Increasing Maximum Amount of Home Loan Guaranty Available Under Home Loan Guaranty Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs
INCREASING MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF HOME LOAN GUARANTY AVAILABLE UNDER HOME LOAN GUARANTY PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS -- (House of Representatives - June 23, 2004)
Mr. BROWN of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4345) to amend title 38, United States Code, to increase the maximum amount of home loan guaranty available under the home loan guaranty program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
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Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4345. I would just like to begin by saying that managing this legislation for our side is particularly meaningful for me today because I have fought to improve the VA's home loan program since I was first elected to Congress over 3 years ago.
I also wanted to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Chairman Smith) and the gentleman from Illinois (Ranking
Member EVANS) for bringing this legislation before the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and for sending it to the House floor.
I certainly want to thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite), with whom I have been honored to serve on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for working with me over recent months to perfect legislation that brings significant improvements to the home loan program administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Mr. Speaker, I have heard from many veterans in San Diego about the need to increase the loan amount under the VA's home loan program. Simply put, veterans living in high-cost areas cannot use the VA loan because the current limit of $240,000 is not nearly enough to purchase a home in regions such as San Diego where the median price for a home has now reached $500,000. Far too many of our veterans cannot take advantage of the benefits that come with a VA loan because of this low limit.
I also fear that many veterans in my community will never have the opportunity to buy a home without a subsidized VA loan. My staff heard from one disabled veteran shortly after I was elected who tried to purchase a home in San Diego; and unfortunately, with the low limit in the VA program, he was not able to find anything affordable and still lives in an apartment today.
It is my goal to let veterans know that homeownership is a real possibility for them.
The bill before Congress today, H.R. 4345, introduced by me and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite), would not only increase the home loan limit to $333,700, but it would index the amount to the Freddie Mac criteria to guarantee automatic increases annually.
America's veterans deserve to be on an equal footing with the general public in today's competitive real estate markets.
The bill before the House accomplishes exactly that. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
Though passage of H.R. 4345 will be a victory for our veterans, I intend to keep working hard on this issue to ensure that they can continue to achieve homeownership and that the home loan program is effective.
Just last week, I introduced H.R. 4616 to extend a VA home loan pilot program set to expire in September of 2005, which would offer adjustable rate mortgages to veterans. Like the general public, our veterans should have the ability to choose the type of mortgage that will best suit their needs.
After fighting for the United States, our veterans deserve the opportunity to live in their own home. I am hopeful that my colleagues will continue to support improvements to our veterans home loan program.
Again, I am truly honored that the House is considering this legislation so that we may assure meaningful home loan benefits to America's veterans.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans), ranking member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
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Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Michaud).
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Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez).
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Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from South Dakota (Ms. Herseth).
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Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo).
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Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Terry). The gentlewoman from California has 7 ½ minutes remaining.
Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters).
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Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank).
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Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to thank my colleagues for their
support of this valuable piece of legislation for our veterans.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.