Barney Frank: “I thank the gentleman. We sometimes get into confusing phrases here. We are talking about pre-FIRM. I know a lot of us…”

“I thank the gentleman. We sometimes get into confusing phrases here. We are talking about pre-FIRM. I know a lot of us are worrying about that stage in life when you are post-FIRM. But here we are talking about an important issue. I am torn on this. I have been ambivalent. I opposed this amendment in committee. I thought some more about it. Both my friends, both the gentleman from Oregon and the gentleman from New Jersey, make some good points, and I would say this: I expect this amendment will probably get adopted. But I hope we can do this. In general, I think it is a reasonable thing to do, but there are low-income buyers, owners, who, through no fault of their own, they weren't warned, find themselves in this position, and there is the danger that the one small asset they have can get devalued. Our colleague from Texas, Mr. Green, had an amendment that tried to provide some relief on premiums for people in the very low end. I would hope if this amendment were adopted, I would address this to the chairman, the gentleman from Louisiana and others, we might then as a committee take up the question of whether some relief might be appropriate for people who are at the lowest end of the spectrum, people who do own a home, but that is about all they have. I think this is a case where the general principle is a good one, but a negative impact may be excessive on some people at the lower end.…”