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Transportation, Treasury, Health and Human Services, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act,2006 - 2

Date: June 29, 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Transportation Health and Health Care Government Budget and Spending


TRANSPORTATION, TREASURY, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, THE JUDICIARY, THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - June 29, 2005)

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AMENDMENT OFFERED BY MR. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume, although I am not going to take 5 minutes.
This amendment would increase the appropriation for the Housing Opportunity For Persons with AIDS program.

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Mr. Chairman, this amendment would increase the appropriation for the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS program, or HOPWA, by $5 million.

I thank Chairman KNOLLENBERG and Ranking Member OLVER for recommending a $3 million increase from last year's appropriation, significantly more than the administration request. But this follows a $13 million cut last year.

Adequately meeting the housing needs of all those living with HIV/AIDS would take over $2 billion. More than 100 Members, from both sides of the aisle, joined me in asking the Appropriations committee for $385 million in HOPWA funding in FY06. This amendment, however, seeks only to restore the cuts from last year and return HOPWA to the FY04 level of $295 million.

The costs associated with the new AIDS treatments often force people to choose between essential medications and other necessities, such as housing. HOPWA answers this need. With 91 percent of HOPWA recipients having family incomes less than $1,000 per month, program recipients simply cannot afford the cuts HOPWA has taken.

HOPWA is an extremely fiscally sound program. It supplies a low-cost alternative to acute-care hospital beds, typically paid for by Medicaid. Acute-care facilities cost Medicaid, on average, more than $1,000 a day, while assistance under HOPWA costs as little as $55 to $110 a day.

Nationwide, thousands of people are now on waiting lists for HOPWA-funded housing. The housing crisis facing people living with HIV/AIDS imposes enormous costs on individuals with the disease and on their families and communities. Without adequate HOPWA funding, AIDS patients will continue to flood our emergency rooms and shelters, and our Medicaid rolls. Let's get back at least to the FY04 funding level.

I thank Messrs. SHAYS and CROWLEY for co-sponsoring this amendment, and demonstrating the bipartisan support HOPWA enjoys. I strongly urge the adoption of this amendment.

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Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. NADLER. I yield to the gentleman from Michigan.

Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Chairman, I accept the amendment.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I was going to add that I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Knollenberg) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Olver) for their cooperation, and the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) for cosponsoring the amendment. I appreciate the gentleman's acceptance, and I will take "yes" for an answer, happily.

Mr. Chairman, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays).

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