General and Special Risk Insurance Funds Availability Act of 2010

Floor Speech

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

The FHA has become a very successful program. It has taken up a lot of the slack that was created by problems elsewhere in the housing area. It is being run very well. Secretary Donovan and Administrator Stevens deserve a great deal of credit.

In a bipartisan way, the Committee on Financial Services has cooperated with them. We recently passed a bill, again a bipartisan bill, and the ranking member of the Housing Subcommittee, the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito) is here, to enhance their authority to allow them to do a better job statutorily of guarding against abuse and fraud.

The program's been sufficiently successful so that they have now run out of commitment authority. This bill would give them $5 billion more in commitment authority. But it is not an expenditure. Indeed, it is the opposite. This will save $94 million because we have structured the FHA today, and it's being run in a way that it makes a small profit for the Federal Government.

If we do not pass this bill before the end of next week, us first and then the Senate, the FHA program will stop until October. That will deny people housing, and this is housing, homeownership and other forms of housing, that is responsibly done. It will be a further shot to the housing sector of the economy which is so important.

I add letters from the American Bankers Association and a joint letter from virtually every organization that deals with housing from the standpoint of consumers, or from the standpoint of financing, also from the standpoint of people in the business of providing housing. So providers of housing, financers of housing, sellers of housing, consumers of housing all agree that we need this bill.

It should not be controversial because it extends a very successful program, stops it from being interrupted between now and October, and it will present savings of $94 million.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, just briefly, I would like to join with the chairman of the full committee, Mr. Frank, in full support of this bill. I would also like to thank the Appropriations Committee for letting us bump up two bills so we could get ahead a little bit on our evening.

I would like to reiterate just very quickly that this FHA program is a critical source of financing for affordable rental housing, and I am in full agreement that we should pass this bill, as it will help to mitigate any disruptions in the housing market.

I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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