the manager's amendment along with a number of other things such as preference for the gulf. All we asked for was an ability to vote on some of these specific things. I agree, it was not brought up in committee. It was brought up in a private session between the Republican Study Committee and the then-majority leader. That is not an appropriate forum to be the only place where we discuss things.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, my point is that the gentleman from Maryland referred to this as being a closed rule. It is not a closed rule.
Mr. Speaker, I will insert in the RECORD a campaign plan from ACORN that is very much a part of this debate today about what organizations and groups plan to do with politics and money.
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Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Kansas City very clearly articulated the exact reason why this bill is moving forward, and the reason why Chairman RICHARD BAKER and the chairman of the committee, Chairman MIKE OXLEY, have moved forward a bill that is so powerful, that will include more dollars.
But I believe that the argument that is here is about politics, pure and simple politics, rather than policy. And this bill is about policy. It is about getting millions of dollars that will be given to the source at which we will create more and better housing for really poor people.
The gentleman referred to him being a member of the United Methodist Church. I am a member of the United Methodist Church. When you look at a Web site for Habitat for Humanity, you will see large corporations on that list who contribute to new houses in this country, not-for-profits and others; and number four on that list is my church, of the entire country, my church the Highland Park United Methodist Church of Dallas, Texas. We build houses in Dallas, Texas, for poor people, people who are without that ability for their families.
But what we are asking here is the ability to move this bill to create thousands of more homes. And I think what MIKE OXLEY wants in this bill is to make it about policy, not about politics. And I am proud of how we are doing this.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I heard the gentleman from Massachusetts refer to his 25 years of service in this distinguished body, and I have great respect for that; but I want him to know, and I am certain he remembers this, that the Democrats when they were in the majority, many times denied Republicans an opportunity in the legislative and rulemaking process to have motions to recommit. In fact, the Republican majority has given the minority that under this rule, as we have the entire time we have been in the majority.
This vote today is simply on the rule. The committee voted for the bill 65-5. Members are going to have an opportunity during consideration of these amendments to voice their disapproval of the manager's amendment and vote it down if that is what they choose to do.
The purpose of these changes that we are talking about in the manager's amendment is to prevent nonprofits from receiving these funds and engaging in political activity, to ensure that the scarce and available funds for housing resources are allocated effectively and for their intended purpose, pure and simple. We want to make sure that they are used for rebuilding houses with the primary emphasis in the gulf region.
This legislation does not prevent nonprofit organizations from pursuing a political agenda if they so choose. It simply prevents them from accepting these funds if they put politics first. It is their choice.
Hurricanes do not take party affiliation into account, and these funds are being contributed by the housing GSEs to rebuild this important region of our country. It should not be done on a political basis. I am very proud of this bill and the underlying legislation.
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