Jon Tester

They argue that NAHASDA's original negotiated rulemaking determined that the spirit and intent of NAHASDA was to deliver training and technical assistance.

There are statistics out there that show that American Indians suffer from homelessness and severe housing needs, such as overcrowding, lack of plumbing, heating, electricity.

I certainly hope that that will be distributed to this Committee when it is done.

I want to thank you and Ranking Member Barrasso for introducing, along with a bunch of co-sponsors, myself included, the NAHASDA bill.

We also thank Senator Baucus for his co-sponsorship.

We appreciate the hard work that has gone into strengthening the bill since it was originally introduced in 2009.

Most importantly, it rewards Montanans for being willing together to write their own destiny rather than reacting to change when it comes.

This is not a top-down bill. This is a bottom-up bill.

It's good policy today that ensures our moral obligation for tomorrow, for our kids and our grandkids.

This bill is about jobs. It protects public land for sportsmen who spend $10 million locally each year.

Montanans want to keep the Front the way it is. It's our heritage.

I very much appreciate it, on the Forests Jobs and Recreation Act.

We need good people in the Department of Homeland Security. We need people who can carry out this task, because it is a important one.

The immigration bill that recently passed the Senate went a long way in eliminating a lot of those visa overstays.

Two bills, including a bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Bob Corker and Mark Warner, have recently been introduced in Congress.

It is important that policy makers begin defining the future role of the Federal Government in the mortgage market.

ICBA is grateful to Senators Warner, Corker, Tester, and Johanns for introducing S.1217, the Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act.

I think we need more competition in the marketplace, and we need more guys out there on the ground creating more competition to move it forward.

With that, thank you for your testimony.

I want to thank you again for holding this hearing and for the opportunity to testify, and I look forward to your questions.

The FMIC is designed to foster liquidity and the availability of mortgage credit in the secondary mortgage market.

The bill follows principles that have long been advocated by the ABA.

Congress needs to ensure that any end state it considers affords lenders of all sizes the securitization options to directly access the secondary market.

I want to start by saying how pleased I am that we are finally at a point where we are having a real, honest discussion about what the future of housing finance should look like.

It is becoming extremely difficult. Manpower is in great need there.