Mel Watt

Mr. WATT

Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 1728, and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Mr. WATT

Mr. WATT. Mr. Chairman, would you advise how much time remains on each side.

Mr. WATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to a valued member of the Committee on Financial Services who has been involved in the process throughout, Mr. Al Green of Texas.

Mr. WATT. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Chairman, my colleague from North Carolina identified a whole list of things that had gone awry in the lending community that formed the basis for this bill, and we have tried to address them by requiring lenders to assess the borrower's ability to repay the loan by requiring borrowers to at least make sure that the lender is getting some kind of tangible benefit out of a loan that they make to them, by requiring lenders to verify the income of people that they are making loans to, and by setting up standards for appraisers to do responsible appraising and by creating broker responsibilities. Nobody can argue with those things and nobody should argue with those things. And if you support them, you should be supporting this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WATT. Mr. Chairman, I recognize the chairman of the full Financial Services Committee for a closing statement and yield him the balance of our time.

Mr. WATT

Mr. WATT. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I think he's yielding to me because I made this point in the committee markup that credit card companies were engaging in negative conduct in the interim before this bill gets implemented, and Mr. Frank made exactly the same commitment to me at that point, and we're certainly going to push them on that.

Mr. WATT. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. WATT. I neglected to address the gentleman's amendment, Mr. Chairman. I want to urge my strong support for the gentleman's amendment from a personal experience. I was the administrator of my brother's estate after he died more than 2 years ago. I'm still getting bills that I have paid off to credit card companies out of that estate. So it's a serious problem and I am glad he's addressing it.

Mr. WATT

Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time and for reserving this time to bring this important resolution forward. About 2 weeks ago, following the death of our good friend, John Hope Franklin, I witnessed something that I had never witnessed in this body before. People were lining up to introduce resolutions honoring Dr. John Hope Franklin. And the Congressional Black Caucus was saying, John Hope Franklin is our honored person who has been so important to us. Representative David Price from North Carolina, in whose district John Hope Franklin lived at his death, said, I want the honor of introducing a resolution. Individual Members were all intent on introducing their resolution. And I modestly tell you, Mr. Speaker, that I ended up being the lead sponsor, only after a period of negotiation between people who were anxious to be in this position. And I am honored to have been kind of negotiated into the position of being the lead sponsor. But out of that process, something important became apparent to me, and that's this: That if 100 of our Members had introduced resolutions honoring the life and times of John Hope Franklin, that still wouldn't have been enough to give him the kind and sufficiency of honor that he deserved. And if 100 different resolutions had been introduced, I can imagine that they would have covered 100 different aspects of his life. They would have said, he was a scholar, because when John Hope Franklin was researching African American history in this country, there really was no written African American history in this country. And he had to beg his way into the Library of Congress, into places where nobody African American had ever really spent any time to try to find the history and place African Americans in a particular reserved place, tracing their ancestry all the way back into Africa, and giving us the due that we were entitled to have as part of this, the history of this country. A resolution might have talked about his being the first, because there's a whole list. We could take 20 minutes on our side just listing the things that John Hope Franklin was the first to do; the first to be an African American head of a Department of History, the first to do this, the first to do that. We could devote a whole resolution to him as a historian, because the wonderful work that he authored, ``From Slavery to Freedom,'' helped to define the role of African Americans in this country. We could do a resolution listing just the honors that he received, the number of honorary doctorates and prizes and awards that he received for his scholarship and his participation. We could do a resolution on his commitment to growing tulips. Here's a man that has had an tulip named after him because he took a liking to tulips, and really went in and probably has the best understanding and the best collection of tulips of any individual in America. We could do a resolution on his landmark participation, the fact that he was part of the research team that did Brown v. Board of Education; that he was part of the research team that made it possible for me to continue to serve in this body.

Mr. WATT. He was part of the team that did the research on the Voting Rights Act that resulted in the Supreme Court upholding the congressional districts that many of the members of the CBC now occupy in this body. We could do a resolution on his involvement in President Clinton's Race Initiative. But I tell you, if I were doing a resolution, if I were writing it myself, I'd do it based on this humble genius, the mentorship that he provided to me, the friendship that he provided to me and my family as we grew up in politics, as we came out of the South and assumed the role that I have in this body today. This is a great, great, great, great man that had so many different ingredients to his greatness. Time doesn't give us enough time or enough resolutions to do appropriate honor to this man. I am grateful that we have this time, but I'm more grateful that we had him for 90- plus years on this Earth.

Mr. WATT

Mr. WATT. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentlelady from Ohio for organizing this Special Order for an extremely special person who actually spent most of his time in North Carolina even though he was born in Ohio. So we all claim ownership of John Hope Franklin. I will be brief because we have other colleagues here who are anxious to express themselves about their memories and our memories of John Hope Franklin. And because the Congressional Black Caucus will be introducing a resolution, which I hope to have the opportunity to speak on, and because in conjunction with the Senator from North Carolina, Senator Hagan, who has dropped a resolution on the Senate side, and Representative David Price on the House side, we have dropped or are in the process of introducing another resolution to honor John Hope Franklin. It, perhaps, would be best stated in this way, my reaction, when on Friday of last week, a proposed wording of a resolution that was planning to be introduced by my colleague, Representative David Price of North Carolina, honoring the life of John Hope Franklin, was forwarded to me in North Carolina for my review and approval. And I wrote back this to the person who sent it to me on my staff: I said, ``No words could ever do justice to the greatness of this man.'' And that's kind of the way we all feel about John Hope Franklin. Among all of his wonderful accomplishments and his education and mentorship of all of us in our community--not only African Americans but for the Nation as a whole--to make them understand that the history of African Americans is an integral part of the American history that we should honor and cherish. Among all of those accolades, he was first and foremost a wonderful, wonderful friend to me and to my wife and family. And we had the wonderful pleasure of spending time with him and just sitting and talking to him on occasion. You could get mesmerized in those conversations because there was not a single thing in history that he didn't already understand all of the historical trappings and connections that went with it. But then he would break it down and give you his own personal relationships to it and how he interpreted it in today's modern times, the implications that it had, the significance for young people, the significance for older people. He would just mesmerize you with his conversation. No words could ever do justice to the greatness of this man. We will miss him. We honor his memory. And the thing that I am constantly consoled of is that he died at age 94 and there was not a single day that he cheated life. I mean, he used every single day of it contributing wonderful things to our history, to our humanity, to others, and to me to a friendship that I will always cherish. I thank the gentlelady for reserving this time and for yielding me the time to express my sentiments this evening.

Mr. WATT

Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I am privileged today to welcome and say words of welcome on behalf of the House to the wonderful bishop and minister who delivered our prayer for us this morning, whom I am privileged to have as a constituent in my congressional district. He is not only a leader in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church but has been a leader in our community of Charlotte, North Carolina, and in our State for a number of years. He has served on our school board, he has been a corporate leader serving on boards of distinction, and he is an outstanding family man as well as, of course, a religious leader of our community. We are delighted to welcome Bishop Battle today, and wish him well. His wife is just recovering from surgery, and we wish her well also on behalf of the House.

Mr. WATT

Mr. WATT. Madam Speaker, I am pleased today to recognize the 33rd anniversary of Bishop George W. Brooks as Senior Pastor and Chief Elder of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC. Since becoming the pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in 1975, Bishop Brooks has proven to be an inspirational leader in Greensboro, our nation and around the world. Under his leadership, the Mt. Zion Baptist Church has flourished from 35 members in 1975 to over 5,000, and 42 ministries that work to address some of the fundamental needs of its congregation, the Greensboro community and people abroad. Examples of these ministries include daycare and afterschool programs that serve 200 children daily, homeless outreach, health and wellness care and the One In Christ Bible College. Internationally, Bishop Brooks and his congregation have established churches and schools in West Africa, South Africa and the Philippines, including the first Bible School in a South African prison to reduce recidivism. In the midst of all his accomplishments, Bishop Brooks is also an outstanding husband, father and grandfather. Bishop Brooks is also the co-founder of the Welfare Reform Liaison Project, a program that has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for empowering welfare recipients with the skills to become self-sufficient. Madam Speaker, we are often reminded and we all agree that government can't solve all our problems. It's great to know that we're getting help on the ground from faith and other non-government organizations. Bishop Brooks and Mt. Zion Baptist Church are certainly doing their part. I'm sure my colleagues join me in wishing Bishop George W. Brooks and the Mt. Zion Baptist Church congregation a happy 33rd pastoral anniversary and best wishes for years to come.

Mr. WATT

Mr. WATT. I thank the gentleman for yielding time. There is probably no worse instance to be doing legislation than having to do it in response to a crisis. Legislating to clean up a mess is just not as fun as it is if you do something thoughtfully looking forward to try to prevent a mess from occurring. And we've been, for the last several years, trying to legislate. We had predatory lending legislation. We've been on the forefront of that. But we've been having difficulty getting people to recognize that a crisis was coming if we didn't respond to cut back on irresponsibility in the market. There are two problems here. The first is, is there a real crisis that needs to be responded to? And that is really the question that I have gotten a lot more calls from my constituents about. The second issue of course is what do you do about it if there is a crisis? So let me talk about the first of those first. Is there a crisis? And that question I really don't have an answer for other than the answer that we were given by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve 1 week ago Thursday which was that we are in a real crisis situation that could mushroom into something worse than the Great Depression. It's not my responsibility as an individual Member of Congress to go and prove that. But when the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve tell me that there is a real problem, the stakes become too high for me not to take it seriously. It's not my responsibility to go and convince the American people, and I wish we had a President that had enough communication skills and enough credibility with the American people to convince them that there is a real problem. Unfortunately, that burden hadn't been carried sufficiently by the administration. But I am convinced that the odds are bad enough that if we don't do something today, we will regret it for a long, long time to come. Having jumped across that threshold, we have shaped this package as responsibly as we can shape it, and I encourage my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. WATT

Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6965) to extend the authorization of the national flood insurance program, and for other purposes.

Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. WATT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, this bill would extend the National Flood Insurance Program by 7 months. During the most recent hurricanes of last year, we found that the program had some substantial problems to it. The House has passed a bill, the Senate has passed a bill, and we have been unable to this point to reconcile the two bills. So the solution in the meantime is to extend the existing flood insurance program by 7 months. It is important to homeowners and businesses so they can have easy access to flood insurance. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WATT. I thank the gentlewoman for her excellent presentation on this. If she is prepared to yield back, I am also prepared to yield back.

Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WATT

Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to recognize the 25th anniversary of Reverend, Dr. Clifford Anthony Jones as pastor of the Friendship Missionary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to recognize the 25th anniversary of Reverend Dr. Clifford Anthony Jones as pastor of the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Since moving to Charlotte 25 years ago to the accept the call to lead Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, Pastor Jones has been an important leader in our community and has made significant contributions to our State and internationally. In addition to his important religious role as the leader of a large, dynamic congregation, he is recognized as a leader in race relations, in education, and in community development. Under his leadership, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church has acquired 108.5 acres of land in Charlotte on which they are pursuing plans to develop HIV/AIDS housing, single family housing, a child care center, commercial space, an assisted-living facility for seniors, and centers for Alzheimers and hospice patients. Amidst all these accomplishments, Pastor Jones is also recognized as an outstanding husband and father and is a published author. Pastor Jones has also been an active force internationally. He has organized and led medical and religious mission teams of doctors, nurses, technicians, and teachers to provide needed healthcare, medical supplies, and educational training in Jamaica, Africa, India, and Guyana for children and families struggling in poverty. Mr. Speaker, I'm sure my colleagues join me in wishing Reverend Dr. Clifford Anthony Jones, Sr., and the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church congregation a happy 25th pastoral anniversary and best wishes for years to come.

Mr. WATT

Mr. WATT. I thank the gentlelady for convening this Special Order for us to pay tribute to our friend and colleague, Stephanie Tubbs Jones. In the midst of all our sadness I think the one thing that keeps occurring over and over and over again is wonderful, uplifting, fun stories and memories of Stephanie Tubbs Jones. In fact, I was privileged to share a whole sequence of fun, funny, uplifting experiences with Stephanie Tubbs Jones, and I concur with my colleague, Emanuel Cleaver, who made a comment earlier that this life did not cheat our friend Stephanie Tubbs Jones. She lived and enjoyed every single minute of it. Even when she was working, she was having fun. So I suspect you're going to hear from this group that is coming for this Special Order more stories about our experiences with her because they were all a series of fun experiences. Let me start with this experience. Probably 3 weeks before Stephanie Tubbs Jones' death, 7:30 a.m. in the morning the phone rings at my residence in Charlotte, North Carolina, and on the other end is Stephanie Tubbs Jones saying, Mel, I got into your city last night at about 10 o'clock in the morning. I was on my way from Memphis, Tennessee, where I had been campaigning for a person who was running for Congress, and I was on my way to give a speech in Cincinnati, Ohio, and there was bad weather in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I ended up spending the night at a motel in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I don't have any clothes and I am supposed to be giving a speech in Cincinnati later today. What can you do for me? I said, Well, Stephanie, no problem. I will just have somebody pick you up, take you to the shopping center. You can do your shopping, buy a whole new wardrobe. So she went to all this excuse to go shopping. We will hook you up. So that very morning, as soon as the stores opened in Charlotte, one of my staff members had Stephanie Tubbs Jones at the mall and she did her shopping and we got her to the airport by 11:30 that morning to catch her flight to Cincinnati. She went to Cincinnati and gave her speech. Now I missed the opportunity to see the outfits--not one, but outfits--that Stephanie Tubbs Jones purchased that morning. She promised me she was going to show me the special outfit that she purchased, and I never got the opportunity to see it. But as those kinds of stories that make Stephanie Tubbs Jones a real person to us, not just a colleague in Congress, but a friend, a peer, a confidante, a person that you knew that if she ever made a commitment to you, would be there come heck or high water. I am cleaning it up a little bit. She was our friend, a delightful, wonderful person, always with a smile. She never got cheated in this life, because she lived every moment of it. I thank my colleague for yielding me time. I know there are so many other of my colleagues here to pay tribute. I could go on and on and on, but I won't. I thank you for doing this. My condolences to Barbara and Mervyn and the entire Stephanie Tubbs Jones family.

Mr. WATT

Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding time. This is a big, big deal when it comes to housing, when it comes to responsible credit, when it comes to economic recovery in our Nation. This could perhaps be the most important bill that we have considered during the 16 years certainly that I've been a Member of Congress. And to the extent that a lot of these reforms were already in the pipeline and well-thought-out and are now being implemented in response to a crisis, the fact that the crisis has occurred has forced us to do it. And then there are some things in the bill that are being done solely in response to the crisis, and some of those things have been questioned by our colleagues on the other side as perhaps extending more responsibility to Fannie and Freddie, while at the same time increasing their risk, and there are concerns about that. One of the most important things I think in this bill is a lot of these bad loans are having to be unwound, and borrowers need counseling to get them unwound. And we've given some funds in this bill to fund ongoing counseling, and we've added to it the ability to get some legal advice. On the Senate side, they put in a provision. We had already said you can't use any of that money for class action litigation. On the Senate side, they put in a provision that said no civil litigation, and I think I'm satisfied that civil litigation is not broad enough to cover advice about foreclosures, that I've asked the Chair just to give me his opinion about whether the language in the bill is broad enough to foreclose any legal assistance with foreclosures.

Mr. WATT. I'd be happy to yield.

Mr. WATT. I thank the chairman for making that clarification. I think this is a good bill. When you legislate in a crisis situation, you always get some concerns, but overall, this is a wonderful bill, and we need to pass it.