The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2005” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H12187-H12189 on Dec. 18, 2005.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2005
Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 797) to amend the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-determination Act of 1996 and other Acts to improve housing programs for Indians.
The Clerk read as follows:
Senate amendments:
Page 3, line 14, strike out ``and''
Page 3, strike out line 24 and all that follows through page 4, line 4 and insert the following: of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.); and
(E) federally recognized Indian tribes exercising powers of self-government are governed by the Indian Civil Rights Act (25 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.); and
Page 4, strike out line 19 and all that follows through page 5, line 10 and insert the following:
``SEC. 544. INDIAN TRIBES.
``Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) and title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.) shall not apply to actions by federally recognized Indian tribes (including instrumentalities of such Indian tribes) under this Act.''.
Page 6, after line 2, insert: SEC. 6. YOUTHBUILD ELIGIBILITY.
Section 460 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12899h-1) is amended by striking ``for fiscal year 1998 and fiscal years thereafter'' and inserting
``for fiscal years 1998 through 2005''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Renzi) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.
General Leave
Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on this legislation.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Arizona?
There was no objection.
Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity today to speak on a bill I introduced earlier this year and that passed the House in April, the Native American Housing Enhancement Act. Subsequent changes to this bill by the other body were merely stylistic in nature, and they do not change the substance of this important legislation.
While visiting with my Navajo and Apache constituents, I have learned that there is a need for a focus on long-term housing planning. This legislation will give tribes needed flexibility in spending grant money to enable vital housing projects to be completed more quickly. This bill makes three changes to help Native American communities in rural Arizona and across the Nation better address their housing needs.
The first section of this bill clarifies that tribes are allowed unrestricted access to new Native American housing funds from HUD even if tribes retain program income from previous years.
Currently, a tribe's grant money may be restricted if the tribe is receiving program income in excess of their operating costs. This clarification is critical to ensuring that we are not creating a disincentive for tribes to create income or plan for their future developments.
This bill also brings USDA housing programs into alignment with HUD programs in allowing for Indian preference, which allows tribes to abide by the Indian Civil Rights Act.
Currently, tribal governments may not exercise Indian preference for USDA programs because it would be considered a civil rights violation by giving preference based on racial designation. Indian preference is something tribal governments value greatly in addressing the needs of their citizens. This is not a race issue. Indian preference recognizes the political designations of tribes as sovereign entities that have entered into a government-to-government relationship with the United States. This legislation will help to ensure greater tribal use of USDA rural development grants and programs.
Additionally, because another program that tribes used for their youth programs existed when the Native American Housing Assistance Act was enacted, accessibility to Youth Build funds was taken away. The Youth Build program assists communities by building new housing for needy families.
Not only are tribes now prohibited from applying for Youth Build funds, but other organizations serving Native youth are prohibited as well; yet the statistics are overwhelming:
The suicide rate for Native youth is three times the national average. Alcohol-related deaths among Native American ages 15 to 24 are 17 times higher than the national average. Native youth ages 12 to 20 are 58 percent more likely to become crime victims than any other race in this category.
As of February, 2001, the latest statistics available, 74 percent of youth in custody in the Federal Bureau of Prisons systems were Native American youth, an increase of 50 percent since 1994.
Native American youth represent only 1 percent of the American population and yet constitute as much as 3 percent of the prison population.
These grim statistics speak to the importance of programs that teach life skills and give a sense of community to children in Indian Country. It is clear that these children should be able to participate in the Youth Build program that will help build better neighborhoods, more self-esteem, and make a difference for their future. The Native American Housing Enhancement Act will help Native Americans build strong homes, strong communities, and help many to achieve the American Dream of homeownership.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank our subcommittee chairman, Mr. Ney of Ohio, for helping me push this legislation through. Also, without the assistance and partnership of Mr. Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Mr. Dennis Kucinich, we could not have gotten this pushed through. It has really been a bipartisan piece of legislation. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I look forward to its passage.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I agree with what the gentleman from Arizona said. We have made a bipartisan effort on our committee, the Committee on Financial Services, to really address the problem of Indian housing, which has shamefully been, I think, ignored and given inadequate attention by both the executive and the legislative branch, and by both parties. There is more than enough blame to go around.
We also need to say, and I am myself a supporter of casino enterprises by Indians, but not every tribe has one. Not every tribe wants one. And we need to deal with the fact that while some people have this image of those tribes which have casinos doing very well, there continues to be some of the worst poverty in America on the reservations and among the tribes.
This legislation is very important. The gentleman from Arizona and I and others, also earlier this year, had a hearing in which I must say I was dissatisfied with the responses we got. There are questions when you do Indian housing that come out of the land title situation, because of the atypicality by American legal standards of Indian landholding; and we have not had at either the legislative or executive branch or on behalf of either party the attention that the people deserve to their housing needs.
This is a step. It is not the end. I am glad we are doing this. But I think I can serve notice, and I know the gentleman from Arizona agrees with me, that next year those people in the executive branch charged with this can be expected to be held to a much higher standard of performance than they have been held to before. We are determined to correct this situation.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1515
Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Massachusetts. I am grateful for the partnership. This problem is much, much bigger than party, and he has been a true friend and companion on this issue.
I also want to put the administration on notice that when it comes to this new piece of miracle software that is supposed to be able to fix this title search issue, we are going to follow up here in less than 6 months to find out the results of that implementation and the results of how many clear titles they have been able to procure and to process within a timely fashion.
Home ownership on the Native American reservations around this country is below 30 percent. It is the smallest amount of anywhere in the country of any minority group. Yet home ownership is the way to be able to break the cycle of poverty.
One of the best leaders that we have had, along with the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), is the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney), who helped, with Mr. Frank, in the historic hearing that we had on the Navajo Nation, the first hearing since the 1800s where Indian housing has had a chance to even be heard of or had a field hearing.
I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney).
Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Arizona for yielding me the time and also my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their hard work to bring this legislation to the floor. It is important, it is bipartisan. We had the hearing in which were present the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Renzi), the gentlewoman from California
(Ms. Waters), the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Matheson). It was the first hearing that we could find in the history of the House actually held on the tribal ground.
When we also looked in the subcommittee at the issues for people to be able to get a house, can you imagine if you had to wait 1 or 2 years to get your title? I think the interest rates had probably changed by that time.
I applaud the work that you have done, Congressman Renzi, on that issue. It is so important because of the conditions for native Americans in the housing, and, again, very proud of the work that you have done, Congressman Renzi, and the bipartisan effort by our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to help people who really need the assistance.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, first I would yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) for a unanimous consent request.
(Mrs. MALONEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)
Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in very, very strong support of this important legislation for the Indian American community.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman mentioning our colleague from Utah (Mr. Matheson), who has been very active in this, and also the staffs from our committee have worked very well together. I think it is the first time that such attention has been devoted at both the Member and staff level. I am very appreciative of our ability to do that together.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).
Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts, and I want to thank him for his advocacy for Native American housing. I rise in strong support of H.R. 797, the Native American Housing Enhancement Act of 2005, sponsored by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Renzi). I want to thank him for the quality of spirit which led him to propose this.
I would like to say that I have had the opportunity to visit with many tribal communities over the last few years. I understand the need for this legislation. I also want to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) for his advocacy on this issue. He and I have worked together on this housing issue, and I am glad to be here with him.
This bill requires federally recognized, self-governing Indian tribes to comply with the Indian Civil Rights Act, title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, if they received financial assistance from the Agriculture Department for farm housing.
Under current law the Department can provide loans to farm owners to improve housing conditions for themselves or their workers. The Indian Civil Rights Act prohibits tribes from making laws that restrict freedom of religion, freedom of speech or freedom of the press. It also sets out the requirements pertaining to fair due process for people who are arrested.
The measure also exempts tribes currently in compliance with the Indian Civil Rights Act and tribes acting under other federally affordable housing programs in compliance with certain sections relating to fair housing and other civil rights laws which overlap with provisions in the Indian Civil Rights Act.
Finally, the bill provides consistency across tribal housing programs by treating tribes applying for housing programs within the USDA the same as tribes applying for housing programs within HUD. It allows tribes to comply with title II of the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 rather than title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when securing Federal funds for USDA housing programs.
This bill will encourage home ownership and enhance housing opportunities for Native Americans around the country. It gives tribes more flexibility when developing housing improvement projects. Native American housing needs considerable improvement. Approximately 90,000 Indian families are homeless or underhoused. Nearly 33 percent of Native American homes are overcrowded, while 33 percent lack adequate solid waste management systems, and 8 percent lack a safe indoor water supply. This is a good bill that will supply tangible benefits.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Massachusetts mentioned the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Matheson). Without the gentleman from Utah who actually attended the hearing, we could not have gotten this done.
The Navajo Reservation is 18 million acres, larger than the State of West Virginia. It spans the State of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. I also want to thank the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney), everyone pulling together on this.
The new housing land map that just came out shows that that portion of America is the largest poverty-ridden land mass in the State. I know these gentlemen have a history, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), of working hard on poverty issues. I thank you so much for stepping up, particularly in this time, when finally it is becoming aware that the remaining poverty in this country, one of the largest land masses of poverty in the Nation, is up there in that Four Corners area.
Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gillmor). The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Renzi) that the House suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendments to the bill, H.R. 797.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate amendments were concurred in.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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