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.
“S. 1494, HOUSING OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM EXTENSION ACT OF 1995” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Senate section on pages S1997-S1999 on March 13, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
S. 1494, HOUSING OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM EXTENSION ACT OF 1995
Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I applaud the Senate for passing S. 1494, the Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1995. I also want to thank my cosponsors, including Senators D'Amato, Mack, and Sarbanes. This legislation provides critical authority for a number of community development and affordable housing programs and activities which are strongly supported by the American public. This bill also is an important step in reforming HUD's housing and community development programs, and is consistent with a number of significant reforms which were initiated in the VA/HUD fiscal year 1996 appropriations bill, which was vetoed by the President.
Most importantly, this legislation adopts the reformed low-income housing preservation program which was contained in the VA/HUD fiscal year 1996 appropriations bill vetoed by the President. There are approximately 75,000 to 100,000 low-income units in the preservation pipeline that are eligible for prepayment but also remain eligible candidates for preservation funding. These units have been in the preservation processing pipeline for some time, often years, and include a mix between equity take-out deals for owners which are financed through long-term section 8 assistance, and the financing of purchases by tenant groups and nonprofits. This reform would replace the existing preservation program, with its long-term dependence on expensive project-based section 8 assistance, with a capital loan--or capital grant in the case of purchasers, that ensures low-income use at the minimum cost to the Federal Government.
S. 1494 also would provide clear statutory guidance to empower PHA's and assisted property owners with the tools to screen out and evict from public and assisted housing persons who illegally use drugs or whose abuse of alcohol is a risk to other tenants. I cannot emphasize enough the need to take responsible and meaningful action to preserve our low-income housing from criminal and destructive activities.
In addition, this legislation addresses the problem of mixed housing where the elderly and the disabled, including persons with drug and alcohol disabilities, are warehoused in the same public housing projects. This does not work, and I am particularly troubled by some horror stories I have heard where elderly tenants have been harassed and frightened by young tenants with significant drug abuse problems. This provision would provide PHA's with clear authority to establish elderly- and disabled-only housing.
Moreover, S. 1494 would extend a number of other key housing programs which need affirmative legislation to operate: permit the renewal of expiring section 8 moderate rehabilitation contracts; permit CDBG homeownership assistance; extend the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage
[HECM] Program; extend the FHA multifamily mortgage risk-sharing programs; and reauthorize the National Cities in School Program and the National Community Development initiative.
This bill also would establish a new loan guarantee program for rural multifamily housing which terminates after 1 year and is supported by a
$1-million credit subsidy under the Agriculture fiscal year 1996 appropriation bill, as enacted. This program is needed in rural areas where there is a critical need to develop affordable low-income rental housing.
Finally, the legislation would establish a new Habitat for Humanity initiative. Habitat for Humanity is one of the best models in this country for the development of affordable low-income housing through sweat equity. Since 1976, Habitat has constructed over 40,000 homes worldwide, in every U.S. State and in 45 other countries. As a consequence, some 250,000 people are living in decent, safe, and affordable housing.
Mr. President, this legislation is bipartisan, simple, straightforward and necessary. I look forward to this measure becoming law.
Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I am pleased to rise in support of S. 1494, the Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1996. Mr. President, this bill is important to the country and particularly important to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I thank the other Members of the Senate for their support of this legislation.
S. 1494 extends several housing authorizations that expired at the end of the last fiscal year. Among these are the Community Development Block Grant direct homeownership assistance provisions which have proven useful to the city of Boston and other communities in my home State, and the Federal Housing Administration's multifamily risk-
sharing program in which the Massachusetts State Housing Finance Agency is an important participant. The bill also extends the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program, that provides elderly homeowners with the ability to use the equity in their home without having to sell the house. This bill also extends the section 515 rural rental housing program and two important set-asides within the program--a set-aside for nonprofit developers and a set-aside for underserved areas. Mr. President, the section 515 program is one of the few Federal housing programs providing much needed affordable housing assistance in rural areas.
The passage of this bill also sends to the President provisions from an amendment that I cosponsored with Senator Grams in the Banking Committee. This amendment would limit access to public housing by drug abusers and alcohol abusers. We need to make sure that our federally assisted housing provides a decent, safe, and peaceful living environment for its residents. The final version of this bill addresses one of my principal concerns with earlier versions: it makes it clear that a public housing authority should look at a person's pattern of drug or alcohol abuse--rather than their history of drug or alcohol abuse--when screening candidates for admission. S. 1494 also enacts provisions that will streamline the process that public housing authorities must follow to designate a building as elderly-only or disabled-only housing. I would like to thank the managers of this legislation for also including language I recommended to authorize vouchers for people who may be adversely affected by a PHA's designation decision.
I would like to mention that this bill includes an extremely helpful provision that extends the timetables for processing and approving sales to nonprofits under the low-income housing preservation program. Many residents of HUD-assisted housing around the country--and especially in Massachusetts--have been working very hard to purchase their buildings under the preservation program. Extending the deadline will ensure that these people's efforts will have time to come to fruition.
Finally, Mr. President, S. 1494 allows the HUD Secretary to transfer up to $60 million in support of national nonprofit housing and community development organizations. The bill authorizes $25 million for Habitat for Humanity, $15 million for other similar self-help housing programs, $10 million for the National Community Development Initiative--which includes the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and the Enterprise Foundation--and $10 million for National Cities in Schools. These are all excellent organizations and I am pleased to lend my support for this authorization.
Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I rise to express strong support for The Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1995 (S. 1494). I wish to express my thanks to Senators Mack, Bond, Shelby, Bennett, and Domenici for their cosponsorship of this important legislation. In addition, I would like to offer thanks to Senator Sarbanes, Senator Kerry, and all members of the committee for their dedication to this bill.
The Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1995 represents a bipartisan effort which would: provide short-term extensions of housing authority which have expired; preserve assisted housing; protect elderly tenants in public and assisted housing; and promote self-help housing and community development programs.
This legislation originally passed the Senate on January 24, 1996. The House of Representatives passed a House amendment in the nature of a substitute to S. 1494 on February 27, 1996. The House amendment represents a bicameral effort to gain consensus on an immediate direction for Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD] housing programs.
To that end, the bill protects the needy recipients of various housing programs that have lapsed authority. For instance, S. 1494 extends the HUD Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Demonstration [HECM] Program through September 2000. Last November I introduced legislation, S. 1409, to provide a 5-year extension of this successful and much needed program. The HECM Program offers elderly homeowners the opportunity to borrow against the equity in their homes. Without this program, senior citizens with low incomes might be forced to sell their homes and spend their golden years elsewhere. In addition, S. 1494 extends the following programs until September 1996: the HUD community development block grant homeownership program; the Rural Housing Service section 515 multifamily loan program; and the Federal Housing Administration multifamily housing risk-sharing programs.
The legislation provides authority to the HUD Secretary to operate the preservation program as passed in title II of the fiscal year 1996 VA/HUD appropriations legislation, H.R. 2099, on December 7, 1995. This provision is needed to protect existing tenants in HUD insured projects, to preserve the existing housing stock, and to recognize the rights of owners.
Further, S. 1494 would provide greater safety and security for our Nation's elderly tenants in public and assisted housing. The bill would streamline procedures for public housing authorities to designate public housing facilities as ``elderly only,'' ``disabled only,'' or
``elderly and disabled families only.'' Public housing authorities would be authorized to evict residents in these designated facilities whose pattern of drug or alcohol abuse would jeopardize the safety of elderly and disabled residents. In addition, housing authorities would be required to provide occupancy standards and an expedited grievance procedure for the eviction of tenants who have a pattern of drug or alcohol abuse.
The Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act would encourage self-
help and community development programs which require little or no HUD regulation. HUD would be authorized to provide grants to capable nonprofit organizations, such as Habitat-for-Humanity. In addition, the bill would permit HUD the discretion to utilize reprogrammed funds for the Cities in Schools Program. The Cities in Schools Program is our country's largest and most successful student dropout prevention network. It serves as a model of how effective a public/private partnership organization can be in serving our national goals.
The legislation would also provide an authorization of commitment authority to the Government National Mortgage Association of $110 billion for fiscal year 1996 and increase the HUD section 108 loan guarantee aggregate limit from $3.5 billion to $4.5 billion.
The Banking Committee and its Housing Subcommittee continue to analyze proposals for the reorganization and elimination of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. After the opportunity for further debate and hearings on existing HUD and Department of Agriculture housing programs, housing reform legislation will be introduced this Spring. Until passage of more comprehensive legislation, the Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1995 is essential for the continued operation of our Nation's housing delivery system. I thank my colleagues for their support for passage of S. 1494.
Mr. MACK. Mr. President, I rise in strong support of S. 1494, which I was pleased to cosponsor with Senators D'Amato and Bond. This legislation extends certain critical HUD and USDA housing programs whose authorizations have expired. It also makes certain other changes in housing policy to reflect priorities of the Congress as well as the administration.
When S. 1494 originally passed the Senate on January 24, 1996, it was limited in scope to only those provisions that needed affirmative legislative authority to continue to operate, such as the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Demonstration program for the elderly (HECM), the CDBG home ownership program, the FHA multifamily risk-sharing demonstration, and the Section 515 rural rental housing program.
The other body passed S. 1494 as amended on February 27, and the House-passed version contains changes that were negotiated between the House and the Senate. The amended bill we are considering today thus contains some positive additions to the bill the Senate initially approved.
Most notably, S. 1494 now includes provisions that make it easier to evict from public housing tenants who are engaged in criminal activities or who have a pattern of alcohol or drug abuse, and it gives public housing authorities access to criminal records for the screening and eviction of public housing tenants. These provisions aid in the implementation of what the President calls a ``one strike and you're out'' policy for public housing, and they were part of S. 1260, the Public Housing Reform and Empowerment Act, which this body approved on January 10, and which is awaiting action in the other body.
The bill also streamlines procedures for public housing authorities to designate public housing facilities as ``elderly only,'' ``disabled only,'' or ``elderly and disabled families only.'' S. 1494 provides the authority to evict from these designated facilities those whose pattern of drug or alcohol abuse would jeopardize the safety and security of the elderly and disabled residents. These provisions reflect concerns raised by advocates for the elderly about the mixing of elderly and disabled populations, but they provide a balanced policy that will help provide access to affordable housing for both of these special needs populations. Again, these provisions are similar to those contained in the Public Housing Reform and Empowerment Act.
S. 1494 also extends the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Demonstration for the elderly through September 30, 2000, instead of the 1-year extension originally passed by the Senate.
The bill provides authority for the HUD Secretary to operate the low-
income housing preservation program passed by Congress in the vetoed fiscal year 1996 VA-HUD appropriation bill. These provisions are necessary to prevent large-scale mortgage prepayments of FHA-insured mortgages and thus preserve the existing supply of affordable low-
income housing.
In addition, S. 1494 creates a self-help housing program under which HUD will provide grants to capable nonprofit organizations, like Habitat for Humanity. Grand funds must be used for the payment of land acquisition and infrastructure costs. These funds will supplement donations and contributions of products, volunteer labor and sweat equity, on which groups like Habitat now depend.
Finally, S. 1494 authorizes only through September 30, 1996, the section 515 rural rental housing program administered by USDA's Rural Housing Service [RHS]. Before the program is authorized beyond the current fiscal year, oversight hearings should be held and reforms implemented to guard against waste, abuse, and misuse of funds. The RHS has taken significant steps to correct problems in the section 515 program which have been identified by the USDA IG and the GAO. However, legislative action is required to assure that program funds are allocated properly and that the program is not abused by developers, owners, or tenants. The Banking Subcommittee on Housing Opportunity and Community Development, which I chair, will hold hearings on the section 515 program early this spring.
Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I rise in support of S. 1494, the Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act. This bill addresses some important and time-sensitive matters in the housing area. S. 1494 extends program authorities that have expired and makes some other needed changes in authorizing statutes. Finally, it provides HUD with the authority to support several national nonprofit organizations that are making a huge difference in America's communities. I thank the other members of the Senate for their support of this legislation.
S. 1494 extends several housing authorizations that expired October 1, 1995. Among these are the Community Development Block Grant direct homeownership assistance provisions, the Federal Housing Administration
[FHA] multifamily insurance risk-sharing programs, and the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program. Each of these programs is a valuable tool in our efforts to make sure that Americans remain the best-housed people in the world.
The program extensions on this bill also include the section 515 rural rental housing program and the set-asides within the program for nonprofit developers and for funding to underserved areas. This authorization is necessary because the Rural Housing Service at the Department of Agriculture has been unable to utilize its $150 million appropriation until an authorization passed. Section 515 provides valuable, low-interest credit to support affordable rental housing in rural areas.
The bill also includes authority for the HUD Secretary to spend up to
$60 million supporting local nonprofit housing and community development activities. I would like to express my enthusiastic support for these provisions. The bill authorizes $25 million for Habitat for Humanity, $15 million for other similar self-help housing programs, $10 million for the National Community Development Initiative, and $10 million for National Cities in Schools. Habitat for Humanity affiliates have been operating in my State for years and creating homeowners among low-income families. The National Community Development Initiative combines Federal funds with funds from foundations to support capacity building for community-based nonprofits. Two terrific national nonprofit intermediaries--the Enterprise Foundation which is based in Columbia, MD, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation--are key participants in the NCDI program and are factors in the NCDI program's success. The community-based nonprofit sector is an important and growing part of our delivery system of assistance to distressed communities. I am pleased with the recognition that this bill provides to these efforts.
Finally, Mr. President, I would like to highlight the language in the bill that permits HUD to renew expiring Section 8 moderate rehabilitation contracts. This provision overturns language passed on the continuing resolution that prohibited HUD from renewing moderate rehabilitation contracts. Clearly, HUD should not renew contracts on housing that is not decent, safe, and sanitary. Likewise, we are working with HUD to identify ways to reduce the cost of Section 8 contracts where rent levels are excessive. However, HUD needs to take a closer look at all of the developments assisted with project-based rental assistance and make decisions about their futures on a case-by-
case basis. Before converting project-based assistance to vouchers, HUD should consider the future viability of the development, the ability of the project to support its existing financing, the availability of affordable housing for voucher holders, and the desirability of retaining long-term, affordable housing in that location.
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