[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 75 (Tuesday, May 20, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H4275-H4277]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SELECTED RESERVE HOME LOAN EQUITY ACT

  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1257) to amend title 38, United States Code, to make 
permanent the authority for qualifying members of the Selected Reserve 
to have access to home loans guaranteed by the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs and to provide for uniformity in fees charged qualifying 
members of the Selected Reserve and active duty veterans for such home 
loans.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 1257

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Selected Reserve Home Loan 
     Equity Act''.

     SEC. 2. PERMANENT AUTHORITY FOR HOUSING LOANS FOR MEMBERS OF 
                   THE SELECTED RESERVE.

       Section 3702(a)(2)(E) of title 38, United States Code, is 
     amended by striking ``and ending on September 30, 2009,''.

     SEC. 3. UNIFORM HOME LOAN GUARANTY FEES FOR QUALIFYING 
                   MEMBERS OF THE SELECTED RESERVE AND ACTIVE DUTY 
                   VETERANS.

       (a) In General.--Paragraph (2) of section 3729(b) of title 
     38, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
       ``(2) The loan fee table referred to in paragraph (1) is as 
     follows:

                            ``LOAN FEE TABLE
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Type of loan                   Veteran        Other obligor
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(A)(i) Initial loan described in                 2.00                NA
 section 3710(a) to purchase or
 construct a dwelling with 0-down,
 or any other initial loan described
 in section 3710(a) other than with
 5-down or 10-down (closed before
 October 1, 2011)...................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(A)(ii) Initial loan described in                1.25                NA
 section 3710(a) to purchase or
 construct a dwelling with 0-down,
 or any other initial loan described
 in section 3710(a) other than with
 5-down or 10-down (closed on or
 after October 1, 2011).............
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(B)(i) Subsequent loan described in              3.30                NA
 section 3710(a) to purchase or
 construct a dwelling with 0-down,
 or any other subsequent loan
 described in section 3710(a)
 (closed before October 1, 2011)....
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(B)(ii) Subsequent loan described in             2.15                NA
 section 3710(a) to purchase or
 construct a dwelling with 0-down,
 or any other subsequent loan
 described in section 3710(a)
 (closed on or after October 1, 2011
 and before October 1, 2013)........
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(B)(iii) Subsequent loan described               1.25                NA
 in section 3710(a) to purchase or
 construct a dwelling with 0-down,
 or any other subsequent loan
 described in section 3710(a)
 (closed on or after October 1,
 2013)..............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(C)(i) Loan described in section                 1.50                NA
 3710(a) to purchase or construct a
 dwelling with 5-down (closed before
 October 1, 2011)...................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(C)(ii) Loan described in section                0.75                NA
 3710(a) to purchase or construct a
 dwelling with 5-down (closed on or
 after October 1, 2011).............
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(D)(i) Initial loan described in                 1.25                NA
 section 3710(a) to purchase or
 construct a dwelling with 10-down
 (closed before October 1, 2011)....
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(D)(ii) Initial loan described in                0.50                NA
 section 3710(a) to purchase or
 construct a dwelling with 10-down
 (closed on or after October 1,
 2011)..............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(E) Interest rate reduction                      0.50                NA
 refinancing loan...................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(F) Direct loan under section 3711..             1.00                NA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(G) Manufactured home loan under                 1.00                NA
 section 3712 (other than an
 interest rate reduction refinancing
 loan)..............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(H) Loan to Native American veteran              1.25                NA
 under section 3762 (other than an
 interest rate reduction refinancing
 loan)..............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(I) Loan assumption under section                0.50              0.50
 3714...............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(J) Loan under section 3733(a)......             2.25           2.25''.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

       (b) Conforming Amendments.--(1) Paragraph (4)(A) of such 
     section is amended to read as follows:
       ``(A) The term `veteran' means any veteran eligible for the 
     benefits of this chapter.''.
       (2) Paragraph (4) of such section is amended by striking 
     subparagraph (B) and redesignating subparagraphs (C), (D), 
     (E), (F), (G), (H), and (I) as subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), 
     (E), (F), (G), and (H), respectively.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Arkansas (Mr. Boozman) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman).
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

[[Page H4276]]

  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the House is considering today H.R. 
1257, the Selected Reserve Home Loan Equity Act.
  This legislation would save more than $50 million over 10 years and 
is similar to a bill the House passed in the 107th Congress, H.R. 2095. 
This measure makes the VA home loan program for members of the Selected 
Reserve permanent and reduces the funding fee charged to the Selected 
Reserve home loan applications to the same amount as that paid by 
active duty servicemembers.
  Under current law, the reservists may participate in VA's home loan 
program through 2009. In the past decade, however, reservists have been 
increasingly called upon to participate on active duty for extended 
periods to support the national defense. Indeed, members of the 
Selected Reserve have become an integral part of America's total force, 
and they should be afforded the same home loan benefit as active duty 
veterans.
  The CBO estimates that VA will guarantee 9,000 additional loans a 
year between 2010 and 2013 due to this legislation. Additionally, H.R. 
1257 will provide uniformity in the funding fees charged to members of 
the Selected Reserve and active duty veterans for VA home loans. Today 
in most cases a reservist pays three-quarters of a percent higher 
funding fee than that charged active duty veterans.
  This policy exists despite data indicating that the foreclosure rates 
for members of the Selected Reserve have been almost one-third lower 
than that of other veterans. Again, Mr. Speaker, with our country 
relying more and more on reservists, they certainly deserve equality in 
fees with other veterans.
  Finally, this bill would affect the home loan guarantee fees for 
veterans qualifying for second or subsequent home loans with no 
downpayment. The fees for veterans who obtain a subsequent VA home loan 
would be raised from 3 percent to 3.3 percent for loans closed before 
October 1, 2011, and then reduced to 2.15 percent for loans closed 
between October 1, 2011, and September 30, 2013. CBO estimates that the 
bill would save $4 million in 2004, $4 million over 5 years, and $51 
million over 10 years.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill was unanimously recommended by our committee. 
I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans) for his work in 
introducing this measure, as well as the chairman and ranking member of 
the Subcommittee on Benefits, the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. 
Brown) and the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Michaud), for considering this 
bill in a timely fashion.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Chairman Smith), 
the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Brown), and the ranking member, 
the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Michaud), for their work in bringing H.R. 
1257 to the floor. I support this bill because I believe the men and 
women who are defending this Nation by their service in Selected 
Reserve should be eligible to obtain a home loan from the Department of 
Veterans Affairs.
  Under the current program, the home loan program for the Selected 
Reserve will expire on September 30, 2009. Since reservists may serve 
for a minimum of 6 years in order to qualify for this benefit, it is 
important for Congress to act this year to continue that program.
  I believe this is a program that should be made permanent. I believe 
also that reservists should be charged with the same fee for a home 
loan as any other veteran. The bill does this. In order to pay for the 
costs of the bill, the measure contains a slight increase in the fees 
paid by veterans to use the home loan program a second or additional 
time without paying any downpayment.
  This fee should not be needed; but I recognize that under our current 
budgetary restraints, it is a necessary part of the bill. Today's 
members of the Selected Reserve who are fighting for freedom around the 
world deserve to have a home when they come home. I urge all Members to 
support this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Simmons).
  Mr. SIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and the ranking 
member for introducing the Selected Reserve Home Equity Loan Act. I 
have served as a reservist in the U.S. Army for over 30 years, and I 
feel that this is an extraordinarily helpful piece of legislation for 
our reservists that will help hundreds of my colleagues in the Reserve 
in Connecticut, and literally thousands if not tens of thousands of 
reservists across the Nation, many of whom are deployed, on active 
duty, called up on active duty even as we speak here today.
  By giving these reservists the opportunity to count on a guaranteed 
and ensured home loan through the Department of Veterans Affairs, this 
program promises them the American Dream of owning their own home. What 
better message for this body and this Nation to send to its deployed 
reservists than the message that when you come home we wish to extend 
to you the opportunity of taking a loan and buying a home.
  We have come to appreciate the role of the reservists in our national 
security and in our military now more than ever. When I first joined 
the Reserves in 1970 after coming off of active duty service in 
Vietnam, it was rare for a reserve unit to be activated and deployed. 
In fact, from 1970 to 1990, my military unit was not activated and 
deployed for any purpose. But in the early 1990s, the deployments 
began, and members of the unit and finally the unit itself were 
activated and deployed on a number of occasions. And, in fact, my 
former unit is currently on active duty as we speak today, and all of 
its members have been called to active duty and deployed.
  This changing role of the U.S. Reserves makes it all the more 
appropriate that legislation of this sort be crafted to extend these 
benefits to them. I thank my colleague and ranking member of the 
Committee on Veterans Affairs for his vision in seeing the importance 
of this legislation. I also thank my colleague, the gentleman from 
Arkansas (Mr. Boozman), for his work on this important piece of 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1911, to enhance cooperation 
and the sharing of resources between the Department of Veterans Affairs 
and the Department of Defense.
  H.R. 1911 was originally introduced by the gentleman from Arkansas, 
Mr. Boozman.
  As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health for the Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs and a member of the Armed Services Committee, I have 
observed firsthand the need for enhanced sharing initiatives between 
the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense. My 
experience on these two committees has given me a vision of the 
opportunities afforded by an effective pooling of VA and DOD 
resources--I was drawn to Mr. Boozman's bill for this very reason.
  The new mandate envisioned by this bill would lead to better services 
for active military servicemembers, reservists, dependents and veterans 
alike. This could be accomplished by elevating programs and areas of 
mutual interest of the Departments--such as the Montgomery GI Bill; 
VA's home loan guaranty program; various memorial affairs activities; 
general administrative and management systems; common information 
technology, records keeping and systems of records; and capital 
infrastructure, among many other possibilities.
  This legislation would be of great benefit in seeking to bridge the 
divide between these two Departments and doing so in the interests of 
America, our active soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, dependents, 
veterans and the American people. Passage of this bill would have the 
additional benefit of conserving taxpayer funds, cutting down on 
administrative and bureaucratic waste and promoting better services to 
current and future veterans of our armed services.
  I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Maine 
(Mr. Michaud).
  Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time.
  I rise in strong support of H.R. 1257, the Selected Reserve Home Loan 
Equity Act, and I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Smith) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans) for their leadership 
on this issue. H.R. 1257 would make the home loan program for members 
of the Selected Reserve permanent.

[[Page H4277]]

                              {time}  1130

  Currently the program is scheduled to expire as of September 30, 
2009.
  In 1992, the Congress granted eligibility for VA home loans to 
persons who served in the Selected Reserve, including the National 
Guard. This benefit is a useful recruiting and retention tool. Mr. 
Speaker, this legislation would also equalize the fees charged to 
members of the Selected Reserve and active-duty veterans for VA home 
loans. Currently, qualifying members of the Selected Reserve are 
charged a higher funding fee than other veterans. According to VA, 
members of the Selected Reserve have a lower foreclosure rate than 
other loan guarantee beneficiaries. This higher rate is not justified.
  Mr. Speaker, in recent years our Guard and Reserves have been 
increasingly called upon to participate on active duty for lengthy 
periods of time. As the recent military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq 
clearly demonstrate, the Selected Reserve is an integral part of 
America's total force. Clearly, reservists have earned the right to 
receive equal lower fees with other veterans.
  I am proud to be an original cosponsor of H.R. 1257. This legislation 
will assist the many members of the Guard and Reserves living in my 
home State of Maine. I fully support H.R. 1257 and urge my colleagues 
to pass this measure.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on 
Veterans Affairs.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend for 
yielding time. I will not take the 5 minutes because this bill has been 
very adequately explained by my good friend and colleague, the 
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman), and, of course, the author of 
the bill, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans), our ranking member 
and a very close partner on all veterans issues. I want to commend him 
for this legislation. At a time when there is some partisanship when it 
comes to veterans issues, as I just made very clear at a press briefing 
that we had, the gentleman from Illinois and several members of the 
committee have always gone out of their way to keep the committee as 
nonpartisan as humanly possible. We do work in a very cooperative way. 
The bill under consideration really builds on the whole total-force 
concept that whether you be Selected Reserve or active Army or active 
military, we should not permit any distinction when it comes to home 
loan fees. This is a very important piece of legislation. I am very 
proud to be supporting it. I congratulate the gentleman from Illinois 
on his authorship of this fine bill.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 
1257, the ``Selected Reserve Home Loan Equity Act.''
  H.R. 1257 amends Title 38 of the United States Code, ``to make 
permanent the authority for qualifying members of the Selected Reserve 
to have access to home loans guaranteed by the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs and to provide for uniformity in fees charged qualifying 
members of the Selected Reserve and active duty veterans for such home 
loans.''
  I support H.R. 1257 because it is a way for this body to thank our 
Select Reservists the same way we thank the brave veteran men and women 
who have served their country so valiantly. The Department of Veterans 
Affairs provides our active and inactive military personnel with 
various services and benefits. One of the benefits provided is 
guaranteed home loans at reasonable fees.
  Presently, members of the Selected Reserves are eligible for 
Department of Veterans Affairs loans. However, the current program is 
scheduled to expire at the end of fiscal year 2009. Moreover, Selected 
Reservists pay a higher fee on guaranteed home loans than do active 
duty veterans. H.R. 1257 grants Selected Reservists permanent access to 
guaranteed home loans just as like veterans. Selected Reservist will 
also be eligible for the same fee structure as veterans.
  Our Selected Reservists are an important part of our exemplary 
military, and are integral to protecting our homeland and bringing 
peace throughout the world. Providing our military personnel, including 
members of the Selected Reserve with access to economically beneficial 
programs like guaranteed loans is one small way to thank them for their 
service.
  Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 1257, and I urge my colleagues to do the 
same.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the 
Selected Reserve Home Loan Equity Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Terry). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1257.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________