[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 21, 2015)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E543] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] PERSONAL EXPLANATION ______ HON. RAUL RUIZ of california in the house of representatives Tuesday, April 21, 2015 Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, due to the recent birth of my twin daughters, I was unable to be present for votes on the House floor the week of April 13, 2015. Below is an explanation of how I would have voted and why. I would have voted for H.R. 1259, the Helping Expand Lending Practices in Rural Communities Act, which creates a process for areas to be considered rural to allow otherwise prohibited balloon payments in qualified mortgages. This bill aims to improve access to financing for borrowers in rural, underserved areas, which will help families nationwide achieve the dream of home ownership. I would have voted for H.R. 1265, the Bureau Advisory Commission Transparency Act, which requires advisory committees established by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to adhere to federal ethics and conflict-of-interest laws. Government transparency is essential to holding administration officials accountable, and this bill will help ensure that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau conducts their crucial work out in the open. I would have voted for H.R. 1480, the SAFE Act Confidentiality and Privilege Enhancement Act, which would provide confidentiality protections to financial services regulators when they access information in the national mortgage licensing and registry system. This bill will provide financial regulators the confidentiality protections they need to protect consumers and eliminate fraud in the mortgage industry. I would have voted against H.R. 650, the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act, which reduces regulatory restrictions on high-cost mortgages in the manufactured housing industry to increase the maximum interest rates manufactured housing vendors can charge. This bill would hamstring Dodd-Frank regulations designed to protect consumers from predatory lending practices in the manufactured housing industry. The bill seeks to reduce the regulatory restrictions on high- cost mortgages in the manufactured housing industry by increasing the maximum interest rates manufactured housing vendors can charge. I would have voted for H.R. 685, the Mortgage Choice Act of 2015, which seeks to clarify conflicting definitions under current law concerning affiliated and unaffiliated title companies, and could help keep interest rates on mortgage loans affordable. I would have voted for Rep. Van Hollen's Motion to Instruct Conferees on S. Con. Res. 11, which would instruct conferees to recede to the Senate budget resolution accommodation for legislation to improve workplace benefits, including paid sick leave. The motion would also instruct budget conferees to reject the House-passed budget's provision to turn Medicare into a voucher program. Our seniors depend on Medicare, and I will reject any attempt to end the Medicare guarantee and increase out-of-pocket health costs for seniors. I would have voted for H.R. 1562, the Contracting and Tax Accountability Act of 2015, and H.R. 1563, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2015. H.R. 1562 would generally prohibit individuals and companies with seriously delinquent tax debts from receiving federal contracts and grants, and H.R. 1563 would make individuals with seriously delinquent tax debt ineligible for federal employment if they fail to accept a payment plan within nine months of enactment. Corporations and individuals with serious tax delinquencies should not receive taxpayer-subsidized benefits over those who fulfill their tax obligations. I would have voted against H.R. 622, the State and Local Sales Tax Deduction Fairness Act, which would permanently allow taxpayers to deduct state and local sales taxes in lieu of state and local income taxes, without offsetting the cost. This bill would increase the deficit by $42 billion and encourages states to raise taxes, pressuring the federal government to increase taxes to account for the difference. California does not benefit from the state and local sales tax deduction, so this bill would push more of the nation's tax burden onto hardworking taxpayers in my district. Finally, I would have voted against H.R. 1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act. This bill repeals the federal estate tax, which currently affects only estates valued at $5.4 million or above ($10.8 million for couples). This bill would add $269 billion to the federal deficit, and the entirety of those benefits would go to the wealthiest 0.2 percent of estates. The federal tax code should expand opportunity for everyone, rather than stacking the deck against middle-class families. ____________________