mr. speaker , i would like to thank my friend for yielding me time . 
mr. speaker , at no time in our nation 's history has the need for affordable housing been so great . 
as the price of owning a house has risen all over america , the poverty level has risen to almost 13 percent , and now hurricanes katrina and rita have left thousands more americans , many of limited income , homeless . 
the bill we will consider today takes a critical step toward addressing our nation 's affordable housing crisis . 
by establishing an affordable housing fund , we are increasing the supply of affordable homes to low- and very low-income families . 
as a member of the committee on financial services , i was proud to see the inclusion of an affordable housing fund in the bill and proud to support the bill in committee . 
seeing this bipartisan support for this bill provided one of those moments when we can just say , oh , happy days . 
but this important provision will be for naught should one amendment made in order by the rules committee pass . 
the oxley amendment would disqualify nonprofit organizations , including faith-based organizations , from participating in the fund if they engage in voter participation or get-out-the-vote activities . 
and it effectively prevents many nonprofits from participating . 
as an ordained minister in the united methodist church , i come to this discussion from a unique perspective . 
mr. speaker , it is the mission of the united methodist church and every denomination and every faith group in our world to serve the poor and vulnerable . 
for my church , the st . 
james united methodist church in kansas city , an important part of the mission is to shelter the poor , and that is why we started in 1985 a section 202 project not far from our church . 
mr. speaker , i grew up one of those vulnerable citizens . 
i am not sure how many members of the united states congress lived in public housing , but i did . 
my family , including my three sisters and mother and father , lived in a shack , literally a two-room shack . 
my mother and father both worked all day every day , and i can tell you , growing up in public housing , not one time did we ever see a candidate canvassing our community , not one time do i remember any kind of effort to get the citizens to vote . 
i do not ever even remember seeing a voting precinct until i was about 17 years old because the elected officials knew that the poor do not vote . 
they knew that if you were poor , you were preoccupied with survival , and so there was no civic or political involvement . 
it was , how can we make it one more day ? 
we have created a culture in low-income neighborhoods where people do not participate in the political process , and what we need is to democratize the low-income neighborhoods of our communities . 
and if you go around , i do not care whether you are republican or democrat or just a lazy person , if you go and look at the voting returns , you will find that people who live in low-income neighborhoods do not vote . 
and i do not care who you are , you ought to want to get people to vote . 
this is the united states of america . 
we are strong only if we are able to get all of our citizens to participate in the political process . 
someone used the term `` liberal. '' if liberal means that i care , then color me liberal . 
and understand this : caring may hurt , but not caring hurts more . 
we can do better than this . 
america can do better than this . 
mr. speaker , at no time in our nation 's history has the need for affordable housing been so great . 
as the price of owning a home has risen all over america , the poverty level has risen to almost 13 percent . 
and now hurricanes katrina and rita have left thousands more americans , many of limited means , homeless . 
the bill we will consider today takes a critical step forward toward addressing our nation 's affordable housing crisis . 
by establishing an affordable housing fund , we are increasing the supply of affordable homes to low- and very low-income families . 
as a member of the financial services committee , i was proud to see the inclusion of affordable housing fund in the bill , and proud to support the bill in committee . 
seeing the bipartisan support for this bill provides one of those moments when we can say , `` o happy day '' . 
but this important provision will be for naught should one amendment made in order by the rules committee pass . 
the oxley amendment would disqualify nonprofit organizations , including faith-based organizations , from participating in the fund if they engage in voter registration or get-out the vote activities , and it effectively prevents many nonprofits from participating . 
as an ordained minister in the united methodist church , i come to this discussion from a unique perspective , mr. speaker . 
it is the mission of the united methodist church , and every denomination and faith group in our world , as it is of many religious orders and communities , to serve the poor and vulnerable . 
for my church , st . 
james united methodist in kansas city , an important part of that mission is to shelter the poor by providing affordable housing . 
but an equally important part of that mission is empowering the poor and vulnerable by supporting their full participation in the democratic process . 
i grew up one of those vulnerable citizens -- my family , by any standard of measurement was financially poor . 
until the age of 7 , i lived in a shack -- literally a two room shack -- with my mother , my father , and my three sisters . 
we had no indoor plumbing and for a while , no electricity . 
my family moved into public housing when i was 7. i can tell you , growing up , no candidates canvassed our community and few , if any residents in our projects voted . 
my great-grandfather , who lived until age 103 , never once voted in his life . 
i say this as a point of illustration . 
the poor and vulnerable are often those who need the most help to fully participate in our democracy . 
when you live in public housing , you are preoccupied with economic survival . 
let me be perfectly clear , mr. speaker , by forcing faith-based organizations and other nonprofits to choose between participating in the affordable housing fund or engaging in constitutionally protected voter registration and get out the vote activities with their own funds , the oxley amendment limits the full participation of our nation 's most vulnerable citizens in our democracy . 
i keep a photograph of the shack where i grew up hanging on the wall in my office to remind me that i have been given the opportunity to speak for those who can not , and represent in this the interests of the most vulnerable and voiceless american citizens here in the congress . 
every day when i go to work for the people of my district and the citizens of our country , i walk out of the front door of that shack . 
but whose interests are being served by passing these restrictions ? 
we 're not serving the interests of the faith-based community or the poor . 
these restrictions serve only the political purposes of some study group that should not have the power to derail democracy in our land . 
it is an assault on the poor in this country , and it is obscene . 
vote `` no '' on the rule and vote `` no '' on the oxley amendment . 
