[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5818-5820]
[From the U.S. 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-

[[Page 5819]]

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, 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.

                              {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

[[Page 5820]]

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. 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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