Date: 1986-06-04
Speaker: ST GERMAIN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I rise today in support of my amendment to the Fair Housing Initiatives Program WHIP]. This amendment establishes the principles the Secretary of HUD will follow in developing regulations for testing activities undertaken by private fair housing organizations and funded by HUD under FHIP. Testing is an investigative procedure involving paired individuals who are matched as to housing need and demographic profile except for race. sex. or other attribute which is the basis of an alleged discrimination. These trained testers individually visit lenders. rental agents or owners who may have discriminated against a prospective home purchaser or renter and record the way they are treated. The principles specified in my amendment require the testing to be objective. reliable. and controlled. and are intended to assure the credibility and probative value of evidence collected as a result of the tests. In addition no test may be funded under this program unless preceded by an allegation of a discriminatory housing practice made by a person who is not employed by. or affiliatedas an active volunteer would bewith the organization conducting the test. An allegation may be made by a person actually suffering the discrimination or by someone who is aware of discriminatory activity but not by someone responsible for conducting or administering the test. The amendment also makes clear that these principles. which were developed by HUD as a compromise with the National Association of Realtors. apply only to testing activity funded by HUD under this particular program. They do not apply to testing undertaken by private organizations and funded from other sources. One of the most valuable investigative techniques developed by fair housing organizations to collect objective and probative evidence of housing discrimination is systemic testing. While systemic testing involves pairs of testers matched similarly to the testers funded under this program. systemic testing is not limited to investigating allegations of specific discriminatory acts. Instead systemic testing is initiated based on a demographic analysis or an understanding of community patterns indicating discriminatory housing conditions. It is also used to measure the availability of housing in a market based on race. sex. or other characteristics covered by the fair housing acts. Evidence collected as a result of systemic testing and used in legal proceedings is subject to the same scrutiny as to objectivity and probative value as evidence offered in any legal proceeding. It is not the intent of this amendment to establish guidelines or standards to be applied to facts secured through systemic testing or other testing activities not funded by HUD under this amendment. I am pleased to offer this amendment. The compromise represented by this agreement between the Secretary of HUD and the National Association of Realtors assures the Federal Government will provide assistance to trained fair housing testers. This i 3313 amendment embodies the major principles of that agreement and is supported by the major national fair housing organizations. I urge all of my colleagues to join me and vote for the amendment. Mr. Chairman. the amendment before us is an amendment to that which is contained in the substitute. It has been worked out after a great deal of effort between HUD. Secretary Pierce. and the National Association of Realtors. It does not in any way preclude private organizations from doing their own testing as long as it is not funded under this program. With that. I would hope that we could gain acceptance of the amendment.