[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 45 (Thursday, March 9, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S746]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REED (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Cortez 
        Masto, and Ms. Klobuchar):
  S. 735. A bill to strengthen the United States Interagency Council on 
Homelessness; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mr. REED. Madam President, I am pleased to join Senator Collins and 
Senators Van Hollen, Cortez Masto, and Klobuchar in introducing 
legislation that would permanently reauthorize the United States 
Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Council or USICH.
  The Council was established during the Reagan administration as part 
of the landmark McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987. Over 
the last three and a half decades, it has brought Agencies from across 
the Federal Government together to coordinate efforts to address 
homelessness. In 2009, the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid 
Transition to Housing, HEARTH, Act, which I authored along with Senator 
Collins, expanded the Council's role, allowing it to work with public, 
nonprofit and private stakeholders to develop a national strategic plan 
to end homelessness. With a small budget and a small staff, the Council 
has helped guide Federal, State, and local stakeholders in deploying 
their resources in a smart, effective and coordinated fashion. The 
results have been evident. In the decade after USICH published its 
first plan, overall homelessness declined 9 percent. Family and 
veterans homelessness declined significantly, as well, with the total 
numbers dropping nearly 30 percent and 50 percent, respectively. In 
fact, the Council has been able to help 83 communities and three States 
effectively end veteran homelessness.
  Even with this progress, homelessness has persisted, and we have 
faced a growing challenge in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 
Department of Housing and Urban Development's 2022 Annual Homelessness 
Assessment Report to Congress found that, on ``a single night in 2022, 
roughly 582,500 people were experiencing homelessness in the United 
States,'' while the majority of individuals experiencing homelessness 
were living on the street or in other unsheltered locations and were 
not in homeless shelters. The COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying 
economic effects have also pushed homelessness rates higher in many 
parts of the country. Indeed, the number of individuals experiencing 
homelessness increased in the majority of States between January 2020, 
and 2022, including a staggering 48 percent jump in my home State of 
Rhode Island.
  USICH can help us meet this challenge by guiding how its 19 Federal 
member Agencies deploy and leverage their resources with nonfederal 
partners in order to help communities effectively address homelessness. 
We know that smart, coordinated investments in programs that address 
homelessness and increase affordable housing pay additional dividends. 
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, ``Based on 22 
different studies from across the country, providing permanent 
supportive housing to chronically homeless people creates net savings 
of $4,800 per person per year, through reduced spending on jails, 
hospitals, shelters, and other emergency services.'' In short, helping 
people avoid homelessness not only helps them, it can also save 
taxpayers money, and USICH helps make our investments to address 
homelessness more informed and more effective.
  Indeed, the Council continues to prove that the government can work 
and save money in the process. That is why we should permanently 
authorize USICH and why organizations like the National Low Income 
Housing Coalition, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the Rhode 
Island Coalition to End Homelessness, and HousingWorks RI have 
supported our bill. I urge our colleagues to join us in supporting this 
legislation.
                                 ______