[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 3331]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



      THE ``VETERANS AMERICAN DREAM HOMEOWNERSHIP ASSISTANCE ACT''

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. WALLY HERGER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 8, 2001

  Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join with my Ways and Means 
colleague Congressman Kleczka in introducing the Veterans American 
Dream Homeownership Assistance Act. This very worthy legislation will 
help veterans in five states, including California, to achieve their 
dream of home ownership.
  Five states--Wisconsin, California, Texas, Oregon, and Alaska--have a 
program in which the states issue tax-exempt bonds to finance home 
mortgage loans to veterans. Under a little-known provision in the 1984 
tax bill, veterans living in those five states who began military 
service after 1976 are prohibited from receiving a state-financed 
veterans home mortgage.
  This means that our servicemen and servicewomen who served in 
Grenada, Panama, and the Gulf War cannot get veterans home mortgages 
from their own state government while veterans who served before that 
time are fully eligible. Are those who began serving their country 
after 1976 any less deserving than their predecessors?
  This arbitrary cutoff was created to raise revenue for the 1984 tax 
bill by limiting the use of tax-exempt bonds to finance state veterans 
mortgage programs. In 1984, there were very few veterans who entered 
service after 1976. Because of their small numbers, the affected 
veterans were unable to stop this unfair change in the law. But, 
fifteen years later, there are hundreds of thousands of veterans who 
have served our country honorably in that period and they are calling 
for a change in the law. The state veterans affairs departments believe 
that if this bill becomes law, they can help a great number of the 
post-1976 veterans purchase their own home.
  Our bill will simply eliminate the arbitrary cutoff that exists under 
current law. Under our proposal, former servicemen and servicewomen who 
served our country beginning in 1977 or any other year after that will 
be eligible to apply for a home mortgage loan provided by their state. 
This legislation does not increase federal discretionary spending one 
cent--it simply allows the states to help their veterans own a home 
regardless of when they served.
  Mr. Speaker, arbitrary rules in the tax code should not stop our 
states from helping all veterans who served our nation honorably. I 
urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join with us in 
supporting this measure to assist those who have spent so much of their 
lives defending our freedom.

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