[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 49 (Monday, March 26, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H1553-H1555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1540
HOMES FOR HEROES ACT OF 2011
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3298) to establish the position of Special Assistant for
Veterans Affairs in the Department of Housing and Urban Development,
and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3298
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
2011''.
SEC. 2. SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR VETERANS AFFAIRS IN THE
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT.
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:
``(g) Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs.--
``(1) Establishment.--There shall be in the Department a
Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs, who shall be a
special assistant to the Secretary and 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
[[Page H1554]]
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 2011; and
``(G) carrying out such other duties as may be assigned to
the Special Assistant by the Secretary or by law.''.
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.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Grimm). Pursuant to the rule, the
gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) and the gentleman from Texas
(Mr. Al Green) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Illinois.
General Leave
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and to add extraneous material on this bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Today I rise in support of H.R. 3298, the Homes for Heroes Act of
2011.
Sadly, approximately one-fifth of our country's homeless population
consists of veterans. In part, that's because readapting to civilian
life is not always easy even for some of our country's true heroes. But
research shows that with a stable living situation, our veterans are
far more likely to overcome other challenges. These are men and women
who braved bullets and basic training to protect our country and our
freedom. They have the will and the strength to overcome any obstacle,
but it is our job to give them the tools.
That is why it's essential that HUD and the VA work hand in hand to
help our veterans get the housing assistance they have earned.
The Homes for Heroes Act of 2011, of which I'm a cosponsor and which
was introduced by my colleague from Texas (Mr. Al Green) and my
colleague from New York (Mr. Grimm), establishes the position of
Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs within HUD to effectively
coordinate services among veterans and to serve as HUD's liaison to the
Department of Veterans Affairs' U.S. Interagency Council on
Homelessness, State and local officials, and nonprofit service
organizations.
The bill also requires HUD to submit a comprehensive annual report to
Congress on the housing needs of homeless veterans and the steps
undertaken by HUD to meet those needs, and H.R. 3298 takes these steps
within existing budgetary constraints at no additional cost to
taxpayers.
Similar to H.R. 403 and H.R. 3329, which are the Homes for Heroes
Acts of 2008 and 2009, both of which passed this House, H.R. 3298 has
strong bipartisan support. Once enacted, this legislation will help us
better understand the needs of homeless veterans while fostering a
better working relationship between HUD and the VA. The result will be
better services for our heroes; and while we can never repay our
veterans for the selfless sacrifices they've made, we can work to
ensure that they have a place to call home when they come home.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance
of my time.
Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I thank my colleague, Mrs. Biggert, for her support of this
legislation as well as many other pieces of legislation that we've had
the privilege of working together on.
Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank you, as well, for your cosponsorship
of the legislation. It means a lot to have bipartisan support for our
warriors, those who are willing to go to distant places and risk their
lives such that we may have better lives.
Many of them do not return home as they left. Many of them find
themselves living on the streets of life. As a result, we believe it's
necessary for us to do all that we can to help them secure the kind of
homes, the kind of housing, the kinds of services that they need so
that they can reintegrate themselves into American life. This bill, the
Homes for Heroes bill, will help to some degree with our goals and
ambitions of helping them to have a place to call home.
The bill does place a person in HUD whose sole responsibility it will
be to monitor homelessness among our veterans. This person is to file
an annual report with Congress on the status of homelessness among the
veterans in this country and to give us some insight as to how we are
progressing in eliminating and abolishing homelessness among our
veterans. It's not going to do everything that we need to do, but it is
a step in the right direction.
If I may say so, I would like to commend HUD for what has been done
thus far, because there is a person who does this sort of thing with
HUD currently. But what we're trying to do now is institutionalize the
position such that administrations may come and go, but the position
will still be there, and our veterans will receive the kind of help
that they merit and deserve.
Mr. Speaker, in our country in 2009, approximately 136,334 people who
self-identified themselves as veterans spent at least one night in an
emergency shelter or a transitional-housing program. That speaks
volumes about the amount of work that we have to do.
While 136,000 may not seem like a lot to some people, I contend, if
we have but one veteran who is finding himself or herself in
transitional housing or sleeping in a shelter or sleeping on the
streets of life, I think we have work to do. This bill will help us
with our veterans who are doing this, who are sleeping in this
transitional housing.
[[Page H1555]]
I would also add that our veterans compose about 16 percent of the
homeless adults while they are 8 percent of the American population.
They are 8 percent of the population, but of those who are homeless,
they are 16 percent.
This, of course, is something that we cannot continue to tolerate. So
I'm going to beg all of my colleagues: please, give serious
consideration to this piece of legislation. It will not break the bank.
It may not do all that we'd like to have done, but it's a step in the
right direction, and somebody will be helped as a result of what we do
today. I beg to my colleagues, please support this legislation.
I thank Mrs. Biggert for the outstanding work that she has done. I
again especially thank staffers who worked with us on this piece of
legislation. And I can say candidly, Mr. Speaker, that but for the
assistance of our staffers, we might not be standing here today. They
do make a difference. And I would have the veterans know that behind
every Member, we have staffers who are working to help them return to
our homeland and reintegrate them into our society.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. BIGGERT. We have no further speakers on this side of the aisle
if the gentleman would like to close.
Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. I would simply close by saying this: Mr.
Speaker, thank you again for your support of this legislation. I would
hope that my colleagues will give it the kind of consideration that our
warriors are giving us when they decide that they're willing to go to
distant places and make great sacrifices for us. Please give it
consideration.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Al Green) for all of his hard work on this issue.
It is really nice to have these bills that are bipartisan in nature,
and certainly homelessness is something that we all hear about and
would like to find a way to end. There are different categories in
that, and I think the veterans certainly are very important.
With that, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. GRIMM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of H.R.
3298, ``The Homes for Heroes Act of 2011.''
As a Marine combat veteran, I am strongly committed to assisting our
young men and women as they return home from protecting our freedom
overseas.
I am honored to have been able to work with my colleague and friend
Mr. Green of Texas on this legislation. Our veterans have no greater
friend in Congress than Mr. Green and I am honored to have had this
opportunity to join him in fighting for our heroes.
Veteran's homelessness is a serious issue and, sadly, one that gets
overlooked far too often. Currently veterans make up approximately 8
percent of the U.S. population, however they are 17 percent of the
homeless population.
Clearly something is wrong with our ability to transition these brave
men and women from military service to civilian life.
Recent circumstances have only served to exacerbate these problems.
Our new veterans are returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan to find
an economy with very limited employment opportunities. While these
economic problems are affecting all Americans, veterans looking to move
from military service to civilian life are finding themselves competing
with an already over-supplied labor market.
Furthermore, the extraordinarily long deployments that our service
members have been facing place an enormous mental strain on our new
veterans. This burden has made it difficult for many to easily
transition back into normal civilian life.
In order to combat veteran's homelessness this bill would create a
Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs within the Department of Housing
and Urban Development to co-ordinate homeless veteran's benefits with
the VA. In addition, this bill will require HUD to prepare a report to
Congress on the progress that has been made in ending homelessness
amongst our veterans.
Again, it has been an honor to work on such an important piece of
legislation and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting its
passage.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3298.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not
present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
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