[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.
____________________