[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2141 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2141

    To reform the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 28, 2009

Mr. Cohen (for himself, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Hastings 
 of Florida, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Rush, Mr. Hare, Mr. Sires, Mr. 
 Gordon of Tennessee, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, 
    Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Ms. Clarke, and Ms. Fudge) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To reform the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Interagency Council on Homelessness 
Reform Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. MISSION.

    Section 201 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 11311) is amended by inserting before the period at the end the 
following ``whose mission shall be to coordinate the Federal response 
to homelessness and to create a national partnership at every level of 
government and with the private sector to reduce and end homelessness 
in the Nation while maximizing the effectiveness of the Federal 
Government in contributing to the end of homelessness''.

SEC. 3. MEMBERS.

    Subsection (a) of section 202 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11312(a)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (16) as paragraph (19); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (15) the following:
            ``(16) The Commissioner of Social Security, or the designee 
        of the Commissioner.
            ``(17) The Attorney General of the United States, or the 
        designee of the Attorney General.
            ``(18) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 
        or the designee of the Director.''.

SEC. 4. MEETINGS.

    Subsection (c) of section 202 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11312(c)) is amended by striking ``annually'' 
and inserting ``four times each year, and the rotation of the positions 
of Chairperson and Vice Chairperson required under subsection (b) shall 
occur at the first meeting of each year''.

SEC. 5. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.

    (a) Senate Confirmation.--Subsection (a) of section 204 of the 
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11314(a)) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``The Council shall appoint an Executive 
        Director'' and inserting ``The President shall appoint an 
        Executive Director, with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
        who shall serve at the pleasure of the President, and'';
            (2) by striking the last sentence.
    (b) Reporting to Director of Domestic Policy Council.--Section 202 
of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11312) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e) Administration.--The Executive Director of the Council shall 
report to the Director of Domestic Policy Council.''.

SEC. 6. DUTIES.

    Section 203 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 11313) is amended----
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), 
                (5), (6), and (7) as paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5), 
                (10), (11), and (12), respectively;
                    (B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so 
                redesignated by paragraph (1), the following:
            ``(1) not later than the expiration of the 12-month period 
        beginning upon the date of the enactment of the Interagency 
        Council on Homelessness Reform Act of 2009, develop, make 
        available for public comment, and submit to the President and 
        to the Congress a national plan to end homelessness for all 
        Americans, setting forth actions to accomplish such goal, and 
        update such plan every 2 years;'';
                    (C) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated by 
                subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, by inserting before 
                the semicolon at the end the following: ``and ensure 
                that related programs and activities to assist homeless 
                individuals of Federal agencies are coordinated with 
                each other''; and
                    (D) by inserting after paragraph (5), as so 
                redesignated by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, the 
                following:
            ``(6) develop constructive alternatives to criminalizing 
        homelessness and eliminate laws and policies that prohibit 
        sleeping, feeding, sitting, resting, or lying in public spaces 
        when there are no suitable alternatives, result in the 
        destruction of a homeless person's property without due 
        process, or are selectively enforced against homeless persons;
            ``(7) makes recommendations, in the reports submitted 
        pursuant to subsection (b) on--
                    ``(A) long-term goals for the Congress to reduce 
                homelessness; and
                    ``(B) legislative strategies for the Congress to 
                achieve such goals;
            ``(8) evaluate the Federal role in interacting and 
        coordinating with State and local entities that address 
        homelessness;
            ``(9) conduct research and develop methods--
                    ``(A) through consultation with State and local 
                agencies, to improve coordination between the Council 
                and Federal agencies in existence upon the date of 
                enactment of the Interagency Council on Homelessness 
                Reform Act of 2009 that specifically deal with 
                homelessness; and
                    ``(B) to minimize the period during which 
                individuals remain homeless;''; and
            (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following 
        new paragraphs:
            ``(3) Biennial report.--The Council shall prepare and 
        transmit to the President and the Congress a biennial report 
        detailing the efforts of the Council to address homelessness.
            ``(4) Public availability.--The Council shall make each 
        report submitted to the Congress pursuant to this paragraph, or 
        paragraph (2) or (3) of this subsection, and the national plan 
        and updates of such plan submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) of 
        subsection (a), publicly available, including through posting 
        on a World Wide Web site maintained by the Council.''.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is amended by striking 
section 208 (42 U.S.C. 11318) and inserting the following:

``SEC. 208. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this title 
$3,000,000 for fiscal year 2009 and such sums as may be necessary for 
each of fiscal years 2010 through 2015. Any amounts appropriated to 
carry out this title shall remain available until expended.''.
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