mr. chairman , when this bill left the financial services committee on a 65 to 5 vote , i felt we were on the way to a great accomplishment . 
i was truly impressed with the hard work that chairman oxley , ranking member frank , congressman baker , and others had done to bring the gses into this century . 
it is no less than tragic that the majority leadership and the administration have deep sixed this bipartisan legislation . 
the bill creates the sort of regulator that the gses have long lacked and that they demonstrably need , without destroying their housing mission . 
i was particularly excited by the affordable housing fund provided by this bill . 
the fund is a critical and long-overdue step toward addressing the very real housing crisis that confronts low-income families . 
it would be the first concrete step the congress has taken in support of housing in this administration . 
we know that without federal assistance , housing for low-income families does not get built or made available . 
yet each year this administration has cut its support for housing . 
in this bill , we found a bipartisan way to support housing using a new funding source . 
the gses were chartered by the federal government for the purpose of providing housing to more americans , and they enjoy a benefit as a result of their federal charter . 
thus , it is uniquely appropriate that they plow a percentage of their profits -- up to 5 percent -- back into the low-income end of the housing market . 
this would be $ 500 million or more annually . 
that is serious money . 
we built on success : the fund is modelled after the successful affordable housing program of the federal home loan bank program . 
we wanted all players involved . 
funds would be awarded through a competitive process to for profit builders , state housing organizations , and non-profits . 
we put in place safeguards to prevent abuse . 
the funds must be used for low-income housing . 
they may not be used to lobby or to conduct partisan political activities . 
recipients who misuse funds will not be allowed to participate again . 
this bill is the best thing that has come along for housing in a very long time . 
therefore it is particularly tragic that the majority has injected a poison pill into the bipartisan bill that left our committee : the provision that prevents any nonprofit recipient of a housing grant from conducting nonpartisan voter registration or get-out-the-vote activities . 
this is an outrageously bad provision that imposes unconstitutional restrictions on promoting the most fundamental of our civil liberties : the right to vote . 
it is profoundly disturbing that the majority and the administration are willing to use any tool available to kill this bill and prevent the housing fund from becoming a reality . 
i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to repudiate these provisions that strike at faith based organizations and the fundamental right to vote . 
i can not in good conscience vote for this bill with this provision in it . 
even the promise of housing money comes at too high a price when we must compromise the principles on which this nation is built . 
