|
Honorable
Lane Evans Reservist VA Home Loan Fairness Act of
2001 Mr. Speaker, today I am
introducing The Reservist VA Home Loan Fairness Act of 2001. It is always appropriate for America to recognize the
indispensable contribution the members of the Reserve Components make to
this nation’s total military force.
By supporting The Reservist VA Home Loan Fairness Act of 2001,
Congress will do more than simply state that “Reservists are
full-partners in the Total Force” – Congress will recognize the
contributions of Reservists in a tangible way by granting them access to
VA home loans on the same footing and at the same funding fee schedule as
active duty veterans. This is
a basic fairness issue. Since the Gulf War, America
has called upon the Guard and Reserves at an ever-increasing rate.
In the last five years, the utilization tempo of Reserve Component
members has increased 13-fold from the tempo they maintained during the
last five years of the 1980s. When called to duty, members of the Guard and Reserves leave
home, family and job to enter harm’s way.
They are indistinguishable from their active duty counterparts in
Bosnia, Korea, or in South West Asia.
Yet, should these veterans apply for a VA Home Loan Guarantee, they
are told that they must pay an additional three-quarters of one percent
for the VA’s Reservist-rate Funding Fee. They are the only group
required to bear this added financial burden for VA Home Loans.
Perhaps this is one reason that less than four percent of all home
loans in FY 2000 were provided to Reservists.
This disparity must end. The
Guard and Reserves are full partners in America’s Total Force. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to support the Reservist VA Home Loan Fairness Act of 2001. The cost in dollars is small, but the message you will send is large and powerful. |