[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1773 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1773

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to make permanent the Native 
     American Veteran Housing Loan Program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 21, 2005

Ms. Herseth (for herself, Mr. Faleomavaega, Mr. Evans, Mr. Michaud, Mr. 
   Reyes, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, Mr. Abercrombie, Ms. 
 Bordallo, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Kilpatrick of Michigan, Mr. 
   Case, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Oberstar, and Mr. Boozman) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to make permanent the Native 
     American Veteran Housing Loan Program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Native American Veteran Home Loan 
Act ''.

SEC. 2. PERMANENT AUTHORITY TO MAKE DIRECT HOUSING LOANS TO NATIVE 
              AMERICAN VETERANS.

    (a) Permanent Authority.--Section 3761 of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``establish and implement a pilot 
                program under which the Secretary may'' in the first 
                sentence; and
                    (B) by striking ``shall establish and implement the 
                pilot program'' in the third sentence and inserting 
                ``shall make such loans'';
            (2) in subsection (b), by striking ``In carrying out the 
        pilot program under this subchapter, the'' and inserting 
        ``The''; and
            (3) by striking subsection (c).
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 3762 of such title is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1)(E), by striking ``the pilot 
        program established under this subchapter is implemented'' and 
        inserting ``loans under this subchapter are made'';
            (2) in subsection (c)(1)(B), by striking ``carry out the 
        pilot program under this subchapter in a manner that 
        demonstrates the advisability of making direct housing loans'' 
        in the second sentence and inserting ``make direct housing 
        loans under this subchapter'';
            (3) in subsection (i)--
                    (A) by striking ``the pilot program provided for 
                under this subchapter and'' in paragraph (1);
                    (B) by striking ``under the pilot program and in 
                assisting such organizations and veterans in 
                participating in the pilot program.'' in paragraph 
                (2)(A) and inserting ``under this subchapter and in 
                assisting such organizations and veterans with respect 
                to such housing benefits.''; and
                    (C) by striking ``in participating in the pilot 
                program.'' in paragraph (2)(E) and inserting ``with 
                respect to such benefits.'';
            (4) in subsection (j)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking ``through 2006''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``the implementation of 
                        the pilot program'' and inserting ``activities 
                        conducted''; and
                    (B) by striking ``pilot program'' each place it 
                appears in paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) and inserting 
                ``housing benefits under this subchapter''.
    (c) Establishment of Maximum Amount of Loans.--(1) Subsection 
(c)(1)(B) of section 3762 of such title is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``(B) The'' and inserting ``(B)(i) 
                The'';
                    (B) by striking ``The amount'' in the second 
                sentence and inserting ``Subject to clause (ii), the 
                amount''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new clause:
    ``(ii) The amount of any increase under clause (i) may not exceed 
an amount determined by subtracting--
            ``(I) the amount referred to in subparagraph (A), from
            ``(II) the amount of the Freddie Mac conforming loan limit 
        limitation determined under section 305(a)(2) of the Federal 
        Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act (12 U.S.C. 1454(a)(2)) for a 
        single-family residence, as adjusted for the year involved.''.
    (2) Subsection (j)(1) of such section is amended by inserting 
``referred to in subsection (c)(1)(A)'' before the period at the end.
    (d) Technical Amendment.--Subsection (c)(1)(A) of section 3762 of 
such title is amended by inserting ``veteran'' after ``Native 
American''.
    (e) Clerical Amendments.--(1) The heading for subchapter V of 
chapter 37 of such title is amended to read as follows:

  ``SUBCHAPTER V--DIRECT HOUSING LOANS FOR NATIVE AMERICAN VETERANS''.

    (2) The heading for section 3761 of such title is amended to read 
as follows:
``Sec. 3761. Permanent authority to make direct housing loans to Native 
              American veterans''.
    (3) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 37 of such 
title is amended by striking the items relating to subchapter V and 
section 3761 and inserting the following new items:

   ``subchapter v--direct housing loans for native american veterans
``3761. Permanent authority to make direct housing loans to Native 
                            American veterans.''.

SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR DIRECT LOANS FOR NATIVE AMERICAN 
              VETERANS TO A VETERAN WHO IS THE SPOUSE OF A NATIVE 
              AMERICAN.

    (a) Extension.--Subchapter V of chapter 37 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 3764 as section 3765; and
            (2) by inserting after section 3763 the following new 
        section:
``Sec. 3764. Qualified non-Native American veterans
    ``(a) Subject to the succeeding provisions of this section, for 
purposes of this subchapter, a qualified non-Native American veteran is 
deemed to be a Native American veteran, except that any reference in 
this subchapter to the jurisdiction of a tribal organization over a 
Native American veteran is deemed to be a reference to the Native 
American spouse of the qualified non-Native American veteran.
    ``(b) In making direct loans under this subchapter to a qualified 
non-Native American veteran, the Secretary shall ensure that the tribal 
organization permits, and the qualified non-Native American veteran 
actually holds, possesses, or purchases, using the proceeds of the 
loan, jointly with the Native American spouse of the qualified non-
Native American veteran, a meaningful interest in the lot, dwelling, or 
both, that is located on trust land.
    ``(c) Nothing in subsection (b) shall be construed as precluding a 
tribal organization from imposing reasonable restrictions on the right 
of the qualified non-Native American veteran to convey, assign, or 
otherwise dispose of such interest in the lot, dwelling, or both if 
such restrictions are designed to ensure the continuation in trust 
status of the lot, dwelling, or both. Such requirements may include the 
termination of the interest of the qualified non-Native American 
veteran in the lot, dwelling, or both upon the dissolution of the 
marriage of the qualified non-Native American veteran to the Native 
American spouse.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 3765 of such title, as 
redesignated by subsection (a), is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
            ``(5) The term `qualified non-Native American veteran' 
        means a veteran who--
                    ``(A) is the spouse of a Native American, but
                    ``(B) is not a Native American.''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 37 of such title is amended by striking the item relating to 
section 3764 and inserting after the item relating to section 3763 the 
following new items:

``3764. Qualified non-Native American veterans.
``3765. Definitions.''.
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