[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 20026]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             NATIVE AMERICAN VETERANS HOME LOAN ACT OF 2004

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. STEPHANIE HERSETH

                            of south dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 28, 2004

  Ms. HERSETH. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Native American 
Veterans Home Loan Act of 2004. This Act will extend the Native 
American veteran housing loan pilot program until December 31, 2008.
  The VA pilot program provides direct home loans to eligible Native 
American veterans who wish to purchase, construct, or improve a home on 
Native American trust lands. This extension will allow more veterans 
living on trust lands to take advantage of this important benefit, 
which is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2005.
  Since its inception of the pilot program in 1992, the VA has made 
more than 400 direct loans to Native American veterans, which can be 
used to purchase, construct, or improve a home on Native American trust 
land. The VA direct loans are generally limited to either the cost of 
the home or $80,000, depending on which is less.
  For a veteran to be able to participate in this program, the 
veteran's tribe must have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding, 
MOU, with the VA. To date, the VA has entered into MOUs with a total of 
68 Native American tribes and Native Groups throughout the country. VA 
field personnel have conducted outreach with the following tribes in 
South Dakota: Cheyenne River Sioux, Crow Creek Sioux, Lower Brule, 
Oglala Lakota Sioux, Rosebud Sioux, Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux, Standing 
Rock, and the Yankton Sioux.
  It is an honor for me to introduce this legislation and help Native 
American veterans achieve home ownership. I urge my colleagues to 
support this important legislation.

                          ____________________