[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 27, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H621]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      FIGHTING YOUTH HOMELESSNESS

  (Mr. YARMUTH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Speaker, this week, as we consider measures aimed at 
combating human trafficking, I remind my colleagues of the estimated 
1.6 million runaway or homeless youths under the age of 18 in the 
United States.
  The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act was enacted in 1974 to help combat 
these growing numbers, and it is the sole Federal law targeting 
unaccompanied youths. Through this law, we are able to fund important 
local programs to serve our homeless youths. They provide shelter, 
counseling, family reunification, and aftercare, and they reduce the 
chance that young people will become victims of human trafficking.
  I am proud to have introduced and to have helped pass the 
reauthorization of this important funding in 2008, but that 5-year 
authorization expired in 2014, and now action must be taken. Congress 
has a responsibility to help ensure that homeless young people in 
America have a place to seek shelter and to find safety while laying a 
foundation for new opportunities.
  I call on my colleagues to join me in supporting a reauthorization of 
the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and help the hundreds of thousands 
of children who sleep on our streets every night.

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