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(Washington, DC) - Rep. Wally Herger today reported that the House passed H.R. H.R. 3997, the Heroes Earning Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2007. The bill includes a Herger-sponsored provision that would enable more California veterans to purchase a home, among other provisions important to Northern California veterans. Herger has led the effort to pass this provision on behalf of California veterans since 2005, and this Congress he joined Democratic Representative Susan Davis (CA-53) in introducing stand alone legislation to fix this problem. His remarks made on the House floor are below:
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. An important provision of the HEART Act will help veterans in my home state achieve the American Dream of homeownership. In our pursuit of this provision, I joined my California colleague Susan Davis to introduce stand-alone legislation on this issue, and I thank her for her leadership.
"Currently, several states are allowed to issue what are called Qualified Veterans Mortgage Bonds, which are tax-exempt bonds. In California, the Cal-Vet home loan program uses the proceeds from these bonds to help pay for low cost mortgages for our nation's heroes returning from war. For our state and Texas, however, until this provision today, only veterans who ended their military service before 1977 were allowed to receive these low cost home loans using proceeds from Qualified Veterans Mortgage Bonds.
"Now all veterans - regardless of when they served - will be eligible under the QVMB financed program. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his administration deserve credit for their unwavering support of this change. This provision has been several years coming. I am very pleased to say that it will help many recent California servicemen and women purchase their own home, regardless of when they served. Thank you and I yield back the balance of my time."
To view the floor remarks, click here.
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