mr. speaker , i rise today in opposition to this restrictive rule and to the manager 's amendment made in order under the rule . 
h.r. 1461 , the federal housing finance reform act , as reported out of the committee on financial services , was a thoughtful , reasonable , bipartisan piece of legislation . 
as evidenced by the 65-5 committee vote in favor of the bill on may 25 , h.r. 1461 clearly has the support from both democrats and republicans . 
chairman oxley and ranking member frank worked together to craft bipartisan legislation that provides real oversight and a stronger , more powerful regulator for freddie mac , fannie mae , and the federal home loan banks . 
the federal housing reform act , as reported out of the committee in may , is the kind of legislation that the framers intended congress to pass . 
not only is it legislation that will do good and will improve people 's lives , it is legislation that was created out of bipartisan negotiations and compromise . 
i commend chairman oxley and ranking member frank for their actions on the financial services committee and for producing an excellent bill . 
but , mr. speaker , it is clear that the republican leadership can not handle bipartisan success . 
despite overwhelming bipartisan support in committee , the republican leadership held the bill hostage for 5 months , merely because a radical faction of their party opposes affordable housing and , specifically , opposes the affordable housing fund included in the bill . 
unfortunately , after being strong-armed by the republican study committee , the republican leadership forced changes that not only weakened the affordable housing fund provision , but will actually restrict the ability of low-income people from voting in future elections . 
here is the deal : they have a manager 's amendment that has some very good things in it , but tucked in that manager 's amendment there is included some language that many of us find offensive . 
and the gentleman from massachusetts , the ranking member of the financial services committee , wanted to have an amendment made in order to strike that offensive language and was denied that opportunity last night in the rules committee . 
the language that i am talking about specifically denies faith-based and nonprofit groups from funding simply if they express their first amendment rights . 
under these restrictions , any nonprofit community group , or church would be ineligible to receive funding if either they or their `` affiliates '' have engaged in nonpartisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote activities . 
furthermore , affiliation is defined so broadly that it includes having overlapping board members sharing physical space or other public communications . 
it is worth noting that for-profit companies are exempt from these restrictions . 
why would we protect companies from these restrictions , and impose them on low-income and faith-based communities , the very people who this legislation is supposed to empower ? 
i would ask my colleagues , what do you have against faith-based organizations ? 
we need to enhance access to affordable housing , not reduce it . 
mr. speaker , these restrictions are undemocratic . 
they are part of a pattern by the extreme right in the republican party in an attack on poor people . 
they are written with the intent to deny poor people the access to vote . 
these provisions are a direct affront on the democratic principles upon which this country was founded . 
it seems clear that these restrictions are unconstitutional . 
they would require any organization that wanted to receive funding from the affordable housing fund to sacrifice their freedom of assembly , which protects their right to associate with one another in groups for economic , political , or religious purposes . 
we can provide and expand the affordable housing market without trouncing on the bill of rights . 
just as easily as these restrictions were added into the legislation , they can be removed without affecting the goals of the affordable housing fund or the overall legislation . 
a multitude of organizations across the country , ranging from the united states conference of catholic bishops to the national alliance to end homelessness , have expressed their strong disapproval of these egregious provisions . 
for one reason , these groups realize how harmful these restrictions would be toward fighting homelessness . 
homelessness can not be combatted unless our nation 's affordable housing stock is increased . 
affordable housing can not be expanded if we bar nonprofits and community organizations from tapping into the appropriate resources . 
mr. speaker , affordable housing should not be a partisan issue , but , unfortunately , the republican leadership has made it so . 
the battle against homelessness and the expansion of affordable housing needs to be addressed through a coordinated effort between the government and nonprofit and faith-based communities . 
this language in this manager 's amendment severely restricts the ability of affordable housing professionals to fulfill their role . 
after hurricane katrina , president bush and the leadership in the house talked about the need to help poor americans rise out of poverty . 
they talked about improving people 's lives . 
well , mr. speaker , their actions clearly do not match their rhetoric . 
when the republican leadership had a chance to help the poorest of americans to receive affordable housing , they acted to restrict access to a proposed affordable housing fund . 
when the republican leadership had a chance to stand up for people who do not have a voice , for people who need help making ends meet , they made a conscious decision to turn their backs on them . 
mr. speaker , at the heart of this debate is the ability to provide affordable housing and access to voting for low-income families . 
one of the icons of the civil rights movement , rosa parks , died on sunday . 
we all mourn her passing . 
but it is hard not to see the irony that 2 days after her death , we are going to debate and vote on a bill that will restrict the ability of the poor to have access to affordable housing and to vote in democratic elections in this country . 
this is a lousy way to run this congress . 
i urge my colleagues to vote against this undemocratic and restrictive rule . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
