[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 114 (Friday, July 30, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H6468-H6469]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INCREASING FLEXIBILITY IN AMOUNT OF PREMIUMS CHARGED FOR FHA SINGLE 
                   FAMILY HOUSING MORTGAGE INSURANCE

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 5981) to increase the flexibility of the 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development with respect to the amount 
of premiums charged for FHA single family housing mortgage insurance, 
and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5981

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

     SECTION 1. MORTGAGE INSURANCE PREMIUMS.

       (a) Flexibility.--Subparagraph (B) of section 203(c)(2) of 
     the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1709(c)(2)(B)) is 
     amended--
       (1) in the matter preceding clause (i)--
       (A) by striking ``shall'' and inserting ``may''; and
       (B) by striking ``0.50 percent'' and inserting ``1.5 
     percent''; and
       (2) in clause (ii), by striking ``shall be in an amount not 
     exceeding 0.55 percent'' and inserting ``may be in an amount 
     not exceeding 1.55 percent''.
       (b) Implementation.--The Secretary may adjust the amount of 
     any initial or annual

[[Page H6469]]

     premium charged pursuant to subsection (a) through notice 
     published in the Federal Register or mortgagee letter. Such 
     notice or mortgagee letter shall establish the effective date 
     of any premium adjustment therein.

     SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY.

       The Assistant Secretary of the Department of Housing and 
     Urban Development who is the Federal Housing Commissioner 
     shall appear before the Committee on Banking, Housing and 
     Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial 
     Services of the House of Representatives within 270 days 
     after the enactment of this Act to discuss the finances, 
     including premiums, of the Federal Housing Administration.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) and the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. 
Capito) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  We have for these couple of years now had a bipartisan effort that 
began in the Bush administration and has been continued in the Obama 
administration--and it's been bipartisan on the Committee of Financial 
Services--to make sure that the FHA is both an effective and an 
efficient means for housing finance. Having a reliable way to provide 
the funding needed for housing finance in its various aspects is 
important both for the citizens who benefit from it and for the 
economy.
  The FHA had not been in a great shape. We have a package of measures 
and we have had administrations--and as I say it's been bipartisan on 
the two administrations in our committee--to improve the FHA's 
capacity, to increase its capacity, but also to provide that it will be 
done in a reasonable way.
  This House passed earlier this year overwhelmingly, by a bipartisan 
vote, a comprehensive reform of the FHA. It may shock the Members to 
know, Mr. Speaker, that the United States Senate has not acted 
expeditiously on this noncontroversial measure, and there are a couple 
of pieces of it that cannot wait.
  It is my intention--and I want to assure the gentlewoman from West 
Virginia, the ranking member of the subcommittee who put a lot of good 
work in this bill and who was responsible for some of its most 
important provisions and safeguards--that we do not intend to let those 
die. We will continue to press the Senate for the rest of this bill; 
and we will also, in accordance with what we have said, have the 
administrator of the FHA before us to talk about how this is being 
done.
  But what we need to do now is to take the authority we gave the FHA 
to raise the fees--this is a bill when it had the CBO certification 
they say doesn't result in any direct spending. In fact, it will save 
money. It will price the FHA appropriately. People have been worried 
about the FHA's fiscal solvency. This helps it.
  So it's a bill--and I will say finally, it's taken from the larger 
bill we have passed. We are reenacting today a small piece of a 
comprehensive bill because while I am still fully committed and I know 
others are to the comprehensive bill, it's important we do this now. 
We're about to be without legislative capacity for 6 weeks.
  So I urge that the House pass the bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I'm rising today in support of this bill, H.R. 5981, and as our 
chairman said, we have been working diligently, I think, to bring forth 
solid FHA reform. We passed that bill almost unanimously--I think it 
was 406-4--probably about a month ago, and so the majority, the large 
majority of this House is in agreement with a lot of the provisions in 
that bill.
  One of the provisions, as he said, is raising the annual premium on 
FHA, and I think this is right and proper; and I think it's something 
we need to do because, as we know and as has been brought forth in our 
committee, the capital reserve fund has fallen, I believe, dangerously 
low. And what we're trying to avoid is a situation where we may be 
asked to bail or at least to help the FHA in some sort of infusion of 
dollars from the Treasury.
  So I wholeheartedly will support this bill, but I do want to 
reemphasize, as the chairman said, we had a whole host of reforms in 
our original bill. We cannot forget the other important reforms that 
were in the original H.R. 5072, and we need to move forward with those 
after our district work period and recess. We need to move forward with 
this as expeditiously as we did before we left.
  One thing in the short bill we're considering today, it does say that 
the commissioner has to come before the committee within 270 days. I 
would like to ask the chairman if we could have a hearing in September 
on this very topic so that we can see what the status, at least interim 
status, of the fund is.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Will the gentlewoman yield?
  Mrs. CAPITO. I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. My answer is absolutely, we will have the 
commissioner. I have to say HUD, the Secretary and the commissioner 
have been very cooperative, and we will have such a hearing in 
September.
  Mrs. CAPITO. I thank the chairman for that.
  I have no requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.


                             General Leave

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material with regard to this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. 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 Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5981.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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