[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 4941-4943]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. REED (for himself and Ms. Collins):
  S. 743. A bill to strengthen the United States Interagency Council on 
Homelessness; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, along with Senator Collins, I am introducing 
legislation that would eliminate the sunset date for U.S. Interagency 
Council on Homelessness--the Council--so that this independent agency 
can build upon its success in helping to prevent and end homelessness 
nationally.
  The Council was established under the Reagan administration as part 
of the landmark McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987. Since 
that time, it has worked across the Federal Government and private 
sector to coordinate homeless assistance nationally. In 2009, the 
Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing, or 
HEARTH Act, which I authored and introduced along with Senator Collins 
and others, expanded the Council's role to work with public, nonprofit, 
and private stakeholders to develop a national strategic plan to end 
homelessness. On June 22, 2010, the Council unveiled this plan, called 
Opening Doors, which has guided its work to develop and expand on 
effective strategies across the country to prevent and end 
homelessness.
  Since Opening Doors was unveiled, the U.S. Department of Housing and 
Urban Development, HUD, reports that overall homelessness has decreased 
by 14 percent, chronic homelessness by 27 percent, and family 
homelessness by 23 percent. In addition, we have seen veterans' 
homelessness drop by 47 percent. This progress is not only a result of 
the more than $500 million Federal investment in housing and supportive 
services through programs like HUD-VASH but is also because of the 
direction the Council provides to the Departments of Veterans Affairs 
and HUD, as well as public housing agencies administering assistance at 
the local level. Specifically, the Council helped various partners 
align their resources, efforts, goals, and measures of success for 
serving homeless veterans. Under this approach, the Commonwealth of 
Virginia, Connecticut, Delaware, the city of New Orleans, and DeKalb 
County in Georgia, to name a few, have all declared an end to veterans' 
homelessness.
  Yet more work remains. And here, too, the Council is an important 
part of developing solutions. For instance, nearly 36,000 unaccompanied 
youth under the age of 25 experienced homelessness in 2016. While some 
communities have started to develop responses to youth homelessness, it 
is a complex problem that requires a tailored approach taking into 
account the local variables of foster care, primary to postsecondary 
education, housing, and healthcare systems. Finding new ways to deliver 
and fund assistance to this diverse population is essential, and that 
is why Senator Collins and I held a hearing in our subcommittee on this 
matter and worked together to include over $40 million in targeted 
resources to address youth homelessness in both the fiscal year 2016 
and 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, THUD, 
appropriations bills. As part of this new funding, the Council will be 
executing a broader collaborative effort with foster care networks, the 
juvenile justice community, and education partners to create and find 
success in coordinated, cost-effective solutions that meet community 
needs. The Council's expertise in implementing complex Federal programs 
at the local level will continue to be critical to the success of this 
initiative.
  For all of this good work the Council has done and continues to do, 
it is vital that we keep its doors open. The Council, as the only 
agency at the federal level charged specifically with addressing 
homelessness, has helped communities not only reduce homelessness, but 
it has also helped to save money. We know that people experiencing 
homelessness are more likely to access expensive health care services 
and spend more time in incarceration--which are extremely costly to 
taxpayers, states, and local governments. 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.''
  The Council has helped to build upon these estimated savings by 
identifying and tailoring cost-effective solutions that reduce the 
level of health care services, as well as recidivism, for individuals 
experiencing chronic homelessness. In fiscal year 2016 alone, the 
Council's modest $3.5 million budget catalyzed more than $5 billion in 
combined Federal resources that aim to address homelessness. It 
develops national strategies that inform the work and improve the cost-
effectiveness of programs administered by 19 Federal agencies, and as a 
result, communities and Sates are able to leverage housing, health, 
education, and labor funding more strategically and effectively.
  In our current budgetary environment we need a wise and creative arm 
to help our communities identify and maximize resources and 
opportunities where possible, to ensure we are actually addressing 
homelessness, and not contributing to it. The Council is proof that the 
government can work and save money in the process, and our bipartisan 
legislation ensures that the Council's doors remain open until there 
truly is an end to homelessness nationwide.
  I thank the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the Rhode Island 
Coalition for the Homeless, HousingWorksRI, the Council of Large Public 
Housing Authorities, A Way Home America, Community Solutions, the 
National Low Income Housing Coalition, the National Coalition for 
Homeless Veterans, the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, 
Funders Together to End Homelessness, the True Colors Fund, the 
National Housing Trust, the National Health Care for the Homeless 
Council, LISC, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, National 
Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, the Public Housing 
Authorities Directors Association, National Network for Youth, 
LeadingAge, Heartland Alliance, National Housing Conference, the 
National AIDS Housing Coalition, Covenant House International, the 
Coalition for Juvenile Justice, the Forum for Youth Investment, the 
Housing Assistance Council, Volunteers of America, the Coalition on 
Human Needs, the Corporation for Supportive Housing, the Technical 
Assistance Collaborative, and the National Coalition for the Homeless 
for their support. I urge our colleagues to join Senator Collins and me 
in supporting this legislation.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. FLAKE (for himself and Mr. McCain):

[[Page 4942]]

  S. 745. A bill to reauthorize the State Criminal Alien Assistance 
Program, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. President, border security is one of the Federal 
Government's most important responsibilities, and the Federal 
Government has no better partners than local law enforcement agencies 
from border communities like those in my home State of Arizona. These 
officers and deputies serve on the front lines. They provide critical 
assistance to the missions of Federal agencies.
  Unfortunately, these efforts are expensive and the locals end up 
picking up most of the tab. For example, local law enforcement agencies 
hold those facing immigration violations at county-operated jails, and 
they provide medical care for the undocumented inmates while they are 
in custody. In providing these services, Arizona's counties have 
incurred more than $310 million in costs associated with criminal 
undocumented immigrants since 2009. That is $310 million since 2009.
  Despite these enormous costs, the Federal Government has left many 
local jurisdictions to shoulder the burdens of illegal immigration on 
their own. This is particularly frustrating when so many of our local 
law enforcement agencies are already struggling to carry out basic 
duties on overstretched budgets.
  I hope we can all look forward to a time when we have the appropriate 
resources for securing the border, the means for those seeking to fill 
the needs of our economy to enter the country legally, a remedy for 
those who are here already illegally, and also a way for employers to 
ensure that those whom they hire are legally present.
  These critical steps toward solving our immigration problems will 
require Congress to act. However, in the meantime, we can't continue to 
allow the Federal Government to pass off immigration responsibilities 
onto cash-strapped local agencies.
  That is why I wish today to introduce a bill to reauthorize and 
reform the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, better known as 
SCAAP. This bill is cosponsored by my friend and colleague, John 
McCain, and is supported by the Arizona Sheriffs Association.
  SCAAP is a Federal program that reimburses State, local, and Tribal 
law enforcement for the costs associated with incarcerating and caring 
for criminal undocumented immigrants while in custody.
  To ensure that local law enforcement receives sufficient 
reimbursement under SCAAP, my bill would make some commonsense reforms 
under the program. The bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality 
Act to reauthorize SCAAP through fiscal year 2021. Reauthorizing this 
program will provide local law enforcement agencies in Arizona and 
across the country with the certainty that any costs incurred from 
incarcerating criminal immigrants will be covered by Federal 
reimbursements.
  Our State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies are committed 
to partnering with the Federal Government on immigration enforcement. 
But that partnership can't succeed unless the Federal Government 
provides the necessary reimbursements for those services.
  As Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels said:

       Arizona's counties continue to struggle under the fiscal 
     strain of anemic growth in rural areas and cost-shifts from 
     the State of Arizona. Housing criminal aliens without federal 
     assistance diverts needed resources away from our 
     communities' public safety priorities.

  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this letter from the 
Arizona Sheriffs Association in support of my bill to reauthorize SCAAP 
be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                 Arizona Sheriffs Association,

                                                   March 15, 2017.
     Re State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) 
         Reauthorization.

     Hon. Jeff Flake,
     U.S. Senator, Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Flake: On behalf of a majority of the Arizona 
     Sheriffs Association, I would like to express support for 
     Congress's proposed reauthorization of the State Criminal 
     Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP).
       County sheriffs maintain the shared responsibility of 
     enforcing Arizona's criminal laws. We also serve as the 
     keeper of Arizona's county jails, including paying for the 
     cost of medical care for inmates. While the federal 
     government continues to address the problem of illegal 
     immigration, Arizona's jails incarcerate undocumented 
     immigrants who have committed state and local violations, 
     incurring significant costs in custody and care of these 
     inmates, including medical costs. SCAAP provides critical 
     dollars to Arizona's counties that help pay for the cost of 
     housing and caring for these inmates while they are in our 
     custody.
       Arizona's counties continue to struggle under the fiscal 
     strain of anemic growth in rural areas and cost-shifts from 
     the State of Arizona. Housing criminal aliens without federal 
     assistance diverts needed resources away from our 
     communities' public safety priorities. We understand that 
     federal dollars cannot fully supplant state costs for these 
     inmates. However, any financial assistance the federal 
     government can appropriate to help pay for the costs of 
     caring for these inmates will allow Arizona's sheriffs to 
     concentrate on other important priorities, such as drug 
     interdiction and search and rescue.
       Since 2009, Arizona's counties have absorbed more than $310 
     million in costs. A SCAAP reauthorization that includes 
     reimbursement for medical costs would provide vital financial 
     resources to Arizona's sheriffs, allowing us to better serve 
     the public safety needs of our counties.
       That's why on behalf of Arizona's county sheriffs, I write 
     to express support for the reauthorization of the State 
     Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP). We encourage 
     Congress to pass the measure and for President Trump to sign 
     it if it reaches his desk.
           Sincerely,

                                                 Mark Dannels,

                                           Cochise County Sheriff,
                          President, Arizona Sheriffs Association.

  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. President, the SCAAP program is the foundation of the 
immigration partnership between local law enforcement and the Federal 
Government for keeping our communities safe. I urge all of my 
colleagues to support this legislation to reauthorize and reform the 
SCAAP program.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. Wicker, and Mrs. Murray):
  S. 754. A bill to support meeting our Nation's growing cybersecurity 
workforce needs by expanding the cybersecurity education pipeline; to 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, a skilled workforce is essential to 
addressing the growing cybersecurity challenges in the United States. 
In both the public and private sectors, a shortage of skilled cyber 
security professionals has hindered the Nation's cyber preparedness. 
According to a 2017 Global Information Security Workforce Study, 1.8 
million more cyber security professionals will be needed worldwide by 
2022.
  Data breaches at the Office of Personnel Management in 2015 
highlighted the need for robust cyber security protections at the 
Federal level, which include a strong and skilled workforce. Since 
2001, the Federal Government has operated a cyber security education 
program known as CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service. Thanks to great 
leadership by Chairman John Thune and the U.S. Senate Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Congress codified the CyberCorps 
Program as part of the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014. Serving 
roughly 70 institutions, the National Science Foundation, NSF, grants 
award to institutions as part of the CyberCorps Program. Institutions 
utilize grants to build capacity for cyber security programs and 
provide scholarships to students. Scholarship recipients must fulfill a 
service requirement in a federal, state or local government cyber 
security job upon graduation.
  In recent years, more community colleges have provided opportunities 
for students to gain much needed cyber security skills. An October 2015 
study by the National Academy for Public Administration reviewed the 
CyberCorps Program and formulated major recommendations to improve it. 
One of the Academy's recommendations was to include qualified 2-year 
programs in the program regardless of

[[Page 4943]]

their association with a 4-year institution. Currently, NSF only 
provides scholarship awards to students in 2-year programs who will 
transfer into a 4-year program.
  Today, I am pleased to introduce with my colleague Senator Roger 
Wicker, the Cybersecurity Scholarship Opportunities Act of 2017. This 
legislation will improve the federal cyber security workforce pipeline 
by directing the CyberCorps Program to provide 5 percent of 
scholarships to career changers and military veterans at qualified 2-
year programs with no transfer requirement. The bill would also codify 
CyberCorps' K-12 education program and align the skills required for 
scholarship eligibility with the National Initiative for Cybersecurity 
Education Framework.
  In addition, the bill would enhance cyber security protection for 
critical infrastructure by allowing CyberCorps graduates, on a case-by-
case basis, to meet their service requirements in critical 
infrastructure missions at government-affiliated entities like the 
Tennessee Valley Authority. Just today, a report by the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology found that digital threats to U.S. critical 
infrastructure demand attention and that the Nation does not produce 
enough graduates with the skills to protect critical infrastructure. It 
recommended that the President take steps to increase the supply of 
skilled professionals. By allowing CyberCorps graduates to fulfill 
service obligations in critical infrastructure missions, this 
legislation represents an important step in the right direction.
  The Cybersecurity Scholarship Opportunities Act is a commonsense, 
bipartisan bill that would help students succeed and strengthen our 
national security. There are cyber security jobs in Virginia and across 
the country that are going unfilled, and it is clear we must make it 
easier for students to access the programs that prepare them for these 
roles.

                          ____________________