Shelley Capito

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Marshall Henthorne, Nick Null, Jeffery Showalter, and Mark Strickland for their heroic efforts in responding to a tractor-trailer accident. On December 10, 2007 a tractor trailer flipped over the side of the Interstate 64 Bridge in Charleston, West Virginia and fell 80 feet into the Kanawha River. The two men in the tractor trailer were submerged in the cold waters of the Kanawha River and trapped in the cab for nearly 20 minutes. Corporal Nick Null of the Charleston Police Department was the first on the scene to aid the rescue efforts. Lieutenant Mark Strickland of the Charleston Police Department and firefighters Jeffery Showalter and Marshall Henthorne of the Charleston Fire Department all worked to cut the top of the cab to get the two men, Huseen Awad, and Phillip Chaizoi, 57 of Columbus, Ohio to safety. These four men demonstrated courage and selflessness and in diving into the cold, swift, current of the Kanawha River to save the lives of these two men. Both men were rushed to Charleston Area Medical Center and sent to the intensive care unit where Chaizoi was listed under evaluation and Awad later perished. I am proud to honor Marshall Henthorne, Nick Null, Jeffery Showalter, and Mark Strickland as hometown heroes and I'm proud to call them fellow, West Virginians.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the 2007 West Virginia Boys Soccer State Champions, the George Washington High School Patriots of Charleston, West Virginia. The West Virginia State Tournament took place in Beckley on November 3, 2007. The Patriots played defending champions, Hurricane High School in the final game of the tournament. Head Coach Tom Hopper, who was named 2007 WV Soccer Coach of the Year and assistant coaches; Dave Nelson, Kevin Cushing, Dan Thistlethwaite and Gordon Green led the young men to victory winning overall 18-4-3 season. The Patriots made George Washington High School history, as the first soccer team to win a state championship. The players include captains; Connell Green, Sam McElwee, Yale Tiley, and Zack Claudio and Tyler Chiartas, Adam Boland, Jesse Dreyer, Christopher Power, Luca DiPiero, PJ Wolfe, Jake Stevens, Ian Thistlethwaite, Evan Loflin, Charlie McElwee, Andrew Robey, Kurt Suter, Thomas Edens, Blair Suter, Paul Stroebel, Shahir Amin, and Adeeb Derakhshan. Madam Speaker, it gives me great pride to acknowledge the George Washington High School Patriots as the 2007 West Virginia Boys Soccer State Champions. Again, congratulations to these talented young men.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the 2007 West Virginia Girls Soccer State Champions, the Jefferson County Lady Cougars, who hail from West Virginia's second congressional district. The 2007 West Virginia State Tournament took place in Beckley on November 3, 2007. The Lady Cougars played defending champion, Parkersburg High School in the final game of the tournament. Coach Harold ``Dunnie'' Bach led the ladies to victory winning overall 18-1-3 season. The Lady Cougars made Jefferson County history, as the first soccer team in the county to win a state championship. Madam Speaker, it gives me great pride to acknowledge the Lady Cougars as the 2007 West Virginia Girls Soccer State Champions. Again, congratulations to these talented young women.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the financial economic stimulus package we have before us. As we know, our economy has begun to slow after a robust growth period of 52 months. It is imperative that we act swiftly in a bipartisan manner. I congratulate the Speaker, the minority leader, and the President for their ability to work together and come forth with this package. We have learned about tax rebates for filers. I think this is good for family budgets. Furthermore, they are targeted to the low- and moderate-income Americans who are most in need. I am also pleased that this package includes important tax incentives for small business growth. In a State like West Virginia, business is small business, and they are the job creators. It is critical that we provide them with the assistance that they need to keep their businesses viable and growing. This agreement includes much-needed incentives to encourage the investment that creates jobs and seeks to maintain our Nation's competitiveness. Lastly, I would like to talk about the long-overdue step toward modernizing the Federal Housing Administration to provide support for Americans who are struggling in this current housing crunch. This bill will make it easier for many Americans to refinance their mortgages and receive the support to do so. Yet while I am encouraged by this step, we must continue to work towards more comprehensive FHA modernization to make sure that this program continues to be the resource for creditworthy borrowers that may not qualify for conventional market loans. I look forward to continuing to work with the chairman and Ranking Member Bachus on this important issue, and our colleagues in the other body, to proceed with negotiations and produce a final product we can all support.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank the gentleman for yielding me time. I would like to thank my colleague from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan) for offering this resolution and including me as one of the cosponsors. We are very prideful Mountaineers. As we have heard, our West Virginia Mountaineers football team is something that everyone in the State takes great pride. The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl win was not only an athletic win, but it was a morale-lifting win for everybody in the State of West Virginia. The Oklahoma Sooners are a powerful team, and I congratulate them for their effort. But when mind and body of a Mountaineer gets together, there's hardly any stopping us. I think that is what we found at the game. The team always tries to embody the spirit of the Mountain State, and it is a shining light for the people of West Virginia. The fans, the coaches, the university, the president, the athletic director, and I have to mention the pride of West Virginia, our Mountaineers marching band, are something that I know took our teammates into a very difficult athletic and emotional situation at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. I also want to congratulate the MVPs, Pat White and Reed Williams. Reed Williams is a native West Virginian. He's from Moorefield, West Virginia. He was valedictorian of his high school class. He is the true embodiment of a student athlete. We have a saying in West Virginia that we like to say whenever we have a great victory, and that is, as we say in West Virginia, ``It's a great day to be a Mountaineer.'' It certainly was on the day that West Virginia won the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Arizona.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 3873, the 515 Rural Housing Property Transfer Improvement Act of 2007, which would expedite the transfer of ownership of rural multifamily housing projects with loans made and ensured under section 515 of the Housing Act. First, I would like to commend my colleague from New Hampshire (Mr. Hodes) for his dedication to rural housing issues and for the bipartisan way that this bill has come to the floor. I would also like to thank the chairman of the full committee. Since he's sitting there, I want to thank him. The result of these bipartisan efforts is a bill that represents a sound approach to improving the administration of the Department of Agriculture's section 515 program. Section 515 is a direct loan program administered by the USDA that provides low-interest loans to construct and renovate affordable multifamily housing. While this program has provided numerous benefits, as my colleague has enumerated, to low-income rural families, the process by which the USDA's State rural development offices considers requests to transfer ownership must be improved. Section 515 owners may wish to transfer the project to other entities during the terms of their loan for a variety of reasons, including changes in owner circumstances or changes in local market conditions. Transfers of ownership in section 515 can be beneficial for all parties, as it presents an opportunity to recapitalize a project for better maintenance, rehabilitation and improved management. Unfortunately, the transfer application process is time-consuming, and many of the rural development offices do not process these applications in a timely fashion simply because they are probably overwhelmed with the process. Certain RD offices have been slow in approving transfer requests, leading to a number of problems, including inaccurate appraisals and expiration of outside financing rate guarantees and bond and tax credit deadlines. This nonaction has been a major source of irritation for owners of 515s and groups representing section 515 tenants. H.R. 3873 would fix these impediments by directing the USDA Secretary to streamline the application process, require applications to be processed within a timely deadline, and to transfer any applications not processed within that deadline to the Office of Rental Housing Preservation that would then have sole review authority. Mr. Speaker, this bill was approved, as my colleague mentioned, by a voice vote in the Financial Services Committee and makes commonsense changes to section 515 that would improve the ownership transfer process. I urge my colleagues to support this worthwhile measure. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. CAPITO. I have no further speakers. I urge passage of this bill. We have the best of intentions here. We've worked out any kind of differences we may have had, and the end product is going to be better and more affordable and more accessible rural housing across America. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor a patriot and public servant, Charles E. Haas of Hurricane, WV for 39 outstanding years of service. Charles retired this month from the Office of Personnel Management Federal Investigative Services Division. His span of 39 years includes working for the United States Air Force with the Office of Special Investigations, the Defense Investigative Services, and finally the Federal Investigative Services in Charleston, WV. Charles is a true patriot who served with the West Virginia National Guard for 20 years, where he retired as Chief Master Sergeant in 2001. His commitment to serve our Nation and the personnel security mission as well as his high standards of character and professionalism are to be commended. I wish Charles E. Haas congratulations on his retirement and thank him for his service to our country and all his contributions to our great State.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam Speaker. I rise today to honor the accomplishments of Sandy Dunn, who was recently named the 2008 president of the National Association of Home Builders; making her the first West Virginian and the second female to serve as president of the association. A native of Mason County, West Virginia, Sandy followed in her father's footsteps by pursuing an interest in public service and taking over their family business, B.J. Builders founded by her father in 1947. In 1974, she additionally opened her own small business, Homestead Realty that grew into the county's largest realty agency. While remaining dedicated to her community, Sandy emerged in the homebuilding industry as an affective leader with a reputation as a consensus builder. She owes her success to open communication and listening to the concerns of the industry within her state and across the nation. Her previous experience within the homebuilding industry led her to her current post as president of the National Association of Home Builders. She has been active with the organization for 30 years, where she began on the local level gaining leadership positions, later served as president of the West Virginia Association of Home Builders for 2 years, and also served twice as vice president of the national association. She has received numerous honors including the 1997 Henry E. King Award, the highest statewide honor and was named National Representative of the Year in 1998. It is an honor to represent such an accomplished, female leader who serves the needs of the homebuilding industry on the national front, while always maintaining her dedication to her community of Mason County. I am proud to call Sandy Dunn, a friend and a fellow West Virginian.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to extend congratulations to the newly elected President of the American Medical Association, Dr. Nancy J. Nielsen, who hails from the Mountain State. Dr. Nancy J. Nielsen is the first West Virginia native and second female to hold the prestigious post. She is originally a native of Elkins, WV, located in Randolph County and completed her undergraduate education in pre-medicine at West Virginia University. She has a doctorate in microbiology from Catholic University of America and received her medical degree from University of Buffalo where she currently serves as senior associate dean for medical education for the school of medicine. Dr. Nielsen is always proud to mention her West Virginia roots to her friends and colleagues. She maintains her ties to the State by serving on the Board of Advisers to the WVU School of Medicine. She always makes time for family despite her busy teaching and travel schedule. Her mother, Anne Harshbarger, lives in Elkins and her children, Kristen Bartnik, Robin, David, Kevin Nielsen live in New York and her son. Mark Nielsen, lives in Washington, DC. She is the proud grandmother of 7 grandchildren. It is an honor to recognize Dr. Nancy J. Nielsen as a trailblazer among women for her accomplished career and leadership roles in the medical profession. West Virginia is proud to call her one of our own.

Mrs. CAPITO

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam Chairman, I have no further requests for time, and I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the gentleman if I left the apartment environmentally stable? I think I did. I yield 1 minute to my colleague from the Committee on Financial Services, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McHenry).

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Chairman, I offer this amendment to the HOPE VI bill, and I would like to talk about first of all what this amendment does not do because my fear is the argument on the other side is going to distort what I really think the core of the discussion between my amendment and those opposed should be. This amendment in no way is an advocate for destroying or throwing out the window environmental or green building standards. That is not my goal or my intention with this amendment. It retains requirements for green building standards, but it looks at how we build green in a different way. In the bill presently, there is a mandatory building standard that has been a criteria that has been developed by a proprietary preference for one organization. My amendment would simply move this out of a mandated into the green communities specifically mandated criteria, and move it into a more flexible situation where the Secretary would then choose an appropriate green building standard, green building rating system and code that would address environmental considerations, and leaves flexibility for the Secretary, this Secretary and secretaries to follow, to be able to determine that criteria. We are going to be building these HOPE VI projects all across this Nation, and I think it is important to note that there should be some geographic considerations for green building standards across the country. We are also trying to find the best way to use our Federal dollars, to maximize the number of Federal housing units, while still adhering to good environmental standards. I have listened a lot over the last 60 years to housing projects that have been made, destroyed and rebuilt and why some of them haven't lasted as long as they should. I think by putting this amendment forward, I think I am taking into consideration that what we know today to be a good green building standard and to be in the best interest of an environment or a community or a quality of life in 3 years may be outdated. The technology may not be in front of us now that says if you look at your water this way or your air this way or your environmental considerations for the landscaping, that there is going to be a better way in 3 years. In this bill, I think we are locking down a certain proprietarily developed standard for green building. I think in selecting appropriate green building criteria, this gives HUD the ability to choose a green building system, a standard or code, in an open, consensus-based way. That is why I put forward this amendment to give HUD the flexibility not only for today but for the future. Again, I want to reiterate what this amendment does not do. It does not have a goal in mind of undercutting green building in an environmentally stable way to create new HOPE VI projects. Also in this amendment, it also requires the Secretary to conduct a review once every 5 years to determine if the chosen system and standard or code is still relevant, and I think that is appropriate in terms of innovation. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Chairman, I would like to yield my remaining time to the ranking member of the full committee, Mr. Bachus of Alabama.

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like to thank the chairman and the chairwoman of the subcommittee, Ms. Waters, for reaching across the aisle and working on some of the very serious concerns that we had about the original bill. I would like to speak specifically about one area, the one-for-one replacement. We have heard a lot of discussion about that on the floor in the beginning arguments. But in this manager's amendment, there is much more flexibility in the one-for-one replacement. It also allows the Secretary to have some flexibility, and I think that means we will have more meaningful housing, housing with more vision on how to improve family and home life. Another thing is the development timeline. In the original bill, the development timeline was 12 months. I can't imagine myself trying to build large projects such as these and have everything in 12 months. So that deadline was extended to 54 months, which I think was a very good move. Also on the green building requirements, I have an amendment coming forward to ask for flexibility again in the green building requirements. But in the manager's amendment, some revisions were made, and I think it's moving us a step in the right direction. I myself support the manager's amendment. I think that a lot of the changes that were made were made in response to what we were hearing in our various offices from not only individuals but various groups their concern for the best way to put forward affordable housing, HOPE VI, and make sure that what we build stands up to the challenges of the future. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam Chairman, I would like to thank all the speakers for discussing what I think is a good program, HOPE VI. On this side of the aisle, even though the chairmen of the full committee and subcommittee have made great strides in terms of the manager's amendment in terms of answering some of our concerns, but we still have some concerns. And you are going to hear this through the amendment process, whether it's one-on-one replacement, demolition only, and my amendment on the green communities. So I appreciate HOPE VI's successes. I think we have heard from a lot of Members who have had individual successes in their own districts. I reiterate the success in my district was from a demolition-only grant, and I've seen how the community can benefit and the housing conditions can improve and the quality of life improve at the same time.

Mrs. CAPITO. May I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

Mrs. CAPITO. I would like to recognize the ranking member, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus), for 3 minutes.

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam Chairman, I have no further speakers, and I would like to reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling), a member of the Financial Services Committee.

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam Chairman, I yield the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays), who I mentioned in my opening statement had been very integral in reaching what I think is a very good bill, 3 minutes.