Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2014

Floor Speech

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Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Speaker, this bill will provide
an important and long overdue reauthorization of the Native American
Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act or NAHASDA.

Through NAHASDA, the federal government provides housing assistance
to Native Americans and Native Hawaiians in a way that is tailored to
address their unique housing needs, while respecting their right to
self-determination. These groups experience some of the poorest housing
conditions in our country so it is very important that we reauthorize
the programs within NAHASDA.

As a supporter of the reauthorization of NAHASDA, I did not object to
the bill before us today moving forward under suspension.

However, as I have pointed out in the past, this bill fails to ensure
certain basic protections for the communities that rely on NAHASDA--and
as a result--I will oppose this measure.

Despite my repeated objections, Republicans have refused to include a
provision in this bill that offers protections for the Cherokee
Freedmen. As many people know, the Cherokee Freedmen are the
descendants of former African American slaves of the Cherokee, who are
facing possible expulsion by the Cherokee nation.

For the past several years, under the leadership of former Members
including Carolyn Kilpatrick and Mel Watt, the Congressional Black
Caucus has stood up for the rights of the Cherokee Freedmen. But Republicans have consistently refused to acknowledge this tragic history and do something to bring justice to this situation. And this bill is no exception. During the Committee markup, they rejected my amendment, which would have made NAHASDA funding to the Cherokee contingent on full recognition of the Freedmen as citizens of the Cherokee Nation.

My position on this issue remains steadfast, and I cannot support
continued silence in the face of such injustice. That is why I will not
support this bill unless it grants the Freedmen the justice they
deserve.

I am also withholding my support from this bill because it contains a
provision that would seriously undercut the central goal of providing
affordable housing for low-income Native Americans. This bill would
waive a long-standing tenet of affordable housing known as the ``Brooke
Rule,'' which states that the maximum rent paid by assisted households
must be no more than 30 percent of their income.

The Brooke Rule is a basic safeguard that exists in the pubjic
housing and Section 8 programs. It ensures that federally subsidized
housing is affordable for the lowest-income households. By stripping
away this basic safeguard, this bill would make low-income Native
Americans vulnerable to unlimited increases in rent without any kind of
hardship examptions in place.

This is simply unacceptable. It is a basic purpose of NAHASDA to
provide housing for low-income Native Americans, and this provision
would seriously undermine that purpose. Republicans may not be
concerned about the plight of the lowest-income Native Americans who
rely on NAHASDA programs, but they are at the top of my concerns when
it comes to this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to sincerely thank Ms. Moore, Mr. Heck and
Mr. Kildee for their efforts to reach a bipartisan agreement on this
bill. However, I cannot support this reauthorization bill in its
current form for all of the reasons I have stated.

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