be printed in the congressional record and that all members and former members who spoke have the privilege of revising and extending their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. . for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york rise? mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1674. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1674, a bill to amend the national consumer cooperative bank act to allow for the treatment of the nonprofit corporation affiliate of the bank as a community development financial institution, for purposes of the community development banking and financial institutions act of 1994. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. maloney, and the gentlewoman from west virginia, mrs. capito, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new york. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, i ask

unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this particular legislation and to insert additional information. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 1674, the national consumer cooperative bank act amendments of 2008. this legislation is necessary to make a technical correction to the statute of the national consumer cooperative bank act. the national consumer cooperative bank was created by congress in 1978 and is dedicated to strengthening communities nationwide through the delivery of banking and financial services, complimented by a special focus on cooperative expansion and economic development. the national consumer cooperative bank act of 1978 established a nonprofit corporation to reach further into low income communities and

to serve disadvantaged populations. mission driven subsidiary of n.c.b. that works to provide housing, education, health care, cultural centers, small businesses and social services and economically -- in economically distressed communities. in the last 10 years alone, n.c.b. capital impact has invested more than $600 million in assistance to low and moderate income communities. these funds helped finance more than 33,000 affordable housing units, 8,000 affordable assisted living units for seniors and persons with disabilities, 137,000 school seats, 2.9 million square feet of community health center space, serving 350,000 patients. and helped create 25,000 jobs

for low income individuals. in my home state of new york, n.c.b. capital impact has played a significant role in providing housing finance. in fact, n.c.b. has participated in more than 600 loans in my district alone. most of these loans are for housing, including affordable housing, as well as loans for community facilities and loans to nonprofit organizations like the council of new york cooperatives and condominiums. together these groups are able to provide assisted living, affordable housing and services to the frail and elderly. presently, n.c.b. capital impact is working with five community-based organizations to help finance 17 projects that will create 558 housing units. despite their good work in serving low income communities and disadvantaged populations, n.c.b. capital impact is not

eligible for assistance authorized under the community development banking and financial institutions act of 1994. which is administered by the cdfi fund. the fund has ruled it cannot certify n.c.b. capital impact as a cdfi because of the corporate structure of its parent, n.c.b. in short, n.c.b. capital impact is shut off from critical sources of financial awards that are needed to maintain their housing and community development efforts. the interest of n.c.b. capital impact in gaining cdfi certification is two fold. first it has a track record that is comparable to other organizations that receive cdfi status, its mission is dedicated to working with low income populations and communities, second, increasingly in the community development finance field, cdfi certification is

viewed as a good housekeeping seal of approval in working with her federal agencies and other public and private institutions. i think that it is important to note that this legislation does not guarantee the n.c.b. any assistance nor does it authorize additional amounts for the cdfi program. all it does is allow n.c.b. to better fulfillity mission by allowing them to compete for these funds. as such, the congressional budget office has determined that this legislation will have no significant impact on the federal budget. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this technical amendment to the n.c.b. statute so that the nonprofit mission may continue to provide services to distressed and underserved communities throughout new york and throughout the entire country.

i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves the balance of her time. the gentlewoman from west virginia. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. capito: thank you. h.r. 1674 makes a small but significant fix to the national consumer cooperative bank act that will have the effect of expanding financial services options to lower income communities. the bill gave -- the bill would give n.c.b. capital impact the nonprofit subsidiary --, the nonprofit subsidiary of n.c.b., the opportunities to compete for grants for the community development institutions fund administered by the treasury department. today n.c.b. capital impact is not eligible for the cdfi grants, even though it provides housing, education, health care, cultural centers, small businesses and social services in distressed areas. the missions of the cdfi fund is to expand the capacity of

financial institutions to provide credit, capital and financial services to underserved populations. so long as the activities of the n.c.b. capital impact meet the letter and the spirit of the cdfi's eligibility requirements, their organizational structure should not preclude them from receiving those dollars. this bill would allow n.c.b. capital impact to compete for grants and continue providing economic development support to low and moderate income communities. i have -- in closing, i would like to commend the sponsor of this legislation, mrs. maloney, for her work on this bill and i am in support of her statement and would urge my colleagues also to support that. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from west virginia yields back the balance of her time. the gentlewoman from new york. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, i have no further requests for time and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r.

1674. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. green: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 403rks the homes for heroes act of 2009. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 403rks a bill to provide housing -- 403, a bill to provide housing assistance for very low income veterans. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. green, and the gentlewoman from virginia, mrs. capito, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. green: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on h.r. 403. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. green: mr. speaker, i yield

myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. green: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i'd like to thank representative capito. she is an active member of the financial services committee and i thank her for managing today. mr. speaker, i'd also like to thank representative michaud, for his outstanding work in helping wi this bill. he is a co-sponsor. i thank the ranking member, spencer bachus. of course i thank mr. barney frank. i also would like it to thank the housing subcommittee chair who has worked closely with me on this project, representative maxine waters. mr. speaker, the question may be posed in the mind of someone as to why we should pass the homes for heroes act. i'd like to answer this question. we need to pass this bill because, while many of us are sleeping in the suits of life,

too many of our veterans are sleeping in the streets of life. we node to pass it because while many of -- we need to pass it because while many of us have homes and jobs, too many of our veterans are homeless with no jobs at all. we must pass this piece of legislation because america can't continue to be the home of the free and the land of the brave if too many of our brave veterans continue to be homeless. mr. speaker, the statistics are shocking. they literally shock the conscience. veterans are % of the population and more than 25 -- 9% of the population and more than 25% of the homeless. on any given night, 131,000 veterans are homeless. 300,000 veterans will experience homelessness at some point in the course of a year. one half of the veterans who are homeless suffer from mental

illness. 2/3 suffer from alcohol or substance abuse. about 47% of homeless veterans are vietnam veterans. in texas there are about 16,000 homeless veterans. in my city of houston, texas, we have about 2,500 homeless veterans. per the national alliance to end homelessness, 467,000 veterans spend more than 50% of their income on rent. 1.5 million veterans have incomes below the poverty line. 643,000 veterans have incomes below 50% of the poverty line. mr. speaker, america needs to pass homes for the heroes because our veterans need homes. mr. speaker, h.r. 403 would establish a special assistant

for veteran affairs within h.u.d. it would allow this person or give this person the authority to coordinate services for homeless veterans and this would be with the states, with local authorities, with nonprofit organizations as well. this bill establishes a $200 million assistance program in h.u.d. for veterans, for supportive housing and services for low income veterans. it expands the very popular and very successful h.u.d. veterans afaurs supported housing program, authorizing 20,000 vouchers annually, when funded. it authorizes $1 million in h.u.d. grants to assist housing providers, to help them provide the supportiver ises -- services and the planning necessary to fulfill the needs of our veterans. this bill would require h.u.d. to submit an annual comprehensive report to congress on homelessness among the veteran population.

and this bill will do what is necessary as a great first step to ending homelessness among our veterans population. this bill is supported by 12 anti-homelessness and veterans organizations. mr. speaker, if america is to continue to be the land of the free he, america must provide homes for the brave. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from west virginia. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. capito: thank you. i'd like to thank my colleague, mr. green, for his passion and his devotion to this bill, homes for heroes act, as he has been shepherding this now for several congresses and i appreciate his support and want to lend my support as well. as we know, the iraq and afghanistan wars have placed new pressures on veterans' services and housing. department of veterans affairs

estimates that it has served approximately 916 returning veterans in its homeless programs and has identified over 2,900 more as being at risk for homelessness. the congressional research service in its report entitled veterans and homelessness explained by both male and female veterans are overrepresented in the homeless population. this country simply must do a better job of providing for our veterans. for this reason, i rise in strong support of h.r. 403, the homes for heroes act of 2009. as my colleague explained this legislation will had help to expand the supply of housing for very low income veterans and increase the number of vouchers for homeless veterans. it establishes a special assistance for veterans affairs at the department of housing and urban development. to ensure veterans receive proper access to h.u.d.'s housing assistance programs, coordinate all h.u.d. programs and activities pertaining it to veterans and would act as a liaison between h.u.d. and the

department of veterans affairs. in an effort to expand the supply of veterans housing, the bill allingt rises appropriations for housing assistance for very low income and homeless veterans. a very low income veteran family has an income not exceeding 50% of an area's median income. a $200 million authorization would provide capital advances in planning grants to provide nonprofits with consumer cooperatives for the rehabilitation of permanent supporting housing for very low income veterans. it may also be used for project rental assistance. the bill also authorizes appropriation necessary to provide 20,000 additional housing choice vouchers for homeless veterans for f.y. 2009 and each year thereafter. other provisions in the bill include the exclusion of veterans benefits amounts from rental subsidy calculations for all federally funded housing programs and an authorization of $1 million in technical

assistance grants to nonprofits who provide veterans housing or provide assistance to veterans seeking housing. all in all, this bill, i believe, will help to address an area or an issue of homelessness in our veterans population, one that we must not allow to continue. h.r. 403 is similar to h.r. 3329, which passed the house in the 110th congress by a vote of 412-9. i urge my colleagues to support and i reserve the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. green: i thank the gentlelady for her generous comments and her appeal to colleagues to support this important piece of legislation. mr. speaker, i'd like to submit for the record a letter that has been signed by 16 organizations that are supporting this piece of legislation. without objection i'd like to so submit. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. green: i will now continue to reserve.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves his time of the the gentlewoman from west virginia. mrs. capito: mr. speaker, i would like to now yield two minutes of time to ms. brown-waite from florida, an advocate for veterans across the border and certainly housing for our veterans. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida is recognized for two minutes. ms. brown-waite:00 thank you -- ms. brown-waite: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise in support of h.r. 403. for our nation's veterans the fight does not end when they return from battle. readd jsing ---readjusting to civilian life and coping with the physical and psychological effects of war can be a daunting task. current reports estimate that about 154,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. this statistic is a tragedy. however congress is now taking a step in the right direction. the homes for heroes act creates a special assistance for veterans' affairs want h.u.d. and provides at least 20,000 low-income veterans with rental

vouchers and aids veterans in applying for and obtaining assistance. additionally i'm proud that this bill includes help for veterans with mental health disorders and assists low-income veterans and their families with personal and financial planning, obtaining veterans benefits and vocational training. as a former member of the committee on veterans' affairs, i'm aware of the many unique issues that our veterans face. the homes for heroes act will supply our veterans with the tools they need to reintegrate into society and i thank representative green for introducing this bill. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. does the gentlewoman from west virginia reserve her time? mrs. capito: i'd like to reserve the balance of my time. i have no further speakers at this moment, though. mr. green: i will close. mrs. capito: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from west virginia yields back her time. the gentleman from texas. mr. green: i close by urging my colleagues to support this piece of legislation.

and to please consider the fact that our veterans have been there for us. this is an opportunity for us to be there for them. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 403. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed -- the gentleman from texas. mr. green: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds a quorum is not present and make a point of order a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. green: mr. speaker, i move to have the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, senate bill 614. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 614, an act to award a congressional gold medal to the women air force service

pilots, wasp. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. al green, and the gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. green: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. green: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. green: mr. speaker, i'd like to acknowledge and compliment the member from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, and commend her on what she has done to get this piece of legislation to the floor. she has worked with senator kay bailey hutchison who has had this piece of legislation pass the senate. she had 75 co-sponsors, hence the legislation is now before us in the house.

mr. speaker, there should be a compendium of knowledge, if you will, styled the greatest stories never told. perhaps therein wb the stories -- would be the stories of the buffalo soldiers. a story of rarely told how they had to fight their way into the military so that they could fight for their country. perhaps contained therein there would be the story of the fill peaian soldiers who died -- philippine soldiers who died on the bataan march. such a collection would not be complete, however, without the story of the wasp. these are the first women to fly military aircraft. they are the women in the air force, the women air force service pilots known as the wasp. it's a story of gender bias, mr. speaker. the notion that flying is a man's work.

it's the story of culture bias, the belief that a woman's pce is in the home. it's the story of injustice. the notion that women could apply but never qualify. it's a story of inequalities and inequities. the notion that women could have rank but not always have their rank respected. mr. speaker, it's a story of never say never. a story of persistence pays off. a story of success because of some, and a story of success in spite of others. it's a story of how a famous pilot, jacqueline "jacky" cochran became the first commander of the w.f.o. in 1942. that's the women's flying training detachment. it's the story of how a test pilot, nancy love, became the commander of the w.a.f., the women's auxiliary flying --

ferrying squadron in 1942. it's the story of how the w.f.o. and the w.a.f. merged in 1943 to become the wasp. the wasps would go on and fly 60 million miles. they would fly every type of aircraft. they would be stationed in 120 bases across the country. on december 20 of 1944, when victory was at hand, the wasps were quietly and unceremoniously disbanded. 38 lost their lives in the course of serving their country. however families and friends had to pay for their burial expenses. survivors had to pay their way back home because they were not considered a part of the military in an official capacity. many of their records were sealed and unavailable to historians until the 1980's.

they didn't get veteran status until 1977. and this was done without a white house ceremony and it was done without the kind of fanfare that we would expect them to receive in this day and time. the story, mr. speaker, is one of few being honored, and their honors being accorded them too late and not enough thank yous have been accorded them at all. the story of the wattps is one that -- wasps is one that is in my opinion the greatest story never told and one which we should acknowledge with this bill when it is passed today. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from florida. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to give myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you. mr. speaker, as the house sponsor of this legislation, i

rise in strong support of senate bill 614, a bill to award the congressional gold medal to the women air force service pilots of world war ii. wasp. here is a picture, mr. speaker, of the wasp, one of the many pictures, but as the previous speaker pointed out, not enough recognition was paid to them. special thanks for this bill go to financial service chairman, barney frank, and ranking member spencer bachus. and their staff as well. for their assistance in bringing this legislation to the floor today. i would also like to thank my staff, mr. speaker, particularly captain deana, united states marine corps, who is serving as a defense fellow in my office for the remainder of the year. her efforts were instrumental in achieving the required number of co-sponsors for this bill in record time.

and sarah sitting next to her worked so hard on all of our office projects. thanks to all the great staff work on this bill. mr. speaker, as has been pointed out the bill before us today honors the special sisterhood of women. most of them in their 80's, who share unique place in american history. these women have been mothers and grandmothers, teachers and office workers, nurses, business owners, photographers, and dancers. one was even a nun. but before that they were pilots for the united states army corps during world war ii. they are heroins, women air force service pilots, or wasps, were the first women in history to fly america's military aircraft. between the years of 1942 to 1944 these courageous women volunteered to fly noncombat missions so that every available

male pilot could be deployed into combat. more than 25,000 women applied for the program, but only 1,830 qualified women pilots were accepted. unlike their male counterparts, women applicants were required to be qualified pilots before they could even apply for the army and air force military flight training program. all together 1,102 women earned their wings and went on to fly over 60 million miles for the army air force, equal to some 2,500 times around the globe. their performance was equal in every way to that of male pilots. with the exception of direct combat missions, the waspps flue -- flew the same aircraft and same missions as male pilots. women pilots were used to tow

targets to male pilots, for searchlight missions, engineering test flying, and countless other exercises. in 1944 the wasp were disbanded. their service records sealed. and classified. by the time the war ended, mr. speaker, 38 women pilots had lost their lives while flying for our country. their families were not allowed to have an american flag placed on their coffins. and although they took the military oath and were promised military status, the wasp never were recognized as military personnel. nor were they ever recognized as veterans at the war's end. in 1977, more than 30 years after the wasp had served, another woman pioneer, the late congresswoman lynndie bogs, indduesed legislation to grant the was -- introduced

legislation to grant the wasp veteran status. speaking of the day when the women would be fully integrated into the military, a wasp noted if the nation ever again needs them, american women will respond. never again will they have to prove they can do any flying job the military has. not as an experiment, not to fill in for men, they will fly as commissioned officers in the future air force of the united states with equal pay, hospitalization, insurance, veterans benefits. the wasp has earned -- have earned it for these women of the future. and the wasp were indeed and continue to be true pry nears whose example paved the way for the armed forces to lift the ban on women attending military flight training in the 1970's. today women in the military fly every type of aircraft from the