[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11188]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1800
                              HOMELESSNESS

  (Mr. LANGEVIN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, today, homeless advocates from Rhode 
Island, including from Crossroads Rhode Island and from Rhode Island 
Housing, came to visit my office.
  Mr. Speaker, it is difficult to express in words how important their 
work is. These groups take care of the least among us. They provide 
shelter for the working poor and those affected by the opioid crisis, 
and they assist those not working because of age, infirmity, or 
disability. They help keep lives together. They help keep families 
together.
  Mr. Speaker, we must continue to provide strong funding for these 
programs in our appropriations bills. We still have not fully emerged 
from the financial crisis and people are still trying to make ends 
meet. Foster youth are particularly vulnerable, with as many as 40 
percent who age out of the system becoming homeless.
  Mr. Speaker, social services organizations and nonprofits can only do 
so much on their own. They need support to keep our vulnerable brothers 
and sisters from falling off a cliff. We can do better and we deserve 
to support them.

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