[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 78 (Thursday, June 7, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1053]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         RESERVIST VA HOME LOAN FAIRNESS ACT OF 2001, H.R. 2095

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                            HON. LANE EVANS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 7, 2001

  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing The Reservist VA Home 
Loan Fairness Act of 2001. It is always appropriate for America to 
recognize the indispensable contribution the members of the Reserve 
Components make to this nation's total military force. By supporting 
The Reservist VA Home Loan Fairness Act of 2001, Congress will do more 
than simply state that ``Reservists are full-partners in the Total 
Force''--Congress will recognize the contributions of Reservists in a 
tangible way by granting them access to VA home loans on the same 
footing and at the same funding fee schedule as active duty veterans. 
This is a basic fairness issue.
  Since the Gulf War, America has called upon the Guard and Reserves at 
an ever-increasing rate. In the last five years, the utilization tempo 
of Reserve Component members has increased 13-fold from the tempo they 
maintained during the last five years of the 1980s. When called to 
duty, members of the Guard and Reserves leave home, family and job to 
enter harm's way. They are indistinguishable from their active duty 
counterparts in Bosnia, Korea, or in South West Asia. Yet, should these 
veterans apply for a VA Home Loan Guarantee, they are told that they 
must pay an additional three-quarters of one percent for the VA's 
Reservist-rate Funding Fee. They are the only group required to bear 
this added financial burden for VA Home Loans. Perhaps this is one 
reason that less than four percent of all home loans in FY 2000 were 
provided to Reservists. This disparity must end. The Guard and Reserves 
are full partners in America's Total Force.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to 
support the Reservist VA Home Loan Fairness Act of 2001. The cost in 
dollars is small, but the message you will send is large and powerful.

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