Political Quotes

“when Congress authorized the Native American home loan bill in 1993, it recognized the poverty and the homelessness of veterans from the Pacific Islands. It recognized that those veterans needed special assistance to access the necessary financing to put a roof over their heads. Ten years later, the funding has expired, but the challenge remains the same. Mr. Speaker, I understand that when the Department of Veterans Affairs shut down the lending program, they were on the verge of approving a loan to a Guam applicant. So I am pleased to join with my colleagues, Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Evans, in providing the funding authorization necessary to continue the program. A noteworthy aspect of the Native American home loan bill is that it withholds a loan fee from applicants with a service-connected disability. Each time I meet with veterans in Guam and hear their descriptions of living with the effects of Agent Orange or a post-traumatic stress disorder, I am reminded that we have yet to repay the service that these men and women have given to our Nation. We need to provide adequate veterans benefits and services not just near where a military base or a VA processing center is but where the veterans are, places like the tribal lands of Colorado and the Chamorro land trust properties of Guam. I hope that our action here today will bring attention to the good work of the program and increase the knowledge of the program amongst Native American communities.”