[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 199 (Monday, December 4, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H6094-H6097]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HOUSING OUR MILITARY VETERANS EFFECTIVELY ACT OF 2023

  Mr. VAN ORDEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3848) to make certain improvements in the laws administered 
by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs relating to homelessness, and for 
other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3848

       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 ``Housing our Military 
     Veterans Effectively Act of 2023'' or the ``HOME Act of 
     2023''.

     SEC. 2. PER DIEM PAYMENTS PROVIDED BY THE SECRETARY OF 
                   VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR SERVICES FURNISHED TO 
                   HOMELESS VETERANS.

       Section 2012 of title 38, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)--
       (A) in paragraph (2)(B)--
       (i) in clause (i)(II)(aa)(BB), by striking ``115 percent'' 
     and inserting ``133 percent''; and
       (ii) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(iii) During each of fiscal years 2024 through 2026, the 
     Secretary may waive the maximum rate for per diem payments 
     under clause (i)(II)(aa)(BB) or (ii) and, subject to the 
     availability of appropriations, provide such payments at a 
     rate that does not exceed 200 percent of the rate authorized 
     for State homes for domiciliary care under subsection 
     (a)(1)(A) of section 1741 of this title, as the Secretary may 
     increase from time to time under subsection (c) of that 
     section if the Secretary notifies Congress of such waiver.
       ``(iv) The Secretary may not, pursuant to clause (iii), 
     waive the maximum rate described in such clause for more than 
     50 percent of all grant recipients and eligible entities in a 
     fiscal year.''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(4) The Secretary may not provide more than 12,000 per 
     diem payments under this section in a fiscal year.''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(f) Reports Required.--Not later than 90 days after the 
     date of the enactment of the HOME Act of 2023, and not less 
     frequently than twice each year thereafter, the Secretary 
     shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the 
     Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
     Representatives a report on the rate for per diem payments 
     under this section that includes, for each Veterans 
     Integrated Service Network of the Department, the following 
     data:
       ``(1) The average rate for such a payment.
       ``(2) A list of locations where the rate for such a payment 
     is within 10 percent of the maximum rate for such a payment 
     authorized under this section.
       ``(3) The average length of stay by a veteran participating 
     in a program described in section 2012(a) of this title.''.

     SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO 
                   USE OF CERTAIN FUNDS FOR IMPROVED FLEXIBILITY 
                   IN ASSISTANCE TO HOMELESS VETERANS.

       (a) Use of Funds.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may 
     use amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs to carry out section 2011, 
     2012, 2031, or 2061 of title 38, United States Code, to 
     provide to a covered veteran, as the Secretary determines 
     necessary--
       (1) food, shelter, clothing, blankets, and hygiene items 
     required for the safety and survival of the veteran;
       (2) transportation required to support the stability and 
     health of the veteran for appointments with service 
     providers, the conduct of housing searches, and the 
     obtainment of food and supplies; and
       (3) tablets, smartphones, disposable phones, and related 
     service plans required to support the stability and health of 
     the veteran through the

[[Page H6095]]

     maintenance of contact with service providers, prospective 
     landlords, and family members.
       (b) Homeless Veterans on Department of Veterans Affairs 
     Land.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary may collaborate, to the 
     extent practicable, with one or more organizations to manage 
     the use of land of the Department of Veterans Affairs for 
     homeless veterans for living and sleeping.
       (2) Forms of collaboration.--Collaboration under paragraph 
     (1) may include the provision by either the Secretary or the 
     head of the organization concerned of food services and 
     security for property, buildings, and other facilities owned 
     or controlled by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
       (c) Report Required.--Not later than six months after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act, and every six months 
     thereafter until the date specified in subsection (d), the 
     Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that includes, 
     with respect to the period covered by such report--
       (1) a statement, disaggregated by each medical center of 
     the Department of Veterans Affairs, of the amount of funds 
     under this section--
       (A) each such medical center requested from the Secretary; 
     and
       (B) to which the Secretary provided each such medical 
     center;
       (2) data, disaggregated by each such medical center, 
     relating to how each such medical center used amounts 
     provided by the Secretary under this section;
       (3) the number of covered veterans to which the Secretary 
     provided assistance under this section;
       (4) the total amount of assistance the Secretary provided 
     to covered veterans pursuant to subsection (a)(3) for 
     communications equipment, broken down by the type of 
     equipment provided;
       (5) the total amount of assistance the Secretary provided 
     covered veterans pursuant to subsection (a)(2) for 
     ridesharing;
       (6) the number of covered veterans who received such 
     assistance; and
       (7) a description, for each rideshare used by a covered 
     veteran with such assistance, of the reasons such covered 
     veteran used such rideshare.
       (8) the number of covered veterans who lived or slept on 
     Department land;
       (9) the amount of funds used to make available Department 
     land for covered veterans to live and sleep;
       (10) the number of Department employees whose primary 
     responsibilities involved providing services for covered 
     veterans living or sleeping on Department land;
       (11) the average length of time a covered veteran lived or 
     slept on Department land, and
       (12) the period of time the Secretary expects Department 
     land will be made available for covered veterans to live and 
     sleep.
       (d) Sunset.--The authority under this section shall 
     terminate on September 30, 2024.
       (e) Definitions.--In this section, the term ``covered 
     veteran'' means--
       (1) a homeless veteran; and
       (2) a veteran participating in the program carried out 
     under section 8(o)(19) of the United States Housing Act of 
     1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19)).

     SEC. 4. MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN HOUSING LOAN FEES.

       The loan fee table in section 3729(b)(2) of title 38, 
     United States Code, is amended by striking ``November 14, 
     2031'' each place it appears and inserting ``May 18, 2032''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Van Orden) and the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Takano) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.


                             General Leave

  Mr. VAN ORDEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on 
H.R. 3848, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Wisconsin?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. VAN ORDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3848, as amended, 
offered by my friend and colleague, Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer, from the great 
State of Oregon.
  The HOME Act is a data-driven solution to build on efforts across 
multiple Congresses to bring veterans out of homelessness and to get 
them back on track.
  Just last week, the VA announced that they housed more than 38,000 
homeless veterans in 2023--and that is a great improvement--due to the 
incredible private organizations that work with the VA to find veterans 
homes.

                              {time}  1615

  However, our efforts must continue.
  No veteran should be without a warm place to call home. Mrs. Chavez-
DeRemer's bill would rightfully increase the grant and per diem rate 
for homelessness providers around the country to keep rates in line 
with inflation.
  This bill would also authorize the VA to fund rides through ride-
share partnerships to transport homeless veterans to their VA 
healthcare appointments, search for and find permanent housing, a key 
Democratic request to move this bill forward on the House floor.
  Additionally, this bill funds communication devices, including 
smartphones and tablets, so our veterans can pursue employment 
opportunities, make appointments, and stay in contact with their 
families, to help prevent the self-isolation that often precedes 
veteran suicide.
  It is critical to get these programs running again so veterans can 
continue to be housed and get to their appointments, whether it is for 
physical or mental health care. We need to get our veterans back on 
track. This is a hand up not a handout.
  We have seen firsthand the success of the Grant and Per Diem Program 
in housing veterans. This VA grant program shows that public and 
private partnerships between the government and private sector can 
work.
  I thank Speaker Emeritus McCarthy, for originally proposing the 
increase in the GPD rate during the COVID-19 era. The original rate was 
sufficient, but due to inflationary pressures that have been exerted by 
Bidenomics, it is now unfortunately not. Bidenomics has caused a 
tremendous amount of hardship for Americans, particularly homeless 
veterans.
  Representative Chavez-DeRemer's bill will combat the impact of the 
Biden administration's rising inflation head-on by increasing 
homelessness providers' grants to account for the out-of-control 
inflation. The grant rate increase is especially important now with the 
news that homelessness is up 11 percent nationwide.
  Just 2 weeks ago, the VA's annual Suicide Prevention Report revealed 
that the suicide rate for VHA users with indications of homelessness 
increased by over 38 percent from 2020 to 2021. In 2021, the suicide 
rate for homeless veterans using VHA was 186.5 percent higher than 
veterans who are housed.
  That is a staggering number and underscores how important it is to 
continue our work to get veteran homelessness and suicide to functional 
zero. We, as a country, must utilize innovative thinking and approaches 
to confront these disturbing trends as we work to find an upstream 
solution to prevent veterans from becoming homeless in the first place. 
The HOME Act is a fiscally responsible way to start.
  I appreciate all the homelessness stakeholders, such as the National 
Coalition for Homeless Veterans, the National Alliance to End 
Homelessness, and the New England Center and Home for Veterans who have 
worked with the committee to ensure we brought a great bill to the 
floor today. Without their input, the important changes we made at my 
subcommittee would not have been possible.
  I also thank my friends, the full committee ranking member, Mr. 
Takano, and my ranking member, Mr. Levin, for working across the aisle 
and getting to a ``yes'' back in July at our last full committee 
markup.
  Passing this bill with strong bipartisan support will show our Senate 
colleagues that we have a united front on this issue. I look forward to 
working with my Senate colleagues to continue to provide for homeless 
veterans by including this bill in a larger bicameral, bipartisan 
package.
  Chairman Bost made a commitment to our colleagues on the other side 
of the aisle that he would ensure we would get this fixed.
  We, as members of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, gave our word 
that we would do everything in our power to help those who have 
defended this Nation and given us the ability to live in freedom. 
Today, we take great strides to keep it.
  Once again, under Chairman Bost's leadership, Congress will come 
together with a practical solution to do the right thing for the men 
and women who have served.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 3848, as 
amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for H.R. 3848, as amended, 
the Housing our Military Veterans Effectively, or HOME Act.
  I have conflicting emotions as I finally stand here advocating for 
the

[[Page H6096]]

passage of the HOME Act. On one hand, I am elated to finally see this 
language move forward that will ultimately get more veterans off the 
street and into housing. That is my goal here, to end veteran 
homelessness. On the other hand, I remain frustrated with the length of 
time it took this body to take up this bill and the fact that I will 
have to be back on the floor next year advocating for the same 
authorities here to be extended yet again since most of this bill 
expires on September 30, 2024.
  Last week, VA announced they met their goal to house 38,000 veterans 
this calendar year several months early. I am very proud of this 
accomplishment, but unfortunately, this does not reflect the full 
picture of the reality we face related to veteran homelessness in our 
country.
  HUD's 2023 Point-in-Time Count will be released soon. Based on 
initial reports from communities across the country, it will likely 
show a dramatic increase in veteran homelessness. We are losing ground. 
The VA is doing incredible work to get veterans into housing, but when 
one veteran gets housed, another is falling into homelessness.
  We need to bolster the prevention tools the VA and providers have to 
quickly address a veteran's housing insecurity the moment it occurs. 
The Democratic-led authorities in the HOME Act are those very tools.
  This bill, which includes two Democratic bills, from Congresswomen 
Cherfilus-McCormick and Williams, gives the VA and its community 
providers the flexibilities and resources they need to effectively 
house veterans experiencing homelessness and at risk of becoming 
homeless.

  However, the bill before us today isn't perfect. It has technical 
flaws that we quickly brought to the attention of our Republican 
colleagues, but they refused to fix it. If we send the language we are 
considering today over to the Senate, the Senate will have to amend the 
language, pass it, and send it back to the House for final passage, 
leaving more time that the VA and providers operate without these 
authorities, more time that homeless veterans go without, and more time 
that homeless veterans spend on the street.
  I need not say to all in this Chamber that we know that December is 
upon us. I spoke in the Chamber just a few weeks ago about the fact 
that winter was upon us and yet we had not passed the HOME Act.
  I am really disappointed by this unforced error of being in a 
position where we find ourselves here on the floor to pass an empty 
gesture. We reported this bill out to the House in July. As happens, 
there have been additional changes that needed to be made. We had 
agreement with the Senate on these changes, yet the majority chose not 
to proceed with the agreement. We are here on a bill that is not going 
anywhere any time soon.
  The reality of this situation is that Republicans are playing games 
and using homeless veterans as their pawns. Homeless veterans do not 
have time for games. Maybe it seems easy because these most vulnerable 
veterans don't have lobbyists stating their case or advocating their 
case. Every night they spend on the street is a night this Congress 
could have prevented. These are our most vulnerable veterans, in the 
most vulnerable situations, and we owe it to them to keep our word to 
send the VA the resources they need to help them.
  For some homeless veterans, this is literally a matter of life or 
death.
  At the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity legislative hearing on 
this bill earlier this year, we heard directly from the VA about a 
homeless veteran who was imminently considering taking his life by 
suicide before the VA intervened and got him the help he needed using 
the authorities this bill would reauthorize.
  The VA's recent Suicide Prevention Report indicated that homeless 
veterans are 186 percent more likely to die by suicide than any other 
veteran. These Democratic-led provisions are suicide prevention tools. 
They are lifesaving. In only 12 days from when the authorities in this 
bill lapsed at the end of the public health emergency, between May 11, 
2023, and May 23, 2023, the VA was forced to cancel over 42,000 rides 
that supported over 18,000 veterans to attend 10,000 medical 
appointments. Just 12 days caused that big of an impact. Here we are, 
207 days later, and I can barely fathom how many homeless veterans went 
without in that period.
  If we are going to help homeless veterans, we need a hotline-ready 
bill to send to the Senate. By hotline, we are talking about the Senate 
hotline for House bills that have been passed and are ready to pass the 
Senate because they have no flaws, no substantive flaws.
  Why aren't we sending to the Senate hotline-ready bills from the 
House of Representatives when we know the language that needs to be put 
in those bills has all been agreed to by the four corners? Senators 
Tester and Schumer both assured me last week that if we sent the Senate 
both of the four-corners agreed-upon language for this bill and for the 
Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act, they would get these bills onto the 
Senate hotline so that they have a chance of getting to the President's 
desk by Christmas.
  As we enter the holiday season and a cold winter, we should take our 
duty to help homeless veterans as seriously as possible. We must do all 
we can to get these veterans housed and off the streets during the 
coldest months of the year. We did have a choice here. We had a choice.
  Instead, we have before us here a flawed bill that the Senate will 
have to amend and send back to us. We can end veteran homelessness. It 
is a choice that Congress can make to fully fund the resources and 
authorities that the VA and its partners need to get veterans into 
stable permanent housing.
  We saw proof of this during the pandemic, one of the most difficult 
times in our country's recent history, when we actually reduced veteran 
homelessness by 11 percent. We know what works. We know that the 
Democratic-led flexibilities and authorities included in the HOME Act 
will reduce homelessness.
  I must register my disagreement with what my colleague from Wisconsin 
has claimed, that the grant and per diem rates were adequate. They were 
never adequate. It was because of the flexibilities we included during 
the health emergency that we were able to address the always inadequate 
levels of funding. It is a falsehood to try to claim that it was about 
inflation. No, these program per diem rates for the many, many 
organizations out there that help our veterans across the country were 
never adequate.

  We had an opportunity to move forward a compromise today, but a 
different choice was made. I am going to hope against hope that somehow 
this bill does get to the President before the end of the year and that 
we don't have it on our conscience that we made homeless veterans 
suffer any more than they already have.
  I will ask my colleagues to support H.R. 3848, as amended, today, and 
I will also say a prayer that we see through to doing the right thing.
  I would submit to my colleagues on the other side, after all, isn't 
that why we are here, to do the right thing?
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. VAN ORDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Oregon (Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer).
  Mrs. CHAVEZ-DeREMER. Mr. Speaker, on any given night, there are 
around 1,400 Oregon veterans who go to sleep without a roof over their 
heads. This is heartbreaking and unacceptable. We owe it to our 
veterans to do better. They stepped up to serve our country, and it is 
our responsibility to ensure they are cared for in return.
  That is why I introduced the HOME Act, which would lift veterans out 
of homelessness. To account for recent inflation, this legislation 
increases financial assistance for nonprofit organizations that provide 
transitional housing to veterans in need.
  The financial assistance offered would be higher in areas with 
elevated rates of suicide among veterans. It also creates a new stipend 
for homeless veterans. This could be used to buy food, clothing, and 
even cell phones to help them communicate with family members and 
healthcare providers.
  I thank the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee for his 
support and the chairman of the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee, the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Van Orden) for his leadership on this 
issue.

[[Page H6097]]

  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this much-
needed legislation. Together, we can empower our Nation's heroes and 
ensure they all have a place to call home.
  I have been on this job for 10 months, and I do have hope that we 
will continue to move forward for our veterans and do everything that 
we can every day we are in this job to support them.

                              {time}  1630

  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. 
Mr. Speaker, I wish that we could be sending over to the Senate today a 
hotline-ready bill.
  We knew what we had to put into this bill. The majority knew what 
corrections needed to be made. By tradition, subsequent to the vote 
that we took today, we could have done those corrections and had a bill 
that could have gone on the Senate hotline. Absent any Senator's 
objection, it could have been sent to the President's desk for sure by 
the Christmas holiday.
  By some miracle something could happen. There could be a heating of 
the conscience. There is a conscious choice being made today to not 
send the Senate a bill that is substantively freed from the flaws that 
we could have fixed.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I hope 
against hope that we still can get this done by the end of the year.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. VAN ORDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to remind my great friend 
and colleague from the State of California, as the previous ranking 
member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee where the House of 
Representatives, the Senate, and the White House were held by his 
party, that this could have been passed in this period of time.
  In that period of time under Democratic control, the per diem rate 
was set at 125 percent by Speaker Emeritus Kevin McCarthy and was 
agreed to by the now ranking member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.
  As many Members of this body have been sitting for a decade or 
multiple decades, I was serving in the United States Navy, freezing 
outside in combat, and now a veteran. There is a difference between the 
life experiences.
  The time for talk and political sharpshooting each other is over. The 
time to act is now. In fact, I do agree with my colleague that we 
cannot allow another veteran to go homeless as winter is upon us here.
  Mr. Speaker, I would ask Mr. Takano and the other Democrats on that 
side of the aisle to join me, as I will join them, in working 
collectively as Members of this body to ensure that everything that is 
done here is for a higher purpose. The higher purpose is making sure 
that those who have protected our lives, as we live in freedom, are 
able to live in peace and prosperity. If they need a hand up, they get 
it.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gimenez). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Van Orden) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3848, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

                          ____________________