[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 150 (Friday, October 31, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H9845-H9846]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington [Mr. Metcalf] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. METCALF. Madam Speaker, recently I have introduced H.R. 2663, the 
Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act amendments, to 
strengthen the Native American housing bill passed in the 104th 
Congress. Since the passing of this legislation, we have become aware 
of abuses and mismanagement in the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development and their Native American Housing Program. Throughout the 
events leading up to the disclosure of abuses, it is evident that HUD 
has been slow in acting, slow in responding, and slow in taking 
corrective measures.
  Consequently, Federal funds which should have been spent on low-
income tribal members were spent for extravagant housing or projects 
not approved by the grant. Where was HUD when these abuses were 
occurring? Why was not HUD watching for abuses?
  These were some of the questions at a joint hearing held by the 
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs earlier this 
year. In reality HUD could have done considerably more to prevent the 
abuses from occurring in the first place. HUD could have imposed 
greater sanctions and HUD could have stopped construction of some of 
the projects.
  My legislation will strengthen the new law by requiring greater 
public accountability, increasing auditing capabilities, and ensuring 
that Federal funds are used appropriately. Currently, the law allows 
the Secretary of HUD to waive the submission of a

[[Page H9846]]

housing plan by the small tribes. The housing plan contains the tribes' 
goals and objectives in providing housing for low-income tribal 
members.
  To ensure that the tribes are accountable to HUD and to the public, 
my bill will require all tribes to submit a housing plan to HUD.
  More importantly, these housing plans and other tribal policies will 
be available to the public. I believe that this public disclosure will 
help keep HUD accountable to the taxpayers. My legislation will also 
require audits under the Single Audit Act. This would consolidate the 
auditing process into a single process and thereby expedite the 
auditing process and reduce bureaucratic red tape. Again, these reports 
on the audits will be available to the public.
  The Secretary of HUD can also request additional audits and reviews 
to determine if a tribe is in compliance with the provisions in their 
housing plans and ensure performance in a timely manner. These reports 
will also be available to the public.
  Last, we need to ensure that Federal funds are spent appropriately. 
We can only do this if we know why tribes are spending Federal funds 
for different income groups. We are aware of cases where Federal funds 
were not spent for the targeted group. My bill will require that tribes 
explain their targeting of housing funds. In turn, they will have a 
clearer understanding of what is expected of them.
  I know that my bill will not stop all the abuses in mismanagement. It 
is a start in making HUD more responsible to this Congress. We can no 
longer tolerate the abuses and wasteful spending which have occurred in 
the past. Today we begin to give HUD greater authority to oversee this 
program, but also to keep them accountable to the taxpayers.
  I have worked with tribes in my district and outside to address their 
concerns and together we have found common ground in many areas. I also 
wanted to thank the gentleman from New York [Mr. Lazio], chairman of 
the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity and his staff for 
working with me and my staff producing this bill.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. We cannot 
strengthen this program without requiring public disclosure, increasing 
auditing capabilities, and creating safeguards to ensure that Federal 
funds are used appropriately.

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