OPENING STATEMENT CONGRESSWOMAN BROWN HOUSE VETERANS’ AFFAIRS SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS HEARING ON VA LOAN GUARANTY PROGRAM MARCH 16, 2000
Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your holding this hearing today to review the VA Home Loan Guaranty Program. Housing assistance is one of the most useful benefits that the Federal Government provides to servicemembers and veterans. It certainly is the subject of a lot of questions from my constituents. Yesterday afternoon the VA’s Chief Financial Officer called to tell me that the Department’s Inspector General had completed his long-awaited audits of VA financial statements for fiscal years 1998 and 1999. The good news for all of us is that VA received an "unqualified audit opinion". Since some of VA’s previous accounting weaknesses had been in the Loan Guaranty program, this is a welcomed sign that the program is improving. I hope that these clean audits will establish a new benchmark for the future. With regard to today’s hearing, I am concerned with recent reports that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are buying fewer loans made to some minority groups – especially African Americans. This causes the credit costs for these groups to go up. I am interested in hearing about the participation rate of minorities in VA’s home loan program. I understand it is high. I look forward to hearing from Mr. Pedigo about his innovative steps with automation to make the Loan Guaranty Program run efficiently. I also am looking forward to hearing from the Inspector General’s Office. I am concerned with some of the issues that the IG witness will be raising. I am particularly concerned with the reported lax oversight of contractors who manage the VA property. This is especially worrisome if VA is thinking about contracting out more of its functions. I am interested in the suggestions made last year by the Commission on Servicemembers and Veterans Transition Assistance and look forward to discussing those with the VA as well as the military and veterans service organization representatives. Mr. Chairman, I have a large naval base in my district and am concerned with adequate, affordable family housing being available at military installations. A March 1999 VA Inspector General report identified the nearby presence of large military bases as a major contributing factor to higher default rates. The report also says that loans made to active-duty service members defaulted more often than loans made to veterans and also tended to default earlier in the loan period. I will be interested in hearing the IG and VA suggestions regarding this serious problem. This should be a very interesting and useful hearing. Back to Witness List |