mr. chairman , i rise in opposition to the manager 's amendment because it is a deal breaker with those provisions and certainly because the conference of catholic bishops has indicated that they want to build houses and participate in democracy too . 
mr. chairman , i rise in opposition to the instant legislation , h.r. 1461 -- especially insofar as it fails to remove the unfair and unreasonable language that provides that nonprofits will be prohibited from using their own funds to engage in nonpartisan voter registration and requires that housing be their primary purpose in order to receive funds . 
the motion to recommit made by mr. franks seeks to protect our faith-based entities that need these valuable dollars to provide affordable housing . 
not only would the gentleman 's amendment have redeemed this legislation , but his motion to recommit would have removed language contained in the current manager 's amendment that bars organizations with proven experience in mobilizing community support and resources -- a nonpartisan initiative . 
in addition , the manager 's amendment would constrain the ability of experienced faith-based and community-based organizations to successfully compete for the affordable housing funds that are proposed in the underlying bill . 
my district of houston , texas , has a plethora of faith-based organizations that have plans that would provide much-needed affordable housing for the surrounding community . 
our affordable housing stock has suffered for a long time , and i have been working steadfastly with the secretary of housing and urban development to facilitate the obtainment of opportunities by these groups . 
the nugatory provisions in the manager 's amendment will contravene the hard work that i and many other members have done to this end . 
while i applaud the effort made by the administration to remove barriers to full participation in federal programs and funding faith-based entities , proposals such as the manager 's amendment will bar these groups from access to this funding while for-profit agencies remain free to engage in the same voter registration activities . 
this double-standard must be removed -- it contravenes the spirit of the u.s. constitution . 
existing limits in h.r. 1461 on activities that qualify for affordable housing funds prevent abuse of this funding . 
groups , many of which operate in my district of houston sign certifications to receive federal , state , and local government funds that prohibit diversion of program funds for political and lobbying purposes . 
there are multiple vehicles available to ensure that the new affordable housing funds are protected from inappropriate use by grantees . 
our faith-based groups need the proposed affordable housing fund under h.r. 1461 , especially in the devastated gulf coast region where hundreds of thousands of families have not been able to return to their homes . 
in such challenging times , it would be unfortunate if experienced faith-based organizations and nonprofits that have performed laudably in meeting the needs of these survivors would be barred from participation in funding that would help meet critical housing needs . 
mr. chairman , i support the legislation on the above limited basis . 
