[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 21, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H2769-H2772]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HAWAIIAN HOMEOWNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 2007

  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 835) to reauthorize the programs of the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development for housing assistance for Native 
Hawaiians.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 835

       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 ``Hawaiian Homeownership 
     Opportunity Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR HOUSING 
                   ASSISTANCE.

       Section 824 of the Native American Housing Assistance and 
     Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4243), as added by 
     section 513 of Public Law 106-569 (114 Stat. 2969), is 
     amended by striking ``fiscal years'' and all that follows and 
     inserting the following: ``fiscal years 2008, 2009, 2010, 
     2011 and 2012.''.

     SEC. 3. LOAN GUARANTEES FOR NATIVE HAWAIIAN HOUSING.

       Section 184A of the Housing and Community Development Act 
     of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 1715z-13b), as added by section 514 of 
     Public Law 106-569 (114 Stat. 2989), is amended as follows:
       (1) Authorization of appropriations.--In subsection (j)(7), 
     by striking ``fiscal years'' and all that follows and 
     inserting the following: ``fiscal years 2008, 2009, 2010, 
     2011 and 2012.''.
       (2) Authority.--In subsection (b), by striking ``or as a 
     result of a lack of access to private financial markets''.
       (3) Eligible housing.--In subsection (c), by striking 
     paragraph (2) and inserting the following new paragraph:
       ``(2) Eligible housing.--The loan will be used to 
     construct, acquire, refinance, or rehabilitate 1- to 4-family 
     dwellings that are standard housing and are located on 
     Hawaiian Home Lands.''.

[[Page H2770]]

     SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY OF DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS FOR 
                   TITLE VI LOAN GUARANTEES.

       Title VI of the Native American Housing Assistance and 
     Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4191 et seq.) is 
     amended as follows:
       (1) Heading.--In the heading for the title, by inserting 
     ``AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN'' after ``TRIBAL''.
       (2) Authority and requirements.--In section 601 (25 U.S.C. 
     4191)----
       (A) in subsection (a)--
       (i) by inserting ``or by the Department of Hawaiian Home 
     Lands,'' after ``tribal approval,''; and
       (ii) by inserting ``or 810, as applicable,'' after 
     ``section 202'' ; and
       (B) in subsection (c), by inserting ``or VIII, as 
     applicable'' before the period at the end.
       (3) Security and repayment.--In section 602 (25 U.S.C. 
     4192)--
       (A) in subsection (a)--
       (i) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ``or 
     housing entity'' and inserting ``, housing entity, or 
     Department of Hawaiian Home Lands''; and
       (ii) in paragraph (3)--

       (I) by inserting ``or Department'' after ``tribe'';
       (II) by inserting ``or VIII, as applicable,'' after ``title 
     I''; and
       (III) by inserting ``or 811(b), as applicable'' before the 
     semicolon; and

       (B) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ``or housing entity'' 
     and inserting ``, housing entity, or the Department of 
     Hawaiian Home Lands''.
       (4) Payment of interest.--In the first sentence of section 
     603 (25 U.S.C. 4193), by striking ``or housing entity'' and 
     inserting ``, housing entity, or the Department of Hawaiian 
     Home Lands''.
       (5) Authorization of appropriations for credit subsidy.--In 
     section 605(b) (25 U.S.C. 4195(b)), by striking ``1997 
     through 2007'' and inserting ``2008 through 2012''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Waters) and the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Renzi) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.


                             General Leave

  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on 
this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute to introduce the 
real author of this legislation, a gentleman who has worked very, very 
hard on the Hawaiian Homeownership Opportunity Act of 2007, an 
extremely important bill that will provide housing for Native Hawaiians 
who have been without decent, safe and secure housing for far too long. 
I commend the gentleman for all of the work that he has put into this 
act.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Abercrombie) 
such time as he may consume.
  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, I am hoping that some of the 
misconceptions or misperceptions that might be out there can be 
alleviated, because I don't believe that this should be considered a 
controversial bill in any way. There are some issues with respect to 
questions about favoritism or reverse discrimination, et cetera. Some 
of these issues have been raised in other contexts.
  But in this particular instance, simply because the word or the 
phrase Native Hawaiian is attached, I hope that it doesn't confuse the 
issue. I have just had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Boehner, and I 
believe that we have an understanding about what is at stake here.
  Let me make very, very clear what we are talking about. It 
reauthorizes a Native Hawaiian housing block grant through 2012. Now, 
these funds are used for infrastructure development and homeownership 
assistance under a program that is administered by the State of Hawaii 
as the result of Federal legislation in the last century. The bill that 
is on the floor today did not originate with Representative Hirono or 
myself, but is as a result of the request of the Hawaiian Homes 
Commission and its chairman, under the leadership of Governor Lingle, 
Governor Linda Lingle, who is a Republican.
  The reason I bring that up is not to cite that for special 
consideration, but rather that this is not a Democrat and Republican 
issue. This is an institutional issue that whoever is Governor, and 
whoever are the commissioners, in this instance happen to be 
Republican, appointed by a Republican Governor. Those folks are 
obligated institutionally to bring these issues to the Congress for 
final adjudication because of the unique status, the unique legal 
status of the Hawaiian Home Lands.
  The Hawaiian Home Lands were created by the Congress as a result of 
legislation put forward by the original delegate from the Hawaiian 
Islands to the Congress, Prince Kuhio, Prince Jonah Kuhio 
Kalaniana'ole, for whom the Federal building is named where I have my 
offices in Honolulu, the PJKK. Mr. Renzi may refer to the PJKK Federal 
Building. He was a Republican at the time, and as a result of his 
presentation, the original Hawaiian Home Lands were created.
  It enables Hawaiian families on Hawaiian Home Lands under this unique 
legal status to be able to acquire private financing they otherwise 
can't get because they are under this legal admonition to go through 
the Hawaiian Homes Commission. So it allows the Hawaiian Home Lands, 
the Department, to be eligible for loan guarantees to borrow, issue 
bonded debt, enabling servicing up to five times their annual 
allocation.
  This allows the Department to service low-income families without a 
large increase in Federal appropriations. That's the whole idea of it. 
It allows low-income Hawaiians to get their refinancing in addition to 
construction. It reduces the cost of homeownership, and it reduced risk 
by lowering monthly mortgage payments. That is what this is about. It's 
no special consideration. It is fulfilling the law as it exists.
  Mr. RENZI. Thank you very much. I want to thank the gentleman from 
Hawaii and your colleagues for your leadership on this issue and your 
camaraderie in helping all Native Americans pushing forward in 
homeownership.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 835, the Hawaiian 
Homeownership Opportunity Act of 2007. This bill is a reauthorization 
of title 8 of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-
Determination Act commonly known as the NAHASDA. It's administered by 
the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and this provides native low-
income families the opportunity for homeownership on Hawaiian Home 
Lands.
  The Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act was 
passed in 1996. It reauthorized a system of housing assistance provided 
to tribes throughout the Department of Housing and Urban Development by 
creating the Indian Housing Block Grant program, which provides funds 
directly to tribes for housing services as determined by the tribes 
themselves.
  In 2000, the NAHASDA was amended to include title 8 so that Native 
Hawaiians could receive block grant funding as well through a separate 
grant, the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant, which funds vital 
housing programs only on Hawaiian Home Lands through the Department of 
Hawaiian Home Lands, a Federal agency established by Congress in 1921 
to administer trust land in Hawaii.
  Title 8 funding has allowed the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to 
target assistance at families at or below 80 percent of the median 
income. This funding is used for such assistance as infrastructure 
development, as my colleague Mr. Abercrombie talked about, Habitat for 
Humanity in Hawaii, down payment assistance programs, self-help home 
repair programs and financial literacy programs.

                              {time}  1500

  Title 8 of the NAHASDA was originally authorized for 5 years through 
2005, and has not been formally reauthorized since. Although 
appropriation acts have continued to provide de facto 1-year 
authorizations for this program, this bill will reauthorize the program 
through fiscal year 2012.
  In addition to reauthorization, the bill makes two changes to 
existing law. First, it makes the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands 
eligible for loan guarantees authorized under title 6 in the NAHASDA. 
Giving the Department title 6 assets would allow the Department to help 
more low-income families become homeowners, without a large increase in 
Federal appropriations, by partnering with private markets.
  Second, this legislation allows Native Hawaiians the use of HUD 
section 184(a) guaranteed loans for refinancing in addition to 
construction. Adding the

[[Page H2771]]

refinancing authority reduces the cost of homeownership for low-income 
families and can also reduce risk by lowering monthly mortgage 
payments.
  Congress must continue to embrace initiatives such as the one we are 
currently considering that encourages Americans to own a home.
  Again, I would like to thank Mr. Abercrombie and his colleagues from 
Hawaii, and I thank Chairman Waters on our subcommittee.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Hawaii (Ms. 
Hirono) 5 minutes.
  Ms. HIRONO. I thank the gentlewoman from California for yielding 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 835, the Hawaiian 
Homeownership Opportunity Act, which reauthorizes the Hawaiian Home 
Lands Homeownership Act of 2000. The act assists the State of Hawaii's 
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, or DHHL, to provide opportunities 
for homeownership for low-income Native Hawaiians.
  In 1921, Congress passed the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act with the 
purpose of establishing a homesteading program to place eligible Native 
Hawaiians on lands in Hawaii designated for such purpose. The law was 
passed at the urging of the Territory of Hawaii's Delegate to Congress, 
Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole. Some 200,000 acres were set aside for 
the purpose of providing Native Hawaiians with land.
  With the passage of the Statehood Act of 1959, the control and 
administration of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act was transferred to 
the newly formed State of Hawaii. The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands 
was created in 1960 to administer the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act. 
The mission of the Department is to ``manage the Hawaiian Home Lands 
trust effectively and to develop and deliver land to Native 
Hawaiians.''
  Despite the good intentions of the Congress, progress of meeting the 
goal of delivering land to Native Hawaiians was slow. Most of the 
Hawaiian Home Lands were located in areas far from jobs, and 
infrastructure such as roads and utilities were nonexistent. Many 
individuals were on waiting lists for more than 30 years.
  The Hawaiian Home Lands Home Ownership Act of 2000 has provided the 
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands with much-needed resources to expand 
opportunities for home ownership among low-income Native Hawaiians. 
Especially critical has been the ability to use these funds to develop 
the infrastructure that makes placing homes on these properties 
possible.
  I urge my colleagues to support reauthorization of this important 
program, and I thank the Chairs, Barney Frank and Maxine Waters, for 
their leadership in bringing this bill to a vote.
  Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. WATERS. I yield 5 minutes to Mr. Faleomavaega.
  (Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from 
California and my good friend the gentleman from Arizona for their 
management of this important legislation, especially for the needs of 
our Native Hawaiian people.
  This bill is simply to reauthorize this program to provide for the 
housing needs of our Native Hawaiian community in Hawaii, this bill, 
since its first authorization started in 1996. I do want to thank my 
good friend, the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Abercrombie), and my 
colleague Ms. Hirono for their leadership in bringing this legislation 
forward.
  Unbeknownst to many of our colleagues here in the House, and 
especially also in the Senate, I might say, there are approximately 
400,000 Native Hawaiians living in our country today. They are the 
largest indigenous group among our fellow Americans who live in this 
country. And I want to say that, as someone who has lived with the 
Native Hawaiian people in the State of Hawaii in my youth, I can 
testify and say personally that this program definitely is of 
tremendous need to meet the housing needs of our Native Hawaiian 
people.
  I can also share with my colleagues, despite all the advertisements 
and the beautiful islands that we see on television and the ads that we 
see, and the islands are beautiful, I must say, but there is also 
another part of the State that I would like to share with my colleagues 
that the tremendous needs of the Native Hawaiians is exactly the same 
as the situation with the Native American community. They are the worst 
when it comes to their health needs. All the social and economic 
problems that we are faced with for our Native American community is 
exactly the situation that we are faced with our Native Hawaiian 
people.
  Unbeknownst to our colleagues again, if I might add, Mr. Speaker, the 
people of Hawaii indigenous to the State of Hawaii, many of the people 
of our country do not know that there was a sovereign and independent 
nation of Hawaii that was ruled by a series of kings which started from 
the great King Kamehameha. From 1800, for some 19 years, he ruled his 
people, and on to the legacy of the King Kamehameha and his dynasty, 
which he founded for about 100 years before U.S. Marines of our 
government illegally and unlawfully took over that sovereign government 
that was ruled by that time by Queen Lili'uokalani.
  I want to share that bit of history with my colleagues, and 
especially and I sincerely hope that they will understand and 
appreciate the fact that the Native Hawaiian community does definitely 
need this program, and I urge my colleagues to please support this 
legislation.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. 
Abercrombie), the author of this legislation, 4 minutes.
  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, what remains for me is to express my 
gratitude to Mr. Renzi and also to Mr. Kildee and the Native American 
Caucus for helping all of us to understand what the issues are here. 
And also, I want to reiterate my thanks to Mr. Boehner for his open-
mindedness and his attitude of being willing to listen on issues that 
might otherwise have been easily misunderstood. I am grateful also to 
Mr. Cole of Oklahoma for his participation and for his leadership in 
again helping us to discern issues that are of distinct advantage, not 
just to our particular constituents in Hawaii, but on the whole issue 
of how we are able to help people achieve homeownership, achieve an 
opportunity not to be dependent on government, but rather to be able to 
participate in the American Dream, the overall American Dream in a way 
that has genuine meaning for them and their families.
  I am very pleased to see that this has not become a partisan issue, 
and that it has not ended up dividing us when we should, in fact, be 
united in our opportunity to minimize the effect of government having 
bad consequences for people, and maximizing the opportunity for the 
ordinary individual and the ordinary individual's family to be able to 
advance the family's cause.
  In this particular instance then, Mr. Speaker, I am very, very 
pleased that we are able to move forward on this, and I hope that the 
vote will be a solid one and that we can move forward to other issues 
not only where homeownership is concerned, but advancing the capacity 
of families to be able to succeed in the American Dream.
  I would like to express my gratitude to the gentlelady from 
California, and express my thanks to her for the leadership of her and 
her committee in bringing this forward. Again, Mr. Speaker, before I 
close, my deep respect for and gratitude to Mr. Renzi and for all those 
who helped bring this forward on the Republican side of the aisle.

                              {time}  1510

  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how many minutes we have 
left?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlelady from California has 7\1/2\ 
minutes left.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Let me, first of all, thank the gentlelady 
for being so timely in her yielding, and to congratulate her as well 
for this initiative.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to be allowed as well, as I compliment her 
overall on her commitment to housing, just to reflect on the last 2 
days. This was a challenge, but it was the leadership of this 
Subcommittee on Financial Services that managed to get their

[[Page H2772]]

hands around what is confronting the gulf region, and particularly 
cities like Houston that are impacted by a large number of Hurricane 
Katrina survivors. And I just want to cite that, though I heard a good 
number of responses on the floor about how much, how long, and too 
much, frankly I am going to encourage all of the Members of this body 
to visit the gulf region and to recognize that no matter how much, too 
much and how long, they will see that people are still not settled, not 
in houses, and still are receiving eviction notices.
  Homeownership is a viable part of our dreams. But, at the same time, 
we have to be the ``fix it'' people. And unfortunately, there was much 
debate on this floor that didn't understand that hurricane recovery for 
Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma and Rita had not yet occurred. Therefore, 
I hope that as we go forward and more bills may come to the floor on 
dealing with Hurricane Katrina, we will be sensitive that this is one 
of the largest evacuations in the history of America, and that we must 
continue our work. And so for that reason, I support the underlying 
bill.
  But, likewise, I hope that we will have a heart and recognize that we 
are, in fact, our brothers' and sisters' keeper, and that we will take 
some time to understand that we are still healing, we are still 
repairing, and we are still helping.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker and Members, I thank the gentlelady from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee). She had been very passionate about what we 
were doing on the last legislation, and she took this opportunity, not 
only in support of this legislation, but to add some remarks for the 
record on behalf of the people of Houston, and I appreciate that.
  Let me just say that I want to thank the chairman, Mr. Frank, for 
helping to focus our agenda in my subcommittee and in our overall 
committee, dealing with these very important housing issues, many of 
them that have been left unattended for far too long.
  I want to thank Mr. Renzi for his attention to housing not only for 
Hawaiian Native Americans, but for Native Americans in Arizona where I 
had the opportunity to visit with him, where he is doing an awful lot 
for housing.
  And so I am very pleased and proud about our Subcommittee on Housing 
and Community Opportunity, about the overall committee, and the way 
that we have been able to move so quickly and to have an agenda that we 
could bring to this floor on behalf of people who need us desperately, 
housing crises that exist not only in Hawaii but in other parts of the 
United States. And this is a representation of the work that we will be 
doing on this issue.
  I know, again, that Mr. Abercrombie has been working very hard. Ms. 
Hirono came here with this on her agenda, and I just thank them all for 
being here on the floor with us this afternoon, and helping people to 
understand how appreciative they are for our help.
  I would like to say that in addition to the work that he has done, he 
has invited many of us on more than one occasion not only to visit, but 
to understand that it is not just simply a beautiful island where 
people come to vacation. There are people who live there. There are 
people who live there. There are people who work there. There are 
people who need our assistance, people who have been without housing 
that they can afford for a long time.
  And so, again, the work not only of our chairman and the members of 
my subcommittee, but the cooperation that we have had on the opposite 
side of the aisle, led by Mr. Renzi, is what gets us to this point 
today.
  And I would urge all of my colleagues to please support this 
legislation. It is so important.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 
835, the Hawaiian Homeownership Opportunity Act of 2007. I want to 
commend my good friend, Mr. Abercrombie, for introducing this bill in 
the House of Representatives to reauthorize the Native Hawaiian Housing 
Block Grant through 2012. I commend the gentleman for his hard work and 
his leadership in helping our Hawaiian community in both his district 
and in all the U.S. I also want to commend Ms. Hirono of Hawaii as one 
of the original cosponsors of this bill and particularly Chairman Frank 
of Massachusetts of the esteemed Committee on Financial Services for 
his diligence in moving this legislation. I would also be remiss if I 
did not recognize Chairwoman Waters of California of the Subcommittee 
on Housing and Community Opportunity of the Financial Services 
Committee for her contributions to this important bill and as a 
stalwart on national housing issues.
  Mr. Speaker, this important piece of legislation will reauthorize 
important funding for the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant until 
2012. In 1996, Congress passed the Native American Housing Assistance 
and Self-Determination Act without any specific provisions addressing 
Native Hawaiian communities. However, in 2000, Congress in a bipartisan 
effort amended the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-
Determination Act by including Title VIII, creating the Native Hawaiian 
Housing Block Grant.
  This program is vital for the Native Hawaiian families with low-
incomes by providing grants to assist with affordable housing and it 
would also guarantee loans for those residing on Hawaiian Home Lands 
that were set aside by Congress in 1921 with the Hawaiian Homes 
Commission Act. These Native Hawaiians are disqualified because of 
their unique status living on these Home Lands. Today, there are more 
than 495,000 Native Hawaiians in all of the U.S. making them the 
largest indigenous group in America. It is only fitting that we 
continue to support such programs to address such essential needs.
  As a former resident of the state of Hawaii, I can bare witness of 
the benefits and the impact this program has achieved throughout the 
state. There is a national stereotype of Hawaii as the islands with 
vast beautiful beaches and a remote vacation site but we fail to see 
the other side of Hawaii. With the growth in tourism and the rise in 
cost-of-living, Native Hawaiians have not been able to establish 
regular income to afford the high cost in housing within the state.
  This legislation gives Native Hawaiians the opportunities for home 
ownership and will likely provide for more low-income families without 
making significant increases in federal appropriations. Mr. Speaker, 
with the support of the Native American Caucus, the Native American 
Indian Housing Council and Governor Linda Lingle of Hawaii, I am 
hopeful that we pass H.R. 835 today. I humbly request that my fellow 
colleagues support and pass H.R. 835 and again I thank my good friend 
from Hawaii for introducing this important legislation.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 835.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. WESTMORELAND. 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 question will 
be postponed.

                          ____________________