Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2015
Floor Speech
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Mr. PETERS. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico.
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Mr. PETERS. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment for my friend, Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico.
As of 2014, there were over 130,000 veterans living in shelters and transitional housing in the United States. About 56 percent of these veterans have a disability. I think we agree that that is unacceptable.
Since 2009, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs have made significant progress to reduce the number of homeless veterans. But more must be done to get veterans off the streets and into permanent housing.
This can be seen in my home district where we have one of the largest homeless populations in the country, and also perhaps the largest populations of homeless veterans.
The underlying bill improves housing services for veterans by creating a new special assistant for veterans within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This new position will coordinate veterans' housing efforts within HUD, serve as a liaison with the VA, and ensure veterans have fair access to housing programs.
The amendment builds upon those improvements to further coordination between the VA and HUD, both of which provide a range of veteran homeless services and support. The amendment requires the Special Assistant to work with the VA and provide recommendations to each department and to Congress on how to improve coordination and housing services for our Nation's veterans.
We can do much more to not only keep veterans off the streets, but to provide them with the resources and support they need to have a safe, stable place to live and build a life after completing their service.
In San Diego, organizations like zero8hundred and the Veterans Village of San Diego offer the kind of comprehensive transition support to help veterans be successful.
These are also the collective goals of many HUD and VA programs, including the VA's Independent Living Program, which assists veterans to become more independent in their homes so they never become homeless in the first place.
Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment to ensure that HUD and VA coordinate their efforts on addressing the many different issues and aspects associated with veteran homelessness.
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Mr. PETERS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for his gracious support and for his work on behalf of veterans.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. PETERS. Mr. Chairman, each Member of this body represents a district that is affected to some degree by homelessness. We all work diligently to grow the economy, create high-quality jobs, and create opportunity so that no one has to live on the streets. But for many in our districts, ending the scourge of homelessness is an ongoing battle that take resources and coordination from our communities.
All of our districts are supported by the Continuum of Care program, which assists local leaders working diligently to distribute funding to public and nonprofit institutions that shelter the homeless, set up transitional housing, and provide support programs.
In San Diego we recently completed our Point in Time count. My office and other public servants counted the homeless living on the street and in shelters to determine how better to serve them as we work to end homelessness. In 2014, this count found that San Diego had the fifth largest homeless population in our country. But in that same year, our Continuum of Care program received the 23rd highest level of Federal anti-homelessness funds.
San Diego is not the only city that is disadvantaged by the formula that is used to determine how Federal anti-homelessness funds are distributed. Other western cities like Houston, Las Vegas, Seattle, San Jose, and Denver also receive a disproportionately low amount of Federal resources.
My amendment would require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to reopen the public comment period on the Continuum of Care formula. This would allow service organizations, housing providers, community faith leaders, and elected officials the opportunity to provide input on how HUD's limited and valuable resources can be most equitably and effectively used to end homelessness in our country. The amendment would not change the formula, and it would not unfairly disadvantage the district of any Member of this body.
Since coming to Congress, I have been fighting to ensure that every city receives its fair share of Federal funding to help the homeless. I have corresponded with both Secretary Donovan and now-Secretary Castro to advocate for changes to the Continuum of Care formula and ask for a public comment period. The people working on the ground to end homelessness deserve the opportunity to weigh in on how this formula is affecting them and the work they are doing.
Mr. Chairman, I urge all my colleagues to support this amendment to ensure we are doing all we can to end the scourge of homelessness in this country.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve balance of my time.
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Mr. PETERS. Mr. Chairman, I am well aware of what success looks like in this body, and I am finished offering amendments. I want to thank all the people, including the ranking member and Chairman Hensarling, for their hard work on this bill. This is a good piece of work.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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