[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 145 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10691-H10711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  AMERICAN HOME OWNERSHIP ACT OF 1998

  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 3899) to expand home ownership in the United 
States, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3899

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``American 
     Homeownership Act of 1998''.
       (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act 
     is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and purpose.

           TITLE I--REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Sec. 101. Short title.
Sec. 102. Housing impact analysis.
Sec. 103. Grants for regulatory barrier removal strategies.
Sec. 104. Eligibility for community development block grants.
Sec. 105. Regulatory barriers clearinghouse.

 TITLE II--HOMEOWNERSHIP THROUGH MORTGAGE INSURANCE AND LOAN GUARANTEES

Sec. 201. Adjustable rate mortgages.
Sec. 202. Housing inspection study.
Sec. 203. Definition of area.
Sec. 204. Extension of loan term for manufactured home lots.
Sec. 205. Repeal of requirements for approval for insurance prior to 
              start of construction.
Sec. 206. Rehabilitation demonstration grant program.

               TITLE III--SECTION 8 HOMEOWNERSHIP OPTION

Sec. 301. Downpayment assistance.

             TITLE IV--HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM

Sec. 401. Reauthorization.
Sec. 402. Eligibility of limited equity cooperatives and mutual housing 
              associations.
Sec. 403. Leveraging affordable housing investment through local loan 
              pools.
Sec. 404. Loan guarantees.

                TITLE V--LOCAL HOMEOWNERSHIP INITIATIVES

Sec. 501. Reauthorization of neighborhood reinvestment corporation.
Sec. 502. Homeownership zones.
Sec. 503. Lease-to-own.
Sec. 504. Local capacity building.

               TITLE VI--MANUFACTURED HOUSING IMPROVEMENT

Sec. 601. Short title and references.
Sec. 602. Findings and purposes.
Sec. 603. Definitions.
Sec. 604. Federal manufactured home construction and safety standards.
Sec. 605. Abolishment of national manufactured home advisory council.
Sec. 606. Public information.
Sec. 607. Research, testing, development, and training.
Sec. 608. Fees.
Sec. 609. Elimination of annual report requirement.
Sec. 610. Effective date.
Sec. 611. Savings provision.

                TITLE VII--INDIAN HOUSING HOMEOWNERSHIP

Sec. 701. Indian lands title report commission.

TITLE VIII--TRANSFER OF UNOCCUPIED AND SUBSTANDARD HUD-HELD HOUSING TO 
        LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS

Sec. 801. Transfer of unoccupied and substandard HUD-held housing to 
              local governments and community development corporations.
Sec. 802. Amendment to revitalization area disposition program.
Sec. 803. Report on revitalization zones for HUD-owned single family 
              properties.
Sec. 804. Technical correction to income targeting provisions for 
              project-based assistance.
Sec. 805. Technical corrections to the Multifamily Assisted Housing 
              Reform and Affordability Act of 1997.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
       (1) the priorities of our Nation should include expanding 
     homeownership opportunities by providing access to affordable 
     housing that is safe, clean, and healthy;
       (2) our Nation has an abundance of conventional capital 
     sources available for homeownership financing; and
       (3) experience with local homeownership programs has shown 
     that if flexible capital sources are available, communities 
     possess ample will and creativity to provide opportunities 
     uniquely designed to assist their citizens in realizing the 
     American dream of homeownership.
       (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act--
       (1) to encourage and facilitate homeownership by families 
     in the United States who are not otherwise able to afford 
     homeownership; and
       (2) to expand homeownership through policies that--
       (A) promote the ability of the private sector to produce 
     affordable housing without excessive government regulation;
       (B) encourage tax incentives, such as the mortgage interest 
     deduction, at all levels of government; and
       (C) facilitate the availability of flexible capital for 
     homeownership opportunities.
           TITLE I--REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING

     SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

       This title may be cited as the ``Affordable Housing Barrier 
     Removal Act of 1998''.

     SEC. 102. HOUSING IMPACT ANALYSIS.

       (a) Applicability.--The requirements of this section shall 
     apply with respect to--
       (1) any proposed rule, unless the agency promulgating the 
     rule--
       (A) has certified that the proposed rule will not, if given 
     force or effect as a final rule, have a significant 
     deleterious impact on housing affordability; and
       (B) has caused such certification to be published in the 
     Federal Register at the time of publication of general notice 
     of proposed rulemaking for the rule, together with a 
     statement providing the factual basis for the certification; 
     and
       (2) any final rule, unless the agency promulgating the 
     rule--
       (A) has certified that the rule will not, if given force or 
     effect, have a significant deleterious impact on housing 
     affordability; and
       (B) has caused such certification to be published in the 
     Federal Register at the time of publication of the final 
     rule, together with a statement providing the factual basis 
     for the certification.


[[Page H10692]]


     Any agency making a certification under this subsection shall 
     provide a copy of such certification and the statement 
     providing the factual basis for the certification to the 
     Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
       (b) Statement of Proposed Rulemaking.--Whenever an agency 
     publishes general notice of proposed rulemaking for any 
     proposed rule, unless the agency has made a certification 
     under subsection (a), the agency shall--
       (1) in the notice of proposed rulemaking--
       (A) state with particularity the text of the proposed rule; 
     and
       (B) request any interested persons to submit to the agency 
     any written analyses, data, views, and arguments, and any 
     specific alternatives to the proposed rule that--
       (i) accomplish the stated objectives of the applicable 
     statutes, in a manner comparable to the proposed rule;
       (ii) result in costs to the Federal Government equal to or 
     less than the costs resulting from the proposed rule; and
       (iii) result in housing affordability greater than the 
     housing affordability resulting from the proposed rule;
       (2) provide an opportunity for interested persons to take 
     the actions specified under paragraph (1)(B) before 
     promulgation of the final rule; and
       (3) prepare and make available for public comment an 
     initial housing impact analysis in accordance with the 
     requirements of subsection (c).
       (c) Initial Housing Impact Analysis.--
       (1) Requirements.--Each initial housing impact analysis 
     shall describe the impact of the proposed rule on housing 
     affordability. The initial housing impact analysis or a 
     summary shall be published in the Federal Register at the 
     same time as, and together with, the publication of general 
     notice of proposed rulemaking for the rule. The agency shall 
     transmit a copy of the initial housing impact analysis to the 
     Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
       (2) Monthly hud listing.--On a monthly basis, the Secretary 
     of Housing and Urban Development shall cause to be published 
     in the Federal Register, and shall make available through a 
     World Wide Web site of the Department, a listing of all 
     proposed rules for which an initial housing impact analysis 
     was prepared during the preceding month.
       (3) Contents.--Each initial housing impact analysis 
     required under this subsection shall contain--
       (A) a description of the reasons why action by the agency 
     is being considered;
       (B) a succinct statement of the objectives of, and legal 
     basis for, the proposed rule;
       (C) a description of and, where feasible, an estimate of 
     the extent to which the proposed rule would increase the cost 
     or reduce the supply of housing or land for residential 
     development; and
       (D) an identification, to the extent practicable, of all 
     relevant Federal rules which may duplicate, overlap, or 
     conflict with the proposed rule.
       (d) Proposal of Less Deleterious Alternative Rule.--
       (1) Analysis.--The agency publishing a general notice of 
     proposed rulemaking shall review any specific analyses and 
     alternatives to the proposed rule which have been submitted 
     to the agency pursuant to subsection (b)(2) to determine 
     whether any alternative to the proposed rule--
       (A) accomplishes the stated objectives of the applicable 
     statutes, in a manner comparable to the proposed rule;
       (B) results in costs to the Federal Government equal to or 
     less than the costs resulting from the proposed rule; and
       (C) results in housing affordability greater than the 
     housing affordability resulting from the proposed rule.
       (2) New notice of proposed rulemaking.--If the agency 
     determines that an alternative to the proposed rule meets the 
     requirements under subparagraphs (A) through (C) of paragraph 
     (1), unless the agency provides an explanation on the record 
     for the proposed rule as to why the alternative should not be 
     implemented, the agency shall incorporate the alternative 
     into the final rule or, at the agency's discretion, issue a 
     new proposed rule which incorporates the alternative.
       (e) Final Housing Impact Analysis.--
       (1) Requirement.--Whenever an agency promulgates a final 
     rule after publication of a general notice of proposed 
     rulemaking, unless the agency has made the certification 
     under subsection (a), the agency shall prepare a final 
     housing impact analysis.
       (2) Contents.--Each final housing impact analysis shall 
     contain--
       (A) a succinct statement of the need for, and objectives 
     of, the rule;
       (B) a summary of the significant issues raised during the 
     public comment period in response to the initial housing 
     impact analysis, a summary of the assessment of the agency of 
     such issues, and a statement of any changes made in the 
     proposed rule as a result of such comments; and
       (C) a description of and an estimate of the extent to which 
     the rule will impact housing affordability or an explanation 
     of why no such estimate is available.
       (3) Availability.--The agency shall make copies of the 
     final housing impact analysis available to members of the 
     public and shall publish in the Federal Register such 
     analysis or a summary thereof.
       (f) Avoidance of Duplicative or Unnecessary Analyses.--
       (1) Duplication.--Any Federal agency may perform the 
     analyses required by subsections (c) and (e) in conjunction 
     with or as a part of any other agenda or analysis required by 
     any other law, executive order, directive, or rule if such 
     other analysis satisfies the provisions of such subsections.
       (2) Joinder.--In order to avoid duplicative action, an 
     agency may consider a series of closely related rules as one 
     rule for the purposes of subsections (c) and (e).
       (g) Preparation of Analyses.--In complying with the 
     provisions of subsections (c) and (e), an agency may provide 
     either a quantifiable or numerical description of the effects 
     of a proposed rule or alternatives to the proposed rule, or 
     more general descriptive statements if quantification is not 
     practicable or reliable.
       (h) Effect on Other Law.--The requirements of subsections 
     (c) and (e) do not alter in any manner standards otherwise 
     applicable by law to agency action.
       (i) Procedure for Waiver or Delay of Completion.--
       (1) Initial housing impact analysis.--An agency head may 
     waive or delay the completion of some or all of the 
     requirements of subsection (c) by publishing in the Federal 
     Register, not later than the date of publication of the final 
     rule, a written finding, with reasons therefor, that the 
     final rule is being promulgated in response to an emergency 
     that makes compliance or timely compliance with the 
     provisions of subsection (a) impracticable.
       (2) Final housing impact analysis.--An agency head may not 
     waive the requirements of subsection (e). An agency head may 
     delay the completion of the requirements of subsection (e) 
     for a period of not more than 180 days after the date of 
     publication in the Federal Register of a final rule by 
     publishing in the Federal Register, not later than such date 
     of publication, a written finding, with reasons therefor, 
     that the final rule is being promulgated in response to an 
     emergency that makes timely compliance with the provisions of 
     subsection (e) impracticable. If the agency has not prepared 
     a final housing impact analysis pursuant to subsection (e) 
     within 180 days from the date of publication of the final 
     rule, such rule shall lapse and have no force or effect. Such 
     rule shall not be repromulgated until a final housing impact 
     analysis has been completed by the agency.
       (j) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the 
     following definitions shall apply:
       (1) Housing affordability.--The term ``housing 
     affordability'' means the quantity of housing that is 
     affordable to families having incomes that do not exceed 150 
     percent of the median income of families in the area in which 
     the housing is located, with adjustments for smaller and 
     larger families. For purposes of this paragraph, area, median 
     family income for an area, and adjustments for family size 
     shall be determined in the same manner as such factors are 
     determined for purposes of section 3(b)(2) of the United 
     States Housing Act of 1937.
       (2) Agency.--The term ``agency'' means each authority of 
     the Government of the United States, whether or not it is 
     within or subject to review by another agency, but does not 
     include--
       (A) the Congress;
       (B) the courts of the United States;
       (C) the governments of the territories or possessions of 
     the United States;
       (D) the government of the District of Columbia;
       (E) agencies composed of representatives of the parties or 
     of representatives of organizations of the parties to the 
     disputes determined by them;
       (F) courts-martial and military commissions;
       (G) military authority exercised in the field in time of 
     war or in occupied territory; or
       (H) functions conferred by--
       (i) sections 1738, 1739, 1743, and 1744 of title 12, United 
     States Code;
       (ii) chapter 2 of title 41, United States Code;
       (iii) subchapter II of chapter 471 of title 49, United 
     States Code; or
       (iv) sections 1884, 1891-1902, and former section 
     1641(b)(2), of title 50, appendix, United States Code.
       (3) Families.--The term ``families'' has the meaning given 
     such term in section 3 of the United States Housing Act of 
     1937.
       (4) Rule.--The term ``rule'' means any rule for which the 
     agency publishes a general notice of proposed rulemaking 
     pursuant to section 553(b) of title 5, United States Code, or 
     any other law, including any rule of general applicability 
     governing grants by an agency to State and local governments 
     for which the agency provides an opportunity for notice and 
     public comment; except that such term does not include a rule 
     of particular applicability relating to rates, wages, 
     corporate or financial structures or reorganizations thereof, 
     prices, facilities, appliances, services, or allowances 
     therefor or to valuations, costs or accounting, or practices 
     relating to such rates, wages, structures, prices, 
     appliances, services, or allowances.
       (5) Significant.--The term ``significant'' means increasing 
     consumers' cost of housing by more than $100,000,000 per 
     year.
       (k) Development.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     the enactment of this title, the Secretary of Housing and 
     Urban Development shall develop model initial and final 
     housing impact analyses under this section and shall cause 
     such model analyses to be published in the Federal Register. 
     The model analyses shall define the primary elements

[[Page H10693]]

     of a housing impact analysis to instruct other agencies on 
     how to carry out and develop the analyses required under 
     subsections (a) and (c).
       (l) Judicial Review.--
       (1) Determination by agency.--Except as otherwise provided 
     in paragraph (2), any determination by an agency concerning 
     the applicability of any of the provisions of this title to 
     any action of the agency shall not be subject to judicial 
     review.
       (2) Other actions by agency.--Any housing impact analysis 
     prepared under subsection (c) or (e) and the compliance or 
     noncompliance of the agency with the provisions of this title 
     shall not be subject to judicial review. When an action for 
     judicial review of a rule is instituted, any housing impact 
     analysis for such rule shall constitute part of the whole 
     record of agency action in connection with the review.
       (3) Exception.--Nothing in this subsection bars judicial 
     review of any other impact statement or similar analysis 
     required by any other law if judicial review of such 
     statement or analysis is otherwise provided by law.

     SEC. 103. GRANTS FOR REGULATORY BARRIER REMOVAL STRATEGIES.

       (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--Subsection (a) of 
     section 1204 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 
     1992 (42 U.S.C. 12705c(a)) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(a) Funding.--There is authorized to be appropriated for 
     grants under subsections (b) and (c) $15,000,000 for fiscal 
     year 1999 and each fiscal year thereafter through fiscal year 
     2003.''.
       (b) Consolidation of State and Local Grants.--Subsection 
     (b) of section 1204 of the Housing and Community Development 
     Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 12705c(b)) is amended--
       (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ``State Grants'' 
     and inserting ``Grant Authority'';
       (2) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting 
     after ``States'' the following: ``and units of general local 
     government (including consortia of such governments)'';
       (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ``a State program to 
     reduce State and local'' and inserting ``State, local, or 
     regional programs to reduce'';
       (4) in paragraph (4), by inserting ``or local'' after 
     ``State''; and
       (5) in paragraph (5), by striking ``State''.
       (c) Repeal of Local Grants Provision.--Section 1204 of the 
     Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 
     12705c) is amended by striking subsection (c).
       (d) Application and Selection.--The last sentence of 
     section 1204(e) of the Housing and Community Development Act 
     of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 12705c(e)) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``and for the selection of units of general 
     local government to receive grants under subsection (f)(2); 
     and
       (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 
     following: ``and such criteria shall require that grant 
     amounts be used in a manner consistent with the strategy 
     contained in the comprehensive housing affordability strategy 
     for the jurisdiction pursuant to section 105(b)(4) of the 
     Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act''.
       (e) Selection of Grantees.--Subsection (f) of section 1204 
     of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (42 
     U.S.C. 12705c(f)) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(f) Selection of Grantees.--To the extent amounts are 
     made available to carry out this section, the Secretary shall 
     provide grants on a competitive basis to eligible grantees 
     based on the proposed uses of such amounts, as provided in 
     applications under subsection (e).''.
       (f) Technical Amendments.--Section 107(a)(1) of the Housing 
     and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5307(a)(1)) 
     is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (G), by inserting ``and'' after the 
     semicolon at the end;
       (2) by striking subparagraph (H); and
       (3) by redesignating subparagraph (I) as subparagraph (H).

     SEC. 104. ELIGIBILITY FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS.

       (a) In General.--Section 104(c)(1) of the Housing and 
     Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304(c)(1)) is 
     amended by inserting before the comma the following: ``, 
     which shall include making a good faith effort to carry out 
     the strategy established under section 105(b)(4) of such Act 
     by the unit of general local government to remove barriers to 
     affordable housing''.
       (b) Rule of Construction.--The amendment made by subsection 
     (a) may not be construed to create any new private right of 
     action.

     SEC. 105. REGULATORY BARRIERS CLEARINGHOUSE.

       Section 1205 of the Housing and Community Development Act 
     of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 12705d) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)--
       (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
     ``receive, collect, process, and assemble'' and inserting 
     ``serve as a national repository to receive, collect, 
     process, assemble, and disseminate'';
       (B) in paragraph (1)--
       (i) by striking ``, including'' and inserting 
     ``(including''; and
       (ii) by inserting before the semicolon at the end the 
     following: ``), and the prevalence and effects on affordable 
     housing of such laws, regulations, and policies'';
       (C) in paragraph (2), by inserting before the semicolon the 
     following: ``, including particularly innovative or 
     successful activities, strategies, and plans''; and
       (D) in paragraph (3), by inserting before the period at the 
     end the following: ``, including particularly innovative or 
     successful strategies, activities, and plans'';
       (2) in subsection (b)--
       (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting ``; and''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(3) by making available through a World Wide Web site of 
     the Department, by electronic mail, or otherwise, provide to 
     each housing agency of a unit of general local government 
     that serves an area having a population greater than 100,000, 
     an index of all State and local strategies and plans 
     submitted under subsection (a) to the clearinghouse, which--
       ``(A) shall describe the types of barriers to affordable 
     housing that the strategy or plan was designed to ameliorate 
     or remove; and
       ``(B) shall, not later than 30 days after submission to the 
     clearinghouse of any new strategy or plan, be updated to 
     include the new strategy or plan submitted.''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
       ``(c) Organization.--The clearinghouse under this section 
     shall be established within the Office of Policy Development 
     of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and shall 
     be under the direction of the Assistant Secretary for Policy 
     Development and Research.
       ``(d) Timing.--The clearinghouse under this section (as 
     amended by section 105 of the Affordable Housing Barrier 
     Removal Act of 1998) shall be established and commence 
     carrying out the functions of the clearinghouse under this 
     section not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
     of such Act. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
     may comply with the requirements under this section by 
     reestablishing the clearinghouse that was originally 
     established to comply with this section and updating and 
     improving such clearinghouse to the extent necessary to 
     comply with the requirements of this section as in effect 
     pursuant to the enactment of such Act.''.
 TITLE II--HOMEOWNERSHIP THROUGH MORTGAGE INSURANCE AND LOAN GUARANTEES

     SEC. 201. ADJUSTABLE RATE MORTGAGES.

       Section 251(c) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 
     1715z-16(c)) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``(c) The'' and inserting ``(c)(1) Except 
     as provided in paragraph (2), the''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(2)(A) The Secretary may, not less than 30 days after 
     submitting to the Congress a written finding under 
     subparagraph (B), insure under this section in the fiscal 
     year for which the finding is submitted an aggregate number 
     of mortgages and loans not exceeding 40 percent of the 
     aggregate number of mortgages and loans insured by the 
     Secretary under this title during the preceding fiscal year.
       ``(B) A finding under this subparagraph is a finding that--
       ``(I) the limitation under paragraph (1) on authority to 
     insure mortgages and loans during a fiscal year will be 
     reached before the end of that fiscal year;
       ``(II) an increase in such limitation is necessary to meet 
     the demand for insurance under this section during the fiscal 
     year;
       ``(III) the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund is actuarily 
     sound; and
       ``(IV) an increase in such limitation will not adversely 
     impact the actuarial soundness of the Mutual Mortgage 
     Insurance Fund.''.

     SEC. 202. HOUSING INSPECTION STUDY.

       The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct 
     a study regarding the inspection of properties purchased with 
     loans insured under section 203 of the National Housing Act. 
     The study shall evaluate--
       (1) the feasibility of requiring inspections of properties 
     purchased with loans insured under such section;
       (2) the level of financial losses or savings to the Mutual 
     Mortgage Insurance Fund that are likely to occur if 
     inspections are required on properties purchased with loans 
     insured under such section;
       (3) the potential impact on the process of buying a home if 
     inspections of properties purchased with loans insured under 
     such section are required, including the process of buying a 
     home in underserved areas where losses to the Mutual Mortgage 
     Insurance Fund are greatest;
       (4) the difference, if any, in the quality of homes 
     purchased with loans insured under such section that are 
     inspected before purchase and such homes that are not 
     inspected before purchase;
       (5) the cost to homebuyers of requiring inspections before 
     purchase of properties with loans insured under such section;
       (6) the extent, if any, to which requiring inspections of 
     properties purchased with loans insured under such section 
     will result in adverse selection of loans insured under such 
     section; and
       (7) homebuyer knowledge regarding property inspections and 
     the extent to which such knowledge affects the decision of 
     homebuyers to opt for or against having a property inspection 
     before purchasing a home.

     SEC. 203. DEFINITION OF AREA.

       (a) Discretion To Enlarge Areas and Median Price in 
     MSA's.--Section 203(b)(2) of

[[Page H10694]]

     the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1709(b)(2)) is amended, 
     the first sentence after subparagraph (B), by inserting 
     before the period the following: ``; except that the 
     Secretary may provide that any county or statistical area, 
     together with any counties contiguous or proximate to such 
     county or statistical area, be treated as a single area for 
     purposes of the preceding sentence; and except that the 
     median 1-family housing price for any metropolitan 
     statistical area shall be equal to the median 1-family 
     housing price of the county within the area that has the 
     highest such median price''.
       (b) Median Price in Expanded MSA's.--The first sentence 
     after subparagraph (B) of section 203(b)(2) of the National 
     Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1709(b)(2)), as amended by subsection 
     (a) of this section, is further amended by inserting before 
     the period at the end the following: ``; and except that for 
     fiscal year 1999 the median 1-family housing price for any 
     area (for purposes of the preceding sentence) that consists 
     of a metropolitan statistical area together with the counties 
     contiguous or proximate to such metropolitan statistical area 
     shall be equal to the median 1-family housing price of the 
     county within such area (for purposes of the preceding 
     sentence) that has the highest such median price''.

     SEC. 204. EXTENSION OF LOAN TERM FOR MANUFACTURED HOME LOTS.

       Section 2(b)(3)(E) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 
     1703(b)(3)(E)) is amended by striking ``fifteen'' and 
     inserting ``twenty''.

     SEC. 205. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENTS FOR APPROVAL FOR INSURANCE 
                   PRIOR TO START OF CONSTRUCTION.

       The National Housing Act is amended--
       (1) in section 203 (12 U.S.C. 1709)--
       (A) in subsection (b)(2), by striking the 4th sentence in 
     the first undesignated paragraph following subparagraph (B); 
     and
       (B) in subsection (i), by striking ``(or, in any case'' and 
     all that follows through ``90 centum)''; and
       (2) in section 220(d)(3)(A)(i) (12 U.S.C. 
     1715k(d)(3)(A)(i)), by striking ``(but, in any case'' and all 
     that follows through ``90 per centum)''.

     SEC. 206. REHABILITATION DEMONSTRATION GRANT PROGRAM.

       (a) Short Title.--Effective immediately after the enactment 
     of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban 
     Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 
     1999, section 599G of such Act is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), 
     (f), and (g) as subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), and 
     (h), respectively; and
       (2) by inserting before subsection (b) (as so redesignated) 
     the following new subsection:
       ``(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the 
     `Joseph P. Kennedy II Homeownership Rehabilitation 
     Demonstration Grant Act'.''.
       (b) Availability of MMIF.--Section 205 of the National 
     Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1711) is amended by adding at the end 
     the following new subsection:
       ``(i) Availability for Rehabilitation Program.--Amounts in 
     the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund shall be available to the 
     Secretary during fiscal year 1999 to carry out the program 
     under section 599G of the Quality Housing and Work 
     Responsibility Act of 1998, except that the Secretary may not 
     use more than an aggregate of $25,000,000 from the Mutual 
     Mortgage Insurance Fund for such purpose.''.
               TITLE III--SECTION 8 HOMEOWNERSHIP OPTION

     SEC. 301. DOWNPAYMENT ASSISTANCE.

       (a) Amendments.--Section 8(y) of the United States Housing 
     Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(y)) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating paragraph (7) as paragraph (8); and
       (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following new 
     paragraph:
       ``(7) Downpayment assistance.--
       ``(A) Authority.--A public housing agency may, in lieu of 
     providing monthly assistance payments under this subsection 
     on behalf of a family eligible for such assistance and at the 
     discretion of the public housing agency, provide assistance 
     for the family in the form of a single grant to be used only 
     as a contribution toward the downpayment required in 
     connection with the purchase of a dwelling for fiscal year 
     2000 and each fiscal year thereafter to the extent provided 
     in advance in appropriations Acts.
       ``(B) Amount.--The amount of a downpayment grant on behalf 
     of an assisted family may not exceed the amount that is equal 
     to the sum of the assistance payments that would be made 
     during the first year of assistance on behalf of the family, 
     based upon the income of the family at the time the grant is 
     to be made.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
     shall take effect immediately after the amendments made by 
     section 555(c) of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility 
     Act of 1998 take effect pursuant to such section.
             TITLE IV--HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM

     SEC. 401. REAUTHORIZATION.

       Section 205 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 
     Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12724) is amended to read as follows:

     ``SEC. 205. AUTHORIZATION.

       ``(a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
     to carry out this title $1,600,000,000 for fiscal year 1999 
     and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 
     2000 through 2003, of which--
       ``(1) not more than $25,000,000 in each such fiscal year 
     shall be for community housing partnership activities 
     authorized under section 233; and
       ``(2) not more than $15,000,000 in each such fiscal year 
     shall be for activities in support of State and local housing 
     strategies authorized under subtitle C.
       ``(b) Prohibition of Set-Asides.--Except as provided in 
     subsection (a) of this section and section 217(a)(3), amounts 
     appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) or otherwise to carry 
     out this title shall be used only for formula-based grants 
     allocated pursuant to section 217 and may not be otherwise 
     used unless the provision of law providing for such other use 
     specifically refers to this subsection and specifically 
     states that such provision modifies or supersedes the 
     provisions of this subsection.''.

     SEC. 402. ELIGIBILITY OF LIMITED EQUITY COOPERATIVES AND 
                   MUTUAL HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS.

       (a) Congressional Findings.--Section 202(10) of the 
     Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 
     12721(10)) is amended by inserting ``mutual housing 
     associations,'' after ``limited equity cooperatives,''.
       (b) Definitions.--Section 104 of the Cranston-Gonzalez 
     National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12704) is 
     amended--
       (1) by redesignating paragraph (23) as paragraph (22);
       (2) by redesignating paragraph (24) (relating to the 
     definition of ``insular area'') as paragraph (23); and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
       ``(26) The term `limited equity cooperative' means a 
     cooperative housing corporation which, in a manner determined 
     by the Secretary to be acceptable, restricts income 
     eligibility of purchasers of membership shares of stock in 
     the cooperative corporation or the initial and resale price 
     of such shares, or both, so that the shares remain available 
     and affordable to low-income families.
       ``(27) The term `mutual housing association' means a 
     private entity that--
       ``(A) is organized under State law;
       ``(B) is described in section 501(c) of the Internal 
     Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 
     501(a) of such Code;
       ``(C) owns, manages, and continuously develops affordable 
     housing by providing long-term housing for low- and moderate-
     income families;
       ``(D) provides that eligible families who purchase 
     membership interests in the association shall have a right to 
     residence in a dwelling unit in the housing during the period 
     that they hold such membership interest; and
       ``(E) provides for the residents of such housing to 
     participate in the ongoing management of the housing.''.
       (c) Eligibility.--Section 215 of the Cranston-Gonzalez 
     National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12745) is 
     amended--
       (1) in subsection (b), by adding after and below paragraph 
     (4) the following:

     ``Housing that is owned by a limited equity cooperative or a 
     mutual housing association may be considered by a 
     participating jurisdiction to be housing for homeownership 
     for purposes of this title to the extent that ownership or 
     membership in such a cooperative or association, 
     respectively, constitutes homeownership under State or local 
     laws.''; and
       (2) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following 
     new paragraph:
       ``(6) Limited equity cooperatives and mutual housing 
     associations.--Housing that is owned by a limited equity 
     cooperative or a mutual housing association may be considered 
     by a participating jurisdiction to be rental housing for 
     purposes of this title to the extent that ownership or 
     membership in such a cooperative or association, 
     respectively, constitutes rental of a dwelling under State or 
     local laws.''.

     SEC. 403. LEVERAGING AFFORDABLE HOUSING INVESTMENT THROUGH 
                   LOCAL LOAN POOLS.

       (a) Eligible Investments.--Section 212(b) of the Cranston-
     Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12742(b)) 
     is amended by inserting after ``interest subsidies'' the 
     following: ``, advances to provide reserves for loan pools or 
     to provide partial loan guarantees,''.
       (b) Timely Investment of Trust Funds.--Section 218(e) of 
     the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 
     U.S.C. 12748) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(e) Investment Within 15 Days.----
       ``(1) In general.--The participating jurisdiction shall, 
     not later than 15 days after funds are drawn from the 
     jurisdiction's HOME Investment Trust Fund, invest such funds, 
     together with any interest earned thereon, in the affordable 
     housing for which the funds were withdrawn.
       ``(2) Loan pools.--In the case of a participating 
     jurisdiction that withdraws Trust Fund amounts for investment 
     in the form of an advance for reserves or partial loan 
     guarantees under a program providing such credit enhancement 
     for loans for affordable housing, the amounts shall be 
     considered to be invested for purposes of paragraph (1) upon 
     the completion of both of the following actions:
       ``(A) Control of the amounts is transferred to the program.
       ``(B) The jurisdiction and the entity operating the program 
     enter into a written agreement that--
       ``(i) provides that such funds may be used only in 
     connection with such program;

[[Page H10695]]

       ``(ii) defines the terms and conditions of the loan pool 
     reserve or partial loan guarantees; and
       ``(iii) provides that such entity shall ensure that amounts 
     from non-Federal sources have been contributed, or are 
     committed for contribution, to the pool available for loans 
     for affordable housing that will be backed by such reserves 
     or loan guarantees in an amount equal to 10 times the amount 
     invested from Trust Fund amounts.''.
       (c) Expiration of Right To Withdraw Funds.--Section 218(g) 
     of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 
     U.S.C. 12748(g)) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(g) Expiration of Right To Draw Funds.--
       ``(1) In general.--If any funds becoming available to a 
     participating jurisdiction under this title are not placed 
     under binding commitment to affordable housing within 24 
     months after the last day of the month in which such funds 
     are deposited in the jurisdiction's HOME Investment Trust 
     Fund, the jurisdiction's right to draw such funds from the 
     HOME Investment Trust Fund shall expire. The Secretary shall 
     reduce the line of credit in the participating jurisdiction's 
     HOME Investment Trust Fund by the expiring amount and shall 
     reallocate the funds by formula in accordance with section 
     217(d).
       ``(2) Loan pools.--In the case of a participating 
     jurisdiction that withdraws Trust Fund amounts for investment 
     in the manner provided under subsection (e)(2), the amounts 
     shall be considered to be placed under binding commitment to 
     affordable housing for purposes of paragraph (1) of this 
     subsection at the time that the amounts are obligated for use 
     under, and are subject to, a written agreement described in 
     subsection (e)(2)(B).''.
       (d) Treatment of Mixed Income Loan Pools as Affordable 
     Housing.--
       (1) In general.--Section 215 of the Cranston-Gonzalez 
     National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12745) is amended 
     by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(c) Loan Pools.--Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), 
     housing financed using amounts invested as provided in 
     section 218(e)(2) shall qualify as affordable housing only if 
     the housing complies with the following requirements:
       ``(1) In the case of housing that is for homeownership--
       ``(A) of the units financed with amounts so invested--
       ``(i) not less than 75 percent are principal residences of 
     owners whose families qualify as low-income families--

       ``(I) in the case of a contract to purchase existing 
     housing, at the time of purchase;
       ``(II) in the case of a lease-purchase agreement for 
     existing housing or for housing to be constructed, at the 
     time the agreement is signed; or
       ``(III) in the case of a contract to purchase housing to be 
     constructed, at the time the contract is signed;

       ``(ii) all are principal residences of owners whose 
     families qualify as moderate-income families--

       ``(I) in the case of a contract to purchase existing 
     housing, at the time of purchase;
       ``(II) in the case of a lease-purchase agreement for 
     existing housing or for housing to be constructed, at the 
     time the agreement is signed; or
       ``(III) in the case of a contract to purchase housing to be 
     constructed, at the time the contract is signed; and

       ``(iii) all comply with paragraphs (3) and (4) of 
     subsection (b), except that paragraph (3) shall be applied 
     for purposes of this clause by substituting `subsection 
     (c)(2)(B)' and `low- and moderate-income homebuyers' for 
     `paragraph (2)' and `low-income homebuyers', respectively; 
     and
       ``(B) units made available for purchase only by families 
     who qualify as low-income families shall have an initial 
     purchase price that complies with the requirements of 
     subsection (b)(1).
       ``(2) In the case of housing that is for rental, the 
     housing--
       ``(A) complies with subparagraphs (D) through (F) of 
     subsection (a)(1);
       ``(B)(i) has not less than 75 percent of the units occupied 
     by households that qualify as low-income families and is 
     occupied only by households that qualify as moderate-income 
     families; or
       ``(ii) temporarily fails to comply with clause (i) only 
     because of increases in the incomes of existing tenants and 
     actions satisfactory to the Secretary are being taken to 
     ensure that all vacancies in the housing are being filled in 
     accordance with clause (i) until such noncompliance is 
     corrected; and
       ``(C) bears rents, in the case of units made available for 
     occupancy only by households that qualify as low-income 
     families, that comply with the requirements of subsection 
     (a)(1)(A).

     Paragraphs (4) and (5) of subsection (a) shall apply to 
     housing that is subject to this subsection.''.
       (2) Definition.--Section 104 of the Cranston-Gonzalez 
     National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12704), as amended 
     by section 402 of this Act, is further amended by adding at 
     the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(28) The term `moderate income families' means families 
     whose incomes do not exceed the median income for the area, 
     as determined by the Secretary with adjustments for smaller 
     and larger families, except that the Secretary may establish 
     income ceilings higher or lower than the median income for 
     the area on the basis of the Secretary's findings that such 
     variations are necessary because of prevailing levels of 
     construction costs or fair market rents, or unusually high or 
     low family incomes.''.

     SEC. 404. LOAN GUARANTEES.

       Subtitle A of title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National 
     Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12741 et seq.) is amended 
     by adding at the end the following new section:

     ``SEC. 227. LOAN GUARANTEES.

       ``(a) Authority.--The Secretary may, upon such terms and 
     conditions as the Secretary may prescribe, guarantee and make 
     commitments to guarantee, only to such extent or in such 
     amounts as provided in appropriations Acts, the notes or 
     other obligations issued by eligible participating 
     jurisdictions or by public agencies designated by and acting 
     on behalf of eligible participating jurisdictions for 
     purposes of financing (including credit enhancements and debt 
     service reserves) the acquisition, new construction, 
     reconstruction, or moderate or substantial rehabilitation of 
     affordable housing (including real property acquisition, site 
     improvement, conversion, and demolition), and other related 
     expenses (including financing costs and relocation expenses 
     of any displaced persons, families, businesses, or 
     organizations). Housing funded under this section shall meet 
     the requirements of this subtitle.
       ``(b) Requirements.--Notes or other obligations guaranteed 
     under this section shall be in such form and denominations, 
     have such maturities, and be subject to such conditions as 
     may be prescribed by the Secretary. The Secretary may not 
     deny a guarantee under this section on the basis of the 
     proposed repayment period for the note or other obligation, 
     unless the period is more than 20 years or the Secretary 
     determines that the period otherwise causes the guarantee to 
     constitute an unacceptable financial risk.
       ``(c) Limitation on Total Notes and Obligations.--The 
     Secretary may not guarantee or make a commitment to guarantee 
     any note or other obligation if the total outstanding notes 
     or obligations guaranteed under this section on behalf of the 
     participating jurisdiction issuing the note or obligation 
     (excluding any amount defeased under a contract entered into 
     under subsection (e)(1)) would thereby exceed an amount equal 
     to 5 times the amount of the participating jurisdiction's 
     latest allocation under section 217.
       ``(d) Use of Program Funds.--Notwithstanding any other 
     provision of this subtitle, funds allocated to the 
     participating jurisdiction under this subtitle (including 
     program income derived therefrom) are authorized for use in 
     the payment of principal and interest due on the notes or 
     other obligations guaranteed pursuant to this section and the 
     payment of such servicing, underwriting, or other issuance or 
     collection charges as may be specified by the Secretary.
       ``(e) Security.--To assure the full repayment of notes or 
     other obligations guaranteed under this section, and payment 
     of the issuance or collection charges specified by the 
     Secretary under subsection (d), and as a prior condition for 
     receiving such guarantees, the Secretary shall require the 
     participating jurisdiction (and its designated public agency 
     issuer, if any) to--
       ``(1) enter into a contract, in a form acceptable to the 
     Secretary, for repayment of such notes or other obligations 
     and the other specified charges;
       ``(2) pledge as security for such repayment any allocation 
     for which the participating jurisdiction may become eligible 
     under this subtitle; and
       ``(3) furnish, at the discretion of the Secretary, such 
     other security as may be deemed appropriate by the Secretary 
     in making such guarantees, which may include increments in 
     local tax receipts generated by the housing assisted under 
     this section or disposition proceeds from the sale of land or 
     housing.
       ``(f) Repayment Authority.--The Secretary may, 
     notwithstanding any other provision of this subtitle or any 
     other Federal, State, or local law, apply allocations pledged 
     pursuant to subsection (e) to any repayments due the United 
     States as a result of such guarantees.
       ``(g) Full Faith and Credit.--The full faith and credit of 
     the United States is pledged to the payment of all guarantees 
     made under this section. Any such guarantee made by the 
     Secretary shall be conclusive evidence of the eligibility of 
     the notes or other obligations for such guarantee with 
     respect to principal and interest, and the validity of any 
     such guarantee so made shall be incontestable in the hands of 
     a holder of the guaranteed obligations.
       ``(h) Tax Status.--With respect to any obligation 
     guaranteed pursuant to this section, the guarantee and the 
     obligation shall be designed in a manner such that the 
     interest paid on such obligation shall be included in gross 
     income for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
       ``(i) Monitoring.--The Secretary shall monitor the use of 
     guarantees under this section by eligible participating 
     jurisdictions. If the Secretary finds that 50 percent of the 
     aggregate guarantee authority for any fiscal year has been 
     committed, the Secretary may impose limitations on the amount 
     of guarantees any 1 participating jurisdiction may receive 
     during that fiscal year.
       ``(j) Guarantee of Trust Certificates.--
       ``(1) Authority.--The Secretary may, upon such terms and 
     conditions as the Secretary deems appropriate, guarantee the 
     timely payment of the principal of and interest on

[[Page H10696]]

     such trust certificates or other obligations as may--
       ``(A) be offered by the Secretary or by any other offeror 
     approved for purposes of this subsection by the Secretary; 
     and
       ``(B) be based on and backed by a trust or pool composed of 
     notes or other obligations guaranteed or eligible for 
     guarantee by the Secretary under this section.
       ``(2) Full faith and credit.--To the same extent as 
     provided in subsection (g), the full faith and credit of the 
     United States is pledged to the payment of all amounts which 
     may be required to be paid under any guarantee by the 
     Secretary under this subsection.
       ``(3) Subrogation.--In the event the Secretary pays a claim 
     under a guarantee issued under this section, the Secretary 
     shall be subrogated fully to the rights satisfied by such 
     payment.
       ``(4) Other powers and rights.--No State or local law, and 
     no Federal law, shall preclude or limit the exercise by the 
     Secretary of--
       ``(A) the power to contract with respect to public 
     offerings and other sales of notes, trust certificates, and 
     other obligations guaranteed under this section, upon such 
     terms and conditions as the Secretary deems appropriate;
       ``(B) the right to enforce, by any means deemed appropriate 
     by the Secretary, any such contract; and
       ``(C) the Secretary's ownership rights, as applicable, in 
     notes, certificates or other obligations guaranteed under 
     this section, or constituting the trust or pool against which 
     trust certificates or other obligations guaranteed under this 
     section are offered.
       ``(k) Aggregate Limitation.--The total amount of 
     outstanding obligations guaranteed on a cumulative basis by 
     the Secretary under this section shall not at any time exceed 
     $2,000,000,000.''.
                TITLE V--LOCAL HOMEOWNERSHIP INITIATIVES

     SEC. 501. REAUTHORIZATION OF NEIGHBORHOOD REINVESTMENT 
                   CORPORATION.

       Section 608(a)(1) of the Neighborhood Reinvestment 
     Corporation Act (42 U.S.C. 8107(a)(1)) is amended by striking 
     the first sentence and inserting the following: ``There are 
     authorized to be appropriated to the corporation to carry out 
     this title $90,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1999 through 
     2003. Of any amounts made available pursuant to this 
     subsection for fiscal year 1999, $25,000,000 shall be for a 
     pilot homeownership initiative, including an evaluation by an 
     independent third party to determine its effectiveness.''.

     SEC. 502. HOMEOWNERSHIP ZONES.

       Section 186 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 
     1992 (42 U.S.C. 12898a) is amended to read as follows:

     ``SEC. 186. HOMEOWNERSHIP ZONE GRANTS.

       ``(a) Authority.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban 
     Development may make grants to units of general local 
     government to assist homeownership zones. Homeownership zones 
     are contiguous, geographically defined areas, primarily 
     residential in nature, in which large-scale development 
     projects are designed to reclaim distressed neighborhoods by 
     creating homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-
     income families. Projects in homeownership zones are intended 
     to serve as a catalyst for private investment, business 
     creation, and neighborhood revitalization.
       ``(b) Eligible Activities.--Amounts made available under 
     this section may be used for projects that include any of the 
     following activities in the homeownership zone:
       ``(1) Acquisition, construction, and rehabilitation of 
     housing.
       ``(2) Site acquisition and preparation, including 
     demolition, construction, reconstruction, or installation of 
     public and other site improvements and utilities directly 
     related to the homeownership zone.
       ``(3) Direct financial assistance to homebuyers.
       ``(4) Homeownership counseling.
       ``(5) Relocation assistance.
       ``(6) Marketing costs, including affirmative marketing 
     activities.
       ``(7) Other project-related costs.
       ``(8) Reasonable administrative costs (up to 5 percent of 
     the grant amount).
       ``(9) Other housing-related activities proposed by the 
     applicant as essential to the success of the homeownership 
     zone and approved by the Secretary.
       ``(c) Application.--To be eligible for a grant under this 
     section, a unit of general local government shall submit an 
     application for a homeownership zone grant in such form and 
     in accordance with such procedures as the Secretary shall 
     establish.
       ``(d) Selection Criteria.--The Secretary shall select 
     applications for funding under this section through a 
     national competition, using selection criteria established by 
     the Secretary, which shall include--
       ``(1) the degree to which the proposed activities will 
     result in the improvement of the economic, social, and 
     physical aspects of the neighborhood and the lives of its 
     residents through the creation of new homeownership 
     opportunities;
       ``(2) the levels of distress in the homeownership zone as a 
     whole, and in the immediate neighborhood of the project for 
     which assistance is requested;
       ``(3) the financial soundness of the plan for financing 
     homeownership zone activities;
       ``(4) the leveraging of other resources; and
       ``(5) the capacity to successfully carry out the plan.
       ``(e) Grant Approval Amounts.--The Secretary may establish 
     a maximum amount for any grant for any funding round under 
     this section. A grant may not be made in an amount that 
     exceeds the amount that the Secretary determines is necessary 
     to fund the project for which the application is made.
       ``(f) Program Requirements.--A homeownership zone proposal 
     shall--
       ``(1) provide for a significant number of new homeownership 
     opportunities that will make a visible improvement in an 
     immediate neighborhood;
       ``(2) not be inconsistent with such planning and design 
     principles as may be prescribed by the Secretary;
       ``(3) be designed to stimulate additional investment in 
     that area;
       ``(4) provide for partnerships with persons or entities in 
     the private and nonprofit sectors;
       ``(5) incorporate a comprehensive approach to 
     revitalization of the neighborhood;
       ``(6) establish a detailed time-line for commencement and 
     completion of construction activities; and
       ``(7) provide for affirmatively furthering fair housing.
       ``(g) Income Targeting.--At least 51 percent of the 
     homebuyers assisted with funds under this section shall have 
     household incomes at or below 80 percent of median income for 
     the area, as determined by the Secretary.
       ``(h) Environmental Review.--For purposes of environmental 
     review, decisionmaking, and action pursuant to the National 
     Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and other provisions of law 
     that further the purposes of such Act, a grant under this 
     section shall be treated as assistance under the HOME 
     Investment Partnerships Act and shall be subject to the 
     regulations issued by the Secretary to implement section 288 
     of such Act.
       ``(i) Review, Audit, and Reporting.--The Secretary shall 
     make such reviews and audits and establish such reporting 
     requirements as may be necessary or appropriate to determine 
     whether the grantee has carried out its activities in a 
     timely manner and in accordance with the requirements of this 
     section. The Secretary may adjust, reduce, or withdraw 
     amounts made available, or take other action as appropriate, 
     in accordance with the Secretary's performance reviews and 
     audits under this section.
       ``(j) Authorization.--There are authorized to be 
     appropriated to carry out this section $25,000,000 for fiscal 
     year 1999 and such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 
     2000, to remain available until expended.''.

     SEC. 503. LEASE-TO-OWN.

       (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress 
     that residential tenancies under lease-to-own provisions can 
     facilitate homeownership by low- and moderate-income families 
     and provide opportunities for homeownership for such families 
     who might not otherwise be able to afford homeownership.
       (b) Report.--Not later than the expiration of the 3-month 
     period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 
     the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall submit a 
     report to the Congress--
       (1) analyzing whether lease-to-own provisions can be 
     effectively incorporated within the HOME investment 
     partnerships program, the public housing program, the tenant-
     based rental assistance program under section 8 of the United 
     States Housing Act of 1937, or any other programs of the 
     Department to facilitate homeownership by low- or moderate-
     income families; and
       (2) any legislative or administrative changes necessary to 
     alter or amend such programs to allow the use of lease-to-own 
     options to provide homeownership opportunities.

     SEC. 504. LOCAL CAPACITY BUILDING.

       Section 4 of the HUD Demonstration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 
     9816 note) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``National Association 
     of Housing Partnerships,'' after ``Humanity,''; and
       (2) in subsection (e), by striking ``$25,000,000'' and all 
     that follows and inserting ``, for each fiscal year, such 
     sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.''.
               TITLE VI--MANUFACTURED HOUSING IMPROVEMENT

     SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE AND REFERENCES.

       (a) Short Title.--This title may be cited as the 
     ``Manufactured Housing Improvement Act''.
       (b) References.--Whenever in this title an amendment is 
     expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a 
     section or other provision, the reference shall be considered 
     to be made to that section or other provision of the National 
     Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 
     1974 (42 U.S.C. 5401 et seq.).

     SEC. 602. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

       Section 602 (42 U.S.C. 5401) is amended to read as follows:


                        ``findings and purposes

       ``Sec. 602. (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
       ``(1) manufactured housing plays a vital role in meeting 
     the housing needs of the Nation; and
       ``(2) manufactured homes provide a significant resource for 
     affordable homeownership and rental housing accessible to all 
     Americans.
       ``(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this title are--
       ``(1) to facilitate the acceptance of the quality, 
     durability, safety, and affordability of manufactured housing 
     within the Department of Housing and Urban Development;

[[Page H10697]]

       ``(2) to facilitate the availability of affordable 
     manufactured homes and to increase homeownership for all 
     Americans;
       ``(3) to provide for the establishment of practical, 
     uniform, and, to the extent possible, performance-based 
     Federal construction standards;
       ``(4) to encourage innovative and cost-effective 
     construction techniques;
       ``(5) to protect owners of manufactured homes from 
     unreasonable risk of personal injury and property damage;
       ``(6) to establish a balanced consensus process for the 
     development, revision, and interpretation of Federal 
     construction and safety standards for manufactured homes and 
     related regulations for the enforcement of such standards;
       ``(7) to ensure uniform and effective enforcement of 
     Federal construction and safety standards for manufactured 
     homes; and
       ``(8) to ensure that the public interest in, and need for, 
     affordable manufactured housing is duly considered in all 
     determinations relating to the Federal standards and their 
     enforcement.''.

     SEC. 603. DEFINITIONS.

       (a) In General.--Section 603 (42 U.S.C. 5402) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``dealer'' and inserting 
     ``retailer'';
       (2) in paragraph (12), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (3) in paragraph (13), by striking the period at the end 
     and inserting a semicolon; and
       (4) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
       ``(14) `administering organization' means the recognized, 
     voluntary, private sector, consensus standards body with 
     specific experience in developing model residential building 
     codes and standards involving all disciplines regarding 
     construction and safety that administers the consensus 
     standards development process;
       ``(15) `consensus committee' means the committee 
     established under section 604(a)(3);
       ``(16) `consensus standards development process' means the 
     process by which additions, revisions, and interpretations to 
     the Federal manufactured home construction and safety 
     standards and enforcement regulations shall be developed and 
     recommended to the Secretary by the consensus committee;
       ``(17) `primary inspection agency' means a State agency or 
     private organization that has been approved by the Secretary 
     to act as a design approval primary inspection agency or a 
     production inspection primary inspection agency, or both;
       ``(18) `design approval primary inspection agency' means a 
     State agency or private organization that has been approved 
     by the Secretary to evaluate and either approve or disapprove 
     manufactured home designs and quality control procedures;
       ``(19) `production inspection primary inspection agency' 
     means a State agency or private organization that has been 
     approved by the Secretary to evaluate the ability of 
     manufactured home manufacturing plants to comply with 
     approved quality control procedures and with the Federal 
     manufactured home construction and safety standards 
     promulgated hereunder; and
       ``(20) `monitoring'--
       ``(A) means the process of periodic review of the primary 
     inspection agencies, by the Secretary or by a State agency 
     under an approved State plan pursuant to section 623, in 
     accordance with regulations recommended by the consensus 
     committee and promulgated in accordance with section 604(b), 
     which process shall be for the purpose of ensuring that the 
     primary inspection agencies are discharging their duties 
     under this title; and
       ``(B) may include the periodic inspection of retail 
     locations for transit damage, label tampering, and retailer 
     compliance with this title.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendments.--The National Manufactured 
     Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 is 
     amended--
       (1) in section 613 (42 U.S.C. 5412), by striking ``dealer'' 
     each place it appears and inserting ``retailer'';
       (2) in section 614(f) (42 U.S.C. 5413(f)), by striking 
     ``dealer'' each place it appears and inserting ``retailer'';
       (3) in section 615 (42 U.S.C. 5414)--
       (A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``dealer'' and 
     inserting ``retailer'';
       (B) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ``dealer or dealers'' 
     and inserting ``retailer or retailers''; and
       (C) in subsections (d) and (f), by striking ``dealers'' 
     each place it appears and inserting ``retailers'';
       (4) in section 616 (42 U.S.C. 5415), by striking ``dealer'' 
     and inserting ``retailer''; and
       (5) in section 623(c)(9), by striking ``dealers'' and 
     inserting ``retailers''.

     SEC. 604. FEDERAL MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY 
                   STANDARDS.

       Section 604 (42 U.S.C. 5304) is amended--
       (1) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and inserting the 
     following new subsections:
       ``(a) Establishment.--
       ``(1) Authority.--The Secretary shall establish, by order, 
     appropriate Federal manufactured home construction and safety 
     standards, each of which--
       ``(A) shall--
       ``(i) be reasonable and practical;
       ``(ii) meet high standards of protection consistent with 
     the enumerated purposes of this title; and
       ``(iii) where appropriate, be performance-based and stated 
     objectively; and
       ``(B) except as provided in subsection (b), shall be 
     established in accordance with the consensus standards 
     development process.
       ``(2) Consensus standards and regulatory development 
     process.--
       ``(A) Initial agreement.--Not later than 180 days after the 
     date of enactment of the Manufactured Housing Improvement 
     Act, the Secretary shall enter into a contract with an 
     administering organization. The contractual agreement shall--
       ``(i) terminate on the date on which a contract is entered 
     into under subparagraph (B); and
       ``(ii) require the administering organization to--

       ``(I) appoint the initial members of the consensus 
     committee under paragraph (3);
       ``(II) administer the consensus standards development 
     process until the termination of that agreement; and
       ``(III) administer the consensus development and 
     interpretation process for procedural and enforcement 
     regulations and regulations specifying the permissible scope 
     and conduct of monitoring until the termination of that 
     agreement.

       ``(B) Competitively procured contract.--Upon the expiration 
     of the 4-year period beginning on the date on which all 
     members of the consensus committee are appointed under 
     paragraph (3), the Secretary shall, using competitive 
     procedures (as such term is defined in section 4 of the 
     Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act), enter into a 
     competitively awarded contract with an administering 
     organization. The administering organization shall administer 
     the consensus process for the development and interpretation 
     of the Federal standards, the procedural and enforcement 
     regulations and regulations specifying the permissible scope 
     and conduct of monitoring in accordance with this title.
       ``(C) Performance review.--The Secretary--
       ``(i) shall periodically review the performance of the 
     administering organization; and
       ``(ii) may replace the administering organization with 
     another qualified technical or building code organization, 
     pursuant to competitive procedures, if the Secretary 
     determines in writing that the administering organization is 
     not fulfilling the terms of the agreement or contract to 
     which the administering organization is subject or upon the 
     expiration of the agreement or contract.
       ``(3) Consensus committee.--
       ``(A) Purpose.--There is established a committee to be 
     known as the `consensus committee', which shall, in 
     accordance with this title--
       ``(i) provide periodic recommendations to the Secretary to 
     adopt, revise, and interpret the Federal manufactured housing 
     construction and safety standards in accordance with this 
     subsection;
       ``(ii) provide periodic recommendations to the Secretary to 
     adopt, revise, and interpret the procedural and enforcement 
     regulations, including regulations specifying the permissible 
     scope and conduct of monitoring in accordance with this 
     subsection; and
       ``(iii) be organized and carry out its business in a manner 
     that guarantees a fair opportunity for the expression and 
     consideration of various positions and for public 
     participation.
       ``(B) Membership.--The consensus committee shall be 
     composed of--
       ``(i) 25 voting members appointed, subject to approval by 
     the Secretary, by the administering organization from among 
     individuals who are qualified by background and experience to 
     participate in the work of the consensus committee; and
       ``(ii) 1 member appointed by the Secretary to represent the 
     Secretary on the consensus committee, who shall be a 
     nonvoting member.
       ``(C) Disapproval.--The Secretary may disapprove, in 
     writing with the reasons set forth, the appointment of an 
     individual under subparagraph (B)(i).
       ``(D) Selection procedures and requirements.--Each member 
     shall be appointed in accordance with the selection 
     procedures, which shall be established by the Secretary and 
     which shall be based on the procedures for consensus 
     committees promulgated by the American National Standards 
     Institute (or successor organization), except that the 
     American National Standards Institute interest categories 
     shall be modified for purposes of this paragraph to ensure 
     equal representation on the consensus committee of the 
     following interest categories:
       ``(i) Home producers.--Five persons representing 
     manufacturers of manufactured homes.
       ``(ii) Other business interests.--Five persons representing 
     other business interests involved in the manufactured housing 
     industry such as retailers, installers, lenders, insurers, 
     suppliers of products, and community owners. The business 
     interests represented in this category shall not be owned or 
     controlled by manufacturers represented under clause (i).
       ``(iii) Consumers.--Five persons representing homeowners 
     and consumer interests, such as consumer organizations, 
     community organizations, recognized consumer leaders, and 
     manufactured homeowners owners and occupants.
       ``(iv) Public officials.--Five persons who are State or 
     local officials such as building code enforcement or 
     inspection officials, fire marshals, and including 
     representatives of State administrative agencies.

[[Page H10698]]

       ``(v) General interest.--Five persons representing the 
     public such as architects, engineers, homebuilders, 
     academicians, and developers.
       ``(E) Additional qualifications.--An individual appointed 
     under clause (iii), (iv), or (v) of subparagraph (D) shall 
     not have--
       ``(i) a significant financial interest in any segment of 
     the manufactured housing industry; or
       ``(ii) a significant relationship to any person engaged in 
     the manufactured housing industry.
       ``(F) Meetings.--
       ``(i) Notice; open to public.--The consensus committee 
     shall provide advance notice of each meeting of the consensus 
     committee to the Secretary and publish advance notice of each 
     such meeting in the Federal Register. All meetings of the 
     consensus committee shall be open to the public.
       ``(ii) Reimbursement.--Members of the consensus committee 
     in attendance at the meetings shall be reimbursed for their 
     actual expenses as authorized by section 5703 of title 5, 
     United States Code, for persons employed intermittently in 
     Government service.
       ``(G) Inapplicability of other laws.--
       ``(i) Advisory committee act.--The consensus committee 
     shall not be considered to be an advisory committee for 
     purposes of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
       ``(ii) Title 18.--The members of the consensus committee 
     shall not be subject to section 203, 205, 207, or 208 of 
     title 18, United States Code, to the extent of their proper 
     participation as members of the consensus committee.
       ``(iii) Ethics in government act of 1978.--The Ethics in 
     Government Act of 1978 shall not apply to members of the 
     consensus committee to the extent of their proper 
     participation as members of the consensus committee.
       ``(H) Administration.--The consensus committee and the 
     administering organization shall--
       ``(i) operate in conformance with the procedures 
     established by the American National Standards Institute for 
     the development and coordination of American National 
     Standards; and
       ``(ii) apply to the American National Standards Institute 
     and take such other actions as may be necessary to obtain 
     accreditation from the American National Standards Institute.
       ``(I) Staff.--The administering organization shall, upon 
     the request of the consensus committee, provide reasonable 
     staff resources to the consensus committee. Upon a showing of 
     need, the Secretary shall furnish technical support to any of 
     the various interest categories on the consensus committee.
       ``(J) Date of initial appointments.--The initial 
     appointments of all of the members of the consensus committee 
     shall be completed not later than 90 days after the date on 
     which an administration agreement under paragraph (2)(A) is 
     completed with the administering organization.
       ``(4) Revisions of standards.--
       ``(A) In general.--Beginning on the date on which all 
     members of the consensus committee are appointed under 
     paragraph (3), the consensus committee shall, not less than 
     once during each 2-year period--
       ``(i) consider revisions to the Federal manufactured home 
     construction and safety standards; and
       ``(ii) submit proposed revised standards and regulations to 
     the Secretary in the form of a proposed rule, including an 
     economic analysis.
       ``(B) Publication of proposed revised standards.--
       ``(i) Publication by secretary.--The consensus committee 
     shall provide a proposed revised standard under subparagraph 
     (A)(ii) to the Secretary who shall, not later than 30 days 
     after receipt, publish such proposed revised standard in the 
     Federal Register for notice and comment. Unless clause (ii) 
     applies, the Secretary shall provide an opportunity for 
     public comment on such proposed revised standard and any such 
     comments shall be submitted directly to the consensus 
     committee without delay.
       ``(ii) Publication of rejected proposed revised 
     standards.--If the Secretary rejects the proposed revised 
     standard, the Secretary shall publish the rejected proposed 
     revised standard in the Federal Register with the reasons for 
     rejection and any recommended modifications set forth.
       ``(C) Presentation of public comments; publication of 
     recommended revisions.--
       ``(i) Presentation.--Any public comments, views, and 
     objections to a proposed revised standard published under 
     subparagraph (B) shall be presented by the Secretary to the 
     consensus committee upon their receipt and in the manner 
     received, in accordance with procedures established by the 
     American National Standards Institute.
       ``(ii) Publication by the secretary.--The consensus 
     committee shall provide to the Secretary any revisions 
     proposed by the consensus committee, which the Secretary 
     shall, not later than 7 calendar days after receipt, cause to 
     be published in the Federal Register as a notice of the 
     recommended revisions of the consensus committee to the 
     standard, a notice of the submission of the recommended 
     revisions to the Secretary, and a description of the 
     circumstances under which the proposed revised standards 
     could become effective.
       ``(iii) Publication of rejected proposed revised 
     standards.--If the Secretary rejects the proposed revised 
     standard, the Secretary shall publish the rejected proposed 
     revised standard in the Federal Register with the reasons for 
     rejection and any recommended modifications set forth.
       ``(5) Review by the secretary.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall either adopt, 
     modify, or reject a standard, as submitted by the consensus 
     committee under paragraph (4)(A).
       ``(B) Timing.--Not later than 12 months after the date on 
     which a standard is submitted to the Secretary by the 
     consensus committee, the Secretary shall take action 
     regarding such standard under subparagraph (C).
       ``(C) Procedures.--If the Secretary--
       ``(i) adopts a standard recommended by the consensus 
     committee, the Secretary shall--

       ``(I) issue a final order without further rulemaking; and
       ``(II) cause the final order to be published in the Federal 
     Register;

       ``(ii) determines that any standard should be rejected, the 
     Secretary shall--

       ``(I) reject the standard; and
       ``(II) cause to be published in the Federal Register a 
     notice to that effect, together with the reason or reasons 
     for rejecting the proposed standard; or

       ``(iii) determines that a standard recommended by the 
     consensus committee should be modified, the Secretary shall--

       ``(I) cause the proposed modified standard to be published 
     in the Federal Register, together with an explanation of the 
     reason or reasons for the determination of the Secretary; and
       ``(II) provide an opportunity for public comment in 
     accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code.

       ``(D) Final order.--Any final standard under this paragraph 
     shall become effective pursuant to subsection (c).
       ``(6) Failure to act.--If the Secretary fails to take final 
     action under paragraph (5) and to publish notice of the 
     action in the Federal Register before the expiration of the 
     12-month period beginning on the date on which the proposed 
     standard is submitted to the Secretary under paragraph 
     (4)(A)--
       ``(A) the recommendations of the consensus committee--
       ``(i) shall be considered to have been adopted by the 
     Secretary; and
       ``(ii) shall take effect upon the expiration of the 180-day 
     period that begins upon the conclusion of such 12-month 
     period; and
       ``(B) not later than 10 days after the expiration of such 
     12-month period, the Secretary shall cause to be published in 
     the Federal Register a notice of the failure of the Secretary 
     to act, the revised standard, and the effective date of the 
     revised standard, which notice shall be deemed to be an order 
     of the Secretary approving the revised standards proposed by 
     the consensus committee.
       ``(b) Other Orders.--
       ``(1) Regulations.--The Secretary may issue procedural and 
     enforcement regulations as necessary to implement the 
     provisions of this title. The consensus committee may submit 
     to the Secretary proposed procedural and enforcement 
     regulations and recommendations for the revision of such 
     regulations.
       ``(2) Interpretative bulletins.--The Secretary may issue 
     interpretative bulletins to clarify the meaning of any 
     Federal manufactured home construction and safety standard or 
     procedural and enforcement regulation. The consensus 
     committee may submit to the Secretary proposed interpretative 
     bulletins to clarify the meaning of any Federal manufactured 
     home construction and safety standard or procedural and 
     enforcement regulation.
       ``(3) Review by consensus committee.--Before issuing a 
     procedural or enforcement regulation or an interpretative 
     bulletin--
       ``(A) the Secretary shall--
       ``(i) submit the proposed procedural or enforcement 
     regulation or interpretative bulletin to the consensus 
     committee; and
       ``(ii) provide the consensus committee with a period of 120 
     days to submit written comments to the Secretary on the 
     proposed procedural or enforcement regulation or the 
     interpretative bulletin; and
       ``(B) if the Secretary rejects any significant comment 
     provided by the consensus committee under subparagraph (A), 
     the Secretary shall provide a written explanation of the 
     reasons for the rejection to the consensus committee; and
       ``(C) following compliance with subparagraphs (A) and (B), 
     the Secretary shall--
       ``(i) cause the proposed regulation or interpretative 
     bulletin and the consensus committee's written comments along 
     with the Secretary's response thereto to be published in the 
     Federal Register; and
       ``(ii) provide an opportunity for public comment in 
     accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code.
       ``(4) Required action.--The Secretary shall act on any 
     proposed regulation or interpretative bulletin submitted by 
     the consensus committee by approving or rejecting the 
     proposal within 120 days from the date the proposal is 
     received by the Secretary. The Secretary shall either--
       ``(A) approve the proposal and cause the proposed 
     regulation or interpretative bulletin to be published for 
     public comment in accordance with section 553 of title 5, 
     United States Code; or
       ``(B) reject the proposed regulation or interpretative 
     bulletin and--
       ``(i) provide a written explanation of the reasons for 
     rejection to the consensus committee; and

[[Page H10699]]

       ``(ii) cause the proposed regulation and the written 
     explanation for the rejection to be published in the Federal 
     Register.
       ``(5) Emergency orders.--If the Secretary determines, in 
     writing, that such action is necessary in order to respond to 
     an emergency which jeopardizes the public health or safety, 
     or to address an issue on which the Secretary determines that 
     the consensus committee has not made a timely recommendation, 
     following a request by the Secretary, the Secretary may issue 
     an order that is not developed under the procedures set forth 
     in subsection (a) or in this subsection, if the Secretary--
       ``(A) provides to the consensus committee a written 
     description and sets forth the reasons why emergency actions 
     is necessary and all supporting documentation; and
       ``(B) issues and publishes the order in the Federal 
     Register.
       ``(6) Changes.--Any statement of policies, practices, or 
     procedures relating to construction and safety standards, 
     inspections, monitoring, or other enforcement activities 
     which constitutes a statement of general or particular 
     applicability and future offset and decisions to implement, 
     interpret, or prescribe law of policy by the Secretary is 
     subject to the provisions of subsection (a) or (b) of this 
     subsection. Any change adopted in violation of the provisions 
     of subsection (a) or (b) of this subsection is void.'';
       ``(7) Transition.--Until the date that the consensus 
     committee is appointed pursuant to section 704(a)(3), the 
     Secretary may issue proposed orders that are not developed 
     under the procedures set forth in this section for new and 
     revised standards.
       (2) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following: 
     ``Federal preemption under this subsection shall be broadly 
     and liberally construed to ensure that disparate State or 
     local requirements or standards do not affect the uniformity 
     and comprehensiveness of the standards promulgated hereunder.
       (3) by striking subsection (e);
       (4) in subsection (f), by striking the matter preceding 
     paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
       ``(e) Considerations in Establishing and Interpreting 
     Standards and Regulations.--The consensus committee, in 
     recommending standards, regulations, and interpretations, and 
     the Secretary, in establishing standards or regulations, or 
     issuing interpretations under this section, shall--'';
       (5) by striking subsection (g);
       (6) in the first sentence of subsection (j), by striking 
     ``subsection (f)'' and inserting ``subsection (e)''; and
       (7) by redesignating subsections (h), (i), and (j), as 
     subsections (f), (g), and (h), respectively.

     SEC. 605. ABOLISHMENT OF NATIONAL MANUFACTURED HOME ADVISORY 
                   COUNCIL.

       Section 605 (42 U.S.C. 5404) is hereby repealed.

     SEC. 606. PUBLIC INFORMATION.

       Section 607 (42 U.S.C. 5406) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)--
       (A) by inserting ``to the Secretary'' after ``submit''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following: ``The Secretary 
     shall submit such cost and other information to the consensus 
     committee for evaluation.'';
       (2) in subsection (d), by inserting ``, the consensus 
     committee,'' after ``public''; and
       (3) by striking subsection (c) and redesignating 
     subsections (d) and (e) as subsections (c) and (d), 
     respectively.

     SEC. 607. RESEARCH, TESTING, DEVELOPMENT, AND TRAINING.

       (a) In General.--Section 608(a) (42 U.S.C. 5407(a)) is 
     amended--
       (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting a semicolon; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
       ``(4) encouraging the government sponsored housing entities 
     to actively develop and implement secondary market 
     securitization programs for FHA manufactured home loans and 
     those of other loan programs, as appropriate, thereby 
     promoting the availability of affordable manufactured homes 
     to increase homeownership for all people in the United 
     States; and
       ``(5) reviewing the programs for FHA manufactured home 
     loans and developing any changes to such programs to promote 
     the affordability of manufactured homes, including changes in 
     loan terms, amortization periods, regulations, and 
     procedures.''.
       (b) Definitions.--Section 608 (42 U.S.C. 5407) is amended 
     by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the 
     following definitions shall apply:
       ``(1) Government sponsored housing entities.--The term 
     `government sponsored housing entities' means the Government 
     National Mortgage Association of the Department of Housing 
     and Urban Development, the Federal National Mortgage 
     Association, and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.
       ``(2) FHA manufactured home loans.--The term `FHA 
     manufactured home loan' means a loan that--
       ``(A) is insured under title I of the National Housing Act 
     and is made for the purpose of financing alterations, 
     repairs, or improvements on or in connection with an existing 
     manufactured home, the purchase of a manufactured home, the 
     purchase of a manufactured home and a lot on which to place 
     the home, or the purchase only of a lot on which to place a 
     manufactured home; or
       ``(B) otherwise insured under the National Housing Act and 
     made for or in connection with a manufactured home.''.

     SEC. 608. FEES.

       Section 620 (42 U.S.C. 5419) is amended to read as follows:


                     ``authority to establish fees

       ``Sec. 620. (a) In General.--In carrying out inspections 
     under this title, in developing standards and regulations 
     pursuant to section 604, and in facilitating the acceptance 
     of the affordability and availability of manufactured housing 
     within the Department, the Secretary may--
       ``(1) establish and collect from manufactured home 
     manufacturers such reasonable fees as may be necessary to 
     offset the expenses incurred by the Secretary in connection 
     with carrying out the responsibilities of the Secretary under 
     this title, including--
       ``(A) conducting inspections and monitoring;
       ``(B) providing funding to States for the administration 
     and implementation of approved State plans under section 623, 
     including reasonable funding for cooperative educational and 
     training programs designed to facilitate uniform enforcement 
     under this title; these funds may be paid directly to the 
     States or may be paid or provided to any person or entity 
     designated to receive and disburse such funds by cooperative 
     agreements among participating States, provided that such 
     person or entity is not otherwise an agent of the Secretary 
     under this title;
       ``(C) providing the funding for a noncareer administrator 
     and Federal staff personnel for the manufactured housing 
     program;
       ``(D) administering the consensus committee as set forth in 
     section 604; and
       ``(E) facilitating the acceptance of the quality, 
     durability, safety, and affordability of manufactured housing 
     within the Department; and
       ``(2) use any fees collected under paragraph (1) to pay 
     expenses referred to in paragraph (1), which shall be exempt 
     and separate from any limitations on the Department of 
     Housing and Urban Development regarding full-time equivalent 
     positions and travel.
       ``(b) When using fees under this section, the Secretary 
     shall ensure that separate and independent contractors are 
     retained to carry out monitoring and inspection work and any 
     other work that may be delegated to a contractor under this 
     title.
       ``(c) Prohibited Use.--Fees collected under subsection (a) 
     shall not be used for any purpose or activity not 
     specifically authorized by this title unless such activity 
     was already engaged in by the Secretary prior to the date of 
     enactment of this title.
       ``(d) Modification.--Any fee established by the Secretary 
     under this section shall only be modified pursuant to 
     rulemaking in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United 
     States Code.
       ``(e) Appropriation and Deposit of Fees.--
       ``(1) In general.--There is established in the Treasury of 
     the United States a fund to be known as the `Manufactured 
     Housing Fees Trust Fund' for deposit of all fees collected 
     pursuant to subsection (a). These fees shall be held in trust 
     for use only as provided in this title.
       ``(2) Appropriation.--Such fees shall be available for 
     expenditure only to the extent approved in an annual 
     appropriation Act.''.

     SEC. 609. ELIMINATION OF ANNUAL REPORT REQUIREMENT.

       The National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety 
     Standards Act of 1974 is amended--
       (1) by striking section 626 (42 U.S.C. 5425); and
       (2) by redesignating sections 627 and 628 (42 U.S.C. 5426, 
     5401 note) as sections 626 and 627, respectively.

     SEC. 610. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       The amendments made by this title shall take effect on the 
     date of enactment of this Act, except that the amendments 
     shall have no effect on any order or interpretive bulletin 
     that is published as a proposed rule pursuant to section 553 
     of title 5, United States Code, on or before such date.

     SEC. 611. SAVINGS PROVISION.

       (a) Standards and Regulations.--The Federal manufactured 
     home construction and safety standards (as such term is 
     defined in section 603 of the National Manufactured Housing 
     Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974) and all 
     regulations pertaining thereto in effect immediately before 
     the date of the enactment of this Act shall apply until the 
     effective date of a standard or regulation modifying or 
     superseding the existing standard or regulation which is 
     promulgated under subsection (a) or (b) of section 604 of the 
     National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety 
     Standards Act of 1974, as amended by this title.
       (b) Contracts.--Any contract awarded pursuant to a Request 
     for Proposal issued before the date of enactment of this Act 
     shall remain in effect for a period of 2 years from the date 
     of enactment of this Act or for the remainder of the contract 
     term, whichever period is shorter.
                TITLE VII--INDIAN HOUSING HOMEOWNERSHIP

     SEC. 701. INDIAN LANDS TITLE REPORT COMMISSION.

       (a) Establishment.--Subject to sums being provided in 
     advance in appropriations Acts, there is established a 
     Commission to be known as the Indian Lands Title Report 
     Commission (hereafter in this section referred to as the 
     ``Commission'').
       (b) Membership.--

[[Page H10700]]

       (1) Appointment.--The Commission shall be composed of 12 
     members, appointed not later than 90 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act as follows:
       (A) 4 members shall be appointed by the President.
       (B) 4 members shall be appointed by the Chairman of the 
     Committee on Banking and Financial Services of the House of 
     Representatives.
       (C) 4 members shall be appointed by the Chairman of the 
     Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 
     Senate.
       (2) Qualifications.--
       (A) Members of tribes.--At all times, not less than 7 of 
     the members of the Commission shall be members of federally 
     recognized Indian tribes.
       (B) Experience in land title matters.--All members of the 
     Commission shall have experience in and knowledge of land 
     title matters relating to Indian trust lands.
       (3) Chairman.--The Chairman of the Commission shall be one 
     of the members of the Commission appointed under paragraph 
     (1)(C), as elected by the members of the Commission.
       (4) Vacancies.--Any vacancy on the Commission shall not 
     affect its powers, but shall be filled in the manner in which 
     the original appointment was made.
       (5) Travel expenses.--Members of the Commission shall serve 
     without pay, but each member shall receive travel expenses, 
     including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with 
     sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States Code.
       (c) Functions.--The Commission shall analyze the system of 
     the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the 
     Interior for maintaining land ownership records and title 
     documents and issuing certified title status reports relating 
     to Indian trust lands and, pursuant to such analysis, 
     determine how best to improve or replace the system--
       (1) to ensure prompt and accurate responses to requests for 
     title status reports;
       (2) to eliminate any backlog of requests for title status 
     reports; and
       (3) to ensure that the administration of the system will 
     not in any way impair or restrict the ability of Native 
     Americans to obtain conventional loans for purchase of 
     residences located on Indian trust lands, including any 
     actions necessary to ensure that the system will promptly be 
     able to meet future demands for certified title status 
     reports, taking into account the anticipated complexity and 
     volume of such requests.
       (d) Report.--Not later than the date of the termination of 
     the Commission under subsection (g), the Commission shall 
     submit a report to the Committee on Banking and Financial 
     Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
     Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate describing 
     the analysis and determinations made under subsection (c).
       (e) Powers.--
       (1) Hearings and sessions.--The Commission may, for the 
     purpose of carrying out this section, hold hearings, sit and 
     act at times and places, take testimony, and receive evidence 
     as the Commission considers appropriate.
       (2) Staff of federal agencies.--Upon request of the 
     Commission, the head of any Federal department or agency may 
     detail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the personnel of that 
     department or agency to the Commission to assist it in 
     carrying out its duties under this section.
       (3) Obtaining official data.--The Commission may secure 
     directly from any department or agency of the United States 
     information necessary to enable it to carry out this section. 
     Upon request of the Chairperson of the Commission, the head 
     of that department or agency shall furnish that information 
     to the Commission.
       (4) Mails.--The Commission may use the United States mails 
     in the same manner and under the same conditions as other 
     departments and agencies of the United States.
       (5) Administrative support services.--Upon the request of 
     the Commission, the Administrator of General Services shall 
     provide to the Commission, on a reimbursable basis, the 
     administrative support services necessary for the Commission 
     to carry out its responsibilities under this section.
       (6) Staff.--The Commission may appoint personnel as it 
     considers appropriate, subject to the provisions of title 5, 
     United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive 
     service, and shall pay such personnel in accordance with the 
     provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of 
     that title relating to classification and General Schedule 
     pay rates.
       (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this 
     title, there is authorized to be appropriated $500,000. Such 
     sums shall remain available until expended.
       (g) Termination.--The Commission shall terminate upon the 
     expiration of the 1-year period beginning upon the completion 
     of the appointment of all the members of the Commission under 
     subsection (b)(1).
TITLE VIII--TRANSFER OF UNOCCUPIED AND SUBSTANDARD HUD-HELD HOUSING TO 
        LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS

     SEC. 801. TRANSFER OF UNOCCUPIED AND SUBSTANDARD HUD-HELD 
                   HOUSING TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND COMMUNITY 
                   DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS.

       Section 204 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and 
     Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies 
     Appropriations Act, 1997 (12 U.S.C. 1715z-11a) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``Flexible Authority'' and inserting 
     ``Disposition of HUD-Owned Properties. (a) Flexible Authority 
     for Multifamily Projects.--''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(b) Transfer of Unoccupied and Substandard Housing to 
     Local Governments and Community Development Corporations.--
       ``(1) Transfer authority.--Notwithstanding the authority 
     under subsection (a) and the last sentence of section 204(g) 
     of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1710(g)), the 
     Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall, to the 
     maximum extent practicable (in the determination of the 
     Secretary), transfer ownership of any qualified HUD property 
     to a unit of general local government having jurisdiction for 
     the area in which the property is located or to a community 
     development corporation which operates within such a unit of 
     general local government in accordance with this subsection, 
     but only in the determination of the Secretary--
       ``(A) to the extent that units of general local government 
     and community development corporations consent to transfer;
       ``(B) in the case of single family property, to the extent 
     that costs to the Federal Government under this subsection do 
     not exceed the costs to the Federal Government of disposing 
     of similar property under the procedures for single family 
     property under section 204 of the National Housing Act (12 
     U.S.C. 1710) (as added by sections 601 and 602 of the 
     Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban 
     Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 
     1999), or under such other procedures as are in effect 
     immediately before the enactment of this title, as 
     applicable; and
       ``(C) in the case of multifamily property, to the extent 
     that costs to the Federal Government under this subsection do 
     not exceed the costs to the Federal Government of disposing 
     of similar property under the procedures for disposition of 
     such properties as are in effect immediately before the 
     enactment of this title.
       ``(2) Qualified hud properties.--For purposes of this 
     subsection, the term `qualified HUD property' means any 
     property that is owned by the Secretary and is--
       ``(A) an unoccupied multifamily housing project;
       ``(B) a substandard multifamily housing project; or
       ``(C) an unoccupied single family property that--
       ``(i) has been determined by the Secretary not to be an 
     eligible property under section 204(h) of the National 
     Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1710(h)); or
       ``(ii) is an eligible property under such section 204(h), 
     but--

       ``(I) is not subject to a specific sale agreement under 
     such section; and
       ``(II) has been determined by the Secretary to be 
     inappropriate for continued inclusion in the program under 
     such section 204(h) pursuant to paragraph (10) of such 
     section.

       ``(3) Timing.--The Secretary shall establish procedures 
     that provide for--
       ``(A) time deadlines for transfers under this subsection;
       ``(B) notification to units of general local government and 
     community development corporations of qualified HUD 
     properties in their jurisdictions;
       ``(C) such units and corporations to express interest in 
     the transfer under this subsection of such properties;
       ``(D) a right of first refusal for transfer of qualified 
     HUD properties to such units and corporations, under which 
     that the Secretary shall accept an offer to purchase such a 
     property made by such a unit or corporation during a period 
     established by the Secretary, but in the case of an offer 
     made by a community development corporation only if the offer 
     provides for purchase on a cost recovery basis; and
       ``(E) a written explanation, to any unit of general local 
     government or community development corporation making an 
     offer to purchase a qualified HUD property under this 
     subsection that is not accepted, of such offer was not 
     acceptable.
       ``(4) Other disposition.--With respect to any qualified HUD 
     property, if the Secretary does not receive an acceptable 
     offer to purchase the property pursuant to the procedure 
     established under paragraph (3), the Secretary shall dispose 
     of the property to the unit of general local government in 
     which property is located or to community development 
     corporations located in such unit of general local government 
     on a negotiated, competitive bid, or other basis, on such 
     terms as the Secretary deems appropriate.
       ``(5) Satisfaction of indebtedness.--Before transferring 
     ownership of any qualified HUD property pursuant to this 
     subsection, the Secretary shall satisfy any indebtedness 
     incurred in connection with the property to be transferred, 
     by canceling the indebtedness.
       ``(6) Determination of status of properties.--To ensure 
     compliance with the requirements of this subsection, the 
     Secretary shall take the following actions:
       ``(A) Upon enactment.--Upon the enactment of the American 
     Homeownership Act of 1998, the Secretary shall promptly 
     assess each residential property owned by the Secretary to 
     determine whether such property is a qualified HUD property.
       ``(B) Upon acquisition.--Upon acquiring any residential 
     property, the Secretary shall

[[Page H10701]]

     promptly determine whether the property is a qualified HUD 
     property.
       ``(C) Updates.--The Secretary shall periodically reassess 
     the residential properties owned by the Secretary to 
     determine whether any such properties have become qualified 
     HUD properties.
       ``(7) Tenant leases.--This subsection shall not affect the 
     terms or the enforceability of any contract or lease entered 
     into with respect to any residential property before the date 
     that such property becomes a qualified HUD property.
       ``(8) Use of property.--Property transferred under this 
     subsection shall be used only for appropriate neighborhood 
     revitalization efforts, including homeownership, rental 
     units, commercial space, and parks, consistent with local 
     zoning regulations, local building codes, and subdivision 
     regulations and restrictions of record.
       ``(9) Inapplicability to properties made available for 
     homeless.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
     subsection, this subsection shall not apply to any properties 
     that the Secretary determines are to be made available for 
     use by the homeless pursuant to subpart E of part 291 of 
     title 24, Code of Federal Regulations, during the period that 
     the properties are so available.
       ``(10) Protection of existing contracts.--This subsection 
     may not be construed to alter, affect, or annul any legally 
     binding obligations entered into with respect to a qualified 
     HUD property before the property becomes a qualified HUD 
     property.
       ``(11) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection, the 
     following definitions shall apply:
       ``(A) Community development corporation.--The term 
     `community development corporation' means a nonprofit 
     organization whose primary purpose is to promote community 
     development by providing housing opportunities for low-income 
     families.
       ``(B) Cost recovery basis.--The term `cost recovery basis' 
     means, with respect to any sale of a residential property by 
     the Secretary, that the purchase price paid by the purchaser 
     is equal to or greater than or equal to the costs incurred by 
     the Secretary in connection with such property during the 
     period beginning on the date on which the Secretary acquires 
     title to the property and ending on the date on which the 
     sale is consummated.
       ``(C) Multifamily housing project.--The term `multifamily 
     housing project' has the meaning given the term in section 
     203 of the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 
     1978.
       ``(D) Residential property.--The term `residential 
     property' means a property that is a multifamily housing 
     project or a single family property.
       ``(E) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 
     of Housing and Urban Development.
       ``(F) Severe physical problems.--The term `severe physical 
     problems' means, with respect to a dwelling unit, that the 
     unit--
       ``(i) lacks hot or cold piped water, a flush toilet, or 
     both a bathtub and a shower in the unit, for the exclusive 
     use of that unit;
       ``(ii) on not less than 3 separate occasions during the 
     preceding winter months, was uncomfortably cold for a period 
     of more than 6 consecutive hours due to a malfunction of the 
     heating system for the unit;
       ``(iii) has no functioning electrical service, exposed 
     wiring, any room in which there is not a functioning 
     electrical outlet, or has experienced 3 or more blown fuses 
     or tripped circuit breakers during the preceding 90-day 
     period;
       ``(iv) is accessible through a public hallway in which 
     there are no working light fixtures, loose or missing steps 
     or railings, and no elevator; or
       ``(v) has severe maintenance problems, including water 
     leaks involving the roof, windows, doors, basement, or pipes 
     or plumbing fixtures, holes or open cracks in walls or 
     ceilings, severe paint peeling or broken plaster, and signs 
     of rodent infestation.
       ``(G) Single family property.--The term `single family 
     property' means a 1- to 4-family residence.
       ``(H) Substandard.--The term `substandard' means, with 
     respect to a multifamily housing project, that 25 percent or 
     more of the dwelling units in the project have severe 
     physical problems.
       ``(I) Unit of general local government.--The term `unit of 
     general local government' has the meaning given such term in 
     section 102(a) of the Housing and Community Development Act 
     of 1974.
       ``(J) Unoccupied.--The term `unoccupied' means, with 
     respect to a residential property, that the unit of general 
     local government having jurisdiction over the area in which 
     the project is located has certified in writing that the 
     property is not inhabited.
       ``(12) Regulations.--
       ``(A) Interim.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
     the enactment of the American Homeownership Act of 1998, the 
     Secretary shall issue such interim regulations as are 
     necessary to carry out this subsection.
       ``(B) Final.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the 
     enactment of the American Homeownership Act of 1998, the 
     Secretary shall issue such final regulations as are necessary 
     to carry out this subsection.''.

     SEC. 802. AMENDMENT TO REVITALIZATION AREA DISPOSITION 
                   PROGRAM.

       Effective immediately after the enactment of the 
     Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban 
     Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 
     1999, section 204(h) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 
     1710(h)) (as added by section 602(2) of such Act) is 
     amended--
       (1) by redesignating paragraph (10) as paragraph (11); and
       (2) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following new 
     paragraph:
       ``(10) Properties for which no interest is expressed.--
     Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, if 
     the Secretary determines that continued inclusion of an 
     eligible property in the program under this subsection is 
     inappropriate because of a failure over time of any 
     prospective purchasers to express interest in purchasing the 
     property or in entering into a sale agreement covering 
     properties in the area in which the property is located, the 
     Secretary may determine that such property shall be subject 
     to the provisions of section 204(b) of the Departments of 
     Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and 
     Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (12 U.S.C. 
     1715z-11a(b)).''.

     SEC. 803. REPORT ON REVITALIZATION ZONES FOR HUD-OWNED SINGLE 
                   FAMILY PROPERTIES.

       Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
     shall submit a report to the Congress identifying--
       (1) any areas that have been designated as revitalization 
     areas pursuant to section 204(h)(3) of the National Housing 
     Act (as added by section 602(2) of the Departments of 
     Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and 
     Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999);
       (2) any areas for which such designation has been 
     requested;
       (3) any areas for which such designation is being 
     considered by the Secretary; and
       (4) the eligible properties in designated revitalization 
     areas for which the Secretary has a reasonable expectation of 
     successfully transferring ownership pursuant to section 
     204(h) of the National Housing Act.

     SEC. 804. TECHNICAL CORRECTION TO INCOME TARGETING PROVISIONS 
                   FOR PROJECT-BASED ASSISTANCE.

       Effective immediately after the enactment of the 
     Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban 
     Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 
     1999, section 16(c)(3) of the United States Housing Act of 
     1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437n(c)(3)) (as added by section 513(a) of 
     such Appropriations Act), is amended by inserting after ``40 
     percent'' the following: ``shall be available for leasing 
     only by families whose incomes at the time of commencement of 
     occupancy do not exceed 30 percent of the area median income, 
     as determined by the Secretary with adjustments for smaller 
     and larger families.''.

     SEC. 805. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO THE MULTIFAMILY ASSISTED 
                   HOUSING REFORM AND AFFORDABILITY ACT OF 1997.

       (a) Section 8 Contract Renewal Policy for Fiscal Year 1999 
     and Subsequent Years.--Section 524 of the Multifamily 
     Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 (42 
     U.S.C. 1437 note; 111 Stat. 1408-1409) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)(2), by inserting after 
     ``Notwithstanding paragraph (1)'' the following: ``and 
     subject to section 516 of this subtitle'';
       (2) in subsection (a)(2)(B), by striking ``and financing'' 
     and inserting ``and the primary financing'';and
       (3) by inserting at the end the following new subsections:
       ``(b) Inapplicability to Projects Subject to 
     Restructuring.--This section shall not apply to projects 
     restructured under this subtitle.
       ``(c) Savings Provisions.--Upon the repeal of this subtitle 
     pursuant to section 579, the provisions of sections 512(2) 
     and 516 (as in effect immediately before such repeal) shall 
     apply with respect to this section.''.
       (b) Repeal of Contract Renewal Authority Under Section 
     405(a).--Section 405(a) of the Balanced Budget Downpayment 
     Act, I (42 U.S.C. 1437f note; 110 Stat.44-45), is hereby 
     repealed.
       (c) Exemptions From Restructuring.--Section 514(h)(1) of 
     the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act 
     of 1997 (42 U.S.C. 1437 note; 111 Stat. 1396) is amended to 
     read as follows:
       ``(1) the primary financing for the project was provided by 
     a unit of State government or a unit of general local 
     government (or an agency or instrumentality of either) and 
     the primary financing involves mortgage insurance under the 
     National Housing Act, such that implementation of a mortgage 
     restructuring and rental assistance sufficiency plan under 
     this Act would be in conflict with applicable law or 
     agreements governing such financing;''.
       (d) Mandatory Renewal of Project-Based Assistance.--Section 
     515(c)(1) of the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and 
     Affordability Act of 1997 (42 U.S.C. 1437 note; 111 Stat. 
     1397) is amended by inserting ``or'' after the semicolon at 
     the end of subparagraph (B).
       (e) Partial Payments of Claims.--Section 541 of the 
     National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1735f-19) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``1978 or'' and inserting ``1978) or''; and
       (2) by striking ``)))'' and inserting ``))''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Lazio) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio).

[[Page H10702]]

  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 6 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the American Home Ownership 
Act of 1998. Today the House of Representatives completes a triple 
crown in improving housing for America.
  Our first victory for housing was this Congress' passage of 
legislation to help the homeless of America get off the streets and 
into warm, stable homes. Just last week the House and Senate 
overwhelmingly passed the second crown, the Quality Housing and Work 
Responsibility Act, a landmark bill which transforms public housing 
into dynamic neighborhoods where opportunity and hope abounds.
  Mr. Speaker, we have helped the homeless. We have empowered public 
housing residents. Today we will grab that triple crown for American 
housing. We will give more Americans what they need to own their own 
homes. We say it is the American dream, owning your own home. All over 
America, families are working hard and saving their money to make this 
dream a reality.
  For millions of Americans, the price of a home is still unaffordable. 
No matter how much some low income families work and save, quality 
affordable housing remains beyond their reach. Today, we can give those 
families the tools that they need to buy their first homes. We can 
expand homeownership opportunities by giving meaningful mortgage 
assistance, by removing the barriers to affordable housing, and by 
working together with the successful private sector. The American 
Homeownership Act will do all of these things.
  This bill has support from both sides of the aisle, and I want to 
compliment the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy), and I want 
to say a few things later on about the gentleman.
  The Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity reported this 
bill out on a vote of 17 to nothing, and the administration supports 
this bill as well.
  First let me go through the six central provisions of this 
legislation. First we will empower local housing authorities so that 
they can be more flexible and creative. Local authorities will be 
allowed to let their public housing residents apply their monthly 
public housing assistance toward buying their own home.
  We also create a home loan guarantee program so that local 
communities can tap into future home grants by use for better long-term 
affordable housing development. We provide more homeownership 
opportunities by allowing local officials to create needed loan pools 
made up of both private and public funds.
  This bill expands homeownership in a second vital way, by reducing 
the excessive regulations which drastically increase the cost of 
housing production. According to recent estimates, unnecessary 
governmental regulation adds 20 to 35 percent to the cost of a new 
home, placing it beyond the reach of many Americans. That is thousands 
of dollars being used for housing fees, money that could be instead 
used for housing improvement, education or savings.
  We are going to reduce those unnecessary regulatory barriers by 
requiring that all Federal agencies include a housing impact analysis 
with any proposed regulation. I want to thank the gentleman from 
California for his work on this.
  By doing this, local nonprofits and community development groups can 
offer less expensive alternatives and the home buyer will pay less for 
a new home.
  Mr. Speaker, the manufactured housing industry has come a long way 
since this industry first began to fill a gap in our Nation's housing 
needs. Millions of Americans now live in this affordable alternative. 
In fact, one-third of new homeowners in Texas are manufactured housing 
owners, but because HUD has been unable to keep up with changing times, 
the manufactured housing industry operates under outdated and truly 
dangerous standards and codes. We must do something for the families 
living in manufactured housing whose personal safety and security is in 
imminent danger.
  This brings me to the third provision of this bill, which is to 
modernize the way the manufactured housing industry is overseen. 
Ensuring national uniformed standards and codes for the construction of 
manufactured homes will make the families living there feel safe and 
comfortable while still keeping these homes affordable.
  Mr. Speaker, modernizing oversight of the manufactured housing 
industry cannot wait any longer.
  The fourth major provision of the American Homeownership Act will 
give underserved Americans a chance to own their own home. We will take 
homes which HUD has seized through foreclosure and transfer them to 
nonprofit housing organizations which are efficient and community 
minded, and I want to thank the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Watts) and 
the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Talent).
  These nonprofits will then be able to pass these homes on to low 
income families. This program will help many low income urban families 
realize their dream of having their own homes.
  Briefly, Mr. Speaker, a fifth critical provision of this bill, we 
asked the GAO to do a study of the feasibility of requiring pre-
purchase inspections of single family homes which have been financed 
with an FHA loan. We hear these nightmare stories of home buyers 
finding hidden problems only after they have signed the papers and put 
their savings into a home.
  We hope that this study can help us decide whether mandatory 
inspections could protect home buyers, including those who are the most 
vulnerable.
  A sixth provision of the American Homeownership Act will empower 
public/private housing partnerships. In our recently-passed public 
housing reform legislation, we extended the authority for Habitat for 
Humanity. Now we will encourage even more local capacity building by 
self-help housing organizations so that we may have even more 
organizations like Habitat for Humanity in our Nation's communities.
  Let me close, Mr. Speaker, by saying this: The American Homeownership 
Act will be a critical tool in our efforts to empower more Americans, 
especially low income families, to buy their own homes. Homeownership 
is so valuable because it can positively uplift so many lives in our 
communities. Homeowners feel satisfied because they are taking care of 
their families. Homeowners feel financial and personal independence 
because they have a solid asset. Homeowners will take more care in 
improving the safety and upkeep of their neighborhoods because they 
have a stake in the area. Finally, homeowners will contribute to their 
communities since they have gained personal security for their 
families.
  Let me say finally, if I can, to the gentleman from Massachusetts 
(Mr. Kennedy), this may be the last opportunity I have on this floor to 
tell him what a pleasure it has been to work with him. I think this may 
be the last bill that we have been able to work with jointly. He has 
been certainly a credit to the State of Massachusetts, the Commonwealth 
of Massachusetts, his party and the House of Representatives, and I 
wish him well.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3899, the Lazio 
homeownership bill or whatever name he just came up with for this. I 
would have stuck with the original.
  Before I talk about the merits of the bill, I want to express my deep 
appreciation for all the hard work the gentleman from Long Island, New 
York (Mr. Lazio) has put into this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio) and I do not 
agree on a lot of policy issues that come before this chamber but one 
thing we do agree on is the importance of homeownership to the American 
people. Those who seek to climb the ladder of the American dream have a 
real champion in the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio), who believes 
passionately, as I do, in the role of homeownership in lifting working 
families toward some pleasure of prosperity and security.
  I want to return the compliment that the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Lazio) gave and say what a pleasure it has been to work with him over 
the course of these last several years.
  I also want to take a brief moment to express my appreciation and 
support to the ranking democrat on the Committee on Banking and 
Financial Services,

[[Page H10703]]

the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce), who has done yeomen's work 
not just on banking and securities and insurance issues but on housing 
issues as well, and his leadership even on this bill was critical to 
being able to see the legislation come before the House floor this 
morning with the bipartisan support that it has.

                              {time}  1145

  I also want to thank the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Vento), who 
has been such a stalwart supporter of the FHA program and making 
certain that the FHA program survives and is around and is in healthy 
shape as we enter the 21st century.
  This bill also should receive great credit because of the very hard 
work of the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Roemer). There is not anybody 
in this Chamber who has worked harder to make sure that the 
manufactured housing industry's concerns about the lack of adjustments 
by HUD on new rules and regulations that are critically necessary for 
the industry to move forward, there is not anyone who has done a better 
job of bringing those issues forward than the gentleman from Indiana 
(Mr. Roemer). He has done it, despite very, very great odds at certain 
points throughout the last year or so. I hope people understand what a 
tremendous job he has done on this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this bill. It is a bipartisan measure to make 
the dream of homeownership more real for millions of Americans looking 
for a way to provide for their families and their futures. The bill 
authorizes HUD's Home Bank to allow communities to borrow funds against 
the future home receipts to create affordable housing.
  It authorizes HUD's Homeownership Zone Proposal for fiscal 1999, 
creating affordable home opportunities in distressed neighborhoods. The 
bill provides more funding for the Single-family Home Rehabilitation 
Demonstration Program, an innovative strategy to help nonprofits and 
local governments leverage private sector rehab loans to expand 
homeownership opportunities.
  It also expands the FHA low down payment single-family opportunities 
by increasing the FHA loan limit in counties around urban centers and 
increasing the availability of adjustable rate mortgages.
  Mr. Speaker, we have seen in Boston the key to the renaissance of 
older neighborhoods is homeownership. Residents who own a piece of the 
block care more deeply about their neighborhoods and are more likely to 
vote, are more likely to organize block watches and demand an equitable 
share of city services.
  The bill takes important steps towards achieving those goals. At the 
same time, we have seen included in this legislation updates to the 
manufactured housing standards in ways that manage both industry and 
consumer concerns. The most important provision negotiated over the 
last few days gives HUD the ultimate authority over this process. We 
have also taken care of potential problems in the property disposition 
and barriers section of the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, the bill builds on the tremendous record this 
administration has compiled in promoting homeownership opportunities. 
Under President Clinton's leadership, our national homeownership rate 
has hit a record level of over 67 percent. Some 6 million more American 
families now own homes than when President Clinton took office.
  Mr. Speaker, we ought to give credit to the President as well as his 
HUD Secretary, Andrew Cuomo, for these gains. But we also have to 
recognize our role in stimulating the growth of homeownership. And I 
just want to again say that I believe that Secretary Cuomo's leadership 
in reviving FHA and giving people around the country the sense that HUD 
is moving forward into the future with new management techniques, 
downsizing considerably and just using those resources towards 
providing homeownership, is a demonstration of the key leadership role 
he has played. This bill provides for young families even greater 
opportunities and we ought to pass it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
distinguished gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach), the chairman of the 
Committee on Banking and Financial Services. Without his work and 
leadership, we would not be at this point today on any of these housing 
initiatives.
  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Lazio) for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, today we have an opportunity to redemonstrate our 
commitment to giving every American the opportunity to own their own 
home. The American Homeownership Act, fashioned by the able chairman of 
the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Lazio), facilitates homeownership for all Americans, 
including families that would not otherwise be able to afford homes, by 
removing barriers to affordable housing, improving FHA mortgage 
insurance, reauthorizing the home investment partnership program, and 
increasing local homeownership initiatives as well as improving 
manufactured housing. I would like to comment on two specific aspects 
of the bill.
  First, at the State and local level, the creation of the 
Homeownership Investment Partnership program will leverage affordable 
housing through local loan pools and the Home Loan Guarantee program. 
In addition, the bill authorizes Homeownership Zone Grants to serve as 
a catalyst for private investment.
  Second, the bill helps to eliminate excessive regulations that can 
add thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home. All Federal 
agencies were required to include a housing impact analysis with any 
proposed regulations in order to detect any significant negative impact 
on the availability of affordable housing.
  Homeownership is a fundamental aspect of the American dream. It is 
advanced in many ways, from lower interest rates made possible by a 
restrained monetary policy, to more constrained budgets, to direct 
infusions of governmental assistance, to less costly regulation. This 
bill is modest, but it is part and parcel of a comprehensive commitment 
of this Congress to increase homeownership in America.
  In this context, I urge its approval and would particularly like to 
thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce), ranking member of the 
full committee, and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy), 
ranking member of the subcommittee.
  Finally, in this regard I would like to pay particular tribute to the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy), who is retiring, for his 
many contributions to the country through his work in the Committee on 
Banking and Financial Services and for being such a strong advocate of 
consumers and the disadvantaged in our society. His leadership will be 
missed.
  Mr. Speaker, today we have an opportunity to redemonstrate our 
commitment to giving every American the opportunity to own their own 
home. The ``American Homeownership Act of 1998,'' fashioned by the able 
Chairman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, Mr. 
Lazio, facilitates homeownership for all Americans, including families 
that would not otherwise be able to afford homes by removing barriers 
to affordable housing, improving FHA mortgage insurance, reauthorizing 
the HOME Investment Partnership Program, increasing local homeownership 
initiatives and improving manufactured housing.
  I'd like to comment on two specific aspects of this bill.
  First, at the state and local level, the creation of the HOME 
investment partnership program will leverage affordable housing through 
local loan pools and a HOME loan guarantee program. In addition, the 
bill authorizes homeownership zone grants to serve as a catalyst for 
private investment, business creation, and neighborhood revitalization.
  Second, the bill helps to eliminate excessive regulations that add 
thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home. All Federal agencies 
will be required to include a housing impact analysis with any proposed 
regulations in order to detect any significant negative impact on the 
availability of affordable housing.
  Homeownership is a fundamental aspect of the American dream. It is 
advanced in many ways, from lower interest rates made possible by a 
restrained monetary policy and more constrained budgets to direct 
infusions of governmental assistance to less costly regulations. This 
bill is modest, but it is part and parcel of a comprehensive commitment 
of this Congress to increase homeownership in America.

[[Page H10704]]

  In this context I urge approval of H.R. 3899 and again want to thank 
Mr. Lazio for his hard work on this and other housing legislation this 
session, as well as note the contributions of the ranking minority 
Member of the Committee, Mr. LaFalce and the Housing Subcommittee, Mr. 
Kennedy, for their roles in making this such a historic session in 
terms of housing and community development.
  Finally, I'd like to join my colleagues in paying tribute to Mr. 
Kennedy, who is retiring after this session, for his many contributions 
to this country through his work on the Banking Committee, where he has 
been such a committed spokesman for consumers and the disadvantaged in 
our society. His leadership will be missed.
  Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce), the ranking member of the 
committee.
  (Mr. LaFALCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. LaFALCE. Mr. Speaker, I too would like to congratulate the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio), chairman of the subcommittee, and 
the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy), ranking 
member, for the fine work they have done on the American Homeownership 
Act of 1998.
  There were eight titles within the bill. On six of the titles, I had 
no qualms whatsoever because of the cooperative relationship we have 
had in working those difficulties out. I did have reservations, though, 
as of last Friday, on two of the titles, one dealing with manufactured 
housing and one dealing with the Talent-Watts bill.
  I also have some qualms about the fact that we are bypassing the 
committee process, going from subcommittee to the floor, bypassing the 
full ranking committee. However, since it is the end of the session and 
since the bill does so many very good things, I did not think it 
totally inappropriate for us to use this short circuit process, so long 
as some difficulties I had with those two titles could be accommodated.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that over a weekend-long process, we were 
able to accommodate it. With respect to Talent-Watts, I thought there 
were some inconsistencies between the approach that was taken in the 
VA-HUD bill and the approach that is taken in the Talent-Watts bill. 
However, we have been able to include language saying that the 
Secretary of HUD has the power not to implement it if it would increase 
costs to the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, and that has 
adequately satisfied my concerns enough to go forward.
  With respect to the Manufactured Housing Institute section, we have a 
difficulty here. We must proceed much more expeditiously in the future 
than we have in the past, both in articulating and promulgating 
standards and enforcing those standards, and we have not proceeded 
quickly enough. By the same token, I was not too pleased with the 
composition of the consensus committee nor with the right of the 
consensus committee on its own to publish its recommendations in the 
Federal Register.
  We have, therefore, negotiated an amendment that makes it clear that 
it is the prerogative of the Secretary to publish those and he has the 
right also in publishing them to, at the same time, simultaneously put 
down each and every reservation or qualm he might have with those 
consensus committee recommendations.
  Though I do think there are other provisions that still need to be 
worked on before we can enact this into law, finally, I do think that 
we have come very, very far on a very good bill, enough to go forward 
and send this on to the Senate.
  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
distinguished gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter), a member of the 
Committee on Banking and Financial Services.
  (Mr. BEREUTER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this 
legislation. I want to thank our distinguished colleagues, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio) and the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy), the chairman and ranking member of the 
subcommittee, for their great work, as well as that of the gentleman 
from Iowa (Mr. Leach) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce).
  Mr. Speaker, there are four specific provisions among many others 
that I want to commend to my colleagues. First of all, this act has a 
provision which applies a common median one-family housing price to the 
entire metropolitan statistical area (MSA) together with the counties 
contiguous or proximate to such SMA which is equal to the median price 
in the county within the area that has the highest such median price. 
This will cause a very positive change in the non-metropolitan areas' 
housing programs in those counties adjacent to those metropolitan areas 
as well as all areas within the MSA.
  Number two, I am pleased about the Manufactured Housing Improvement 
Act provisions which establish a consensus committee of consumers, 
industry experts, and government officials to advise the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development on safety standards and regulations in 
the enforcement of manufactured homes.
  Three, there is a provision which also creates the Indian Lands Title 
Report Commission to improve the procedures of the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs and the way they conduct title reviews in connection with the 
sale of Indian lands, expecially as it relates to home mortgages. This 
Member has a special interest in making sure this works because of the 
Section 504 Native American Loan Guarantee Program, and I think those 
changes will help solve a current bureaucratic problem that is delaying 
the implementation of the Section 504 program in the home areas of our 
country.
  Fourth and finally, I want to thank the distinguished gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy) for his role in working with me in 
establishing some grant approval of selection standards with respect to 
the Rehabilitation Demonstration Grant program, which is his 
initiative. I think that the criteria we developed together will ensure 
a more equitable use of these funds across the whole country with these 
appropriate standards, and I thank him for his effort to work with me 
on this language.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, I think this is an excellent bill. It needs 
to become law, with its many important provisions. I urge support.
  Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Vento).
  (Mr. VENTO asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in somewhat qualified support. I know 
that some provisions in this have received a lot of work. I think it is 
obvious when we are not going regular order, it makes it very difficult 
to, in fact, try to digest all of the aspects of a measure like this. I 
think there have been hearings on this, but we have not moved this 
through the regular procedure. It is not unusual at the end of a 
session, in fact, Mr. Speaker, to move on measures that have passed the 
House and Senate and are the product of work between them. I guess we 
are sending it to the Senate with the hope that they will accept it, 
this product hasn't passed either Chamber.
  There are some provisions in this bill that are very important, like 
the reauthorization and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, the 
Home Investment Partnership block grant, the HOME funds and other 
reauthorizations of known programs. So, I think that many of us that 
support housing have a lively interest in this bill.
  I remain concerned about the feasibility, of other provisions in this 
bill, and it is my understanding that there have been some 
qualifications put in with regard to drawing on various types of FHA 
funding programs. It was not too many years ago, Mr. Speaker, that 
there was a lot of concern and there were alarm bells going off with 
various reports from the Price Waterhouse accounting firm concerning 
the status of the FHA funds. I know, as a defender of the FHA program 
at that time, that that criticism had a pretty sharp edge, and I think 
we have to be cognizant today of that History as we begin to spread 
those dollars out from within the fund and the reserve to make certain 
that it does fulfill the mission of insurance that it is intended to 
provide in terms of low down payment FHA program.
  There are also some concerns with this bill because many of the 
provisions that are dealt with in this bill,

[[Page H10705]]

especially those dealing with manufactured housing, had raised 
opposition from some of the powerful groups that had long been involved 
with the issues of manufactured housing and have often stood up and 
spoken out for the consumer. And at this time, because of the last-
minute agreement with regards such provisions these advocates have not 
had the opportunity to review those provisions. I hope, obviously, when 
they have that opportunity, they will recognize that while they 
certainly did not get everything they wanted, there is a balance that 
was struck, here that is workable and will safeguard and ensure the 
goals that we all share, and that is to make manufactured housing a 
bigger and better part of meeting homeownership opportunities into the 
future.
  But as we look at those that live in manufactured housing, a lot of 
them are the elderly, a lot are low-income families, so we want to make 
certain that they get the value that is intended in terms of purchasing 
or making a decision with regard to manufactured housing ownership.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in qualified support for H.R. 3899. As a Member 
with long service on the Banking Committee and the Housing 
Subcommittee, I am, of course, highly supportive of efforts to increase 
home ownership opportunities. The Federal government needs to be a 
strong partner by developing and maintaining viable programs that meet 
market place tests and that also serve real consumer and community 
needs. That is why I am a strong supporter of FHA mortgage insurance, 
pre- and post-purchase home ownership counseling, the secondary market 
entities, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, Mortgage Revenue Bonds, and of 
course, the Mortgage Interest Deduction.
  Included in this bill are the reauthorizations other housing programs 
like Neighborhood Housing Services at the Neighborhood Reinvestment 
Corporation, and the Home Investment Partnership Block Grant. I worked 
on restructuring and modernizing Neighborhood Reinvestment several 
years back with my then Colleague, Chalmers Wylie. Twin Cities 
Neighborhood Housing Services are among the most effective 
organizations in the St. Paul-Minneapolis area. They are the embodiment 
of using resources and partnerships to increase homeownership and to 
weave together neighborhood and communities for our futures.
  So there are some important basis to support this bill today. One of 
those reasons should be because the regulation of safety and other 
marketplace changes of manufactured housing has become out-dated. The 
process needs to improved. I have worked with some of my other 
colleagues in the past on trying to get more staffing at HUD to 
accomplish that objective along with other recommendations of the 
Manufactured Housing Commission set up by law several years back. We 
have been close to solving this public policy dilemma, but close only 
counts in horse shoe and hand grenades. This bill attempts to insure 
that the fees will go to help with the staffing expenses.
  I remain concerned, however, especially at this time of year, it is 
important to have as much consensus as possible on policy changes that 
are being sought. In this instance, some changes sought to help update 
the manufactured housing code remain an uneasy agreement finalized 
within the last hours, consequently groups representing consumers: the 
AARP and the Consumer's Union haven't had the opportunity to review 
such modifications. AARP reminds us in a letter, over two million 
persons aged 65 and over live in manufacture homes. Over a third of the 
purchasers of manufactured housing are age 50 and older. Additionally, 
as a long-time participant in the manufactured housing arena, their 
views and position should be given weight and consideration, but given 
the time frame and changes they and we are handicapped in evaluating 
this final product.
  Not going regular order has also left these key players, and likely 
the States who have a role in the regulation and enforcement of 
manufactured housing standards in the dark as to what changes are still 
being made, with little opportunity to voice concerns about proposals 
and how the policy path being forged with affect them. Some of their 
issues, such as the important warranty initiative, have been left by 
the wayside. That is an unfortunate way to make important public policy 
that could affect millions of consumers around this country.
  While there have been some modifications made, up until today, they 
are limited and strained in addressing the concerns regarding the 
composition of the consensus committee and the proper role of the 
Secretary and the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 
setting regulations for safety and for enforcement of those standards. 
However, the new changes to allow a 30 day period by HUD to review, and 
then publish, alter, or not publish proposed regulations with 
explanation for any changes is a step in the right direction. I was 
concerned that this bill would tip the appropriate balance between the 
private and public sectors and ultimately tie the hands of this or a 
future Secretary of HUD, even as it turned the federal regulatory 
process on its head in an unprecedented manner. This change was crucial 
to gaining my support for this bill, despite my strong reservations 
about the process.
  As a supporter of manufactured housing, I do regret that we are in 
this forced position here today with this bill. As this bill will pass, 
I only hope we can work this out going forward so that we will indeed 
achieve a ``win win'' for all--the industry, consumers and the 
regulators--for more modernized manufactured housing federal standards 
that are affordable and safe for consumers and home purchase--the most 
important transaction most families ever make.
  Further, I understand that although the Administration supports the 
objective of H.R. 3899, the official Statement of Administration Policy 
indicates that the Administration has several remaining concerns about 
this bill, including the transfer of ownership of certain FHA multi- 
and single-family properties to community development corporations or 
units of local government, raising the ARM cap to 40% (with an 
increased premium for mortgages over 30%), adding specialized 
analytical requirements to the Federal rule making process, allowing 
PHAs to capitalize Section 8 subsidies for downpayment assistance 
without requirements that families otherwise qualify for a mortgage or 
if may families subsequently default, relaxing the income targeting 
requirements of the HOME program, and authorizing a new HOME loan 
guarantee program that is inconsistent with existing Federal credit 
program standards. I do indeed hope that we can continue to work to 
prefect this legislation, if not in this session then as soon as the 
106th Congress convenes in a regular order process and trust that some 
differences are attributed to the lack of regular order that too often 
prevails at the end of the session
  Finally, there are many provisions in the bill, but I want to commend 
Secretary Cuomo, the Members of Congress, the gentleman from New York 
(Chairman Lazio) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy), 
ranking member, especially, who will be regrettably completing his 
service in the House this year. The gentleman from Massachusetts has 
been a catalyst for change, a voice of the disenfranchised in this 
society for all the years he has served. I wish him well. He has served 
us well, and the people of this Nation.

                              {time}  1200

  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Campbell), who is 
responsible for large sections of this bill. I want to thank him 
publicly for his work on this.
  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. Speaker, no one deserves credit more than the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio), chairman of our subcommittee, not 
only because he knows this field so well and his heart is so strongly 
in the right place, but also because of his tenacity. We would not be 
here today except for him. He deserves the credit.
  I do want to draw attention to the part of the bill that deals with 
lowering barriers that are created by government. This is an unusual 
topic because those of us who serve in government try to think we are 
doing the right thing, with clean heart and pure motives. Sometimes, 
however, we add to

[[Page H10706]]

the cost of affordable housing so much by what we do that the housing 
is no longer affordable. That is true at the State and local level and 
true at the Federal level.
  At the Federal level we can do a little bit more, and what this bill 
does is to provide that whenever a Federal decision is made, such as 
the closing of a military base or siting an interstate or helping to 
build an airport, the federal agency involved must bear in mind that 
there is going to be an effect on affordable housing. And if somebody 
can propose a way of accomplishing the legitimate Federal goal with 
less deleterious effect on affordable housing, then the federal agency 
is obliged to consider that alternative and adopt it. That is in this 
bill, and I think it is an improvement in the Federal regulatory 
system, benefiting public housing.
  We cannot and should not, directly affect the State and local 
governments, but we, in the Federal Government, can and do set aside 
$15 million, not by an increase in taxes to pay for it but from funds 
already in the law, for those State and local units of government that 
undertake steps to make their barriers less.
  A classic example here is a State that will impose a fee on home 
building on the basis of the children that a new housing development 
will put into the school system. A state ought to make that fee less, 
if it is affordable housing, and make it higher, if it is a higher 
priced house. I think that is a fair approach that would accomplish 
both objectives of education and affordable housing.
  We cannot mandate that, but we can reward those States that undertake 
a system like that on their own. And we do that in this bill. I am 
proud to support this bill. I want to repeat thanks to my good friend 
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio), but for whom we would not have 
this bill, or its title I, in which I have invested so much of my time.
  Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes and 30 
seconds to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Roemer), who has done such a 
great job on bringing this bill forward.
  Mr. ROEMER. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Lazio) for his tenacity in getting a bill. I want to thank my good 
friends the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Vento) and the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. LaFalce) for their support in getting more people into 
more affordable homes, and I want to especially point out my thanks and 
gratitude for a member who has decided to go back home, the gentleman 
from Massachusetts (Mr. Joe Kennedy), a friend of mine, somebody who 
has been very gracious to me in my service here in the House, somebody 
whose dad was a hero to me and whose dad once said, when one of us 
prospers, all of us prosper. When one of us falters, so do we all. I 
think his dad is very proud of Joe Kennedy standing up for the homeless 
and the voiceless throughout his career in the House of 
Representatives.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this bill, H.R. 3899, which 
has one goal in mind, to put the dream of homeownership within the 
reach of more Americans. Study after study has shown that homeownership 
strengthens the family unit and contributes greatly to the stability of 
our society. H.R. 3899 will alleviate problems in part by helping more 
people get mortgages through government programs. However, the real key 
to this legislation is the commitment it makes to bolster the 
manufactured housing industry and increase the supply of this vital 
source to affordable housing.
  Manufactured housing is already one of the fastest growing sources of 
housing in America. The industry provides nearly one-third of the 
single family homes sold each year in America. With an average cost of 
about $40,000, manufactured homes provide a real opportunity for first-
time home buyers, young families and senior citizens to realize the 
American dream of owning a home.
  There was a time when manufactured housing consisted primarily of 
trailers and mobile homes. Mr. Speaker, those days are gone.
  With the development of new technology and safety innovations, the 
manufactured housing industry today produces top quality homes which 
are comparable in every respect as site-built homes. Unfortunately, Mr. 
Speaker, and the reason we are here, is the Federal rules governing the 
manufactured housing industry have not kept pace with this technology. 
Indeed, the industry is operating under rules that were put forward in 
1974. Let us bring those rules forward with some badly needed common 
sense and fairness to the HUD code.
  I have participated in many of these talks to bring this bill 
forward. I want to personally thank Secretary Cuomo, who has worked so 
assiduously on this bill, and Bill Apgar for their personal involvement 
and commitment to the drafting of this bill.
  This bill will create a consensus committee to work with HUD to help 
improve the management of the Federal manufactured housing program. 
This bill also seeks to encourage uniform and effective enforcement of 
Federal construction and safety standards for manufactured homes, while 
reserving the regulation of installation standards and enforcement to 
the States.
  Mr. Speaker, I have a large manufactured housing industry in my 
district, and I know that is true throughout the United States. Support 
this good bill to provide more housing opportunities for more 
Americans.
  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert), cochairman of 
the Manufactured Housing Caucus.
  Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the American 
Homeownership Act, and I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. 
McIntosh).
  Mr. McINTOSH. Mr. Speaker, let me first say thanks to the chairman 
for this. This bill is excellent. The chairman deserves a lot of 
commendation for bringing it to the floor, especially with regard to 
manufactured housing.
  Let me ask two questions: Does the preemption language in this bill 
change or alter in any way any existing duty or responsibility of the 
manufacturer with respect to the installation of the home?
  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. CALVERT. I yield to the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, no, this does not change any 
aspect of installation.
  Mr. McINTOSH. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will continue to yield, 
and as I understand it, the law today, under the law today the 
manufacturer's responsibility with respect to the installation of the 
home is determined by State law?
  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Yes, that is correct. It will continue to be 
the case under the provisions of this law.
  Mr. McINTOSH. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this legislation.
  Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, let me first thank the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Lazio), the subcommittee chairman, for his hard work on this 
bill. As cochairman of the House Manufactured Housing Caucus, I can 
assure you of his dedication to improving our Nation's housing supply 
and giving all Americans the chance to own a home.
  Mr. Speaker, two of our Nation's largest social problems are the need 
for greater access to affordable homes and the need to move people away 
from the dependency on subsidized housing. Manufactured housing, the 
fastest growing segment of the housing industry, helps solve these 
problems. The affordability of these homes allows senior citizens, 
young families and single parents to realize the American dream of 
homeownership.
  Congress must help people reach this goal by considering the positive 
impact of manufactured homes when making housing policy. By improving 
the quality, safety and affordability of these homes, the American 
Homeownership Act does just this.
  A yes vote on this bill is a yes vote for seniors, single parents, 
and young home buyers who want a place to call their own. It is a vote 
for the American dream. I urge a yes vote.
  Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton).
  (Mrs. CLAYTON asked and was given permission to revise and extend her 
remarks.)
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I also wanted to compliment the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Lazio) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Kennedy) for bringing this bill and

[[Page H10707]]

their leadership. I also want to say our appreciation on behalf of all 
those who care about housing, care about the poor and for his 
leadership and his service not only to Congress but to this Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3899, the American 
Homeownership Act. Although I know there are provisions that every item 
in there is not picture perfect, but nevertheless this is indeed a big 
step in the right direction if we want to make sure that the American 
people have the opportunity for the American dream, to afford a home of 
their own.
  There are many hard working citizens whose income does not stretch 
far enough to fulfill the dream of homeownership. Despite their 
efforts, their dreams and hopes are shattered. They work as hard as 
other citizens but the cost of homeownership is out of reach. 
Therefore, H.R. 3899 will begin the process of restoring hope to those 
in our society who are not looking for a free ride but are hoping for 
freedom of choice so they may live and have the opportunity to afford a 
decent place.
  Passage of this bill will be a demonstration that hard work is not in 
vain. It also is important to recognize that the American Homeownership 
Act will have a positive impact on future generations of working 
families. Millions of children are witnesses to the hard work performed 
by their parents. Many of these children are living in substandard 
apartments or houses because their working parents have been denied an 
opportunity to own the home that they would hope to have to live in and 
to raise their families.
  Therefore, H.R. 3899 provides many opportunities, many provisions 
that speak to that, not only in terms of the mobile homes or what we 
called manufactured housing. In North Carolina, unfortunately or 
fortunately, we have more manufactured homes. So obviously having 
standards would allow them to have it and the requirement 
opportunities.
  I commend my colleagues to vote for this.
  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. Metcalf), a member of the Committee on 
Banking and Financial Services and also chairman of the Housing Caucus.
  (Mr. METCALF asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. METCALF. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3899.
  H.R. 3899 provides greater opportunities for homeownership by 
increasing the FHA adjustable rate mortgages, the ARMs, while 
protecting the FHA program. The Secretary of HUD will have the 
discretion to increase the number of ARMs to make homeownership a 
reality for more people.
  This is a very popular program, especially when interest rates are 
low. I want to thank my colleague the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Campbell) for his leadership in reducing Federal barriers to 
homeownership. His provisions are included in this legislation.
  For the past 3 years Congress has transferred decisions and 
responsibilities to local communities. This process, however, is not 
simply about giving local communities funds through block grants, it is 
equally important to provide communities the flexibility from Federal 
mandates and regulations. Much of this can be achieved by identifying 
government imposed barriers and their impact on the cost and supply of 
housing.
  Lastly, this legislation creates a consensus committee for developing 
standards in the manufacturing housing industry. Manufactured housing 
is often underutilized, but is a very feasible opportunity for 
increasing homeownership, especially for first time home buyers.
  Today we take a step forward in helping make homeownership a reality 
for more people. I want to thank the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach) 
and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio) for their efforts in 
bringing this legislation to the floor.
  Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Weygand).
  (Mr. WEYGAND asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. WEYGAND. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Joe Kennedy) for his outstanding 
leadership and work on this bill and so many others. He has always been 
there to help those less fortunate and his tenure here in Congress will 
be sorely missed. He has really been a leader in this and I thank him.
  I also want to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio) for 
helping us on a couple of issues that were sticking points and that we 
wanted to work out.
  One of the most important things about this bill is that we are 
trying to increase the amount of homeownership in distressed areas. 
This bill helps do that. Section 8 funding for such things as a down 
payment, allowing the one year of section 8 assistance to go to a down 
payment, is an important part to provide some assistance to people who 
have ownership in distressed areas.
  Another part is the removal of barriers that would preclude many of 
the things that we want to do in these areas being included. The 
gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter) had mentioned that it is so 
important that we push away some of the Federal barriers that presently 
preclude affordable housing from being a true part of our cities and 
towns.
  The other part is something that we came up with in committee. That 
was the horrific stories that we read and heard about with regard to 
housing inspections. So many people came to us in committee and said 
that they wanted homeownership, they went and they worked very hard to 
provide the down payment, finally had their dream home, only to walk 
into that home and find out that it was not habitable.
  We worked and struggled very hard on the issue of inspections to be 
sure that loans, the people that took out loans would have the housing 
that they wanted and would be habitable. The gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Lazio) and I have worked on the issue about housing inspections 
and I know that we are working with HUD on this so that we will have a 
system that does not duplicate the existing requirements that we have 
in place in cities and towns and States but also have a Federal system 
that is reasonable and that does not take away some of the present 
requirements that we have in cities and towns and State government.
  I want to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio) for allowing 
us to have this study and look forward to working with him in the 
future. Lastly, again I would like to thank the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy) for his tremendous leadership on this bill.

                              {time}  1215

  Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I ask the Chair to clarify 
how much time is remaining on the debate.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). The gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy) has 1 minute remaining. The gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Lazio) has 4 minutes remaining.
  Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), one of our leaders 
of our State, the dean of the New York delegation, the chairman of the 
Committee on International Relations.
  (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3899, the 
American Homeownership Act, introduced by the distinguished gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Lazio) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Kennedy), who we will soon miss for his premature retirement. We thank 
him for his good works over the years.
  I commend both gentlemen's efforts in bringing this legislation to 
the floor today to help expand homeownership opportunities for all 
Americans as we approach the next century.
  This bill will allow families to benefit from the availability of 
flexible capital for homeownership and to be able to use Federal 
housing vouchers for the payment of monthly mortgages for a new home 
and will cut through the red tape and regulations that have prevented 
Americans from purchasing homes in the past.

[[Page H10708]]

  This measure also promotes the ability of the private sector to 
produce affordable housing without excessive government regulation.
  Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to support this measure to help all 
American families to pursue the American dream and be able to own their 
own homes.
  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may 
consume to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Roukema), a member of 
the Committee on Banking and Financial Services.
  (Mrs. ROUKEMA asked and was given permission to revise and extend her 
remarks.)
  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this 
legislation. Our colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), 
took the words out of my mouth. This is expanding the American dream 
for millions of Americans. I want to thank the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Lazio) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy).

  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of HR 3899, the American Home 
ownership Act of 1998. I have cosponsored this legislation which enjoys 
wide bipartisan support.
  A good job at a good wage. The ability to raise a family in comfort. 
Sending your children to college so that they make their own way in the 
world. These are major components of the Great American Dream. Integral 
to this dream--owning the roof over your family's head--owning a house 
to call a home.
  My Colleagues, in one of the richest nations on earth, owning your 
own home should be more than just a dream. That is why it is important 
for us to continue to seek ways to make home ownership more affordable 
and more accessible. This legislation takes a significant step forward 
in helping hard-working Americans obtain that dream of owning their own 
home.
  The American Home ownership Act allows families receiving federal 
rental vouchers to use the assistance toward monthly mortgage payments. 
Local housing authorities are given authority to provide residents with 
down payment assistance in lieu of monthly public housing assistance. I 
am particularly pleased to see that this bill does not include 
provisions requiring mandatory FHA home inspections. Instead, it 
includes a GAO study that will investigate the need for mandatory 
inspections.
  In addition, it creates a HOME Loan Guarantee program to allow 
communities to tap into future HOME grants for affordable housing 
development. The Act also provides grant authority for use in ``Home 
ownership Zones''--designed areas where large scale development 
projects are designed to reclaim distressed neighborhoods by creating 
Home ownership opportunities for low and moderate income families.
  By some estimates, unnecessary government regulation adds 20 to 35 
percent to the cost of a new home. For many hard working families, this 
20 to 35 percent represents the difference between owning a house or 
continuing to reside in rental property. This legislation recognizes 
this difficult fact and requires all Federal agencies to include a 
housing impact analysis with any proposed regulation to certify such 
regulation have no significant negative impact on the availability of 
affordable housing.
  Finally, this legislation includes provisions that will promote the 
quality, safety and affordability of manufactured homes by ensuring 
uniform standards and codes for construction across the country.
  I want to commend the Chairman of the Housing Subcommittee, Mr. 
Lazio, for his hard work on this important legislation--I urge my 
colleagues to support this import bill.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield the final minute 
of the debate to the gentleman from Chicago, Illinois (Mr. Davis).
  (Mr. DAVIS of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, let me commend and congratulate 
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio) and the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy), the ranking member, and all of the members 
of the committee for bringing this important legislation to us.
  The American dream, for many, have not been realized because they 
have not been able to experience the ownership of a home. This 
legislation opens up opportunities for individuals to receive mortgage 
assistance, but also for manufactured housing to really come on-line. I 
think it is one of the most important pieces of legislation that we 
have seen and will see.
  I represent a district that has 175,000 people who live at or below 
the poverty level. This will go a long ways, Mr. Speaker, towards 
providing them with opportunities to experience homeownership.
  Again, I commend the chairman, the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Lazio) and certainly the ranking member and say that we are going to 
miss the voice of the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy) as a 
voice for the underrepresented, the dispossessed, and all of those in 
America who are still looking for the American dream. Go with peace.
  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mr. LAZIO of New York asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks and include extraneous material).
  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, in yesterday's New York Times, an 
editorial was published which was entitled ``A Win-Win On Housing.'' It 
was really written about the public housing bill that had been passed 
by the House and the Senate and was on its way to the President for 
signature, but it could well have been written about this bill as well, 
because this is indeed a win-win on housing.
  We have worked closely with the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Kennedy) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce). We have 
incorporated ideas from many people, ranging from the administration.
  I want to particularly salute Bill Apgar, who is the FHA 
Commissioner, for his constructive work with this committee, with the 
gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach), the chairman of the full committee, 
the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. 
Baker), two important members of our committee, and the gentleman from 
New Mexico (Mr. Redmond), who had input and helped draft provisions 
that dealt with native American housing, all of whom were very 
significant in terms of moving this forward.
  I would just say to the Members of this body, if we can think back 
and remember the first time we went to a closing when somebody put the 
keys of our first house in our hand how we felt; that sense of pride, 
that sense of having the satisfaction of knowing that we can provide 
for our family, the peace of mind of knowing that we will not be going 
through a series of unstable housing situations, but in fact we are 
going to have something of our very own, a place where we can put our 
roots down in, a place that we can raise our children in or just 
appreciate and grasp the greatest ambition that we have had.
  This bill I think does that. It will bring that promise of 
homeownership, what has been referred to many times as the dream of 
homeownership for America to countless Americans whose names we will 
never remember or never hear, but people who will have more satisfying 
lives, will have a greater peace of mind, will be able to raise their 
family and provide them the greatest fruits of life because of the 
dream of homeownership.
  It is a uniquely American institution in the sense that we have the 
highest rate of homeownership of any of our industrialized neighbors. 
It is very much a part of the growth of America.
  What we do with this bill is we try to look to creative tools to 
enhance that, especially for low-income Americans to try to get them 
into their first home, to share in the fruit of homeownership. It would 
not have been possible without the cooperation of many people.
  I want to, again, thank the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Kennedy) for his friendship, he is an easy person to get along with, 
for his hard work and for his dedication.
  If I can, I just want to again point to the attention of the House to 
what will be the Joseph P. Kennedy, II Homeownership Rehabilitation 
Demonstration Grant Act, which is the brainchild of the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy), to try to help those people who have their 
own home but struggle to try to find and way to rehab their own place, 
whether it is a new roof or a new boiler. Keep them in those 
neighborhoods. Give them the peace of mind to that there is an outlet 
out there in order to finance these basic needs.
  It is typical of the interest of the gentleman from Massachusetts 
(Mr.

[[Page H10709]]

Kennedy) of low-income Americans that he would have authored that. I 
urge my colleagues to support this important bill.
  The New York times editorial referred to and additional material are 
as follows:

                [From the New York Times, Oct. 13, 1998]

                          A Win-Win on Housing

       Ever since the Republicans took control of Congress, the 
     new majority has struggled with the Clinton Administration 
     over the issue of low-income housing. Last week the two sides 
     came together and passed a measure that blends conservative 
     and liberal concerns. It is a major achievement for both the 
     Administration and Congress.
       Republicans have long wanted to give low-income working 
     people a greater share of subsidized housing, while Democrats 
     wanted to favor the poorest of the poor, who have no 
     resources to obtain shelter at market rates. Both sides and 
     have a point. Housing projects need to include stable 
     families with working adults who can serve as role models for 
     other residents. When homelessness exploded in the 1980's too 
     many apartments in some projects were turned over to 
     extremely indigent families, tipping the community balance.
       But the Republicans' proposed solutions went too far. One 
     particularly bad idea was to change the income mix eligible 
     for rent subsidy vouchers, a program that does not suffer 
     from the same problems as traditional housing projects. 
     Unlike public housing residents, who live in a closed 
     community, people who receive the vouchers are dispersed 
     throughout the private housing market. To the delight of 
     housing advocates, the final bill creates 90,000 much-needed 
     new vouchers and requires that 75 percent go to the poorest 
     of the poor. The bill relaxes some of the income limits for 
     housing project to make room for more of the working poor, 
     although many units must still be reserved for the very poor. 
     In New York City, 40 percent of project residents would have 
     to have incomes at or below $15,000, but other residents 
     would be able to make up to $40,150.
       Other compromises were equally sensible. The Republicans 
     got concessions aimed at rewarding effort, including very 
     modest community service requirements. Democrats got 
     additional controls to make sure that allowing more high-
     income families does not lead to racial or economic 
     segregation. The bill bows to the animal lobby's demand that 
     all public housing residents be allowed to keep animals, but 
     officials in cities like New York, where vicious dogs have 
     long terrorized residents of some large projects, will now 
     apparently be able to impose reasonable restrictions.
       Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo and Representative Rick 
     Lazio of Long Island, the Republican point man on housing 
     issues, have represented two poles in this long struggle. 
     This bill is a win for both men. Mr. Cuomo, and his 
     predecessor Henry Cisneros, have given what was known as the 
     Federal Government's worst-run bureaucracy some credibility 
     with Congress. Mr. Lazio has finally won his long battle to 
     make public housing a bipartisan issue. While some 
     Republicans will always have an ideological objection to 
     Federal housing subsidies, Mr. Lazio has always argued that 
     many others can be brought around, once they are convinced 
     that the system is well run and aimed at encouraging self-
     sufficiency. We believe he is right, and this bill may be a 
     big step in that direction.

         H.R. 3899, THE ``AMERICAN HOMEOWNERSHIP ACT OF 1998''


                      Section-by-Section Analysis

     Section 1. Short Title and Table of Contents.
       States that the act may be cited as the ``American 
     Homeownership Act of 1998.''
     Section 2. Findings and purpose.
       Congressional findings are that expanding homeownership 
     opportunities should be a national priority, that there is an 
     abundance of conventional capital available, and that 
     communities possess ample will and creativity to provide 
     opportunities uniquely designed to assist their citizens to 
     achieve homeownership. Purposes of the act are to encourage 
     homeownership by families not otherwise able to afford 
     homeownership, to promote the ability of the private sector 
     to produce affordable housing without excessive government 
     regulation, to expand homeownership through tax incentives 
     such as the home mortgage-interest deduction, and to 
     facilitate the availability of capital for homeownership 
     opportunities.

           Title I: Removal of Barriers to Affordable Housing

     Section 101. Short title.
       This title may be referred to as the ``Affordable Housing 
     Barrier Removal Act of 1998.''
     Section 102. Housing impact analysis.
       Requires that all proposed federal regulations include a 
     housing impact analysis so that a federal agency can certify 
     that a proposed regulation would have no significant 
     deleterious impact upon housing affordability. If a proposed 
     rule would have a negative impact, then an opportunity is 
     given to groups to offer an alternative that achieves the 
     stated objectives with a less deleterious impact on housing. 
     HUD is directed to create model impact analyses that other 
     agencies can use for these purposes.
     Section 103. Grants for regulatory barrier removal 
         strategies.
       Authorizes $15 million through FY 2003 for grants to 
     States, local governments, and eligible consortia for 
     regulatory barrier removal strategies. This is 
     reauthorization of the same amount under an already existing 
     CDBG setaside (Section 107(a)(1)(H)). Grants provided for 
     these purposes must be used in coordination with the local 
     comprehensive housing affordability strategy (``CHAS'').
     Section 104. Eligibility for community development block 
         grants.
       Requires a jurisdiction as a condition of eligibility under 
     the CDBG program to make a good faith effort to reduce 
     barriers to affordable housing identified in the CHAS 
     submitted by the jurisdiction to HUD, without creating any 
     new private right of action.
     Section 105. Regulatory barriers clearinghouse.
       Creates within HUD's Office of Policy Development and 
     Research a ``Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse'' to collect 
     and disseminate information on, among other things, the 
     prevalence of regulatory barriers and their effects on 
     availability of affordable housing, and successful barrier 
     removal strategies.

         Title II: Homeownership Through FHA Mortgage Insurance

     Section 201. Adjustable rate mortgages.
       Provides the Secretary with discretion, upon submitting to 
     Congress a written findings of unmet demand, to increase the 
     number of adjustable rate mortgages (``ARMs'') the Department 
     insures by an amount not to exceed 40% of the prior year's 
     number of mortgages. The Secretary must report to Congress, 
     prior to taking such action, that such increase shall not 
     adversely affect the actuarial soundness of the FHA fund.]
     Section 202. Housing inspection study.
       Requires a GAO study of the inspection process for FHA 
     properties, comparing or estimating the potential financial 
     losses and savings to the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund 
     between a system that would require a mandatory FHA 
     inspection and the current optional inspection. The study 
     would also review the potential impact of a mandatory FHA 
     system on the homebuying process, particularly including 
     underserved area where FHA losses are the greatest and 
     whether there is a housing quality and/or financial 
     difference in inspected homes and those without inspections. 
     The study would also review the current option practice and 
     report whether consumers understand the availability of 
     independent inspections, financed by FHA and whether their 
     choices for an inspection are affected or pressured by market 
     or economic forces.
     Section 203. Definition of area.
       Provides the Secretary of HUD with discretion to provide 
     that any county or statistical area, together with any 
     counties proximate or contiguous with such area, may be 
     treated as a single area for purposes of determining the FHA 
     limit for such area by using the highest limit within the 
     newly defined area. This allows the Secretary the discretion 
     to rationalize FHA limits in areas where strict adherence to 
     existing metropolitan statistical areas limit homeownership 
     opportunities.
     Sec. 204. Extension of Loan Term for Manufactured Home Lots.
       Extends the loan terms for manufactured home lots financed 
     by insured financial institutions from 15 years, 32 days to 
     20 years, 32 days.
     Sec. 205. Repeal of Requirements for Approval for Insurance 
         Prior to Start of Construction.
       This section would repeal FHA requirements that required 
     newly constructed homes to be insured at a 90% Loan-to-Value 
     ratio unless it was approved before construction or met 
     consumer protection or warranty plans or was completed more 
     that one year before insurance was requested. After 
     enactment, newly constructed homes would be subject to the 
     same requirements as older homes, which would allow higher 
     loan-to-value ratios up to 97%.
     Sec. 206. Rehabilitation Demonstration Grant Program.
       Makes available funding for a rehabilitation grant program 
     established in the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility 
     Act of 1998 (Section 599G), for fiscal year 1999, from funds 
     in the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund in an amount not to 
     exceed $25 million. Renames the legislation establishing the 
     program the ``Joseph P. Kennedy II Homeownership 
     Rehabilitation Demonstration Grant Act.''

               Title III: Section 8 Homeownership Option

     Section 301. Down-payment assistance.
       PHAs are authorized to provide down-payment assistance in 
     the form of a single grant, in lieu of monthly assistance. 
     Such down-payment assistance shall not exceed the total 
     amount of monthly assistance received by the tenant for the 
     first year of assistance. For FY 2000 and thereafter, 
     assistance under this section shall be available to the 
     extent sums are appropriated.

             Title IV: HOME Investment Partnership Program

     Section 401. Reauthorization.
       Reauthorizes the HOME Investment Partnerships Program 
     through FY 2003, at $1.6 billion for FY 99, and thereafter at 
     such sums as appropriated.

[[Page H10710]]

     Section 402. Eligibility of limited equity cooperatives and 
         mutual housing associations.
       Amends HOME to make eligible mutual housing associations 
     and limited equity cooperatives.
     Section 403. Leveraging affordable housing investment through 
         local loan pools.
       Allows HOME funds to be used as leverage in connection with 
     the creation of greater ``loan pools'' (ten times the amount 
     of the HOME funds invested in such a pool) without imposing 
     the HOME income restrictions on the entire pool (i.e. allows 
     ``mixed-income'' pools.)
     Section 404. Loan guarantees.
       Creates a HOME Loan Guarantee program, by adding a 
     provision allowing the Secretary to guarantee (similar to 
     CDBG loan guarantees) the obligations of participating 
     jurisdictions made in connection with affordable housing 
     efforts by pledging as security a participating 
     jurisdiction's future HOME allocations (up to five times the 
     latest allocation).

               Title V: Local Home Ownership Initiatives

     Section 501. Reauthorization of Neighborhood Reinvestment 
         Corporation.
       Reauthorizes the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation at 
     $90 million for FY 99 (including $25 million for a pilot 
     homeownership initiative) and at $90 million thereafter 
     through FY 2003.
     Section 502. Homeownership zones.
       Provides grants for use in ``Homeownership Zones'', which 
     are designated areas in which large scale development 
     projects are designed to reclaim distressed neighborhoods by 
     creating homeownership opportunities for low and moderate 
     income families. Authorizes $25 million in grants for FY 1999 
     through FY 2000, to remain available until expended.
     Sections 503. Lease-to-own.
       Provides for a sense of the Congress that residential 
     tenancies under lease to own provisions can facilitate 
     homeownership by low and moderate income families. Requires 
     the Secretary to provide a report to Congress within 3 months 
     after enactment of the act, analyzing whether lease to own 
     provision can be incorporated within the HOME investment 
     partnerships program, the public housing program, and other 
     federally-assisted housing programs.
     Section 504. Local capacity building.
       Amends Section 4 of Public Law 103-120 (the ``HUD 
     Demonstration Act''), to add the National Association of 
     Housing Partnerships as an intermediary organization eligible 
     for federal grants to develop the capacity and ability of 
     community development corporations and community housing 
     development organizations to undertake community development 
     and affordable housing projects.

               Title VI: Manufactured Housing Improvement

     Section 601. Short Title and references.
       States that this title may be cited as the ``Manufactured 
     Housing Improvement Act.''
     Section 602. Findings and purposes.
       Current law provisions are replaced with a more positive, 
     detailed statement of the original intent of Congress when it 
     enacted the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety 
     Standards Act. Adds a consensus standards development process 
     to the purpose of the Act. Expresses the continuing need to 
     facilitate the availability of affordable manufactured homes 
     as well as the need for objective, performance-based 
     standards and enhanced consumer protection.
     Section 603--Definitions.
       Adds several definitions to Section 603 of current law 
     concerning the consensus committee and the consensus 
     standards development process set forth in Section 604 of 
     this bill. Adds a definition for the monitoring function and 
     related definitions for primary inspection agency and design 
     approval primary inspection agency duties, which had not 
     been previously defined. Consensus committee recommends 
     specific regulations regarding these functions to the 
     Secretary of HUD. The term ``dealer'' has been replaced 
     throughout with the term ``retailer.''
     Section 604. Federal manufactured home construction and 
         safety standards.
       Section 604 of the existing manufactured housing regulation 
     is revised to establish a ``Consensus Committee'' that would 
     submit recommendations to the Secretary of HUD for 
     developing, amending and revising both the Federal 
     Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards and the 
     enforcement regulations. Establishes requirements as to when 
     recommendations made by the Consensus Committee to the 
     Secretary are to be published by the Secretary in the Federal 
     Register for public comment.
       The members of the Consensus Committee will be appointed, 
     subject to approval by the Secretary, by an administering 
     organization, which shall be a recognized, voluntary, private 
     consensus standards body with specific experience in 
     developing model residential building codes. The committee 
     shall be composed of 25 qualified individuals including 
     general interest groups such as academicians, researchers, 
     architects, and homebuilders.
       The revisions to section 604 would also clarify the scope 
     of federal preemption to ensure that disparate state or local 
     requirements do not affect the uniformity and comprehensive 
     nature of the federal standards. At the same time, the bill 
     would reinforce the proposition that installation standards 
     and regulations remain under the exclusive authority of each 
     state.
     Section 605. Abolishment of the National Manufactured Home 
         Advisory Council.
       Section 605 of existing law would be repealed, abolishing 
     the National Manufactured Home Advisory Council, which is 
     replaced by the consensus committee formed under Section 604.
     Section 606. Public information.
       Amends current requirements governing cost information of 
     any new standards submitted by manufacturers to the Secretary 
     by requiring the Secretary to submit such cost information to 
     the consensus committee for evaluation.
     Sec. 607. Research, testing, development, and training.
       Requires HUD Secretary to conduct research, testing, 
     development and training necessary to carry out the purposes 
     of facilitating manufactured housing, including encouraging 
     GSE's to develop and implement secondary market 
     securitization programs for FHA manufactured home loans, and 
     reviewing the programs for FHA manufactured home loans and 
     developing any changes to such programs to promote the 
     affordability of manufactured homes.
     Section 608. Fees.
       Amends current section 620 by allowing the Secretary to use 
     industry label fees for current activities, conducting 
     inspections and monitoring, providing funding to states for 
     administration and implementation of approved state plans 
     under existing section 623, hiring additional program staff, 
     for additional travel funding, funding of a non-career 
     administrator to oversee the program, and for the costs of 
     administration of the consensus committee. Prohibits the use 
     of label fees to fund any activity not expressly authorized 
     by the act, makes expenditure of label fees subject to annual 
     Congressional appropriations review, and eliminates HUD's 
     annual report requirement. Requires HUD to be accountable for 
     any fee increase by requiring notice and comment rulemaking.
     Section 609. Elimination of annual report requirement.
       Eliminates existing annual reporting by the Secretary to 
     Congress on manufactured housing standards.
     Section 610. Effective date.
       Effective date of the legislation is the date of enactment, 
     except that interpretive bulletins or orders published as a 
     proposed rule prior to the date of enactment shall be 
     unaffected.
     Section 611. Savings provision.
       Existing manufactured housing standards are maintained in 
     effect until the effective date of the Federal manufactured 
     home construction and safety standards pursuant to the 
     amendments made by this act.

                Title VII: Indian Housing Homeownership

     Section 701. Indian Lands Title Report Commission.
       Subject to amounts appropriated, creates an Indian Lands 
     Title Report Commission to develop recommended approaches to 
     improving how the Bureau of Indian Affairs conducts title 
     reviews in connection with the sale of Indian lands. Receipt 
     of a certificate from BIA is a prerequisite to any sales 
     transaction on Indian lands, and the current procedure is 
     overly burdensome and presents a regulatory barrier to 
     increasing homeownership on Indian lands.
       The Commission is composed of 12 members with knowledge of 
     Indian land title issues (4 appointed by the President, 4 by 
     the President from recommendations made by the Chairman of 
     the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs 
     Committee, and 4 by President from recommendations made by 
     the Chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Financial 
     Services). Authorized at $500.000.

Title VIII. Transfer of Unoccupied and Substandard HUD-Held Housing to 
       Local Governments and Community Development Corporations.

       Section 801. Amends Section 204 of the VA, HUD and 
     Independent Agencies Act of 1997, which sets forth the 
     authority of the HUD Secretary to engage in property 
     disposition activities. Requires the HUD Secretary to 
     transfer, to the maximum extent practicable, ownership of 
     eligible properties (HUD-owned substandard multifamily, 
     unoccupied multifamily, or unoccupied single-family 
     properties to a unit of local government having jurisdiction 
     for the area where the property is located, or to a community 
     development corporation within such jurisdiction, on certain 
     terms and conditions. Eligible properties do not include any 
     property subject to a specific sale agreement under section 
     204(h) of the National Housing Act, as amended by Section 602 
     of the FY 99 VA, HUD and Independent Agencies Appropriations 
     Act. Requires the HUD Secretary to issue a report within 6 
     months of enactment of the Act identifying any communities 
     designated as ``revitalization communities'' pursuant to 
     section 204(h) of the National Housing Act, as amended. HUD 
     shall be required to implement the provisions of this section 
     to the extent their implementation do not increase the costs 
     to the federal government under existing current HUD 
     disposition programs.
     Sec. 802. Amendment to Revitalization Area Disposition 
         Program.
       Properties eligible for disposition under Section 602 of 
     the FY 99 VA, HUD and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act 
     for

[[Page H10711]]

     which the Secretary determines continued inclusion is 
     inappropriate because of a failure of any prospective 
     purchaser to express an interest in such property, may be 
     eligible for disposition under the program set forth in this 
     Title.
     Sec. 803. Report on Revitalization Zones for HUD-Owned Single 
         Family Properties.
       Requires the Secretary of HUD, no later than 6 months after 
     enactment of this Act, to provide a report to Congress 
     identifying the revitalization areas designated by the 
     Secretary in accordance with the disposition program 
     established under Section 602 of the FY 99 VA, HUD and 
     Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, areas which have 
     requested such designation or which the Secretary is 
     considering designating as such areas, and eligible 
     properties in such revitalization areas for which the 
     Secretary has a reasonable expectation of transferring to 
     other entities.
     Sec. 804. Technical Corrections to Income Targeting 
         Provisions for Project-Based Assistance.
       Makes a technical corrections to public housing reform 
     legislation included in the VA, HUD FY 99 Appropriations Act 
     regarding targeting of Section 8 project-based assistance.
     Sec. 805. Technical Corrections to Title V of the VA, HUD, 
         and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act of 1997.
       Makes certain technical and clarifying corrections to the 
     HUD Section 8 Portfolio Restructuring program established 
     under Title V of the VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies 
     Appropriations Act of 1997.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the American 
Homeownership Act; but first of all, let me commend and congratulate 
Chairman Lazio, Ranking Member Kennedy and all Members of the Committee 
for bringing this important legislation to the floor.
  Home ownership is a real part of the American dream. Unfortunately, 
thousands of low and moderate income citizens have not been able to 
experience the joy and the benefits of home ownership.
  I represent a district where 175,000 people live at or below the 
poverty-level: therefore, for many of them home ownership has not been 
an option.
  This bill provides greatly needed resources and puts manufactured 
housing full square in the mix of housing development, especially in 
low and moderate income communities. Again, I commend and congratulate 
Chairman Lazio and Ranking Member Kennedy. In addition, as Mr. Kennedy 
prepares to leave us, Joe, you have given your voice and your talents 
to the needs of the poor, helpless and hopeless members of our society.
  We're going to miss your voice and your passion and as you leave, go 
in peace.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of 
manufactured housing in America and H.R. 3899, the American 
Homeownership Act of 1998. As the co-chairman of the House Manufactured 
Housing Caucus and as an original cosponsor of H.R. 3634, the 
Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 1998, I am pleased that a 
negotiated version of H.R. 3634 is included in Title VII of H.R. 3899 
that we consider today.
  Manufactured housing is a large and growing component of our efforts 
to address the shortage of affordable housing across North Carolina and 
the nation. The economic impact of the manufactured housing industry in 
North Carolina is remarkable: over 15,000 people are employed by the 
industry in manufacturing facilities and retail operations, providing a 
total economic pact of over $3 billion each year.
  The manufactured housing industry also generates hundreds of good 
paying jobs at about one dozen plants in my district alone, perhaps the 
most of any Congressional District in the country. This industry's 
economic presence is an essential component of many North Carolina 
communities, and makes a big difference in our quality of life.
  The experience of North Carolina mirrors that of communities across 
America. Manufactured housing represents one-third of all new single-
family homes sold in the U.S., and it is the fastest growing segment of 
the housing industry. The manufactured housing industry provides 
quality homes at a price that is within reach of almost every American 
family, about $38,300, without land.
  At a time when home ownership is becoming harder to obtain, when more 
than 5.3 million Americans are paying over 50% of their incomes on 
rent, and when we have a renewed focus on transferring people away from 
dependency on public housing, it just makes sense to support the 
manufactured housing industry.
  However, the industry is being regulated by the Department of Housing 
and Urban Development (HUD) under a 24-year old Federal manufactured 
housing program statute. Manufactured homes have changed tremendously 
during this period and in many cases are virtually indistinguishable 
from other types of homes.
  I am pleased that officials at HUD and the manufactured housing 
industry have negotiated acceptable language in H.R. 3899 that will 
help revitalize the federal manufactured housing industry program at 
HUD, address impediments to growth of this vital industry, and help 
achieve our national priority of increasing home ownership 
opportunities for many more Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3899, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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