June 11, 2010

FHA Reform

This week the House considered H.R. 5072: FHA Reform Act. The purpose of this legislation is to strengthen the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) which currently accounts for 30-40% of all new home mortgages. H.R. 5072 provides the FHA with the ability to increase the annual mortgage insurance premium for new borrowers. The legislation also gives the FHA more tools to pursue bad loan underwriters. I voted YES. The entire vote on the amendment is recorded below:

Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund

Yesterday the House considered S. 3473: to amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to authorize advances from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. All of the resources in this Trust Fund come from oil companies, and this measure gives the Coast Guard the ability to take advances from it as they work to contain damages from the massive oil spill. All funds will ultimately be paid by those responsible for the oil disaster, not taxpayers.

The tragic loss of life can never be remedied and outrage mounts that oil continues to flow into the sea and along the Gulf coast into fragile wetlands. It is just incomprehensible that after 53 days, we are still witnessing plumes of oil billowing up from the sea floor — and that estimates of just how much oil is escaping keep going up. Rest assured that Congress will do all it can to ensure that BP is held responsible for the environmental and economic damage it has caused.

I voted YES and the entire vote is recorded below. As you will see, the House enjoyed a rare day of bipartisanship yesterday, with this vote, and with the FHA reform vote:

Financial Regulatory Reform

House and Senate conferees began meeting this week to resolve differences between their versions of financial regulatory reform legislation. The House and Senate bills share many similar provisions including: creating an agency to protect consumers against abusive financial products and services; establishing a process to dismantle failing firms and end taxpayer bailouts; and creating a council that would monitor threats to our financial stability. The Senate bill, which was passed last month, will become the base text to which amendments are offered. Also included in this base bill are House provisions to improve mortgage lending standards such as requiring lenders to certify borrowers can afford their loans, and prohibiting incentives for lenders to make costlier mortgages. House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank will chair the conference committee.

The House and Senate bills differ in some areas. Compared to the Senate language, the House bill makes it easier to hold credit rating agencies accountable for neglecting to do their job. Many credit rating agencies gave their seal of approval to companies whose excessively risky practices led to the financial collapse. These same agencies have also forced municipal governments to pay billions of taxpayer dollars to insure bonds that have nearly no chance of defaulting. Current practice gives rating agencies a free pass for their actions. I am a strong advocate for including the House language on this important issue and I hope that a Conference Report is sent to the President soon. Congress has been considering solutions to these issues for a year. Progress is long overdue.