[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 56 (Tuesday, April 20, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H2654-H2656]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INDIAN VETERANS HOUSING OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 2009
Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3553) to exclude from consideration as income under the
Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996
amounts received by a family from the Department of Veterans Affairs
for service-related disabilities of a member of the family.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3553
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 ``Indian Veterans Housing
Opportunity Act of 2009''.
SEC. 2. EXCLUSION FROM INCOME.
Paragraph (9) of section 4 of the Native American Housing
Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C.
4103(9)) is amended by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(C) Any amounts received by any member of the family as
disability compensation under chapter 11 of title 38, United
States Code, or dependency and indemnity compensation under
chapter 13 of such title.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Missouri (Mr. Cleaver) and the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.
General Leave
Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Missouri?
There was no objection.
Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, according to the most recent U.S. census data from 2003,
there are 561 federally recognized tribes, which include Native
American Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages. More than three-
quarters of a million Native Americans live on reservations or in other
tribal areas, and another 1.68 million live outside tribal areas.
Furthermore, a total of 34 percent of the Native population resides in
rural areas, where many reservations are located.
It has become clear that much of the housing in tribal areas lack
adequate housing compared to the general U.S. population. According to
the 2000 Census Bureau report, 14.7 percent of homes in tribal areas
are overcrowded, compared to 5.7 percent of homes of the general U.S.
population. On Native American lands, 11.7 percent of residents lack
complete plumbing facilities, compared to 1.2 percent of the general
U.S. population. Furthermore, according to a 2005 Government Accounting
Office report, 11 percent of residents lack kitchen facilities,
compared to merely 1 percent of the general U.S. population.
This situation is even more dire for those in need of housing on
tribal lands. In total, approximately 90,000 Native American families
are homeless or underhoused and an estimated 200,000 housing units are
needed immediately in Indian Country, according to a 2003 report from
the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
However, Native Americans have the highest rate of serving in the
military, making them more likely to serve of any ethnic group.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 22 percent, 22
percent, of Native Americans are currently serving in the military. It
is appalling that although Native Americans are the most likely to
serve of any ethnic group, little has been provided to ensure adequate
and sufficient housing for the brave veterans who have served our
Nation. Furthermore, with the total number of disabled veterans in the
United States currently at 24 million and 3.1 million veterans
receiving service-connected disability benefits, it is also evident
that many Native American veterans are also struggling with
disabilities.
The Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of
1996, or NAHASDA, was established through the Department of Housing and
Urban Development to provide housing services to Native Americans based
on a needs-based formula. Unfortunately, under the current calculation,
Native American veterans and their families and survivors are often
disqualified from this program.
By calculating disability payments and survivor benefits into the
family's income, the family will often exceed the 80 percent area
median income threshold required under this program's regulations,
thereby disqualifying the family from the program.
Mrs. Kirkpatrick's bill, H.R. 3553, will correct this provision by
amending the definition of ``income'' in NAHASDA to exclude payments
for disability and service-related injuries. By doing so, disabled
Native American veterans, their families, and their survivors will be
able to qualify for this program. This bill will do much to help ensure
that all citizens are adequately served in government housing programs,
especially those who have served our Nation bravely.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support of H.R. 3553, the Indian
Veterans Housing Opportunity Act of 2009.
This bill would amend the Native American Housing Assistance and
Self-Determination Act, also called NAHASDA, so that a disability
income is not counted against Native American veterans when determining
eligibility for NAHASDA housing benefits.
Currently, Native American households with incomes below 80 percent
of an area's median income are eligible for housing assistance under
this program. Unlike similar programs for non-Native American
households, NAHASDA counts Veterans Affairs disability payments or
survivor benefits as income when determining eligibility for housing
assistance. As a result,
[[Page H2655]]
many Native American families of disabled veterans can lose their
eligibility for housing aid if their disability benefits place them
beyond the 80 percent threshold.
Interestingly, the Internal Revenue Service does not consider
disability payments as income. Yet without changes included in this
bill before us, Native American veterans who have been left disabled as
a result of their service to our country will remain limited in their
access to affordable housing on the reservation.
H.R. 3553 simply amends the definition of ``income'' under the law to
exclude payments for disability compensation. The bill would not affect
any tribe's current funding under NAHASDA, and the Congressional Budget
Office has said that there is no cost to this bill.
Mr. Speaker, we must meet our commitments to our troops both in the
field and when they return home. This legislation will help extend
existing housing resources to Native American veterans, allow them to
return to the reservation, and will provide their families with access
to stable housing.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Arizona (Mrs. Kirkpatrick), the sponsor of this legislation.
Mrs. KIRKPATRICK of Arizona. I wish to extend my thanks to Mr.
Cleaver for the opportunity to address my bill, H.R. 3553, the Indian
Veterans Housing Opportunity Act. And I also want to thank Chairman
Frank and Ranking Member Bachus for their support of this. I especially
want to thank Chairwoman Maxine Waters and her staff, Jeff Riley and
Keo Chea, who traveled the long distance to Window Rock, Arizona, to
have a field hearing on April 10 on this bill.
=========================== NOTE ===========================
April 20, 2010 on H2655 the following appeared: staff, Jeff
Riley and Keo Chia, who
The online version should be corrected to read: staff, Jeff
Riley and Keo Chea
========================= END NOTE =========================
{time} 1430
Mr. Speaker, growing up in Indian Country, I learned at an early age
the long history of Native Americans sacrificing in service to our
country. This history includes Indian scouts assisting United States
units throughout the American West. It includes the best known example,
the brave and honorable service of the Navajo code talkers who saved
the lives of countless Americans in World War II and the Korean War by
using Dine to transmit sensitive military communications. And it
continues to this very day as Native Americans serve proudly and
honorably in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world.
Today, the Department of Housing Affairs estimates that 20 percent of
Native Americans are veterans or are currently serving. That's the most
of any ethnic group.
Despite this honorable service, far too many Native American veterans
return home to tribal land to face extraordinary challenges in finding
safe, quality, affordable housing. Service-disabled veterans returning
to Indian Country face the added challenge of having to make every
dollar of their disability compensation count as they deal with
circumstances unique to tribal land, including very long distances to
VA medical centers and under-improved surfaces, we call them washboard
roads, that accelerate wear on prosthetics and wheelchairs.
I am a member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, where we
have taken a number of steps to keep our promises to all veterans. We
remedied budget shortfalls in veterans health care and benefits to
address an aging vets population and returning Iraq and Afghanistan
veterans.
We helped finally pass a law that veterans service organizations have
been pushing for years, a law to require Congress to approve the VA
health care budget 1 year in advance to ensure timely, sufficient
funding of these necessary programs.
However, we can and must do more to ensure that Native American
veterans are not allowed to slip through the cracks, even as we make
broad advances to better serve these veterans, and Native Americans in
general.
The Native American Housing Assistance and Self-determination Act of
1996 was a monumental step forward in helping tribes provide safe,
quality, affordable housing for thousands of low income Native American
families across the country.
This assistance can come in the form of down payment assistance,
property acquisition, new construction, and housing rehabilitation, and
is limited to families making less than 80 percent of the median income
in their area. This income limit contains one important flaw. The act
treats compensation, either paid to veterans with service-related
disabilities, or for the families of those killed in service, as
income. As a result, these benefits can push veterans and survivor
families above the limit, making them ineligible, and costing them
assistance that they badly need.
In fact, when we had the field hearing in Window Rock, I met with
many families who told me because of this flaw they had to move in with
their children because they couldn't qualify for their own home. This
flaw has caused disabled veterans, their families and survivors to be
denied help because that extra income has pushed them over the
allowable limit.
My bill would fix this flaw by changing the definition of income to
explicitly exclude veterans disability and survivor compensation,
ending this unfair practice and lifting the burden from Native American
veterans.
Native American veterans have sacrificed so much for this country,
and neither they nor their surviving families should be punished for
receiving the compensation they have earned. It is long past time to
right this wrong and ensure that this Nation keeps its sacred promise
to its native veterans.
Thank you again for the opportunity to address H.R. 3553.
Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, as a proud member of the Native American
Caucus, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3553, the Indian
Veterans Housing Opportunity Act, which will address a critical need in
tribal lands.
First, I would like to acknowledge Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader
Hoyer, Chairman Rahall, and Congresswoman Kirkpatrick for their
leadership in bringing this important bill to the floor. My colleague
Congresswoman Kirkpatrick, the author of this legislation, has worked
hard to ensure that underserved communities, including tribal lands,
have the housing necessary to support our growing population.
H.R. 3553, the Indian Veterans Housing Opportunity Act, makes an
important fix to the existing bill for providing Native American
housing. The Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination
Act (NAHASDA) is the foundation for providing housing assistance to
low-income Native American families on Indian reservations, in Alaska
Native villages, and on Native Hawaiian Homelands.
In California, the State I represent, there are over 100 Native
American tribes, many of varying levels of economic success. Based on
the 2000 Census, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
has determined that nationwide, almost 543,000 American Indian and
Alaska Native households have ``severe housing needs,'' meaning they
live in conditions that are overcrowded, substandard, or cost-
burdensome.
To complicate matters further, the NAHASDA statute does not contain
an income exception for service-disabled veterans or families of
soldiers killed in action. The Indian Veterans Housing Opportunity Act
remedies this situation by revising the definition of income for NAHADA
to exclude payments for service-related disability, dependence, or
indemnity. Veterans are especially likely to fall into these
categories, which is unacceptable considering the role they have played
in the defense of our country. Native Americans have the highest rate
of enlistment in our armed services out of any group of Americans, and
they deserve our support. Therefore, as a long time friend and
supporter of the Native American community, I am so pleased to champion
a bill such as H.R. 3553, which provides the housing this community
needs.
In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 3553 because it ensures
that Native American veterans do not face extraordinary obstacles when
procuring or financing housing after serving this country. The Native
American servicemen and women benefiting from H.R. 3553 deserve our
full support. I am proud to work with my colleagues to ensure that they
are not overlooked.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 3553.
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Missouri (Mr.
[[Page H2656]]
Cleaver) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3553.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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