110 HRES 561 EH: Recognizing the 20th anniversary of the U.S. House of Representatives 2007-07-23 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 561 In the House of Representatives, U. S., July 23, 2007 RESOLUTION Recognizing the 20th anniversary of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and the impact it has made on homelessness and endeavoring to continue working to eliminate homelessness in the United States.

Whereas July 22, 2007, is the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, which was renamed the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act in October 2000; Whereas Representatives Stewart B. McKinney and Bruce Vento worked tirelessly in the Congress to develop a Federal response to homelessness; Whereas Representative Stewart B. McKinney was committed to exposing the depth of the growing problem of homelessness in the 1980s; Whereas Representative Stewart B. McKinney was a recognized expert on Federal housing law and urban affairs who successfully amended the National Housing Act and the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to better target Federal aid to smaller cities, but became terminally ill with pneumonia after sleeping on a grate outside a Federal building with the homeless of Washington, DC; Whereas in 1985, after personally viewing the circumstances of the homeless and the need for crisis intervention in his congressional district in St. Paul, Minnesota, Representative Bruce Vento introduced a resolution to express the sense of the Congress that homelessness is a national problem requiring a national solution; Whereas throughout his career, Representative Vento remained dedicated to securing a commitment of Federal resources to address homelessness; Whereas the programs established by the McKinney-Vento Act have provided housing, education, health care, and job training assistance, and critical outreach, to thousands of homeless men, women, and children in the United States; Whereas the Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program of the McKinney-Vento Act has resulted in a significant increase in the number of homeless children and youth attending school on a regular basis; Whereas the McKinney-Vento Act was intended to be only an emergency response and not the sole Federal response to homelessness; Whereas over the course of a year, as many as 3,500,000 persons are estimated to experience homelessness in the United States; Whereas approximately 400,000 veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States experience homelessness at some point over the course of a year; Whereas the homeless population includes vulnerable groups such as children, unaccompanied youth, and persons with disabilities; and Whereas there were at least 142 unprovoked assaults against homeless persons in 2006, including 20 that resulted in death: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives— (1)recognizes the 20th anniversary of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and the impact it has made on homelessness in the United States; (2)recognizes the positive impact the McKinney-Vento Act has had on hundreds of thousands of homeless men, women, children, and youth in the United States; (3)recognizes the substantial contributions of Representatives Stewart B. McKinney and Bruce Vento in addressing homelessness; (4)recognizes that homelessness continues to be an urgent problem in the United States; (5)commends the dedication and commitment of service providers, including faith-based and nonprofit organizations, who are working to end homelessness in their communities and provide emergency food, shelter, and services to homeless Americans; (6)recognizes that the lack of affordable housing exacerbates homelessness in the United States; (7)supports the continued efforts of Federal, State, and local governments and private non-profit organizations in their efforts to prevent and end homelessness through the development of affordable housing; (8)recognizes that the life expectancy of a homeless person in the United States is 30 years shorter than that of the average American and supports efforts to improve the health of homeless Americans; (9)supports efforts to prevent and end homelessness among veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States; (10)supports efforts to ensure accurate and timely processing of applications for disability benefits as a means of decreasing homelessness among disabled persons; (11)recognizes that the safety and well-being of homeless persons is an urgent problem; (12)recognizes the critical role of education and public schools in preventing and ending homelessness, and supports efforts to improve stability, services, and access to school for homeless children and youth; and (13)endeavors to work with the same courage, dignity, and determination exemplified by Representatives McKinney and Vento to eliminate homelessness in the United States.

Lorraine C. Miller, Clerk.