mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman for yielding me this time . 
mr. chairman , i rise in opposition to the measure before us today . 
specifically , i stand in this house to condemn the language in this bill which would prohibit faith-based organizations , our churches , my church , our temples and synagogues and mosques , from helping the homeless by providing housing for the thousands of families in this country who are either homeless or in shelters or forced to live in substandard housing . 
under the express terms of this manager 's amendment , nonprofit groups that engage in voter participation activities will be prohibited from applying for a grant under the affordable housing fund . 
i am frustrated as well with the whole process here because my friend and colleague from massachusetts ( mr. frank ) xz4001400 was denied the opportunity to offer an amendment to strike these egregious provisions . 
in this day and age when we are beset by major crises such hurricanes katrina and rita and wilma , which have destroyed literally hundreds of thousands of homes across the southern part of this country , it is no time to shackle the hands of our nonprofit , faith-based organizations from doing what americans have always taken pride in , and that is helping their neighbor . 
while like most members i deeply respect the separation of church and state in matters of worship and the freedom to practice religion without government influence , there has always been in this country a recognition , at least until now , that we have faith-based institutions ; and when they have sought to provide basic assistance , such as food for the hungry and health care for the sick and elderly and housing for the homeless , free of any effort to persuade or proselytize , they are in the business of solely reducing suffering , and we have recognized the goodness in that . 
that would end today if the manager 's amendment succeeds . 
we would have a departure in this country from that long tradition , and for those reasons i oppose this bill . 
