Transcripts For CSPAN U.S. House Of Representatives U.S. Hou

CSPAN U.S. House Of Representatives U.S. House Of Representatives July 14, 2024

Cspan3, online at cspan. Org or listen with the free cspan radio app. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] and the house coming in, getting down to legislative work after the fourth of july recess, taking up seven bills this afternoon. All from the Financial Services committee, including a whistleblower protection bill. Also, the house has announced theyll vote friday on the 9 11 Victim Compensation fund bill which passed by the Judiciary Committee unanimously last month by voice vote. And tomorrow, the house will 733 k on the 7 3 defense appropriations bill. The Senate Passed their version. 750 billion measure. Votes in the house this evening at 6 30 eastern. Theyll be here shortly. Live coverage on cspan. The speaker pro tempore the chair will postponefurther proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote and the the yeas and nays are ordered are ordered or votes object jeggetted to under clause 6 of rule 20. The house will resume proceedings on postponed questions at a later time. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition . Ms. Waters mr. Speaker, i move the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h. R. 1988, the protect affordable mortgages for veterans act of 2019 as amended. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title of the bill. The clerk a bill to clarify requirements for certain refinanced Mortgage Loans and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, ms. Waters and the gentleman from kentucky, mr. Barr, each will control 20 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. Ms. Waters i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to resize and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Waters i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from california is recognized. Ms. Waters last year when Congress Passed s. 2155 it included section 309 a bill sponsored by senators till is and warn protecting veterans from predatory lending of 2018. That put new requirements in place against the excessive marketing practices. The draft of this provision called for some unintended consequences. 2,500 loans that were in full compliance with all requirements at the time were later denied securityization because they were in the process of being refinanced when the law became effective. The senators weighed in stating it was not their attention to offer these loans and urged addressing of the issue. Legislation is needed to grandfather these loans and address other administrative issues that have resulted from the slight differences between the new requirements in s. 2155. That is why we are here today with the bill with the bill of the the gentleman from georgia, which is a reasonable step to address what were clearly unintended consequences of previous legislation. Im pleased to support this bill. I thank mr. Scott and mr. Zeldin for introducing this bill and i urge members to vote yes and i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from california reserves. The gentleman from kentucky, mr. Barr is recognized. Mr. Barr i yield myself such time as i may consume. I rise in support of h. R. 1988 the protect affordable mortgages act introduced by mr. Scott. This bill is an important continuation of work that lee zeldin from long island who is a lieutenant colonel, started last congress to protect our nations veterans from financial fraud. This congress, i was pleased to join congressmen zeldin and scott along with my colleague with congressman levin to advance this bill through both this committee, the Financial Services committee and the Veterans Affairs committee. Last year s. 2155 pro growth banking bill in a generation. Section 309 included a provision to impose a new seasonning requirement for the securityization of loans by the v. A. This is the questionable practice of churning, refinancing of a home loan just to generate fees and profits for lenders for a shortterm benefit for the borrower but increased the life of the loan costs. That provision created a technical issue for a group of loans that fell into nomans land between the date the mortgage was should and the technical requirements of the law and making the loans less attractive to investors. Congressmen zeldin and scott took quick action. But congress ran out of time last year and did not become law. The bill we are considering today, h. R. 1988 is a continuation of their efforts to address this unintended problem and ensure these v. A. Loans receive the equitable treatment they deserve. To some, this might be a technical fix, but it is an important one. Our nations veterans should not be subject to suspect practices like churning. Im pleased that this bill along with the ongoing efforts of the loans will stamp out churning and better protect veterans. I urge my colleagues to support h. R. 1988 and i commend my colleague from georgia, mr. Scott. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from kentucky reserves. Gentlewoman california is recognized. Ms. Waters i yield to mr. Scott, a Senior Member of the committee on Financial Services and sponsor of h. R. 1988 as much time as he may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from georgia is recognized. Mr. Scott thank you very much, mr. Speaker. And thank you very much, chairlady waters, for your support and encouragement for us to continue this. Ladies and gentlemen, i want to make this opening statement, because it is very important for us to realize the importance of this bill, because today, according from the latest data from the veterans administration, we are losing 20 of our military veterans every. Ingle day to suicide our is a collarion cry from veterans for help. Nd what were doing today is one small step. But as i will explain as i go on, we are doing much, much more , because we need to bring this suicide rate to a stop. Much of it is caused by disappointment, discouragement, giving up, but after today, with this vote, we will send a powerful message to this nation and especially to our precious on rans that help is indeed the way. Now, i first of all want to thank my bipartisan friends, mr. Andy barr, mr. Zeldin, all of you, for this is truly a bipartisan effort. And i thank you for your support as we move forward with this. Now, ladies and gentlemen, i want to take my time and i want to go through this and i want folks to really understand why. Is is so important and mr. Barr touched on it. Last year, when Congress Passed senate bill 2155, which was called the Economic Growth regulatory relief and Consumer Protection act, it included a set of bipartisan reforms to refinancing requirements for loans to protect our veterans om the predatory act of loan churning. And, mr. Speaker, this shows you the deviousness of it, that here you got these predatory lenders who are out here targeting our veterans and charging them over and over for the same payment on these refinancing. How devious, how evil can you be to do this to our veterans. And over again and they do this to generate these fees and profits for these predatory lenders while offering little to no benefit for our veteran homeowners. Just using them. So in order to prevent this, enate bill 2155 codified newly refinancing requirements requiring lenders to have a material benefit to consumers when financing their mortgages and allowing for the initial loan to mature for at least 210 ys before a borrower can refinance. Now these reforms were necessary to ensure that our veterans are adequately protected from these bad actors. These predatory lenders, so that access to s can have the same Home Ownership opportunities that they have earned and deserve. So upon implementation of senate barr 155, however, as mr. Mentioned, a technical error in the language of senate bill nate bill 2155 cause a deviation of how this 210day period was calculated between what was written in the texan he requirement in place at jenny mae. Its the Government National mortgage association. Now this combined with the lack of clarity around time lines to implement these new requirements refinanced ,500 veteran loans that met federal requirements at the time of closing and were guaranteed by he v. A. To be barred from this Government National mortgage ssociation jenny mae securitization, which resulted making these loans orphan oans, they are there, but no longer there for Investment Opportunities that they deserve. Despite all federal requirements as well as backing from the v. A. And it is clear that that was to the intent of congress offer these veteran loans. But rather our intent when we passed the senate bill was to ensure there were strong and enduring protections in place to prevent future loan churning having to pay. Can you imagine somebody sending you a bill and you are paying for the same thing over and over. How evil is that . This bill that we have today will put a stop to that predatorytype lending and the abuse it has caused our veterans. And this is also necessary, mr. Speaker, because it preserves liquidity while maintaining strong refinancing requirements to keep these bad actors out and ensure that our veterans, our men and women in the military, through their outstanding bravery, their courage, their great sacrifice for all, this bill will make sure that they have access now to safe and affordable Home Ownership opportunities. Without this needed legislation fix v. A. Lenders may need, mr. Peaker, to sell or refinance these mortgages causing damage to the home loan market and potentially hindering their ability to originate similar loans in the future or raising borrowed costs and rates for other qualified veterans who will be suffering the same abuse. Mr. Speaker, i am especially proud to have worked with my republican colleagues on this, mr. Lee zeldin on the Financial Services committee, along with ms. Waters, our chairlady, mr. Andy barr who sits on this committee. But i also want to mention mr. Mike levin who sits on the committee on Veterans Affairs. Common ed bipartisan, sense to fix this for our beloved veterans. And through this bipartisan work of my colleagues on these two committees, weve been able to move this bill through the house, ensuring that the dream of homeownership continues to be preserved for our nations precious veterans, to whom we we the deepest debt of gratitude. Now, mr. Speaker, i mentioned in my remarks about this great tragedy. I want to take this opportunity to let veterans know, who may this ring this discussion afternoon that this Congress Stands with them, around them, and there are members of congress that have many bills, many different programs to get inancial resources, that dr. Bucshon, and i have a process going where we are addressing the psychiatrists working with the American Psychiatric association and American Medical Association to pay tuition, orsstudents scholarships so they can come into the v. A. And work. Or the project im working on with my good friend, senator isakson, over in the senate, where we are trying to get more resources to open up more Health Clinics for our v. A. And there are other things going. I just want people to know that down in my home state of georgia, in my district, in the next month on august 10, the doctors, the nurses, the hospitals all over atlanta, georgia, are coming together, giving of their time, along with the top administrators om the v. A. Will be there in jonesboro at the at mills high school. And i say, we can cut down this suicide rate. It is a shame. It is a disgrace for this country, and were doing something about it in this congress. Members on both sides of the a e understand, this aint democratic problem or republican problem. It is americas problem, and our veterans deserve our help. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from georgia yields the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from california reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from kentucky is recognized. Mr. Barr mr. Speaker, again, i want to thank my friend, the gentleman from georgia, for his bipartisanship and his willingness to fight for veterans and we appreciate that, and at this time i would like to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from new york, my republican colleague on the house Financial Services committee, and as i said, a veteran himself and a service member, lee zeldin, whos been a champion on legislating this fix. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new york is recognized. Mr. Zeldin thank you, mr. Speaker. Thank you to Ranking Member barr for his leadership, not just for yielding time. This is something that hes been working on himself, putting a lot of heart and passion into. Id like to thank congressman david scott for his incredible leadership on this important bipartisan effort. He laid it out so eloquently now the many aspects of, not just this issue, but the need to fight for veterans. There are many people who are here in the gallery, many people at home watching cspan shocked at what theyre seeing as republicans and democrats in the house and the Senate Working together to get a bill through committee, through the chambers, to the president s desk to become law, and the beneficiary beneficiaries will be our nations veterans. I rise today to urge passage of h. R. 1988, the protecting affordable mortgages for veterans act. It provides more than a technical fix. Its important for recently issued loans, refinanced by the department of Veterans Affairs, to remain eligible for the secondary market. This fix is essential to prevent a liquidity crisis in the Veterans Home loan market and ensure the brave men and omen who served our nation have access to affordable mortgages. We will make sure they are not impacted by the veterans Mortgage Market created by the unintended consequences of senate bill 2155. The regulatory relief act, senate bill 2155 became law in may, 20 15, and contains some very important bipartisan reforms to protect veterans from predatory lending and deceptive marketing. These provisions are essential to protect the v. A. Home loan market but it is laid out in a way that beginie mae chose to implement the requirements of 2,500 law have left home loans out of the secondary market. These mortgages are considered orphaned loans even though they met all federal requirements and are backed by the v. A. This bill will prevent a governmenttriggered liquidity crisis in the v. A. Mortgage market and restore eligibility for these orphaned loans. This will ensure veteran homeowners or perspective homebuyers who earned access to the v. A. Home loan program through their military service arent hurt by a fluke in senate bill 2155. Without this bill, potential damage to the overall v. A. Home loan market is likely because v. A. Lenders may have to sell or finance these orphaned mortgages at a loss. This would have a negative impacts on the brave men and women who have served our country and deserve a path to homeownership in order to achieve the American Dream. If lenders arent able to securitize home loans through ginnie mae, Closing Costs and borrowing costs could go up and the ability to buy or refinance could go down. Mr. Speaker, veterans have the lowest default rates in the nation and they earned it through their Selfless Service to our country. Even one v. A. Negatively impacted is one too many when it comes to giving our veterans access to homeownership. Thats why we must pass this bipartisan bill and send it to the president s desk to become law as soon as possible. I want to, again, thank my lead bipartisan cosponsors, congressman david scott, andy barr, mike levin. Thank chairwoman waters for her effort and Ranking Member mchenry. This was a true bipartisan effort from the committee, and everyone came together, worked together to get to this important point, a huge bipartisan, bicameral win coming for our nations veterans. I urge adoption of this important bipartisan bill, and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore members are reminded to refrain from referencing occupants in the gallery. The gentleman from new york reserves i mean yields the balance of his time. The gentleman from kentucky reserves the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from california is recognized. Ms. Waters thank you very much, mr. Speaker. I would inquire through the chair if my colleague has any remaining speakers on his side. Mr. Barr were prepared to close. Ms. Waters i have no further speakers, and im prepared to close. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from california reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from kentucky. The gentlewoman is reserving her time. The gentleman from kentucky is recognized. Mr. Barr mr. Speaker, once again, i want to thath sponsor of this legislation, mr. To thank the sponsor of this legislation, mr. Scott from georgia, mr. Zeldin for his continued leadership on this legislation. I want to thank the gentleman from california, mr. Levin, who i have the privilege serving with on the Veterans Affairs committee as well for his leadership in getting this Bipartisan Legislation to the house floor and to this point. I want to thank the chairwoman of our full committee, my friend from california, the gentlelady, ms. Waters, for her leadership and helping navigate this legislation forward. And just in conclusion, mr. Speaker, this is an important piece of legislation. It is a bipartisan recognition o

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