[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 797 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]


        H.R.797

                       One Hundred Ninth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
            the fourth day of January, two thousand and five


                                 An Act


 
 To amend the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination 
   Act of 1996 and other Acts to improve housing programs for Indians.

    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 Housing Enhancement 
Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
        (1) there exist--
            (A) a unique relationship between the Government of the 
        United States and the governments of Indian tribes; and
            (B) a unique Federal trust responsibility to Indian people;
        (2) Native Americans experience some of the worst housing 
    conditions in the country, with--
            (A) 32.6 percent of Native homes being overcrowded;
            (B) 33 percent lacking adequate solid waste management 
        systems;
            (C) 8 percent lacking a safe indoor water supply; and
            (D) approximately 90,000 Native families who are homeless 
        or underhoused;
        (3) the poverty rate for Native Americans is twice that of the 
    rest of the population of the United States;
        (4) the population growth of Native Americans that began in the 
    latter part of the 20th century increased the need for Federal 
    housing services;
        (5)(A) under the requirements of the Native American Housing 
    Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et 
    seq.), members of Indian tribes are given preference for housing 
    programs;
        (B) a primary purpose of the Act is to allow Indian tribes to 
    leverage funds with other Federal and private funds;
        (C) the Department of Agriculture has been a significant 
    funding source for housing for Indian tribes;
        (D) to allow assistance provided under the Act and assistance 
    provided by the Secretary of Agriculture under other law to be 
    combined to meet the severe housing needs of Indian tribes, the 
    Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.) should be amended to 
    allow for the preference referred to in subparagraph (A) by 
    granting an exemption from title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 
    (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) and title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 
    1968 (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.); and
        (E) federally recognized Indian tribes exercising powers of 
    self-government are governed by the Indian Civil Rights Act (25 
    U.S.C. 1301 et seq.); and
        (6) section 457 of the Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable 
    Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12899f) should be amended to include Indian 
    tribes, tribally designated housing entities, or other agencies 
    that primarily serve Indians as eligible applicants for YouthBuild 
    grants.

SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF PROGRAM INCOME.

    Section 104(a)(2) of the Native American Housing Assistance and 
Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4114(a)(2)) is amended by 
inserting ``restrict access to or'' after ``not''.

SEC. 4. CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLIANCE.

    Title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 544. INDIAN TRIBES.

    ``Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et 
seq.) and title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3601 et 
seq.) shall not apply to actions by federally recognized Indian tribes 
(including instrumentalities of such Indian tribes) under this Act.''.

SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY OF INDIAN TRIBES FOR YOUTHBUILD GRANTS.

    Section 457(2) of the Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing 
Act (42 U.S.C. 12899f(2)) is amended--
        (1) in subparagraph (F), by striking ``and'' at the end;
        (2) by redesignating subparagraph (G) as subparagraph (H); and
        (3) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the following:
            ``(G) an Indian tribe, tribally designated housing entity 
        (as defined in section 4 of the Native American Housing 
        Assistance and Self- Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 
        4103)), or other agency primarily serving Indians; and''.

SEC. 6. YOUTHBUILD ELIGIBILITY.

    Section 460 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing 
Act (42 U.S.C. 12899h-1) is amended by striking ``for fiscal year 1998 
and fiscal years thereafter'' and inserting ``for fiscal years 1998 
through 2005''.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.