so i am 100% in agreement with that caller. and certainly aarp is a very strong proponent of keeping social security solvent and strong for many years to come. for not only those who are here now but for even our children in the future. host: next is houston, steve, independent line. caller: hello. host: good morning, steve. you're on the air. caller: i think the problem is social security is they're not keeping up with minimum wage. they should be paying these people at least $1,200 a month. they ain't doing had. minimum wage is right there. but the trouble is minimum wage, it shouldn't be at $7. it should be at $5 and nobody takes no taxes out of your check. until you make $7 an hour. that's whht they should do and helps out everybody because the price of rent, food, clothing is cheaper. you can compete with the world, not sit here and sit in

unemployment lines waiting to find another job host: we'll let that stand as a comment wanting to restructure social security distribution. cleveland, ohio, laura, democrats line. good morning, laura. caller: good morning. i would just like to express my opinion on the unemployment. i'm 59 years old and i've been on unemployment for a while, my job closed out in 2008, i went to work every day and when we had health care the ones that were 25 and 21 they only paid like $5 for their insurance and with me being older i had to pay 60 dollars -- $60 per week for my insurance. now they've frozen the unemployment. so what are we supposed to do for jobs? there aren't any jobs. we've looked everywhere. i know i have and i need the work and i need money but if they freeze it, what are we supposed to do? we thingg go down to everything,

they want everybody to come out to washington and sit outside the door and beg for food or what are we going to do? 1234. laura, what kind of work do you do caller: i was in recycling. host: what is your basic skill set? caller: i'm a sorter and have worked in many factories. our family and i like you said they do whatever line work you do, you never say anything back to your employer, i worked several years straight on this job 2001 to 2008 and went to work every day. the older people will go to work every day. but the younger people if the boss says something they don't want to hear they leave off the job and it's more work on the older workers. host: thank you for your call. good luck in your job search. deborah, that callers gives us a couple of different options. first of all the older worker's approach to the job versus younger employees. she commented they're reliable, don't talk back, that sort of thing. guest: yes. and i'm loathe to make those

kind of broad brushes. the reality is that yes, most research finds that the perception that old -- that employers have about older workers are that they are more reliable, they come to work on time, that sort of thing as opposed to younger workers. i think we have to think about individuals, though. there are very dedicated, very responsible younger individuals who manage to get to work on time and manage to listen to their bosses and that sort of thing. and there are older individuals who are not great employees either. so we have to sort of think about the fact that we're talking about individuals and individual employees when we talk about this issue. nonetheless, i think that you know, the concern about being unemployed as long as she has and unemployment insurance, aarp is working very hard at

extending -- proposing extending unemployment insurance in response to the fact that many, many people are finding themselves unemployed for much, much longer than they anticipated and through no fall of their own. host: i have to jump in, deborah. we're over time already and now out of it. thank you very much for being here and i will echo your invitation to have people find the aarp web site for more detail on older workers and also programs available to them. deborah russell joining us from new york city this morning. now we take to you live coverage of the house of representatives. [captions performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] tha them the busy dom of some mon, the courage ofester, and -- the wisdom of solomon, the courage

f esther. bless president obama and his family a all the leaders of this great nation in your son, jesus christ. amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the chamber her approvathereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentlewoman from north carolina, congresswoman foxx. ms. foxx: please join me in the pledge to our wonderful flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the unitestatesf america and to the republic for which t stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: without objection, he gentleman from georgia, congressmanohnson, is recognized for one minute.

mr. johnson: madam speaker, it is my great hon to welcome our -- to welcome our guest chaplain, bishop miles e. fowler, to the house of representatives, ani thank him for offering his beautiful and thoughtful prayer to us this morning. bishop fowler joins ufrom georgia where he is the pastor of the big millagove missionary baptist church, a mission he's proly held for the past 33 years. having served ounation in the air force reserve from 1957 to 1965, bishop fowler has since committed himself to the betterment of our country and its citizens through his ministry. as a pastor to more tha 1,500 pa gsers and a spiritual --

prisoners ana spiritual leader uer t auspices of refugee churches, his aim personalland through his nistry has always been to provide aid, assistae and spiritual support in every aspect of our community. and grandfather and his wife and some relatives seateup in the gallery, bishop fowler recognizes the importance of family providing spiritual guidance to married couples. madam speaker, i'm pleased that bishop fowler was able to share some of his words of wisdom and grace with us today and we recognize him for his contied commitment to his faith and his community. thank you, madam speaker. the speaker: the chair will enttain up to0 further requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise?

mr. quigley: madam speaker, you ve no idea how much i'm going to enjoy this, but sometime late last night patrick kane slipped a puck to a goaltender in overtime and thehicago blackhawks became the stanley cuchampions. congratulations to the team for their greaseason. many of these players have played over 120 games this season, including the olympics, to achieve thr one goal. a special thanks to the owner the blackhawks, rocky. while hockey never left chicago, he brought it back. the management team, the coach and dale. madam speaker, today chicago is

my kind of town. thank you and i yield back. the speaker: for what purpose does the gentlewoman fronorth carolina rise? ms. foxx: i ask perssion to addresthe house for e minute, madam speaker. the speaker: without objection. ms. foxx: thank you, madam speaker. the 2010 federal dget deficit will hit $1 trillion this month. and we've also recently learned that the federal debt will reach $19.5 trillion by 2015. you'd think this would be a case for some real careful examination of the federal dget you'd think congress would be looking everywhere for areas to trim and programs to cut, but at is not the case. it's been almost two mont since the deline tontroduce a budget resolution psed and house democrats stillaven't produced audget. how are we going to t spendingnder control and bring down t deficit if

congress won't even consider a budget? madam speaker, it's time for congress to consider a budget, one that puts taxpayers, ot big government,irst. i yield back. the speaker p tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? >> iask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. wilson: mrspeaker, thank you. i share the concerns that many americans have about our country's fancial future. i often hear from ohioans who are worried about the financial burden we are leaving f t next generation. they want to know if there's anything they could do to hel that is why yesterday i introduced the check the debt act. this bill would add a check the de box to our annuatax forms. this would allow individuals to contbute $3 to pay down the national debt without addinto their tax bill. this option would be similar to

the public financing of campgns check where you check the box is already available on tax fos. nearly 33 million peoe ch year respond to public campaign financing without adding to their tax bill. this raises nearly $100 million annually r campaign financing. that kind of money is the step in the rigirection. it will able and encourage americans to lend a hand in paying down our d. the $ trillion debt our country has built up over the last several decades will not go away overnight but we must star somewhere. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i ask permission to address the house for one ute anto revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, 20 years ago today i served as an election oerver in bulgaria on behalf of the international republican institute, i.r.i. it was a life-changing cream

come true for me to experience firsthand the birth of liberty in acaptive nation, which -- and a life-longold warrior, also promoted victory over communism. the people of bulgaria participated in the first re-election since the 1930's. it was inspiring to visit polling places in the region and witnessed the young and old participate freely. the talented people of bulgaria were unshackled people didn't want to be a slavh soviet satellite. sincthen bulgaria has evolve from a antiquated time in the 1930's to being a vibrant, free market today. it's a member of nato with troops having served in iraq and afghanistan. it's the dynamic member of the european union. in conclusio god bless our troops and we will never rget september 11 andhe global war on terrorism. god bless bulgaria.

e speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from pennsylvania rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise a extend. the speaker pro tempore: withut oecti, so ordered. mrs. dahlkemper: mr. speake checks ll go out in t mail to 189,000 seniors across pennsylvia, including thousands in my district in western pennsylvania. this will help them pay for prescription drugs. ese $250 chec are on their y to seniors who fall victim to the prescription drug doughnut hole in medicare. the $250 checks are just the first step in reducing prescription drug prices for seniors under the new health care reform. next year seniors ithe doughnut hole will get a 50% discount on name brand prescription drugs and a 75% discount on generics. the averagpennsylvania senior will save $700 next year on prescription drugs because of the health care reform bill. this is a down payment on reducing prescription drug cost for seniors and eventually closing the doughnut hole altogether. i'm proud that our health care reform legislation is helping seniors during this difficult

time. and yield back the balce of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her me. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. pitts: mr. speaker,e again the complete lack of leadersp demonstrated by the administration on budget issues is extmely disappointing. when the president introduced his budget earlier this year he projected trillion dollar deficits for years to come. to fix the problem he passed the buck ta new debt commission. this week when budget director per orszag was asked about whher the administration will send a package of budg cuts to congress hsaid that it would be, quote, a fruitless exercise. certainly congress controls the pur, but the president plays a critical role in providing leadership on spending issues. i know that house republicans would support a substantial package of budget cuts. we're not going to wait for the president, however. we're going to kp introducing sensible measures to reduce spending and we're going to let the american people have their say on youcut website.

our nional debt has reached the levelhere it is holding back our economic growth. we shouldn't wait any longer to put the stopsn government spending and borwing which is out of control. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? >> to address e house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speakepro tempore: witho objection, so ordered. >> thank you, mr. speaker. last week i had the opportunity to welcome health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius into my district to talk abouthe positive influence that the health care reform bill will he on medicare reform, paying for value over lume and continuing to provide the highest quality care to our continues at the lowest possible cost. i also want to thank my friend, ron kind from wisconsin. we talked a lot about the part d doughnut hole. this week $250 rebate ccks will be going to them to allow those seniors whoave worked their entire life to build this nation and to prepare for a

prosperous rerement. 63,000 minnesotans will see that three weeks in advance. ths is just one of the many benefits that will come to them. it's absutely critical our seniors in this country hear the facts, the real facts about health care reform, how it will end up bringing higher quality f care, lower costs and paying down thenational debt. i'm proud the secretary could see thatthe world famous mayo clinic. yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose doethe gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: request permissioto address the house foone minute. the speaker pro tempore: without jection, so ordered. . poe: the israelis check cargo for hidden weapons shipped into gaza. last week's six ships ran a security blockade and were boarded. people on one ship attcked and stabbed the israeli soldiers and beat them with pipes. it was seen on television throughout the world. 10 israeli soldiers were jured as they defendedhemselves. of course they have the legal and moral rit of self-defense. but the hate israel any price

crowd denounce the israelis and now our administration is telling israel they shldn't be so security conscious. back off a litt on the blockade the white house says. and just so won't hurt anybody's feelings, the administration is sending $400 million to gaza. why? what are the palestinians going to do with that money? buy more rocketso shoot into israel? who knows. who arwe to tell our ally, isel, how to secure its borders? we are giving advice to a country smuggling securi when we can't keep smuggling outf our country. that's jt the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from californirise? >> to address house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. chu: in 1970 dr. keller traveled to a convention in canada with his wife and daughter. tragically their plane crashed leaving behi his children george and diana. george cared for his sick grandmothewhen they didn't have anyone else. he planned to be a

dermatologist. stead, he took over his father's general practice when he saw that local patients didn't have yone else. soon after women asked himf he would do wha his father did they were desperate women who needed reproductive control over their lives. geor said yes. and now you know wh george tiller began the careerthat cost him his life, because he decided he would be there for women facing a crisis when they didn't have anyone else. the speaker pro tempore:or at purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house r one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. smith: mr. speaker, the american pple demand real ange in washington. from record defit spending to the passage of health care bill, most americans don't want, there is a serious disconnect between the congressional agen and the desires of the american ople. america speaking out is timely initiative designed to start an nest discussion between americans and their representatives.

the american people can give us their prioritiesnd offer their ideas for new agenda to solve thproblems that confront our nation. there is a deficit of trust in congress and it is only by listening to the american people that we can earn back their trust and turn t country in the right direction. checkut the website americaspeakingout. the speaker pro teore: the gentlen yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlemafrom california rise? mr. baca: unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. historic health reform passed earlier this year is already havi a positive impact millions of americanseniors. starting today mare will begin maing out $250 rebate checks to assist those who fall into the presiption drug doughnut hole. in my home state of california, over 382,000 seniors will find it easier to afford lifesaving

medicine they need. no longer making a decision to pay for medicine, pay for mortgage, putting od on the table, but getting the service they need. and starting next year,eniors in the dought hole will receive an additional 15% diount on all grand name drugs. by the year 2020 it will totally close the doughnut hole. but the betson't stop there. health reform will provide free preventive care services to all medicare recipie and extend solvency by an additional 12 years to te year 2029. those who continue to call for repeal of the reform want to move us back to the era of higher drug costs and less serity for seniors. democrats will ctinue to fight to protectur most vulnerable americans. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? mr. pence: m. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the spear pro tempore: without obction, so ordered. mr. pence: thank you, mr. speaker. we allrieve the loss of life that occurred last week when a

flotla designed to challenge israel's efftive blockade of gaza ended military confrontation. but israel has aight to defend itself. the history is clear in that region, gaza is controlled by a terrorist organization knowns hamas. hamas used gaza as a launching pad for thousands of rockets that killed innocentcivilians in israel. israel responded with military force and stitute add blockade that has saved lives in gaza and in israel. and there's no humanitarian crisis. ,000 tons of food and medical supplies are transferred into gaza every singleeek. remarkab yesterday the presidt said it was time for israel toharply limit its effective blockade in gaza saying, quote, the situation in gaza is unsustainable. the truth is, mr. president, your policy in israel is unstainable. the american people are on the side of israel and israel's right to defend herself. mr. president, whose side are

you on? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >> to address the house for one minute revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. stupak: starting this book tax-free rebate ecks of $250 will be nt to seniors who have already hit the part d doughnut hole. this $250 rebate is a key improvement to medicare and the first medicare benefit of the new health care reform law to ta effect. the rebates are being sent three months ahead of schule and the first round of checks will reach nearly 80,000 seniors who are already in the doughnut hole. following this inial round o rebate checks, addition checks will be sent to seniors ashey hit the doughnut hole. it is estimated that four million seniors across the country will receive a250 rebate check this year. this is just the first phase of relief for seniors from prescription drug costs. next year seniors in the doughnut hol will see a 15% discount on brand name drugs. while the medicare part d

prcription drug program has helped millions of seniors obtainrescription drug coverage, senis would fall into the doughnut hole and receivno financial assistance with tir prescription drugs aroften forced to put their health in danger by splitting pills or skipping treatments all together. despite the clear benefits to seniors, it is now time that we implement further reform. thank yo mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: f what purpose does the gentleman from nebraska rise? >> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman isecognized. mr. smh: thank you, mr. speaker. one of the most diffilt challenges facinour nation's future is pviding clean affordablereliable energy. the 2008 farm bill ergy title provid a submitment to farm based energy. while the intnt of this agenda was to extend biofue in a timely manner, many of my constituents have expressed frustration with the slow pace of usda's implementation. nebraska's third congression district is a leader in biofus and i remain committed to advancing the biofuel industry while decreasing our nation's

dependence on foreign oil. i'confident we can provide a cleaner environment and relieve some of the economic pain americans perience. without a strong commitment our advanced biofuels industry faces massive uncertainties, jeopardizing our nation's past to energy independence. i yield back. the eaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back th bance is time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> to address the house for e minute. the speaker pro tempore: so ordered. >> mr. speaker, today we see the first benefits from the new health care reform lawassed earlier by this congress and signed io law by the president. 80,000 seniors across america will be receiving checks tt are being sent o starting today for $250 to he pay the cost of their pscription drug coverage while in the doughnut ho. other seniorthat reach the doughnut hole through the rest of this year will also receive $250 checks to help them afford the prescription drugs they ne to live their life safely and happyly. mr. murphy: over the next 10 years this health care reform will eliminate the doughnut hol

completely forur seniors. that's a step in the right direction. providing security and safety in the health care our seors need. amaziny, though, some on the other side of thaisle are continuing to call not to change the health care reform bill but repeal it entirely, to cut up the checks,ake them away fr r seniors, and stop the help they need to y for prescription drugs. we'll always be working to make our health care system better, but repealing this positive step forward makes no sense to me. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does th gentlelady from maryland rise? >> to address the house for one minute. revi and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, sordered. . edwards: mr. speaker, in 2003, republicans said they were overhauling medicare but all they succeeded in doing was creating a prescription drug doughnut hole that in 2009 alone forced 63,000 maryland seniors to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket. forcing many to choose between buying the prescription drugs they need or purchasing fd.

the nation's seniors shouldn't be forced to make such a choice. that's why undee new health care law we are dedicated to closing the doughnut hole once and for all. and today, june 10, $250 checks are being mailed out to 80,000 eligle seniors as a first step to reducing the financial burden faced by seniors. and then nxt yearher will be 50% discount o prescription drugs in the doughnut hole. mr. eaker, the first of many benefits under the hltla that my republican coeagues opsed and now hope to repeal is on the way. our seniors and th rest of the country can't afford togo back to a broken system controlled by insurance companies with coverage gaps, denied care, and skyrketing costs. with that i yield. the speaker pro mpore: the gentleman yields back the balance ofis time. for what purpose does the -- the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> to address the house for one minute the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> today is a very important day for seniors in south florida. today more than three weeks ahead of schedule checks to help

cover the costs medication wbe mailed to seniors who haveallen into the dreaded medire part d doughnut hole. i have talked to many seniors in west palm beach and parts of my district who had to make the wrenching choice between food d medcine. mr. klein: this shod not happen in the american i know. at'shy i perblingly have fought so hard to make sure health care reform included reducing the cost of medicine for our siors. starting today payments of $250 will be mailed to every senior who falls in the doughnut hole to help cover their costs. this is an importantstep but it's just the begning. because stting next year seniors will see a 5 diount on brand name drugs and will begin to close the doughnut hole fogood. fighting for our seniors in south florida is one of my top priorities and today's checks will make a readifference for seniors who worked hard and paid to the system. i look forward to continuing t work together to strengthen and protect medicare. i thank you. the speaker pro tempore: t gentleman yields back the

balancof h time. pursuant to ause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on t motion to suspend the rules onhich a recorded votor the yeas and nays are ordered or on which the vote incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. any recorded vote on postponed question will be taken later. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? mr. oberstar:r. speaker, i rise to take from the speaker's desk s. 3473, and ask for its immediate consideration in the house under suspension of the rules. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentlemamove to suspend the rules? mr. oberstar: under suspension

of the rules, yes. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 3473, an act to amend the oil pollution act to 1990 anddvances from oil spill liability trust fund for the deepwater horizon oil spill. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from minsota, mr. oberstar, and the gentleman from florida, mr. mica, each will control 20 mutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from minnesota. mr. oberstar: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and clue extraneous materials on h.r. 3473. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. oberstar: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. oberstar:irst i'm grateful for the indulgence of our colleague on the committee and ranking member, senior republican, . mica, for responding so quickly to the

action of the other body. we are unacustomed to -- unaccusted to such prompt, unanimous acon in th other bodybut they did pass by unanimous consent the bill before us. now s. 3473 in response to request of the partment of homeland security, secretary napolino, and admiral allen, the national incident commander following up on the may 12 request of the administration to -- for legislative changes to "speed assistance t people in need in response -- close quote, in response tthe deepwate

horizon tragedy. . the question further asks the congress to, quote, act immediately on return from recess, closed quote. and that is exactl what we're doing, but preded by hearing the committee held yesterday on the many aspects of the oil spill liability trust fund and payment from responsible parties and the need for future legislation and the gentleman from florida had several constructive and thoughtful suggestions that we in the committee will be acting upon per ourvious agreement. i want to lay out the specifics. first of all, the requests, quoting again from the homeland securitydepartment letter,

congressneeds to act now to permit movement of moneys from the principle fund to the emergency fund. at the current pace of b.p. deepwater horizon response operations, fding available in the emergen fund would be insufficient to stain federal response operations within two weeks. that's from june 4. at that point the federal onseen coordinator would not be able to commit sufficient funds to the agencies involved in the federal response including national guard, department of defense, national oceanic and atmospheric administration, environmental protection agency, department of interior and department agriculture to continue to provide critical respoe services, including logistical support such as moving boomrom alaska and california to louisiana. evaluating the environmental spill d support such a

ensuring seafood from the gulf reion is safe and monitoring fumes thatight be a public health issue. addition transfer frothe offshore liability oil spill liabilityrust fund prciple fund to the emergency fund are needed to fulfill the president's order to bring all available and appropriate resources to bear in response to this disaster. furthermore, depleting all ently available funds puts at risk the nation's ability to evaluate any new spills unrelated to the b.p. deepwater horizon. second, i must note and affirm, asas done in our hearg yesterday, that any moneys advanced from the trust fund will be repaid by the sponsible party. in this case b.p. i was part of crafting opaa 90

and my predecesso, now the dissolved merchant marine and fisheries cmittee which transferred to our committee on transportion an infrastructure the whole concept of oil ill liability ust fund was from previous experience. if there needed to be an immediate response by government agencies on scene to lay out funds which was already spelled out in the letter from homeland security without having to wait for negotiations with the responsible party. in those years throh e 1990's the focus -- allthe attention was tued to spills from tankers, ocean-going vessels, bulk carriage ofde oil, principally, but other

product as well. the requirement was to get on the scene quickly, corral the oil, contain the spill, the government needed to a quickly, the coast guard had the capability to do that, but we didn't want to and we had experience with tori canyon that we long waits for the responsible party to make payments to government agencies responding. in the case of france and the u.k. and in the casof u.s. government agencies. so the spill trust -- oil spill liability trust fund was established to have a financial resource for government agencies to respond quickly and then build a responsible pay. that has been done in the case ofhe deepwater horizon spill. atur hearing yesterday, craig bennett, director of the

national pollution funds center, said, all funds expended will be billed to b.p. and ultimaly recovered. these funds are deposited int the principle fund, not the emergency fund. as of june 1, 2010, obligations against the emergency fund for federal response efforts totaled $93 million. that figure has now grown to $114million. so it's bping up against the limit of $150 million and $100 million plus the baseline $50 million for emergency response. at the current pace of operations, funding available, continuing with director bennet in themergency fund will be insufficient to sustained federal response operations within two weeks. and we're very close to that

number now. the coast guard has, according to information supplied by the coast guard, billeb.p.$69 million. that biing en responded to by b.p. wille deposited in the general funof the oil spl liability trust fund to replenh the fund. an additional ex-- and additional expenditures will be bled against b.p. for deposit in the fund. i further note that in the section, the senate bill amends section 6002 of t oil polluti act of 1990 and proves for, quote, one or more advances from the fund as eeded, up to a maximum of $100 million for each adnce with a total ount of all advances

not to exceed t amounts available. and in section 1910 that deals with the oil liability trust fund and within seven days of ea advance, seven days' noti shall notify coness of the facts and circumstces necessitating the advance. that will come -- that lanage will come after the end of the period of section 6002 parenb and will not -- paren b and wilnot replace the 30-day requirement of the basic law. congress will be notified when the coast guard nes to borrow from the trust fund up to the ximum of $100 million for each advance it requests within

seven days, anweill -- we'll receive all the information, the facts, the amount they're requesting, the facts the circumstances justifying e request for an advance. i think this language parallels language that the house included -- as included in our supplemental appropriations bill but not yet passed. it's important to take is action now. this language clearly needs refinement, as wasvidentn th hearing we held yesterday. i think the gentleman from florida will agree he has some very tughtful ideas. we will emerge those with other testimony submitted at yesterday's hearinand proceed with the legislative packagein the coming two weeks. i resve the balance of my

time and, ain, thank the gentleman from florida for participating in yesterday's hearing and for response today. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida. mr. mica: thank you and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore:he gentleman is recognized. r. mica: mr.peaker, my colleagues, this is emergency situation and it requires emergency action by the use of representatives, the united states senate, the other dy, has acted and sent us. 3743 which will allow us to expand someof the use of the funds that ve been accumulated in the national oil spill liability trust fund on an emergency basis. i'm pleased that the other body acted. this is a uniq andery difficult situation dealing

with very uniq and difficult national disaster. fit, i would be remiss if i didn't remember today those families who will be in washington visiting with president obama, 11 individual lost their life when the oil rig, the horizon, exploded in april. i know the president will be meeting with them, and on behalf of all members of congress, we extend our condolences for that loss of life. right now we'reealing with the results ofhat disaster, and this disaster and explosion, sinking of the rig and the uncontrolled oil spill -- fortunately, there's been some progress in that regard, but incredible amounts of o has spilled into the gulf and now endanrs the shores of at

least four ofour states. in 90 we set up an oil ill liability trust fund, and tat was after the exxon valdez. that fund has in it $1.6 billion, substantiaamount of money. now, that fund was tset up to relieve anyone of responsibility if they're glect and it was not -- neglect and it was not a fund focleanup. a lot of it was intended if theat they call an orphan spill or spill where you don't know where the oil came from, polluting substan came from. within that $1.6 billion trust

fund for oil spills that we created, we had an emergency fund of150 milon that can be expended immediately. now, what's taken place is that fund, $150 million emergenc, rit now thaad allen is doing a great job -- thad allen is a doing a great job. as younow he just retired from the coast gud. doing a wonderful job, but he has a responsibility of reacting now and immediatel it tookome time for the place d also to declare this is a spill of national significance, but he's on the job and he needs the resources. the resources are running out. we do have a letter which i'll suit for the record a to

the congress at is time. this is to the speaker of the house and it's from the director of the office of management and budget, and he says all the costs of this -- of ts fund also that is being expended at this point must be repaid. but at this current time, in just a matter of days, the emergency fu will run out. so whave documtation of the need from o.m.b.. just a few minutes ago we received from the federal onscene coordinator the statement that their requirements to support the continuing ongoing effort will bring the emergency fund to a critically low level over the next seven days. so we can'tave the cleanup efforts come to a halt.

we must act. now, i saw the need for this yesterday and met with colleagues on my side of the aisle. we had a hearing in the transportion and infrastructure committee. mr. oberstar and i agree we must act. the senate has acted. we have before us s. 3473 this morning. myself andther colleagues in congress introduced h.r. 5499. that's new legislation. so both republican and democrat, house and nate agree on the provisio of this legislation whicwill allow in $100 million incrents the expansion of the emergency fund. . let me make this very clear. the oil spill emergency trust fund is not going to be a piggy

bank nor b.p. or other spsible parties. this money must, should, an will be repaid. this is only a temporary measure. it's only a temporary measur too, because the monethey are repaying goes back into that larger fund not into the emergency fund this legislation will correct, again, the inability of accessing th larger amount of money on aeeded basis. so whave introduced new legislation today, this is a cooperative and bipartisan effort. however this is a terrible disaster and qutions that need to be raised about what's caused us to get to ts situatn. quite baffled by some of the administration's

positions, both on deep water offshore drilling. and the beginning of this year in february we received a budget from the president of the united states and the administration. in this budget they prosed cuts tthe coast guard, more than 1,000 postions. they also proposed cuts to and decommissioning ofom of the ships, the helicopters and planes that we see now involved in this very important mission. not only did they propose cuts to the coast ard u. ourir responder, in february they also proposed cut to the department of interior and the minerals management bureau that's responble for envinmental revis.

now, this is wt they proposed in february. then in marchey propos expansn of drilling in the gulf. the agency again that's responsible as a first responder . i remember frank lob the ranking republican, and ient out a press release when they read that about these cuts in the coast guard and we said, thiss a recipe for disaster. fortunately those cutsave not been enacted and believe even before this oil spill there was birtisan support not to enact those cuts that were recommended. and the administration's pocy toxpd drilling in the gulf. some people say i have been too tough onhe obama administration.

i think the obama administration does have responsibility in this. they did issue the permit that allowed the drilling. i have the one-page permit. here's the one-pa approval. april 6, 2009, approval for deepwater drilling at 500 feet. i have what i call dficient plan they appred submitteby b.p.n march. so unless they took in some instances topprov now a clean up of proposals, they rubber-stampednd gave carte blanche approval. let me say that i also criticize the bush administration, but i want back and looked athat the bush administration did with the agency that was responsible for issuing these peits. this is a memorandum from the office of inspector general and

it's dated september 9, 2008, during the bush administration. and this is what the bush administration did in that agency that issued this permit under this new administration. this memo conveys the results of three separate office of inspector geral investigatns into allegation agait more an a dozen current and former minerals management employees. i'll go on to read whatlse the bush admistration did this agen that was responsible for issuing these permits. listen to this, collectively a recent look in the minerals managementgency has taken well over two years. they inveigated these folks involved in countless -- it also involved countless o.i.g., office of inspector general, human resources, and expenditure

of nearly $5.3 million in o.i.g. funds. 233 witnesses and suects were inrviewed. many of em multiple times and roughly 470,000 pages of documents were revwed and people were prosecuted unr e foer administration in this agency. now, theatest report that i have and i discussed yesterday at theri were thain fact have reports of inspecons by this agency, the minerals management agency. inspection reports that were supposed to be done by these officers but of that agency, federal agcy, were actually penced in, we believe, and those are the repts that we have, by oil workers and then ined over by -- inked over by these folks.

that's nice for this administration to spend time rewarding b. with sety awds in the prior year. it's nice for them to have a good working relationship with those folks that are responsible for issuing the permits. but i think we need to take a closer look at how we got ourselves into this situation. what brings us to this day when we have expended the emergency fund for cleanup and that we have to take an emergency step like this? i support this measure, but i'm telling you every penny needs to be paid back. this fund, this oil spill liability trust fund that was put place shal not and nnot be used, as i said beforeas a piggy bank for b.p.

or any responsible party. i'm finall told, i said where's the money? where's th billing? in the private sector if you have a bill, you pay it. as of yeerday the staff told me that b.p. has been billed $69 million and as of yesterday the information th we h is they hadn't paid e bi. if they paid the bill, we still probably wuld have to be here because of the terms of the current legiation to allow cess to additional money. buthat money needs to go back in the trust fund and b paid for by the responsible parties. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. thgentleman from minnesota. mr. oberstar: i yield myself a mite. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. oberst: completely agree with the gentleman. as we did in our hearing yesterday, the gentleman fm florida, that the purpose of the

trust fund is not to relieve anyone of responsibity. was part of crafting that legislion in 1990 and its predecessors. it was clearly our intent that we should giv authority to move quickly, get on the scene, begin cleanup before industry responds and build the industrytoake themay into the trust fund and keep the iustry responsible. sendly, the gentleman included cites in his cmend. the leslation is not exclusively limed to orphan sites. orphan sites is one ofhe sues to be addressed as we do under the superfund actbut t order riority for respse der the law -- i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for an

additional minute. mr. oberstar: first responsibility is the responsible party. to act through the limit of their liability under the oil spill act. we he to address that limit of liability and the heing yesterday explored the range of dollar amounts of liability from the current 75 million to some greater number,including unlimited liity. th's something we are goingo have to discuss in committee. so far b.p. has, as responsible party, spent $1 billion, and they a responding i do not -- yesterday when i made the announcent at our committee hearing that the coast guard had billed b.p. for $69 million. we do not ha a response on whether -- what the status of repayment by.p. into thest fund is but we'll havehat

information. third, i agree with the geleman that the trust fnd is not a piggy bank for b.p. yield myself a additional minute. we are going to hold them accountable. the coast guard will hold them accountable. and i do want tooint out that the emergency fund is an account within the oil spill liabity trusfund. it is not a separate fund of its own. andurther, as the gentma is critical of theadministration's budget a said this is bipartisan criticism, our committee response rejected their proposed cuts for the t guard. we are -- we stand -- there is no daylight between us. buwould also point out that the previous administration, 2005, 206, twetch, 2008

approved -- 2007, 28, apoved 2,020 offsho leases, including for this particular m.m.s. lease sale, 2006 -- i yield myself 30 conds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognid. mr. oberstar: an exemption from, quote, a bwout scenario requirement, close quote for outer continental shelf acon in the gulf. b.p.'s exploration plan for deepwater horizon did not, therefore, include an analysis or response plan for a blowout at the well head. now i yield three minutes to the gentleman fromaryla, the chair of the coastuard subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognizefor three minutes. mr. cummings: thank you very much. thank you for yielding, mr. chairman. first ofll following up on what the chairman just spoke abou we just got an email from

the coast guard saying that b.p. has assuredthem tt th near $70 million they have been build for will be paid by the end of next week. we will ld their feet to the fire. as chairman of the subcommittee onoast guard matime transportation, i rise today in strong support of s. 3473. this legislation to amend the oil pollution act of 1990 to authorize advances from the oil spill liability trust fnd for the respon to thengoing deepwater horizon oil spill. the oil spill liability trust fund consists of two fund one is an emerncy fund as was described, the emergency fund is in essen the operating fund from which we take money necessary to pay for the operation of 27 federal agencies responding to deepwater crisis. onay 3 the emergency fund received a authorized advance of $100 million.

discounting no such athority for any more advances to be made. furthermore as of june 1, obligation from the fund totale $93 miion. we cannotllow the fund to go try. the legislation simply authorizes additional advances of up to $100 million per advance. nothing in this legislation relies b.p. of their responsibility to cover all of the costs which have andill continue to result from this tragedy. i emphasize t our distinguished ranking member that i don't think there's one boddy, one person in this body either on your side or this sidehat is not adant about making sure that b.p. pays eery single penny, not dime, but evy single penny that is due to the american people. however, based on the way that the fund is cuently tablhe it is necessary to authorize addition funds today in order to ensure that federal response efforts are nt interrupted. i have already made t trips to the gulf coast and hopeo make

another one and i have seen the devastation caused by this bill firsthand. we cannot allow anything to threaten our ongoing cleanup efforts and therefori urge my colleagues to join us in the passing of s. 3473, and i also would note, mr. speaker, that this allows us to act with the urgency of now. to address these issues we have windows of opportunity where we can act. can g them done we'll get our money back. the fact is we got to act now because there are pele suffering not only in louisiana but cerinly in the ranking member's state and so many other places so with that i want to thank the chairman for -- and the ranking member for expeditiously ging this bill to theloor so that we can address the needs of o people. with that i yield back. . the speaker prtempore: the geneman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida. mr. mica: i want to irhow much time remains on our de. the speake pro temporethe gentlen from florida has 6 1/2 minutes.

and the gentleman from minnesota has 3 1/2. mr. mica: thank you. i'd like to yielthree minutes, if i may, to the gtleman from louisiana, also member of the transportation and infrastructure committee, mr. cao. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three mines. mr. cao: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i'd like to thank the ranking member of the committee for yieldinge time. mr. speaker, rightfter this l spill had the opportunity to fly over the spil at ground zero and as i flew over the gulf i saw thousands of square mis of our beautiful waters being cored by this brown slue. another -- additional thous of square miles of our betiful gulf was covered by this oilly sleek. i also toured my boat a couple weeks ago with the fishermen of

jefferson parish. as i wasraveling throug the bay i saw ptches brown oil infringing on the oyster beds that are so integral to the seafood indury of louisiana. and as i saw the oil as it enoached upon the marshes and the wetlds, heart dropped for the state of louisiana as well as for the many fishermen and many small businesses that's impacted by ts catastrophe. i also spent much of my me visiting businesses and talking to small business owners who wer--ho are being impacted by this oil spill i visited a seafood open market in oswego and saw half of t

businesses cled. and the parking lot remained empty. and i spoke to the business owners and they informed me that their siness has declined by more than half since the oil spill. and stead of being open for five -- five days out of the week, six ys out of the week they are only opened now two days out of t week. so we see that the oil spill has had a devastating impact on e many people of the gulf coast and the many sml businesses of the people of my district. therefore, i believe that it is ry -- it is integral that we alw the mey from the trut fund to beransferred to allow the coast guard the necessary resources to address the cleaning up of this oil spill.

we saw an absence of federal vernment post-katrina. we saw w thousands of people strgled post-katrina because of the absence of government, and i don't want the same problem to have occurred here because of the disaster caused by this oil spill. therefore, ask all of the members to suppo this provision. thanou very much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yies back his time. the gentleman from minneso. mr. oberstar: did i understand we have 3 1/2 minutes on our side and the gentleman from florida has -- the speaker pro tempore: 1/2. mr. oberstar: i yield two minutes to the distinguished gentman from new jersey, mr. holt. the speaker pro tpore: the gentleman is recognid for two minutes. mr. holt:: mr. speaker, i thank -- mr. holt: mr. speake i thank the chairman, the distinguished ntleman from minnesota, for the time and for dealing with this prptly. there is a more tn a billion

and a half dollars in t tru fund, but the coast guard and the other government agencies cannot access that because of isting limits on the per incident expenses and because of the cap on using this for natural resources and economic damages. the trust fund exists so that we can get on with the work at hand. an i'm pleased that the chairman and the ranking member are moving promptly to gi the ministration the tools they need to deal with this. there is work to be done and it must be done quickly. this will take care of immediate expenditures. we have so dealt with here in the house increasing the total capacity of the trust fund and must rapidly build uphose collections from the oil

companies in that trust fund d then, of course, we must recover fr b.p. and the other responsible parties the money at is used from the trust fund. so spending had thisoney now, and i hope the chairman has been clear for our colleagues, spending that money now does notbsolve b.p. of any responsibility. it just allows the work to get oand the funds will be collected from b.p. also, because is only deals with the immediate indent, there is s would argue, to pass the bill o bailout prevention act or something of the sort that i've introduced, along with a number of co-onsors, to deal with this long term, to ise the liability limiso that we can collection everything that is necessary from oil companies. the speaker pro tempe: the geleman's time has expired. the gentleman from florida.

mr. ma: i like to yield, if i may, 1/2 minutes to t disnguished gtleman fm north carolina, also a member of the -- senior member ofhe t.n.i. committee, the distinguished gentleman, mr. coble. e speaker o tempore: the gentlen isecognized. mr. coble: i rise in support of h.r. 3473. this legislation is crit 3473. this legislation is critical. the agencies involved i respse to the deepwater hozon oil spill are spending tremendous amots ofime and effort, enring every tangible resource is avale to meet this response. by passing ts legislatio we ensurehat the coast guard can intain these valiant efforts while simulneously ensuring that other important provisions are met. includi maritime, safety, search and rescue efforts, prepadness. as ameri's maritime guardian, thast guard is alwayseady

, and th legislation eures this goal cacontinue to be met. inally, mr. speaker, it's important to note that the oil spill trust fund is funded by the petroleum industry and not the taxpayers. i urge passage and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempo: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman fm minnesota. mr. erstar: i reserve the balance of my time. the speakepro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balce of his tme. the gentleman from florida. mr. mica: might i inquire if i have a minute and a half and a lf? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has 2 1/2 minutes. mr. mica oh, fantastic. thank you. well, i'll summarize for our side. first of all, again, this is an emergency situati. we have to a. we must act and we will act. lete maket clear and i'm ad everyone on the other side has made it very clear that b.p.'s seat will be held to the fire to repay this money. we hear that.p. has called the other side and told them that they're going to pay, the

check is in the mail and tt's all well, finand good i'll be glad to send somebody down to o.m.b. and show them how they can send a rapid request for payment to b.p. as this thing moves forward because, again, e taxpayer shouldn't be left on the hook, nor should this fund be lt on the hook in anyway for responsility f this eanup. finally, just a couple of points. it was ntioned that the bush administration gave 4,200 leases -- i think that was the figure -- and tharue. it's also true, and the docrats' stf did an excellent job. i complimented tm yesterday in gting a listf the current drilling and production acivities in t gulf of mexico. i'll submit is to the record, but if u look it's about 3,500, 3,492 relatively shallow

water, 200 meters, about 600 feet and up to the sface. there are only 25 at 1,000 meters below. the obama administration in comininto office issued, these a deep waters, mre than two dzen. we'll also suit that to the record. if they knew something was rotten in denmark in the minerals and managemt divisionand i cited the bush administration investigated thatgency for two years, sent people to jail and conducd the very thorough review what was going on. they must have known something was rotten in denmark when they inherited it. what did they do faster than b.p. could pay their bill they took the proposal from b.p. in deep water, some of the deep estua -- here's the number of ones --

that the committee found that there's deep water drilling in, and they rubber stamped this outline that b.p. gave them. one pageapril 6,hose are the facts. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tpore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman fromnesota. mrobers you have -- the speaker pro tempore: you have a minute and a half. mr. oberstar: mr. speaker, i yield 30 seconds to the distinguished gentlewoman from texas. the speaker pro tempore: th gentlelady is recognized for 30 seconds. ms. jacksonee: mr. oberstar, thank you for your leadership. chairman cummings, thank you for your leadership. the coast grd in the gulf working overtim waiting for this draw drown which is a imbursable drawdown but we have to do something w. we have to do something for the fishermen, the oystermen, the restaurants. we have to do something for people that are bleeding and kneeleding our help. it's b. ill problem. it's an oil indtry problem.

we need to develop a better claim system, to develop a revery plan. right now the coast guard h told us in a meeting last week wi chairman cummings and chairwoman brown they need th money w. this is an important step. we can go back and look at the noes but we have to say yes today. the speaker proempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. ms. jackson lee: i yield back. the speakepro tempore: the gentleman frominnesota has one minute remaining. mr. oberstar: i yield myself the balance of our ti. the eaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. oberstar: 'm greatly appreciave of the partnership in our committee with the gentleman from florida and for working so expeditisly under minimal notice that both of us had to bring this unexpecd but welcomed legislation from the other body so quickly to the floor.

i would hope that this and other measures that we will enact will be seen as testimonial to the victims of that explosion on the deepwater horizon. and the gentlem from florida said, i in him in commendg the president for welcoming the families, consoling with them and jn in aurances to those families thongress will continue to evething right so that their lives will not have been lost in vape. -- in vain. madam speaker, i ask unanius coent to extend debate time of five minutes each side. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection? hearing no objection, the time has been extended on eaide for five minutes.

mr. oberstar: the purpose for this request is that we have resolved in a technical problem that the senate notified us in the drafting of the language of the bill in the reference to the appropriatsection of the internal revenue code and we need to spend just a few minutes and get the parliamentary language correct and that will take a few more minutes reslve and ask the gentleman from florida to desnate his staff to participate with ours and with thparliamentarian in assuring that we have the language properly crafted. mr. micawill the gentleman yield? mr. oberstar: i yield to the gentleman, of course.

mr. mica: maybe you could explain for the benefit of this side of the aisle what the changes would be i did ask for several changes that i would haveliked to have address. i ink this legislation deals with the spill. i would have hoped that we could have modified this so that if in the future we wouldn't have to comback on an indidual spill basis to do what we're doing here today and also beuse this is a unique circumstance, we've not found ourselves in this situation before, we could have -- we could make some additiol changes to the measure that would in fact sort of clean up the statute. but, again, i'm not sure what parcular parliamentary or minor technical changes the majory's prepared to make on the legiation at this time. we do want to be agreeable and

move the process forward. maybe nowith those question you might respond. mr. oberstar: certainly. i thank the gentleman. share that concern. in the hearing yesterday i made it very clear that the committee woulmove forward with broader changes that the gentleman just discussed, madam speaker. . so the coast guard will have authority to draw larger sums in $100 million increments. without notification to congress. without having to come back and legislate each time. that would be on the scope the pendig bill and the technical chgesotified to us of a trulyechnical nature, expanding into the broer question that we are now discsing woul require new legislation. and i commit to the gentleman that would be part of our bipartisan work in committee. mr. mica: will t gentleman

continue to yield? mr. oberstar:f gentleman uld yield time. mr. mi: i think i do have time. so out of five minutes. i don't wanto take anymore of the geleman'time. did you want to resee? mr. oberstar: i yield at this point two minutes t the distinguished gentleman from florida, mr. boyd. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized r two minutes. mr. boyd: thank you, madam speaker. i thank my friend, the gentleman from minnesota. madam speaker, the b.p.' failure to have responsible plan in place to dea with the effects of this oil spill obviouslyas caused untold harm to our coastal communities and the men and women on our gulf coast, many of which i represent. more needs toe done at every level to respond to this crisis, but one thing ill n tolerate is for there to be any disruption to the ongoing cleanup and containment effo

currently underway in the gulf. whicis why i stand before you day in full spport of s. 3473. this bill ensures that the men and women fighng to contain this disaster have all the resources they need to contue their important work. under this bill the federal government will provide advanced nding, advanc funding to sustain and support the cleanup and containment efforts currently underway. but makeno mistake. b.p. will be the ultimate financier and they can count on receiving a bi once te total cost is in. at the same time, while they are working to contain this crisis, we also must take step to ensure this situation does not become wse. last week,madam speaker, i sent a leer to the president urging his administtion to develop a plan in case a tropical storm or hurricane hits the glf coast. and it will. the gulf region has weathered hurricanes in the pasut the presence of oil in our waters creates a nuer of unknown circumstances.

and need to be proactive our efforts to protect our communities from a storm. that's why next week i will convene the joint oil spill hurricane planning conference to velop a compree hurricane preparedness and recovery plan for north florida. the conference will bring together local, state, and federal ficials d key stakeholders to develop a competitive -- comprehensive and coornateplan to identify what actions need to be taken before, during, and after a possible srm. we are clearly in unchartered waters, madam speaker, but that is no excuse for failing to take action now against a threat wenow will strike sooner or later. we must beginow for the responsibility. e speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. boyd: madam speaker, i ask for additional 15 seconds. mr. oberstar: i yield 20 seconds. mr. boyd: we must -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will sud. the ntman from minnesota i out of time.

the gentleman from -- mr. boyd: i urge a yes vote. mr. mica: yield my colleague from florida 30 sends of our time. the spker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. boyd: i thank mr. mica. for yielding. madam speaker, we must begin planning now for this possibility of a hurricane hitting the gulf coast and what effect the oil spill -- what damage that -- additional damage that will cause. must ensure te current cleanup and containment efforts underway are able to cntinue unabated. dam speaker, i urge pport of s. 3473 and i yld back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlemayields back the bance of his time. the gentleman fromrida. mr. mica: thank you, madam speaker. i guess as we conclude the extend time of debate on this measure to again revise some of the prosions of the emergency portion,150 millio emergency fund within the $1.6 billion oil

liabity trust fund. i understand that tre has been identified a minor technical glitch in the legislation as it came from the other body. as a great american, former united states senator, bob dole, who ed to say his body, the u.s. senate, is a great place if you ke to see paint d and in which things are done. ed however here they have acted with due diligence and great speed and in that speed have made a minorechnical error and i'm not going to tell anyone about it because th is the situation in which we must proceed on anemergency basis.

i'm going toverlook it in irness. and i'd also like to yield to the gentleman, our honorable chairman, my partner, mr. oberstar. the eaker pro tempore: the ntleman yields. the geleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. oberstar: madam speaker, i thank the distinguished ntleman for ying. and we have agreed that the technical issue raised by representatives of t other body is of a nature that can be relved by the administration upon passagef this bill. it is better for us to pass this bill now to releasehe sutantive -- to address the substantive issue, relea of funds from the oil spill liability ust fund and not dela progress in cleanup. for that reason we will pass the

bill intact and allow the -- let the administrationeal with whatever issue comes up should any additional change be necessary of a technical nature can be dealt with at a later time. i thk the gentleman for his understanding,or his patice, for -- and for yielding me the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida reclaims the time. mr. mica: thank you. reclaiming my time. also keep in mind the ti that i yielded to the other side when they ran out of tim madam speaker. the speaker o tempore: the gentleman has two minutes reining. mr. mica: but to conclude debate again i thankveryone for this bipartisan effort. even though again we have a minor techcal glitch we want to move the legislation forward. i urge my colleagues to pass the measure and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance ofis time. all time being yieed back. the question is, will the house

spend the rules and pass senate bill 3473. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 3 of tse voting having responded in the affirmative, the -- for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland rise? mr. cummings: i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays have been requesd. all those i favor of taking this v by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the plained. -- the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule0 and the chair's prior annocement, rther oceedings on this motion will be postponed. pursuant to house solution 1424 and rule 18, the air declares the house in the

committee of the wle house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 5072. will the gentleman from arizona, mr pastor, kindly take the chair. the chair: the house is in the committee of the wle hseon the state of the union for the further consideration of the bill h.r.5072 ich the clerk will report by titl the clerk: a bill to improve the financial safety and soundness of the f.h.a. mortgage insunce program. e chair: when the committee of

the whole rose on wednesday, june 9, , all time for general debate had expid. puuant to the rule, the amendment in the nature a substitute printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule. and shall be considered as read. no amendment to the committee amendment is in order except those printein house report 111-503. each amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the repo, by a member designated in the report, shall be consered aread, shall be debatable for the time specified inhe report, equally divided and controll by the proponent and an opponent, shall n be subject to amendment shall not be subject to demand for division of the question. it is now in order to consider amendment mber 1 printed in house report 111-503.

for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? ms. waters: i have an amendment at the desk maden order under the rule. the chair:he clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 1, printed inoureport number 111-503, ofered by ms. waters of california. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 1424, the gentlelady from california, ms. waters, and a member opped each will control five minutes. the chr recognies the gentlelady from california. . waters: thank you vermuch, mr. chairman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. waters: mr. chairm, the manager's amendment makes technical corrections to t underlying f.h.a. reform actf 2010 and would respond to more time to complete the mandated study on f.h. th amendment wld also facilitate h.u.d.'s implementation of the recentl

finalized rule wreby f.h.a. will no longer directly approve loans, or mortgage brokers but will reire lenders to approve brokers. under the language pposed in this amendment, will be permitteto continue osing loans and continue to utilize table funding arrangements. this amendment also addressed eligibility for f.h.a. loans by requiring f.h.a. buyers to have a valid social security number and limited to only u.s. citizens and legal immigrants. this language ensures that undocumented immigrants or other indiduals cant ge f.h.a. mortgages while still providing that legal immigrants can continue to purchase hmes. finally this amendment provides

that the sectary may increase an limit for counties surrounded by highecosts and experiencing significant great. thistrengthens an already strong bill and i ge my colleagues to support it. mr. chairman, i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady reserves her tim of the the gentlelady from west virginia. s. capito: i thank you, mr. chaian i thank the ranking member of the housing subcommittee for her good work onhis bill and the manager's -- chairwoman of the subcommitteesorry about that. the chair: does the gentlelady ri in opposition to the amendment? mrs. capito: i'd like to claim time in opposition but i'm not posed to the amendmen the chair: without objection. mrs. capito: we have worked together on this amendment as we have the rest of the bill as she summarized in her statement this provides provisions that drops out a few povision that is were problematic but it also increases the requirements for

identification for valid social security number and the u.s. citizen to be able taccess the f.h.a. program. think this is an important-- goes to the coref a lot of discussion we have hadn this floor and rtainly we want to certain that thoseho are elible for programs are able to access themnd thoe that are ire unable to access them. as i said we have worked togeer oth amendment and i plan to suort theanager's amendment. with that i yield ck. . the chair: e gentledy yields back the balance of her time. the gentlelady from california. . waters: i have no requests for time. the chair: does the gentlelady yield back? ms. wars: i yield back. the chair: those in favor say aye of the amendment say aye. those opposed, no. mswaters: i asfor a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6

of rule 18, her oceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from california will be postponed. it's now in oer to nsider amendment number 2 printed in house report 111-503. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? excu m t gentleman from califonia. mr. cardoza: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, amendment at the desk -- i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the cler amendnt number 2 printed in house rert 111-503 offered by the gentleman fro calirnia, mr. cardoza. the chai pursuant to house relution 1424, the gentleman fromalifornia, mr. cardoza, and a member opposed, will each conol five mites. the chairecognizes the gentleman from califora. mrcardoza: mr. chairman, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentman is

recognized. mr. cardoza: we have seen a slow and steady improvent in the housing market, but plac like my district he continued to deteorate. have reatedly explained to the administrati that their programs are not dog enough to st the problems of folks in the areas like the central vaey of california. as this economic devastatio contieswe must redouble o efforts to help our constituts as we work to improve the fundamentalsf the economy and hopefully eventually pull ourselves out of is situation. we must ensure tt we are doing everything tat we can to help those that are suffering the st. counseling services are just one component of this comprensive approach that we need to deal with this ongoing crisis. people must know their options when faced with foreclosure so thathey can make informed decisions basedn their own personal circumstances. navigating these options is often difficult, stresulnd

confusing to those who have never had to dealith such issue counseling can help some people find ways to stay in their homes while it offers others a path to resolven impeding foreclosure and get ba on their feet. if we are going to incentivize mortgage servicers to provide thirt-party counseling to those behind on those payments, then we need to get to those who are hurtinghe most. my amendment would have counseling serves to areas of the country that have been hardest hit by financial crisis. i urge my colleagues on both sideof the aisle to support this amendment and help tho who need it the most. serve the balance of my the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleladfrom west virginia rise? mr capito: d like to claim time in opposition ahough i amot opposed to e amendment. the chair: the gentlelady is gnized. mrs. capito: thank you, mr.

chairman. i ri in support of the amendment offered by the gentleman from california. as my colle from california knows all o well, rising foreclosure and delinquency rates continue to affect all areas of the mortgage market. secondary markets for mortgages have seen a gnificant drawback that has led to a reduction in thevailability redit. lenders have tigened credit standards making it more difficult for delinquent borrowers toefinance. at the same time, because of lling home prices and certainly in many parts of the untry like the gentman's home district, borrowers are finding thselves unable to refinance into more affordable or fed rate prodts because their outstanding mortgage loan balance exceed their home's value. stat such as california, florid arizona and vada continue to dominate the national delinquency and foreclosure mkets. he carza amendment prioritizes assistance to the areas thahave been hardest hit by foreclosure and unemployment compared to the rest of the untry. i'm prepared to suppt the gentleman'endment, and i would like to say th one area of theheentleman's

amendment i'm particularly am in favor of because we kind of go thugh is discussion on a lot of different bills, where to put the greater emphasis and i think e greater emphasis d the greater dollar assistance needs to go to the places that are hardest hit and have the most difficult problems. and so i think this is well-intentioned and would support the amendmentnd i would like to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves r -- the chair: the gentlela reserves her time. the gentleman from calirnia. mr. cardoza: tha you, mr. airman. i thk the gentlelady for her comments and her support of my amdment. it's very important that we do ve in thisirection. mr. chairman, i'd like to yield oneinute to t chairwoman of the subcommittee, a tr chaion, she's done s much in ying to lp uleviate the challenges that we face in my strict and throughout our state, the gtlelady from california,, ms. waters. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. waters: thk you. i'd like to thank my colleague from calfornia.

i support this amendment. the gentleman from california has been one of the most aive mbers of this congress bringing our attention to the economic failoutf the foreclosure crisis. i am well aware that his district located in my home state of california has one of the ghest feclosure r in the country. california has the naon most foreclosureate with every one in every 19 ,000 units receiving a foreclosure filing last april. unfortunately, due to the economic impacts of foreclsures onommunities, high foreclosure rates are sometimes accompanied by high unemployment rates. at 13%, california's unemployment rate is higher than the national unemployment rate of 9.5%. by prioritizfoclosure counseling t hardest hit areas, this amendmenwould ensurthat the homeowners most in need of these services would receive them, helping to stabilize communities that are alredy facg economic turmoil. i supporthis amendment and i certainly thank the gentleman

for authorinit. i hopey colleagues will vote yes. the chair: the gentlelady from west virginia. mrs. capito: again, i voice my support for the amendment a i'd like to yield back the bam of my time. -- a i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the jail yields back. the gentleman from california. . cardoza: -- the chair: the gentlelady yields bk the balance of her time. the gentleman from california. mr. cardoza: i ask my coeagues to suprt this and i yield back the bce of my time. the chair: t question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agre to. it is now in order to conser amendment number 3 prind in house report 111-503. for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana seek recognition? mr. cao: mr. speaker, i have an amendment at the dk. thchair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 3 printed in house report 111-503

offered by mr. cao of louisna. the chair: pursuant to house solution 1424, the gentleman from louisia, m cao, and a member opped, each will control foif minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman om louisiana. mr. cao: thank y, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise todayn support of my amendment to h.r. 5072, the f.h.a. refo act of 2010. the bill we are considering today is a much-needed piece of legislation to help bolster the federal housing ministration and help prevenanotr ousing crisis. asomeone from a district that is both in recovery and oe with incredible housing needs, i especially appreciate this bill. i congratulate chai frank and ranking member bachus for bringing this important gislati tth floor. i thi the portion othe bill which provides infmation about loan modification and

housing unseling to a mortgager at risk ofefault is important. the amendment i hope to -- tt i propose slightly expands this requirement by including language thatincludes credit risk and financial management counseng informatio i know that many times, especiallin the current economic downturn,eople headed for foreclosurve many debt issues. low and middle-income families, those most likely to have f.h. loans, often don't kno that there is counseling available to help them understand the credit ris associated with reclosurd loan modication. many do not have the skls to manage this risk. they don't kw that there is often free or low-cost magement - financial management informion for em .

that's why i drafd the additional langge to help tho families geinformation about the full range of services available to them. this is good policy that from which any constituent in my district can benefit. this is about giving people the information teyneed to be successful. as policymakers, we should not only aim to preserve homeownership but tencourage responsible homeownersp. by empowering people we are taking a proactive stance tords avoiding another financial crisis. i thank my colleaes and recommend passagof ts amendment, i reserve the the chair: the gentlem reserves e balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? ms. waters: to claim the time in opposition although i am not opposed to the amendment. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. waters thank you very much, mr. chairman. i ank the gentleman for this amendment which would ep sure that.h.a. --ould ensure

that peoplreive counseling about credit risk and financial nagement. in additiono loan modification assistance and the availability of housing counseling. financial literacy is an important tool for empowering consumers, especially those nsumers who are having difficulty making mortgage yments. the gentleman's amendmentould enhance the housing coseling reurces provided by allowing borrowers to learnbout how to manage their mortgage debt, knowledge that could be helpful in ensing that they're able to remain current their mortgages after modification. i support this amendment, and i ur an aye vote. and, mr. chairman, i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady reserves her time. the gentleman from louisiana. mr. cao: i have no further speakers so i'll yielback the balancof my time. thair: does the gentleman yield back his time? mr. cao: yes. the chair: the gentleman yields

back the balance of his ti. the gentlady from california. ms. waters: i yield back the balance my me. the chair: the gentlelady yields back her time. thquestion is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from louisiana. those in favor say aye. those opped, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. iis now iorder to conside amendment number 4 printed in house rort 111-503. for what purpose does the gentlelady from illinois seek recognition? ms. bean: mr. chairman, i have an amdment at the desk. the chair: the clerk wi designe the amenent. the clerk: amendment numb 4 printed in house report 111-503 offered by ms. bean of illino. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 1424, the gentlelady om illinois, m bean, a a member opposed, each will the air recognizes the gentlela from illinois. ms. bean: mr. chair, iield myself such time as i may consume.

the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. bean: thank you. mr. chair, the amendment i am hereo talk to my colleagues about today otects taxpaye nd ireasesovernment accountability while preserving the critical program that has helped 37 milon americans become homeowners since934. my amendment requires h.u.d. and the f.h.a. to conduct annual comprehensive assessments andsideration for increased down payment requirements in e f.h.a. mortgage guarantee program and rants h.a. greater authority to do so. currtly the minim cash investment reirement, rrently kwn as the down payment requirement, is set at 3.5%. h.u.d. reviews this to propose a 10% down payment requient for the with credit scores below580. i congratulate the chrman on this. however, it's important for h.u.d. to be given clr diction on evaluating future

down payment increases if data suggests that the feclosure crisis is not yet over. according tcore logic, approximately one in four borrows are derwater in their mortgages which means they owe more than their use is currenty woh. as borrowers become increasingly underwer they lose incentive to continue to pay their mortgage which can lead to delinquency and further foreclosur. what is diffult for invidual homeowners to guard again lar swings the housing market, one important tool for preventing negative equitys to require a meaningful down payment. to make sure h.u.d. is setting down payment requirements for the f.h.a. program that will sufficiently protect th federal government from excessive defaults, my amendmenrequires h.d. to subt an annual report to congress regarding proposed or actual increases. the report would require h.u.d. to analyze the impacts that ey would have on t financl soundness of the mutual mortgage insurance fund, which is theerve fund ferenced fquently in

today's debate, also the effect on the housing finance market of the united states and the number of borrowers served by the f.h.a. program. the amendme requires h.u.d. to consider the findings o thse annual reports in determining whethehigher down payment requirements are warranted. in addition, it grants authority to h.u.d. to establish requirements for all borrowers or a class or classes of borrowers and directs h.u.d. to look at credit score whe making these decisions. this will mandate h.u.d. to evuating resetting down payment requents every year, anit will ensure t federal government is effectively prected from unnecessary risk. this amendment allows congress to protect taxpayers without being over printive or handcuffinghe f.h.a. with specific terms. instead, it provides the f.h.a. the authority to make fact-based disions based on the level of daults and rket decisions. we've learned fr the mortgage crisis that the f.h.a. needs

the flebility to address changes in today's maet and to proct taxpayers. we arecognize the importance of preserving access to affordable mortgages for millions of american families. . h.a. has helped americans obtained homeownership. this legislation well complements the consumer and taxpayer protections in the wall street reforms congress is moving towards final passage. 8 i urge my colleagues to support the bean amendment ad the underlying bill and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves her time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from west virgini seek recognitn? mrs. capito: i'd like to claim time in opposition although i am not opposed to th endmen the speaker pro mpore: without obction. mrs. capito: as the gentlewon illinois stated, this gives h.u.d. the authority to increase f.h.a. down payments. i would like to ask the gentlelady if i cod ask her a question about her amendnt. if sheould be wilng to help

me out with clarifations. i know -- you mentioned in y statement that h.u.d. had alady raised te down payment requirents for those with credit scores of 580 and below up to 10%. my question is, it seems -- it seems apparent to me that h.u.d. already ha the authority that you are granting in this amendment. h.u.d. can alrdy now go in and raise down payments. i would like to know what the distinction is or what the difference of thauthory that you are granting in your amendment from the authoity that h.u.d. alreadhas. ms. bean: first of all, it's mandatg they he to evaluate it every year and then propose to congress why they are or aren't making chges. that's the difference than at they have been requid to do in the past. mrs. capito: still, it's not -- the authority they have to raise debt payment requirements is already existing in currt law. ms. bean: they do have the authority to make changes. but basicallyhe chge --

mrs. capito: the change is in the anal report d make a statement to the cmeements and congress. ms. bean: that's right. mrs. capito: i tha the gentlelady for clarificatn. as i said previously i am prepared to support this amendment. i don't believe i have another speakers. i yield back. the chair: the gentlewoman yields bacthe balae of her me. the gentlela from illinois. ms. bean: i yield to congresswon waters. the chair: how much me are you yielding the gentlelady is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. ms. waters: tha you very much, mr. chaian. this amendment has the existing authority of the secry of housing and urban development to raise down payment standards it deems necessary to ensure the financial health f.h.a. a embodies exactly what secretary donovan, indicates it i the

st thi to do for the current economic environment. in addition the cretary has e authorit to reduc this down payment should economic conditns change and indicates it can be done while preserving the health of e pital reserv. this amendme also calls for the secretary to provide an annual report of t implementation of the down payment requirement, the impact on f.h.a.'s capital reserves, theouing market generally, all the mber f.h.a. borrowers, and the impact o any pposed changes on borw hers. is is an important amendmen that should receive strong bipartisan suprt. and i thank corewoman bean for all the wo she's do on this equipment a yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields backer time. the question i on the amendment offered by theentlady from illinois.

so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in t opinion of the chair, the aye it. the amendment is -- the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 5 printed in house report 111-503. r what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. garrett: i have an amenent. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment nber 5, printed in house repornumber 111-503, offered by mr. garrett of new jersey. the chair: pursuant to house soluti 1424, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. garrett, and a member opposed, will ea control fiveinutes. the chair recognes the gentleman om new jersey. mr. garrett: i yield myself three minute the chair: theentleman is recogniz for three mutes. mr. garrett: thank you. i want to begin my commt by restating the obviou that is the f.h.a. right now is in

serious financl trouble. they brokered business during 2005, 2006, 2007was really small back then. and then the lending took off to nearly high levels and currently 30% of the market. the defaultfrtgages occur in the three, fo, five, six, seven years. we have ly seen sharp increase in defaults in the f.h.a. books and we he not gotten into the bad areas, problem years for 2008, 2009 we'l prably see those numbers go off the tck. some of my colleagues on the other side of the aislmay say there n't going to be a problem cause underwriting standards have tightened up some and the average fikeore has gone up. when you think about it that misses the point. the mortgage business y make ies an lose dollars. because of the tremendous increase in volume, the f.a. of moreos buty insud housands thousands moreoa from risky boowers, t those numbers ar't going to

balae out. when the f.h.a. has to play on deult, it costs siificantly more than the proceeds than the extra men which is -- pennies you get by issuing more lns. good loans would not cover loss from 1 additional riskieroans in default. i ubt it would cov one. this also deb the clm if you -- debunks the claim if you raise the down payment you hurt the f.a. becausthey are not allowed to colct fs. why is that? e more loans you insure, the more deflts are experienced d you will not be b reup theosses. second point, another argument that they'll make is the f.h.a.'s ratio loan to val you a ratios, above 95% are lower percentage of the books today than they were just a few years ago. but this failed to acknowledge that it's because it's grown so much in thpast fewyears. i would argue this that in total numbers there e significantly more loans over there above 95%,

and over 95.6 which is a crital number simply because of their inability toinance the up fro people -- up-fro premiums. it brings more riskier loans. f.h.a.'s own report says this, based on previo economic stdies, the mortgage behavior, aborrower's equity position is e of the most portant drivers of default behavior. the larger the equity position a borrower has, the greater te incentive to avoid default on that loa that's why i have come up with a bill. it's not for 20% down payment 15% or even a 10% wchany private lenders right now require. but weo fo the reasonable t compromise. 5% down payment. i suppose homeowrs -- i support homeowners as much as the next guy and i want everybody to be le to afford their own home if tey could. but we have toearn something from past history and we have to be responsible in this huse. i find theebate over the

problems with the f.h.a eerily similar to the debates we have had leading up toannie mae and freddie mac. as taxpayers now puming hundreds of billions of dolrs into fannie and freddie now, story has shown, history has shown that we were on the right side of the debatehen with fannie and freddiehen, and i want to ke sure that when this h.a. bill es through now, at the conclusion of this debate as well, i want to make surehat myself and all my colleagues are on the right side of this debate as well. i would urge my colleagues to be all on the right se of this debate in histrynd support my amendment. -- history and suort my amendment. i reserve. the chai for wh pse ds the gentleman from massachusetts rise? mr. frank: to take the time in opposition. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. . frank: i yield mys thr minutes. the chair: the gtleman is recognizedor three minut. mr. ank: m. chrman, there are several aspects of the debate of the using during the period leading up t t crisis.

part was fnie mae andeddie mac, b i ink it was oer subprime loans being made laelyver the unregulated banking system. there re those who defended that. there were those who opposed efforts to rein it in. i changed my own position with regard to th when in 2004 the administration, without ressional input, ordered fannie mae and freddie mac to give -- buy more loans from people. we tried, many of us, during the peri of 2004, 20 and 2006 to get legislation adopted to ban subprime loans being granted imprudently. we had the congress given the federareserve the authority to do that in 1994. mr. greenspan refused to do it. he apologized for that err. the questionas, not whether or

not thereas a general lack of physical -- discipline, but a particular lack ever discipline in containing bprime mortgages. the f.h.a.oesn't do th inact, at a time when because of geral ideological opposition to regula of the mortgagearket outside the banking syst tere, was very little legislation of subprime mortgages who made no down payment, who dn't ha to document their income. because of a othat, we ran into these problems. and the f.h.a.'s percentage went down. that's a maj reason why the f.h.a. went down. the f.h.a. has never been guilty of that laxity of practice. partf the incree in the f.h.a. share is that we have been able, filly, tout back on the subprime mortgas being granted imprudently. and the f.h. has ch stricter

standards. i wanto stress, and this is a major cause of the fannie ad freddie problem, they were pued into buying subprime mortgages that never should have been given in the first place. that's nothe f.h.a. 's ao the case that th f.h.a. has stepped up in recent years, partly at congrssiol urgi. the down payment has gone up. the up-front fee hasone up. the f.h.a. has power now to go up to a 10% down payment for people wi weak credit score. that's already part of the f.h.a.'s proposal. the gentleman from illinois, amendment just adopted, makes it clear can do even more. to go beyondhat to the dege e gentleman from newersey wants too would undercut the ability of ople who are capable of paying their mortgages from tting mortgage loans. that's why we have an unusual coalition opposing this amendmen included the mority of rpublicans on the committee on financial services who vod against this amendment,ut it

includes people on owl sides of the hous market. i yield --n all sides of the housing mark. i yield myself 30 seconds. we have the consumer deration, the people who distinguished themselves by being opposed to subprime lending, didn't want any restriction, you also have the realtors a home builders. those who are inhe busins of providing housing. to say this goes too far and goes beyond at it needed for responsible lendin i reserve the balance of my time. the chai the gentleman reserves the balancehis time. the gentleman from new jerse mr. garrett: i yield the gentleman from azonane nute. . flake: i thank the gentleman for yielding. and rise inupport of the amendment. we can learn from history but we can't revise it as much as we want to try. we are hearing the me arguments now we heard about fannie and fred way. there is no trouble. they are solvent. everything is fine.

we are hring the same thing with f.h.a. now. i can tell you when f.h.a. sured simply, one in 50omes, now it's one in four. we are again going to face trouble here unless we make adtional changes to the one that is are being proposed in this bill. this is a prudent amendment. it wou raise from 3.5% to 5% the minimum down payment. it gives more indivialsore skin in the game for their home and fewer individua will wlk awaynd they'll try to work it out and try to make their mortgages go on. we cannot afford to ignore histor if we reject this amendment, we are ignong history. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlen from masshusetts. mr. frank: mr. chairman, iould like to close and i serve th balance of my time the chair: the gentleman has the right close. the gentleman from new jsey. mr. garrett:r. speaker, i

think the words of the gentlelady from illinois makes my case in her amendment which really unfortunately does not go far enough. she says on the floor that the f.h.a. does nd clear direction in what to do in this area of down payments. unrtunately it has nt done the job up to the point in time and now se says we have to give them that clear direction. that iwhat my amendment wod do. in no uncertainerms we would say those people who are not the best risk outhere should have a minimum of 5% down. i so take from her very ow rds, she points out the fact that one out of fo homesright now are under wat. are we going to find ourselves in position ago when one outf four homes are underater, they only hava few percentage points down in their house say i can simply walk away from this house. think weon't want to rehash this argument again.

i don't think we want to be in thisituation againhere th americ taxyer is put on the hook just as it is now in the tuneof over $400 billion over the life of the g.s.a.'s, we n't want to bail out f.h.a.'s, let's do the prudent thing now and be on t right side of history and have a prudent down payment for f.h.a. loans. i eld back. the chair: the gentleman fm massachusetts. mr. frk: how much time remains? the chair: the gentleman has a minute and a half. . . frank: the f.h.a. hason to borrowers whore risky. for borrowers uer 560 credit score, they've gone to a 10% down payment. ere was a misreading with fannie mae and freddimac. some of us thoht thereasn't a problem. after there was an order by the

bush administration i2004 for them to get more than 60% of mortgages for people below the median income, many of us changed our sition and pushed for reform of nnie mae and freddie mac and unfortunately, tt didn't happen, because the was a probm. throughout that, we had ideological opposition from e dereag lators against rtricting subprime los of the sort that led to trouble and the f.h.a. doesn do that. i ask unanimous consent to sert into the record at this point, the appropriate point, letrs from the mortgage baers thnational association of home builders, the center for responsible lendg, the national association for consumer javod cats, the consumer federation, will poinout not that we don't nd restriction but that the f.h.a. has them. to confuse this with the

situation to in which opposition to opposition outside the f.h.a. is a confusion ofhe reality. the chair: e gentleman's unanimous request is covered by general leave. the geneman from new jersey the gentleman's time has expired. e question son t amendment offer by the gentleman from new jersey. those in favor say aye. the opposed,o. in the opinion of e chair, the noehave it. the amendment is not agreed to. > i k for a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant tclause 6 of rule 18, further proceeding on the amendment offered by the ntleman from new jersey will be postponed. its now in order to consider

amendment number six printed in house report-503 for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts seek are recognition? mr. tierney: i have an amendment at the desk. the chr: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clk: amendmennuer six printed in house report 111-503offered by mr. tierney of massachusetts. the chair: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from ssacsetts, mr. tierney, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlem from massachusetts. mr. tierney: iecognize myself for such time as i may consume. there are instances when we' done all the research and completed all other options, a legislative remedy mabe required to help our constituents in our district offices with a particular problem. tho occasions give us the portunity to evidence how ngress cawork on their behalf, how congress can help solve problems and how coress can have a dirt d positive effect on people's lives. this is one of those times.

i appreciate the fact that the rules committee has made this amendment in order. this amendment seeks to assist thoseeople who, while we were in the -- while they were in the procs of pursuing their dream of me ownship we unfairly impacted by a statutorchange to h.u.d.'s up front mortgage insurance premium refound policy. under the poli, rrowers paid an up front mogage insurance o1. of the f.h.a. loan aunt and if they prepaid their loans they could be due pounds onhat epaid amount. however in 05 work the consolidated appropriatis act, congress includ language directing that for mortgages aftethe time that date of actment, tess 8, 2004, that would no longer be true. borrowers woul no long be eligible for repounds of their prepaid insurance. there are about 15,000 people inhis country who tried to do e right thing and play by the rules. they are constituents of all of

ours who closed on their mortgage bere the december 8, 2004, date in order to get their refound but regrettably, they were prevented from getting the refund because h.u.d. didn't end their loan until aer december 8, 2004. now the constituenttells they were never adequately inford by the lender of those potential revisions and th lenders te us they didn't do it because theyeren't told by h.u.d. until after the effective te, in fac not until january of 2005. i know of one family in my district who were harmed by the w provisioin the l. th closed their loan in ovember of 2004 without notice of the change of law, but they've been prevented from receiving eir prere-found of $4,200 because h.u.d. didn't endorse their mortgage until after december 10 2004. that's an unintended consequence but the provisions in the conlidated appropriations acof 2005 this amendment makes meaningful

first step toward helpg eligible homeowners and borrowers, many of whom are low income families. this is a first step becausee have tgo to appropriations to get money to fulfill the policy. this is the right policy,s the fair thing to do, it is the right thing to do, we'll have tdiscuss and argue about the money to appropriate to make whole these people at a later tate but i suggest if you want to do the right thing by policy, we should pass this i serve the balancef my time. the chair: for what purpose does the gentlewoman rise? >> i'd like to claim time in opposion. the chair: the gentlewoman is recoized mrs. capito: the gentlem brings forward aninitiative, and it sounds like people e caught in maze, they missed a date not by t own doing.

the question i have and the reason i have skepticism on the gentleman's amement he gan with this, i think thnumber the gentleman said this may influen 15,000 folks. was that the numr that y cited? 15,000 mr. tierney: yes, 15,593. mrs. capito: and the other questn i would a, i know you have to go to approprias to get theon allotd, but what will the pproximate cost of sething li ts, this is what, in this time of debt andeficit and we needo cut our spendin here, i think we need to be vigilant othe bottom line. what is the bottoline of this amdment? i yield to the gtleman. . tierney: i thank you for raising that point that this is a two-step process. this part talks about whethe we have t law to enable us to

appropriate the money. we're not apprriating the money now, i tnk that's a debe for another date and time if we dece we want to be fair to these people but the total for the $15,593 people, according to the department, would be $10,372,661.61. moe or less. mrs. capito: thank you. very prece, ippreciate that i still he skticism about even $10 millnwhich in everyday dollars is still quite a bit of money and we ne to look at what we're doing onhe bottom line here. so i --while i'm sympathetic and i think the amendment has some meri i stand in opposition to t amendmentism yield back the balance of my ti. the chair: e gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from massacusetts. mr. tierney: i thauns $10 million is $10 million, that's a lot of money t individually. we should be concned. it's not proportionally a lot

in our $1.7 trillion budget. butic the real number is, what does it mean to tndividuals ho were harmed by government policy on no doing to thr own. if it's $4,0 to a family in my district, tt's what's driving our economy right now. for people who have ever expectation of getting the return of that money and played by the rules in order to get it, only to have bureaucracy undercut them, that's the issue we're dealing. with we'll have an issue ter on about whether or not now is the timto put $10 million on the floor to help people ou and that will be a debate for them. i think we suld deal with the policy now and authorize r that to be donet some date, either thisear or next year or wnever we can mak the argument in congress that it's time to be fair. in this amount, given the huge meaning tindividual now is the time toe fair. 15,000 people wronged by government burecracy, in amounts every bit as significant them,

dividually, as $10 million may be to all of us in the aggregate. it's an impact on their lives, whether or not their family wille it throughhe crisis, whether ey'll be able to meet the needs of food, health ce, educationnd those things thaare portant to their family and again in closing, i reiterate, this is the authorization process. let's set the policy of fairness. let keep in mind, these people played by theules, did what is right and congress will stand with them. yield back the balance of my time as well. the chair: the question son the amendment offer by e gentleman from massachusetts. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed. to -- is agreed to. s now in order to consider amendment number sen printed in e report 111-503.

for at purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? mr. price: i have an amendment at the desk. the chairthe clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number seven printed in house report 111-503, offered by mr. price of georgia. the air: purr udent to house resolution 132424erk gentleman fromeorgia, mr. price, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the geleman from gegia. mr. price: i want to commend the chairman ofhe committee and the ranking meer for moving this pie of legislat i particularly want to commend the gentlelady from west virginia, mrs. capit for her great work on this area. she's been a dynamic and excellent lead for the this area and she is indeed to be commend. this bill incorporates some y positive moves. clearly the housing market has had significa challenges d the qution that we ought to be asking ourselveses is how be to rover. most experts would agree that in order to move forward we

need movtoward less market distortion. it might be helpful if we focus on the f.h.a.'s mission andthe focud threquirements they have on them. we all sport the f.h.a. mission. the mission is to serve first-time home buyers and underserved communities. but he f.h.a. di't get to a 30% market she by lding to first-time home buyers and by serving underserved comnities. in terms of the requirements of the f.h.a., the requiremes of the f.h.a. are 3. down payment. the private sector requires at least 10%. f.h.a. is required to hold a 2% capital reserve ratio but its actual ratio is 0.53%. a bank isequired to hold 10% capital reserve ratio. a recent editorl in the "ll street journal" said, quote,

according to mortgage bankers association d tk onin eight f.h.a. loans is now delinquent, more than triple the rate on subprime loan port foal yores. the f.h.a. is almost certainly going to need a taxpayer bailout in the months ahead. the only date will out how much it will cost. ormer chief credit office of fannie mae edward pinto notes that f.h.a.'s high-risk lending practices negatively impact the housing marketpla, unquote. you can translate that into increasing taxpayer exposure. if we're honest wh ourselves, when appropriately sizedthe f.h.a. is helpful. at this point, it's another government program distorting the market. f.h.a.'s huge market share is a

hindnce to regning equity in the housing market. fannie and freddie's unlimited government lifeline is a hindrance to the hoing recovery this amendment my amendment, wou ensure the f.h.a. longer crowds out the private market for home loans. its a modest first step to cap f.h.a. new originaon market share to no more than 10% of the private market home loans each year beginning in 12 there is significant time to adjust. the arican people are not further exposed to the next bailout. mr. airman that ans the tax payer is noexpoto gater liility. the american people are sick d tired of bailout they see another one of the horizon. it's te for us to act. no more bailouts. what they're telling us across the country iso stop the madness this amendnt begs the process of stopping that madness. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the geleman reserves his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. frank: mr. chaman, i

claim the time in oppoon and yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. sherman the chair: theentleman fro californ is recognized for two minutes. mr. erman: at best, we have a agile recovery froa massive recession causedy a precipitous decline in home prices. . i know the gentleman is well-intentioned but notng i re likelto cause a double dip in this ecession an the second precipitous drop in home prices that would be caused b pulling f.h.a and fannie and freddie out of the home loan market. right now f.h.a. is 30% of the home purchase finance market. but er half of that mark for african-americans. 45% for hispanics. are we goingo tell a third of american home buyers, almost half or over half hispanics and african-americans seeking to buy homes at they are not goingo

be able to buy those homes because if theyan't get f.h.a. financing, the private sector may be there, but at much higher rates. and thers no way tat these individuals will be able to afford to buy those homes. with fewer buyers you'll see a precipitous decline in prices. that devastates communities rther. devastates the american economy further. f.h.a. is acarially sound,t charges fees for the services and guaranes it prides. and cut its role in the market by a third part of an overallolicy designed to take f.h.a., fannie m, and freddie mac t of the market, ignores the fact thatn the troubled times those three entities, f.h.a., fannie, anfreddie count for almost all of the home mortgages obtaed by middl class and working families.

so we should defeat the gentlen's amenent nd i want to pointut it is opposed by the national association of realtors, the national association of home builders, and the mortgage bankers association. i d back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from grgia. mr. price: mr. chairman, may i ask how much time remains on ch side? georgia has a minute and a half. the ntleman fr massachusetts has three minutes. mr. price: does the gentleman have anyther speakers? mr. frank: i'm sorry i didn't hear the queson? mr. price: doesthe gentleman have any other sprs? mr. frank: i intendo use the three minutes cloe. mr. price: theres no doubt we are inrgleousing market which is precisely why this amendmen tis policy would not take effect until 201 itgives the secretary gnificant flexibility and

defining what that 10% is, but what it tries to do is right size, right ze the number of mortgages, the percent of rtgages at the f.h.a. insures. i want to pnt out to all that 30% is a huge portion historically as it relates to what the f.h.a. singleamily insurance activity has comprised. from 2001 to 2007 the numbers were under 10% every singleyear for all f.a. faly iurance activity. so the amount of 10% is a responsible, a reasonable number. whatt tries to do again is to decrse the effect of intervention into the market th distorts the market. rember, mr. chairman, that whenhe government distorts the market, it makes it much more difficult for the marketo cover and nors to make certain we -- for u to me certain we me inhe dection of economic actitye ne. again the taxpayers of this country are sick and tired of bailouts.

is is another bailout in the making if we allow the process that is currently in placeo continue. we should limit the f.a. exposure to 10%. we do itn a responsible way by sayi it would ben in 2012. we provide significant flexibility for the secretary so that the program will work wl. i urge my colleagues to adopt the amendment. the chai the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts is recogzed. mr. fran . chairman,irst i do want tosay in irony i'm glad to see the gentleman from in new jerseythe gentleman from gegia praise the gentlewoman from west virginia for a bill which they aprently found severely lacking. do note the the gentlewoman from virginia voted against the prior amendment of the gentlan from new jersey. and for very good reason, 10% cap is arbitry. the gentman sa it's going to crd out e market. but the leadi participants in the housing market opposes the

endment includinll the consumer groups. beyond that the reon the f.h.a. went down so far from 2001 to7, interesting gup of year guess what was waat there w a ristance to the regulation of the subprime market. they were ignoring legislation congressave it in 1994 to regulaubprime lending. the bush administration in 2004 ordered fannie mae andreddie mac to increase the subprime loans they bought, whh is one reas i changed my position on the need to be tougher in the regulatory field. and the f.h.a. lost out because a proved mortgages would be without regulation. the f.h.a. don't do the kind of mortgages that l t problems. beyond that, towards the end of the bush administration and even greater in the obama administration the f.a. has been improving. the f.h.a. has on itswn 580

crit score or below it's a 10% down payment. we mandated they go from 3%to 3.5% down payment and increase the up-front fee e gentlewoman from wes virginia deserves credit, the f.h.a. is giving credit to reir lenders who get loans placed with the f.h.a. in violation of the guidelines to take back those loans. so it wouldn't be the taxpayer that would be on thook for those loans that shouldn't have been granted d violated the good guidelines of the f.a., it would be e lender. it also gves them theower to bar people who have a bad record which something they haven't had before. we are not talking about the old f.h.a., arealking about an improved one and one that stands in gat contrast to the unregulated subpri market. finally, the gentleman say we itesn't take effect un 2012. neither he n i knows what the using market looked like in 2012. if therea reason not to do now, that might also be there in 22. no one canredict whether the

housing -- may in 2015 i wil beack again in trble. housing rket we don't believe you e going to crash like before, but the point is is. the f.h. has been the alternative to theind of unregulated,ers responsible subprime mortgag tt many of my friends on the oth de protected. the kind of mortgages which they prevented us from regulating until 2007 when we were ab to ss a bill not house ov the objection of many of thos who have spoken alrdy to regulate subprime mortgages a because we did that, t federal reserv finally used its auority. i hope the amendment is defeated quoip the question is -- the chair: the question on thamendment offered by the gentleman from georgia. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion othe chair, the esave it the amendment is not agrd to. mr. price: mr. chairman, on that i request a recorded vote. thchair: pursuant to claus6 rule 18, further pceedings on the amendmentffered by the

gentleman from georgia will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 8 printed in house report 111-503. for what purpose does e gentleman from new york seek recognition? mr. weiner: consideration of the amendment. the chair:he clerk wil signate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 8 printed in house report mber 111-503, offered byr. weiner of new york. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 1424, the gentlen from nework, mr. weiner, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair now recognizeshe gentleman from new york. . weiner: i thank you, mr. chairman. i preciate the opportunity. i so want to thank my colleague, mr. miller w. whom i authored this amenent. this is a similar amendmen in fa it's idtical to o that was adopte viceote. there are proble with the -- some f.h.a. pgra. they are addressed in this bill. and there are some loosing prms.

there are some programs that haven't worked out well. one program that has been a consistent money maker for the taer and one that has driven the marketplace to do good ings is the mtifamily loan prram. however that program limits that for how much the guarantee, ho much the loa can be guaranteed for has n risen as fast as the co in lot of cities. so what e weiner-mler amendment wod do is simply raise the limitso keep up with the cost and create somethi called an extreme ct area. the way the program works, essentially say this is a limit to which we will underwrite guarantee a loan fo new nstruction or modif a home. buif you have an artment building, four, five, 10, 100 units obviously the costs wd up goingn as you nd things like elevators and hvac, and what happens in places like los angeles and new york and la vegas and miami, these costs have not been kept up with. the result has been that the loan program has not been eful. at we do is we take a loan

limit of $83,000, almost $184,000, create a ne extreme high cost area that the secretary will be able to designate where the mits will be higher, $77,000. for those people concerned, are we going in the wron dirtion and giving too much exposure to a program we should be tightening up? this is a program that unke the single family home where the program there s an extremy delinquency rate, this oneas 1%. we are just increang lims on one th would encourage people to make loans to small businesses that are developing an eye. i urge a yes vote and serve e balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from new york reserves the balance of his time. fowhat purpose does the gentleman rise? >>laim timin position to the amendment though i am not in opposition the amendment. the chair: withoutbjecon, the gentleman is recognized. >> i yid lf suctime as i may consume. the chair: the geneman is recognized mr. miller: this amendment is actly thsame as the bll that passed this by bya voice vote lasar.

f.h.a.'s mltifamily insuranc program enled qualified buyer to obtai long-term fixed rate financing for a variety of properties at afforable low and moderate income families. in the most expensive cities it's very diffict for workers to find an affordable rental house. f.h.a. mtifamily insunce program can help, but due to the environment there is on three f.h.a. insured multifamily loans in high re, rehabilitation apoved in 2007-2008. i justnderstand thas a huge problein this country. the loan limits and high costs there are simply too low. accordintoortgage bkers association, the lack ofeal loans is creating serious prle. in fact, the data shows wle elevated buildings cost 45% than nonelevator structures, the current limit for these structures areess than10% higher. developers are simply unab to

to prodeaffordable housing uns because the costs are basically too low. i dot think we have ever seen a housing market that has been impacteds the one we ced in recentears. low-income renters and mo rat inme ren -- moderate come renters are iacted. need to pride more housing stock yet do it in wayhat does not put moreaxpayers at risk. that that's what this does. the program makes money for the gornme do n lose money r the government and i would suppt this amendmentnd ask m colleagues to join us. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from californiaeserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new york. mr. weiner: i thank my colleae. he states it very well. i urge a yes vote as well. i just want to pount t this is not a zero sum game. there is nothing about the single home maet that is going to be ipacted by this there nothing about the high costs tt is gointo be impacted. this is just allowing this progm to fnction in all quarters of the -- housing

market and take into consideration things my colleague says. as i saidthis has an outstanding delinquency rate o .3 every housing program, every using guarantee program despite the very difficult downturn has such a small delinquency rate as this we would all be happy. increasi these limits i don't believe would have any efect. i urge a yes vote a i -- i guess there is nned for me to reserve. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman elds back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. . miller: we passed th bill last time. it had unanimous suppo. there is no impact on the federal government. we are taking areas that are gh costhat have basically been discriminedgainst in the past from being able to participate in the g.s.e. or f.h.a. loans. this is a good amou. i ask an aye vote and yield ba. the chair: the gentleman from california yields back the

balance of his time. the questi is now on the amendment ofred by the gentleman om new york. so many as an favor say ay those opposed, no. in t opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. thamendment is agreed to. is now in order to consider amendment number 9 printed in house report 111-503. for whaturpose does the gentman from ohio seek recognition? . mr. turner: i ha an amendment in the at the desk. e chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment number eight in house report 111-503, offered by mr. turner of ohio. the chair: t gentleman from ohio, mr. turner, and a mber opposed each will contl five minute the gentleman from ohio. mr. tuner: i have an amendment

that caps the authority for the federal housing administration at $20,000. government program ensure -- insure --nsure mortgage on a home worth three quarters of million dollar for low income home owns. this contributes tohe over inflated housing values that contributed to t foreclosure crisis from the ginning. the morage foreclose crisis is not over, mr. chairman. there are still too my american families that are confronted every day with the skhey mht lostheir ohm. washington should note in the role of enabling this crisis. we need to begin rucing the dependence of these communities from artificl support and give the privateector e ability to ep back into the market. the best place to facilitate

this is to lower the f.h.a. limit on loans under half million dolls. f.h.a. has taditionally focused on low to moderate income familieseeking to purchase a home. for good reason. f..a. should once again focus on the buyers. permitting f.h.a. buyers to rchase a $750,000 loan means fewer f.h.a.nsur mortgages for families acss america who uly need them. in -- in ohio, the loan limit for f.h.a. is $271,000. i understa there are high cost urban areas where some homes cost more than in ohio t the f.h. hampletaws designed to help -- f.h.a. was designed to focus on lowe incomeuyers and should focus on them.

this limits f.h.a. to truly merately priced loans to those who need them. the effect of this amendment is to limit to the 1ounes in the country but does not rede assistance to theodately valuemes that are the majority of the naon. e f.h.a. was establishedo help aricans meet the dream ohome ownership. ishoulde limited to those who truly need the hp my amendment would work tard that purpose. i urge my colleagues to support it. i reerve the balance of me time. e chair: t gentlemanrom california. >> i rise knopp sigs to the amdment and woulyield -- in opposition to the amendment and would yield a minu and a half to the geneman f ifornia. the chair: the gentleman from liia is cognized >> in 2001, i started arguing

to raise loan limits in hcost areas and it's had a good impact across the nation mr. turner he's a good frnd of mine, if you said, let's set the litss it would be in theold limits, that would be $5,00 ut you -- that would impact pele in yo state. you picked $500,000 sthere's o impact on the ste of ohio. $50000 a great amount to pull out of their. in l. cnty, the limits are $729,0 or $750,000. these are some of the best-performing loa f.a. is making. whenou look at the f.h.a. nationwide, they're making over 90% of the ans to this count. if they were not there today, people would not be able to

selloans in high cost ars. you would not be able to sell a hom a high cost area, nor would yobe ae to buy a home in a high cost area. if this were impacting the federal governmt or taxpayers, i would age with my good friend, i will say again my good friend, mr. turner, i wod agree th this. but this isot impacti xpayers orhe f.h.a.'s some of the besterforming ans. why should people in high-cost areas be penalized because we wanto pick the nuer $500,000 out the air that wl have no beneto anyone anywhere. i oppose this amendment and ask my colleagues to oppose the amendment. thank you for yielding. the chair: theentleman fm ohio. mr. turner: i appreciate my good friend's statements, there is one statement i want to correct, all of ohio would be under his suggested limiof 15,0, myommunity is at

$271,000. the issue i while we'ren a financial crisis andbailouts and ortgage foreclosures across thcountry we look to is issue as one of basic math. the larger the lo amount, the more the risk. when there's fluctuation in t market, the perntagof the rgerumber is a larger ss, leading to more increased incidences of t likelihood of foreclosure. so the issue larger loan oun mean le number of loans at there could be prov assistance. there is a limited amount here. and with that limbed amount, if it's carved up in three quarters of a million dollar home sales, versus those to you haveess resources to , provide that assistance. this is basic math. we look across the country with the mortgage foreclosure crisis, we have to beoncerned as to how we ensure that we'r assisting home buyers, low a moderae yers b not overly infling the market and not

putting taxpayers at greater risk. reserve the balance my time. e chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. sherman: do iave the rightclose or does the gentleman from ohio have the ght to close? the chair: the gentleman from lifornia. mr. sherman: then i'll reserve. mr.ner: i urge my lleagues to suppis measure which good financial and al sense. itld lower the amount, providing greater assistance becae there would be a greater number of loan prossvided aisnce at t same timlowering the risk taxpayers,owering the risk of ilouts bmaking higher cost are, me riskier area conform to an amount thawould be mo to our goal of low a moderate-income buyers receiving asance from the f.h. i yield back the balance omy time the chair: the gentleman from

california. mr. erman: i yield myself the remaind of the time. i inthe gentleman's definion of risk and his arhmetic is a bit falmty. to say that a billion dollars of smaler ans have lesri than a billion dollarof larger loans is not sething one can determine, except by loong at the performance of ose loans. the gentleman from california, mr. mill, pointed out, those larger loans perform better the h.a. therere hless surce risk and actually usually makes a profit on those loans so to say that loans in los angeles take awayrom ls in oh and pose the federal government to more risk than loans in ohio is simply false. i'll yield to the gentlema from california.

mr. miller: the idea that somehow the f.h.a. could insure more loans, buthat's not true, they can insure all the loans they want, it does not have any imct on the f.h.a.'s ability whatsoever. i correct? mr. cherman: this is correct. it's not an ai-ohio stance the gentlen from califoia are taking. the fact stherk gtleman from ohio -- murner:ill thgentleman yields? mr. sherman: the gentleman had his own time and yielded back. i will not yld. there's an image that some ha from other s of t country that if the home sells f more than half milln dollar the peoplen it must be rich. that's not how things work in the 2 counties affected by this amendment. in my area, a police officer is married to a teacher, they're

in a home of ove 00,000. that's ry difficult for home to afford that ends up tyi their retirement money, for betteor for worse. but that is how expensive it is to live in some parts of this country. and to say that because people are bing a home of over half a million dollars that they are rich and do not deserve the same kind of help the gentleman from ohio thinks middle class families in his district deserve is the same kind of help that middle class families in my distric deserve. this amendment iopposed by the national morage bankers assiation, the national association of home builders and the national association of realtors, not just the california divisions of those entities but entities that representhe entire countr i don't tnk the ohio realtors would be here opposing this amendment. ion't think the nebraska realtors, i don't ink the national association of realtors would be here opposing this amement if it hurt major

s.w.a.s othe country. or if e amdment was ing to help major s.w.a.t.s of this country they wouldn't be opposing it. the fact is, the f.h.as current prram helps california witho hurting hose other states. it helps the washington, d.c., area, the new york area, much of virgiia, c. theorst tnge can do for this economy is cause a precipitous decline in the price of homes in the major metropolitan areain this country. our recovery is fragile. the program the wayt works now allows middle class families in both loangeles and in ohio to be able to finance homes. we ought to vote down this amendment. so please join with cirman frank, chairman wters, the national association of realors, home builders, and mortgage bankers in urging ano vote. the chair: the gentleman's time

has expire the question is on the amendment ofred by the gentleman from ohio. those n favosay e. those opposedno. in the opinion of thair, the amendmis not agreed to. mr. turner: ask for a recorded vote the chair: pursua to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from ohio will be postponed. the chair: it is now in ord to consider amendment mb 10 printein hou report 111-503, for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition? >> i seek recognition to speak on behalf of the clae-cuellar amendment.

th chair: does the gentlewoman offer the amenent? yes. the chair: the clerwill report e amendment. the cle: amenent number 10 printed in huse report 111-503, offered by the gentlewoman fm new york, ms. clke. the chair:he chair recognizes the gentleman from new york ms. clarke: thank my colleagues, chair watersnd chairman franks, for suppting me. before i speak about my amendment, i wanto quickly recognize the gnificance of h.r. 5072. this bilwill make essential reforms to strengthen the financial footing ofhe.a. and to enhance its authority to go aer fraudulent lenders who have preyed on the mos vulnerab of borrowers r far too long. mrchairman, many peoe blame this foreclosure crisis on the

rrowers. ile some individual, desperate to achieve the american ea may have sought to cut corners in the process, fraudulent and unscrupulous lenders ultimately held the rse strings. these lenders bear grt al of burden for the foreclosure cris which connues to impact americans d vaste commnities from coast coast. last year, new york cityaw a record 20,000 foreclosure filings, according to da compiled by the center for urban policy at new york university in the first quarter of 2010 there were 4,-- 420,000oreclosures aross n york. brolyn experienced 426 foreclosures in the first quart er 2010. commissioner stevens tenure in 2009, the mmissioner and deputy stant secretary have taken several steps to assess and strengthen f.h.a.'s

foreclore mitt fwation capabilities, beginning with the review of privatlender lossitigation and foreclosure prevention activitie f.h.a. ained almost ,000 sff lenders on how to better er f.h.a. borrowers to avoid foreclosure, identified lenders that are underpforming and improved st practices. f.h.a. assisted more than 450,000 borrowers to avoid foreclosurthugh a variy of loss mitigation programs but my constients areelling me that ey can do -- that more can be don support the reclosure counseling efforts we must determine if enough resourcesre being devoted to foreclosure mitigation, especially fow iome borrowers. that is why i oppose this amendment along with mr. cuellar, which wllow g.a.o. tonalyze the effectiveness in helping distressed borrows, especially low income

borrowers, hold on to the american dream. while the f.h.a. is working to strgthen itmitigation abilities, resources areikely insufficient for the massive ze ofhe program. i'd like to ank represtative cuellar for joining me in this effort. low-income boar evers in rural areas are cinghe same challeng as those in urban areas, such as my part of brooyn. i urge my colleagues to support this amendment to assist the nation to overcome the foreclosure cris thank ymr. airm, and i reserve e balance of my time. . the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. gentlelady from west virgia rise? mrs. capito: i claimime in opposition though am not opposed to the andment. i would like to thank the sponsors of the bill. certainly the intent is for more informion a certnly more accurate iformion to look a the programs that we are putting forth and been put forth to see

if the loss mitigation efforts arworking and what ways we cn improve. i congratulate you and urge support of the amendment. i yield back the balancef time. the chair: t gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. clarke: want to thank my coeague on the other side of the aie for seeing the usefulness in this amendment. i want to thank mr. cuellar for being a ptner and bringi this amendment forrd. and i wanto thank you, mr. chairman, and i yield back the balance ofy me. the chair: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. all time has been yielded ba. the qution is on the amendment offered byhe gentleladyrom new york, ms. clarke. so many as are in favor say aye. the oppose no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes havet. the amendment is agreed to. it's now in order tonsider amendment number 11 printed in house report 111-503. wh purposeoes the geleman from virginia seek recognition? nye: mr. speaker, i have an

amendment at the desk. thchair: the crk wl designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 11, printed in house report number 111-503, offered by mr. nye virgin. the chair: pursuant to house solution 1, the gentleman from virginia, mr. nye, and a member opposed, each will contro2 five mis. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from virgini mrnye: m spear, i yaings. the air: the gentlan -- i yield myselfuch time as i may nsume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. nye: i scan here today to fight for my constituents in on roa, virginia, d for thousands of famlies across the united states against toxic chinese dry wall. it has serious health implications. the toxins released from t dry of chemicals d rotten eggs

that can cause deep hacking coughs, bloody noses, and eye irritation much thecariest fact is we still do not know what long-term health efcts chinese drwall will ave. nce january of last year, more than 3,300 cases ha bee reported from 37 states anhe districtf columbia. famies have en lwith an impossible choice. live in aontaminat home or pay tens if not hundreds of thousands of dllar to rip out and replace their home's dry . in my district, ivisited these mes and i have spocken with the families. -- spoken th the families. many of them he been ford move in with friends or relatives. many are now living in rtal housinpaying for both the cost of the mortgage and cost of rent or even worse living in the home unle a forward repairs. and stilothers have made the toughest decision, walking away from their homes. thiss bad fr our recovering housing market and bad for our economy and it bad fo amer families.

mr. ear, m cmonsense amendment would extend the federal housing administration's special forebarons program for american homwners by providing forebaroes for those who suffer from toxi chinee dry wall through fcal year 2011. is wil allow countless families get back on heir fe an repair their homeof the as co-chairman of the congressional ntaminated dry wall caucusi commend the administration for working wi congssnd homeowners, providing temrary forebanses for those who suffer from chinese y wall through no fault of their own is someththe federal gernment must connue to support. i hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this amendmt. i reserve the balance of m time. the chair: t gentleman from rginia reserves the balancof his time. the gentleman from west viinia. mrs. capito: i claim time in oppositionlthough i am not opposed. the chair: witho objection, e gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. capito: as the coreman has stated in his amendment merelynsures that h.u.d.ill takeo action between now d

f.y. 2011s forhinesery wall victims for eligibility. since this ds not create ae prograor newpending, it ensures an existing eort by h.u.d. to extend aid to chinese dry wall victims remains in place through f.y. 2 i suppt the gentleman's amdmen i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: t gentlewoman yields back the lance her time. e gentlen from virginia. mr. nye: i thank my colleague from west virgin for her support of the amdment. i urgell my colleagues to supporthis andment. i yield back the balance of my time. e chair: jb. -- thgentleman yields bk the balance of hisime. the estion is now on the amendment ofred by the gentleman from virgini so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair,he ayes have . the amendment is agreed to. it is noin order to consider amendment number is it, printed

for what ppose does the 03. gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. edwards: mr.peaker, have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the crk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment nr 12, printein houseeport number 111-50 offered by mr. dwards of texas. thchair: psuant to house resolution 1424, thegentleman from texas, mr. edwards, and a member opposed, each will control five minus. the chair now recognizes the gentleman texas. mr. edwards: m spear, thank you. members, my amendment is a simple, commonsense prection for children and families. it requires anyoneeeking to befit from the term of f.h. mortgage to certify under penalty of perjuryhat they ve not beenonvicted after sex fense against a minor. this amendme ensures that taxpayers wil not be on the hook for loans made to convicted child sex offenders. there are 70000egistered sex offenders currtly living in our cmmit

experts estimate a many as 100,000 convicted sex fenders are lost n theystem. recent research has shown that there is a higher repeat rate for sexual crimes and even high amongst those who commit these crimes against chiren. as a relt in the past few years congress has passed a series of la adopti the use of sex ofend registries and community notification systems. r sexually violent offenders and those committing offenses against children. whe we cnot prevent registered child sex offenders from moving into our communities, we do not need to provide them the additional benets offered by an f.h. ho loan if they try to do so. with a f.h.a. home loan texas rival along defaults. i do not believe, i dont think most members of this house believe,nd i know most americando not believe that taxpayers should be on the hook foa home loan of someone who

has committed a sex offense against a minor. a quarter of a million children are sexually assaulted eve ar in my home state of texas. according to e national crime victims research and teatment port. there's still private market alternatives to f.h.a. lns and we want to continue to discourage a kindof felly finced reward for taxpayer backed benefit for sex offenders re-entering our communities. for examplsex offender e already banned from residi section 8 public housing. pro-family stance.e that is the srtfication requirement in th amendmenis astrong enforcement mechanism which will not put additional bdens on small businesses. of my amendment.irge support prott our communities and protect those who have committed and to phibit those who have commd a sex offense against a nor fromenefiting from

rnment-bacd f.h.a. los. i reserve the balance of my ti. the speaker pro or the gentleman from tex reserves the balance of -- the chr: the gentlan from texas reserves the bance of s time. the gelewomafrom west virgin. mrs. capito: i would like claim me in opposition though i am not opposed to the gentleman's amendment. the chair: withouobjection, the gentlewon is recognized. mrs.apit the gentleman's amendmis similar to previous efforts by republicanso i housing debatesto ensure that convicted sexfnders are unable to ceie the federal btain housing through the f.h. i think the intent and the directiothat the gentleman is going is absolutely propriate. i supporhis amendment. i yield back the balance of my time. the chr: the gentlewan from west virginia yields back the balance of her time. the gentlemafr texas. mr. edwards: i yield bac the chair: the gentleman yield back. the question is o the amendment offered bythe geleman from texas. so manas are in favor y aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chr, the ay have it. the amendment is agreed to. . edwards: on that i request the yeas andays. e chair: does the ntleman ask for a recorded vote? mr. edwards: i do, mr. speaker. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rul18, further proceengs on t amendment offered by the gentlemafromexas be postpod. it is now in oer amendment numb 13 prted house report 11503. for what purpose does the gentman from new york seek recognition? >> rise as a dsignee of mr. adle the chair: the clerk wl signatthe amendment. the cler amendnt numr 13, printed inouse rort number 111-50 offered by mr. neway -- maffei of new rk. the chair: prsuant to house resolution 124, the gtlem from new york irecognized.

a memb opped each will controfive minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentlen from new yk. mr. maffei: thank you, mr. chairman. i just want to thank chairman ank and chairwoman waters fr bringing this ll and my amendment t the floor. we wer all outraged when we learned that dozensof employees at the securities ad exchange commission were found to have been using their gvement ised cters to view pornographer -- pore -- pornraphy. some were soonors stfers eaing as much as $122,000 a year. one spent eight hos day wahing pornography. an accountant in a regional offi was ded access by the government 16,000 times when he tried o access webpages containing sexually explicit material. ehavior, these abuses is not just an abu of government resources t is also of the public trust. it undermines confidence in our institutions. subjects e thousands of s.e.c. and other government employees who work ha every

day to diminishment and simply put it isoutrageous and unacceptable. this amendment is very simple. it simply sa that if you are an f.h.a. eoyees who is ficially disciplined for viewing, downloading, or exchanging porgraphy, cluding child pornography, you lose your job. no private business in amera would tolerate this kind of behavior and there is no reason our governmentnstition shou, eier again very, very spl if you are caught and officially discipned for viewing downloading, orxchanging rnogray, you lose your job. it's that simp. this should not be aartisan sue and i urge swift passe of thismendment. i reserve the balance of m time. the chair: the gentleman from new york rerves e balance of hitime of the t gentlewoman fromt virginia. mrs.apito: if i claim time in opposion although im not opposed to the amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentlewoman is recogzed. mrs. capito: i woud reiterate the conressman's ament seeks to ensu that the employees hired by f.h.a. as a

result of funds made available in this bill are in good standind not guilty of aling in previous pornography or disciplinary meases. as the gentleman sd, i think alof us, and around the country were stunned toearn statistics of certain government employees not on viewing inappropate material but the absolute incredible waste of government resource and waste of time that these employees have engagein. i thinit's right and proper as this amendment mov rward t ensure that we protect against those abuses i the futu. i support the gentleman's amenentnd i yb. -- iield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman west virginia yies ba theance of herime. the gentleman from new york. mr. ffei: mr. chairman, i want to thank the gentlewanrom west virginia for her pport of this amendment. i ain want to reiterate that thsands and thousands of workers at the securies and exchange commission and otr exchange commission and otr government agencies are