[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 251 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 251

 To transfer the position of Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs in 
 the Department of Housing and Urban Development to the Office of the 
                   Secretary, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 9, 2015

  Mr. Al Green of Texas (for himself, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Hastings, Mr. 
Lipinski, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Honda, Mr. Rush, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Hahn, Mr. 
Gene Green of Texas, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Serrano, 
  Ms. Kaptur, Ms. Moore, Mr. Rangel, Mr. McDermott, and Mr. McGovern) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To transfer the position of Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs in 
 the Department of Housing and Urban Development to the Office of the 
                   Secretary, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Homes for Heroes Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR VETERANS AFFAIRS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF 
              HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT.

    (a) Transfer of Position to Office of the Secretary.--Section 4 of 
the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3533) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(h) Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs.--
            ``(1) Position.--There shall be in the Office of the 
        Secretary a Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs, who shall 
        report directly to the Secretary.
            ``(2) Appointment.--The Special Assistant for Veterans 
        Affairs shall be appointed based solely on merit and shall be 
        covered under the provisions of title 5, United States Code, 
        governing appointments in the competitive service.
            ``(3) Responsibilities.--The Special Assistant for Veterans 
        Affairs shall be responsible for--
                    ``(A) ensuring veterans have fair access to housing 
                and homeless assistance under each program of the 
                Department providing either such assistance;
                    ``(B) coordinating all programs and activities of 
                the Department relating to veterans;
                    ``(C) serving as a liaison for the Department with 
                the Department of Veterans Affairs, including 
                establishing and maintaining relationships with the 
                Secretary of Veterans Affairs;
                    ``(D) serving as a liaison for the Department, and 
                establishing and maintaining relationships with the 
                United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and 
                officials of State, local, regional, and 
                nongovernmental organizations concerned with veterans;
                    ``(E) providing information and advice regarding--
                            ``(i) sponsoring housing projects for 
                        veterans assisted under programs administered 
                        by the Department; or
                            ``(ii) assisting veterans in obtaining 
                        housing or homeless assistance under programs 
                        administered by the Department;
                    ``(F) coordinating with the Secretary of Housing 
                and Urban Development and the Secretary of Veterans 
                Affairs in carrying out section 3 of the Homes for 
                Heroes Act of 2015; and
                    ``(G) carrying out such other duties as may be 
                assigned to the Special Assistant by the Secretary or 
                by law.''.
    (b) Transfer of Position in Office of Deputy Assistant Secretary 
for Special Needs.--On the date that the initial Special Assistant for 
Veterans Affairs is appointed pursuant to section 4(h)(2) of the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development Act, as added by subsection 
(a) of this section, the position of Special Assistant for Veterans 
Programs in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special 
Needs of the Department of Housing and Urban Development shall be 
terminated.

SEC. 3. ANNUAL SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT ON VETERANS HOMELESSNESS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in coordination with the United 
States Interagency Council on Homelessness, shall submit annually to 
the Committees of the Congress specified in subsection (b), together 
with the annual reports required by such Secretaries under section 
203(c)(1) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
11313(c)(1)), a supplemental report that includes the following 
information with respect to the preceding year:
            (1) The same information, for such preceding year, that was 
        included with respect to 2010 in the report by the Secretary of 
        Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of Veterans 
        Affairs entitled ``Veterans Homelessness: A Supplemental Report 
        to the 2010 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress''.
            (2) Information regarding the activities of the Department 
        of Housing and Urban Development relating to veterans during 
        such preceding year, as follows:
                    (A) The number of veterans provided assistance 
                under the housing choice voucher program for Veterans 
                Affairs supported housing (VASH) under section 8(o)(19) 
                of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
                1437f(o)(19)), the socioeconomic characteristics of 
                such homeless veterans, and the number, types, and 
                locations of entities contracted under such section to 
                administer the vouchers.
                    (B) A summary description of the special 
                considerations made for veterans under public housing 
                agency plans submitted pursuant to section 5A of the 
                United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c-1) 
                and under comprehensive housing affordability 
                strategies submitted pursuant to section 105 of the 
                Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 
                U.S.C. 12705).
                    (C) A description of the activities of the Special 
                Assistant for Veterans Affairs of the Department of 
                Housing and Urban Development.
                    (D) A description of the efforts of the Department 
                of Housing and Urban Development and the other members 
                of the United States Interagency Council on 
                Homelessness to coordinate the delivery of housing and 
                services to veterans.
                    (E) The cost to the Department of Housing and Urban 
                Development of administering the programs and 
                activities relating to veterans.
                    (F) Any other information that the Secretary of 
                Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of 
                Veterans Affairs consider relevant in assessing the 
                programs and activities of the Department of Housing 
                and Urban Development relating to veterans.
    (b) Committees.--The Committees of the Congress specified in this 
subsection are as follows:
            (1) The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 
        the Senate.
            (2) The Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate.
            (3) The Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
            (4) The Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
        Representatives.
            (5) The Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives.
            (6) The Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
        Representatives.
                                 <all>