[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12640-12641]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HOUSING ASSISTANCE

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I wish to express my strong support 
for the Transportation-HUD appropriations bill and take a moment to 
explain an amendment that I have filed to this bill that ensures that 
men and women who have bravely served our

[[Page 12641]]

country cannot be discriminated against in the housing assistance these 
appropriations provide.
  I wish to thank Senator Murray and Senator Collins for their 
leadership, as well as other colleagues.
  One of the problems I have heard described to me by veterans relates 
to discrimination when they return home after serving our country 
abroad and they become a civilian. One of the first things they often 
try to do is find a new home, often in a location far from their 
original home where they may not be known, where they enlisted but now 
have left. It may also be far from the military installation where they 
used to call home.
  Fortunately, almost all Americans across our country rightly welcome 
our heroes home, and they welcome them with open arms. Unfortunately, I 
have seen reports, and I have heard descriptions of instances where 
landlords would not rent to veterans simply because they served our 
country in uniform, and I find this practice absolutely unconscionable.
  I wish to tell you about the case of SGT Joel Morgan, a combat 
veteran who bravely served our country in Iraq. Sergeant Morgan, upon 
leaving the military, wished to rent an apartment in Boston. He found 
one that he liked.
  Unfortunately, after hearing about Sergeant Morgan's service to our 
country, the landlord said she wouldn't feel comfortable renting the 
apartment to Sergeant Morgan because she opposed the war in which he 
fought.
  According to Sergeant Morgan, the landlord said:

       I would suggest you do the right thing and look for a place 
     less politically active or controversial.

  The place where he wanted to live was Boston. This kind of treatment 
is simply unacceptable to our veterans who have sacrificed so much.
  It is a matter of common knowledge that veterans of these recent wars 
have high unemployment rates, higher than we should accept, higher than 
is conscionable for this country to accept. Among younger veterans, 
that unemployment rate is intolerably high, and many landlords may 
believe that an unemployed veteran simply isn't a good prospect for 
paying the rent.
  My amendment would prohibit any funding in this bill from going to 
people or organizations that discriminate against veterans in housing. 
It would allow anyone who sees a discriminatory practice to report it 
to the Department of Housing and Urban Development and directly to that 
agency's inspector general. It also allows HUD to continue its existing 
programs to support veterans and servicemembers.
  This amendment will ensure that those who fight for our freedoms will 
not have to find or fight for a place to call home. Discrimination 
against anyone, including men and women who have valiantly served, has 
no place in our Nation.
  I look forward to working with the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, which has done so much to protect Americans from 
discriminatory housing practices, on ways we can ensure that 
servicemembers and veterans are not the victims of discrimination. As 
we work for a permanent solution on so many of these difficult 
problems--providing veterans with counseling, health care, jobs 
counseling, training, and education that they need and keeping faith 
with them so that we leave no veteran behind--we should make sure we 
leave no veteran out of housing because of discrimination.
  One of the solutions will be amending the Servicemembers Civil Relief 
Act to ensure that housing protections are extended to all who have 
served in uniform. I believe this amendment is an important step 
forward. Simply put, it will protect all who have protected our 
country. Protecting them is a matter of keeping faith and making sure 
that we leave no veteran behind.
  I know the Veterans' Affairs Committee is hard at work on many of 
these issues. I am proud to serve on that committee and thank Chairman 
Sanders for his profoundly important leadership on this issue, along 
with Ranking Member Burr.
  I look forward to extending and expanding these protections for our 
bravest and finest men and women who have helped to protect our Nation.
  I yield the floor.

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