[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 132 (Tuesday, September 28, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H7082-H7083]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  WOUNDED WARRIOR AND MILITARY SURVIVOR HOUSING ASSISTANCE ACT OF 2010

  Mr. MINNICK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 6058) to ensure that the housing assistance programs of the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of 
Veterans Affairs are available to veterans and members of the Armed 
Forces who have service-connected injuries and to survivors and 
dependents of veterans and members of the Armed Forces.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6058

       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 ``Wounded Warrior and Military 
     Survivor Housing Assistance Act of 2010''.

     SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY OF HOUSING PROGRAMS.

       The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the 
     Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall take such actions as may 
     be necessary to ensure that the housing assistance programs 
     administered by such Secretaries, including mortgage 
     insurance and home loan programs, are accessible by and 
     available to, and address the particular needs and 
     circumstances of, veterans and members of the Armed Forces 
     who have service-connected injuries and survivors and 
     dependents of veterans and members of the Armed Forces.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Idaho (Mr. Minnick) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Paulsen) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Idaho.


                             General Leave

  Mr. MINNICK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within 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 
gentleman from Idaho?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MINNICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development and the Veterans Administration to meet the needs of our 
veterans with service-related injuries and their families with their 
housing and mortgage programs.
  As importantly, the bill asks that HUD and the VA help the survivors 
and families of these courageous people with respect to these matters. 
I compliment my colleague from Minnesota (Mr. Paulsen) for his 
leadership in introducing this legislation and urge my colleagues to 
pass this bipartisan bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I also rise today in strong support of H.R. 6058, the 
Wounded Warrior and Military Survivor Housing Assistance Act, and I 
also want to thank my freshman colleague for offering his support of 
this measure and cosponsorship as well.
  A few weeks ago, I had the unfortunate honor of meeting the widow of 
a serviceman who had graduated from high school in my hometown of Eden 
Prairie and someone who had served in Afghanistan. And since she was in 
Washington, D.C. for her husband's burial at Arlington National 
Cemetery, she'd asked to come and meet with me so she could share some 
of the challenges that she was facing in the midst of her crisis. She 
had an exhaustive list of concerns, actually, that she was trying to 
juggle through in the midst of the ceremony taking place for her 
husband.
  At the top of her list, the top priority was essentially wondering 
how she was going to be able to pay her mortgage now that the family 
was no longer receiving any income, and the monthly burden of her 
mortgage was something she had never really had to think about during 
her husband's entire military career, which had gone on for a long 
time.

  While there are certainly many current provisions in law that try to 
help people remain in their homes when they come upon some difficult 
financial problems, I believe that these programs should take into 
account the special needs of survivors, of dependents, and those with 
service-connected injuries. That is why I introduced the legislation, 
the Wounded Warrior and Military Survivor Housing Act with Mr. Minnick. 
This legislation directs the Secretaries of HUD and the VA to make sure 
that their housing programs do indeed address the needs of survivors 
and dependents as well as those who have those service-related 
injuries.
  Mr. Speaker, these are families that have made great sacrifices. 
These are families that have basically allowed the rest of us to enjoy, 
and all Americans to enjoy, the freedoms that we have, more freedoms 
that are unprecedented ever in human history. The least we can do, I 
think, is recognize those special needs and make sure that we are 
giving them tools to help them adjust to the changes now that have 
taken place in their lives.
  Mr. Speaker, I would appreciate support for the legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the ranking 
member of the committee, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus).
  Mr. BACHUS. Let me say this to both gentlemen offering this 
legislation: As the father of a marine, I want to commend you for doing 
this. These young men and women are our true heroes of

[[Page H7083]]

today, and their families face many hardships, many challenges, and 
this ought to be a priority. It's something that everyone in this body 
should embrace, and I'd like to commend you for standing up for our men 
and women in uniform and their families. Thank you very much.

                              {time}  1820

  Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I just simply want to thank 
both the staff of the Financial Services Committee as well as the House 
Veterans Affairs Committee for all their work in this legislation and 
putting this together. I hope we can pass this bill to help all the 
families of our service men and women.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. MINNICK. I would like to thank the gentleman from Alabama for his 
remarks and the gentleman from Minnesota for his leadership.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Minnick) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 6058.
  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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