Wayne Allard: “I happen to be rising in favor of the Nickles amendment, the Senator from Oklahoma. You see the map on the Senate floor…”

“I happen to be rising in favor of the Nickles amendment, the Senator from Oklahoma. You see the map on the Senate floor entitled ``FHA Loan Limits by County,'' which was alluded to during comments made by my colleague from Missouri. During his comments, he pointed to the Rocky Mountain region in my State. That region characterizes counties of high levels of income which would be impacted by the upper loan limit increase in the VA/HUD Appropriations bill. These counties have a high preponderance of second homes. The reason these counties have a higher FHA loan limit is that they are recreation counties. People who go to these counties and have second homes make a considerable amount of money. Now, there is no doubt that there is a housing problem in those counties for individuals who have to run the ski lifts, individuals who work in the ski lodges, but they do not have the income level to afford a loan of $197,000 for a home.”