[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3522-3523]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       THE HOMELESS MIDDLE CLASS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Speier) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the hardworking 
Americans who are being left behind in this country. Some sectors of 
our economy are recovering from the great recession, but not all boats 
are rising, not even close.
  I recently spent a night in a homeless shelter and was dismayed that 
it was filled with members of the middle class and that earning above 
the minimum wage did not protect them from having to share a dorm room 
with dozens of other people.
  The reality is a subclass of workers has emerged who do play by the 
rules and work hard, but find that they are literally only one step 
away from living on the streets by a single medical emergency or a slow 
day, if you are working for tips at $2.13 an hour. They work full time; 
but after putting in a full day, they go home to a homeless shelter.
  We interact with these people every day. They take our food orders; 
they fix our cars and bag our groceries. They aren't looking for 
handouts or begrudging the success of others, but are simply trying to 
meet their basic needs. They face huge obstacles in finding a home in 
housing markets where rental costs have escalated beyond their reach.
  Working 40 hours a week used to mean a minimum standard of living and 
a foothold on the first rung of the economic ladder to the middle 
class, but not anymore.
  Let me tell you about some of their stories. One woman I spoke to was 
working at a Safeway in the bakery department. Her husband was working 
at OfficeMax in the warehouse. They were full-time wage earners, and 
they were living in a homeless shelter because they had to put together 
so much money for the first and last month's rent.
  No one should be forced to live in shelters while they are working 
full time; but according to the National Center on Family Homelessness, 
29 percent of the homeless in this country have jobs.
  Let me tell you who else populates homeless shelters: veterans. That 
night, I listened to several veterans battling PTSD. One Iraq veteran 
who saw heavy combat said he once had a six-figure job in a Silicon 
Valley company before falling prey to drugs and alcohol.
  We talked for a long time, as he slowly and haltingly unfolded his 
story about the worst side of battle that torments him to this day. He 
said: My country forced me to do terrible things.
  Another veteran said she was raped while serving, but was eventually 
dishonorably discharged for admitting she was gay during the Don't Ask, 
Don't Tell policy days. Her life has spiraled down since then.
  A single mother with four children at another shelter I visited told 
me she was hastily evicted when the unit she rented was deemed illegal 
by housing authorities. Her $19 an hour job made her too rich for child 
care assistance, forcing her into homelessness. By the way, the father 
is nowhere to be found to pay child support.
  After listening to the hardships of working families, veterans, and 
single mothers, I left the next day, committed to doing more. We should 
all be doing more in Congress. We should all be spending a night in a 
homeless shelter in our districts to hear the stories of our 
constituents; or just spend a few hours at one. It will inform you in 
ways that go way beyond the mere numbers.
  We need to understand why 1.6 million children are homeless at least 
one night in the year and why the number of homeless children enrolled 
in public schools has risen 72 percent since 2006.
  Our inaction is crippling working families, single mothers, and 
veterans

[[Page 3523]]

who have sacrificed so much for this Nation. I call on my colleagues 
today to take the homeless shelter challenge.
  Talk to your constituents who do not have a home, and meet the 
families who are failing because of our indifference and our inaction.

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