Transitional Housing for Recovery in Viable Environments Demonstration Program Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARR. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of my legislation, H.R. 5735, the Transitional Housing for Recovery in Viable Environments Act, or the THRIVE Act.

I thank Chairman Hensarling, Chairman Duffy, and my colleagues on the House Financial Services Committee for their support and feedback on this legislation. I want to thank Chairman Hensarling for sharing that very compelling story about his constituent, Joshua. Unfortunately, so many of us have constituents with similar stories, and that is what we are trying to address here today.

We all know the opioid epidemic is a major health crisis that has impacted every community in every congressional district; 116 Americans die every day from opioid overdoses. My home State of Kentucky has the third highest overdose mortality rate in the country.

This week, the House is considering several pieces of legislation to address this epidemic, and in order to achieve meaningful progress in the fight against opioids in our Nation, Congress can no longer simply focus on prevention, enforcement, and treatment. We must also begin to implement policies that focus on long-term recovery. Our Federal housing programs are an underutilized resource in these efforts.

The THRIVE Act would make supportive housing more accessible to those most in need by allocating a limited number of Section 8 housing choice vouchers to nonprofits--nonprofits that have experience in housing. Not new nonprofits--nonprofits with a record of providing housing services, workforce development, job placement, financial literacy, and continued addiction recovery support for individuals who are transitioning out of rehab or a period of medication-assisted treatment and back into the workforce.

This legislation would only allocate either 10,000 or 0.5 percent of total housing choice vouchers, whichever is less, to evidence-based nonprofits serving people who are literally dying each and every day of opioid addiction and other substance abuse disorders. And the demonstration is limited to 5 years.

No one would have a voucher taken away from them, despite what my friend, the gentlewoman from California, is saying. No one would have a voucher taken away from them to create this demonstration program.

An estimated 198,000 Section 8 vouchers are turned over every year and returned to HUD, and it is from this amount that the demonstration would set aside only 10,000 to address a deadly national public health crisis.

Additionally, we made a commitment to working with our Democratic colleagues, including Congresswoman Sinema, who has signed a joint letter with me to request additional funding from the Appropriations Committee to support this demonstration, because we understand the urgent need for greater Federal investment to save lives. So the ranking member's argument really doesn't apply.

The THRIVE Act has received endorsements from over 140 housing and recovery organizations across the country, including Addiction Policy Forum, the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, National Association of Social Workers, Faces & Voices of Recovery, the Association for Addiction Professionals, and more than 100 others that are on the front lines of addiction recovery.

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Mr. BARR. Mr. Chairman, HUD Secretary Ben Carson visited several of these transitional nonprofits in my district in Kentucky earlier this year, and he witnessed firsthand the success of these evidence-based models of recovery.

I would like to especially recognize St. James Place, Revive LifeHouse, the Hope Center, Shepherd's House, and Chrysalis House, among others, for their critical work in the Sixth District of Kentucky that inspired this legislation.

Mr. Chairman, the THRIVE Act would save American lives, as well as taxpayer funds in the long run, by helping more individuals rise above addiction and poverty.

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Mr. BARR. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of my manager's amendment to the legislation at issue today, H.R. 5735, the THRIVE Act, which, again, would make supportive housing more accessible to those most in need by allocating a limited number of housing choice vouchers to nonprofits that provide housing, workforce development, job placement, and continued addiction recovery support for individuals who are transitioning out of rehab and back into the workforce.

This manager's amendment introduces improvements to the THRIVE Act based on feedback we have received from various stakeholders in the affordable housing and recovery communities, my colleagues on the House Financial Services Committee, as well as technical drafting assistance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Among these changes include:

Clarifying the distinction between illicit drug use and medication- assisted treatment;

Requiring nonprofits to show that they have experience administering housing programs and are in full compliance with the Fair Housing Act and Civil Rights Act of 1964;

Requiring HUD and eligible entities to coordinate with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and local workforce development boards;

Eliminating time limits for individuals in the program;

Authorizing waiver authority allowing HUD greater flexibility to administer the program, while still requiring full compliance with statutes and regulations related to fair housing nondiscrimination, labor standards, and other requirements; and other technical changes.

Mr. Chair, I would like to thank my Democratic colleagues, including Congresswoman Sinema, for suggesting several of the improvements to the bill that are included in this amendment. I would also like to emphasize, once again, my commitment to working with Ms. Sinema and other colleagues to request additional funding from the Appropriations Committee to support this demonstration program.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the total economic burden of prescription opioid misuse alone in the United States is $78.5 billion per year. Our Federal housing programs are an underutilized source in the fight against this national public health crisis.

The THRIVE Act is a small investment of only 10,000 housing choice vouchers out of a total of over 2 million, to people who are literally dying every day. It has earned the support of over 140 recovery organizations who are on the front lines of this epidemic.

Once again, Mr. Chairman, it is not a reason to vote against this legislation because it is using existing appropriations for the Housing Choice Voucher Program.

Our friends on the other side of the aisle who are objecting to this legislation are making the wrongheaded and misguided argument that claims that this is somehow taking away from other members of the program.

There are 198,000 vouchers that come up each and every year. We are talking about not taking vouchers away from anyone, but using those vouchers that become available for new recipients. These recipients are oftentimes eligible for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program anyway, because they come out of rehab without resources. They are statutorily eligible.

So when they talk about taking away from veterans, when they talk about taking away from the disabled, or from the homeless, that is who these people are. These people typically are without homes. They are, in many cases, veterans.

Saint James Apartments, which is one of these recovery centers in my district, focuses exclusively on veterans who are addicted to opioids, and these people, obviously, are also struggling with a disability. So the THRIVE Act deserves every one of our Members' support. These organizations and these folks who are struggling with addiction are literally crying out for Congress to help, and we need to answer that call.

I urge support for my manager's amendment, and the underlying legislation so we can work together in a bipartisan manner to improve housing options for individuals recovering from opioid addiction and other substance abuse disorders.

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Mr. BARR. Mr. Chairman, just to respond briefly to some of those claims, our efforts to work in a bipartisan way, an overture to the ranking member to actually meet her halfway, should be actually welcomed. It shouldn't be rejected.

And if she is concerned about more funding, guess what, that is not what the authorizing committees do. That is what the appropriators do, and if the ranking member were sincere, she would sign on to the letter to the appropriators with respect to providing additional funds.

But in any event, this is not hastily put together. This is the result of a lot of feedback, of hearings, of many years of actually talking and listening to not-for-profits that are in this line of work. And they are begging us, along with 144 other organizations in addiction recovery, to pass this bill.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the manager's amendment, and the underlying bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. BARR. Mr. Chairman, I want to make an observation that, in the course of this debate, not one of the Members speaking in opposition to this legislation has made the argument that these evidence-based transitional housing models won't work. None of the arguments are that this model won't work and won't help people achieve long-term recovery. So why would anyone oppose the legislation?

I will accept my friend's, the gentlewoman from Wisconsin's amendment. I appreciate the contribution that she is making to make sure that Native American Tribal communities and their Tribal housing authorities are designated as eligible entities to receive vouchers.

This amendment will ensure that Native American communities residing in Tribal areas would have the opportunity to benefit from this demonstration, similar to urban, suburban, and other rural areas, and this amendment protects persons recovering from addiction in Native American Tribal communities by ensuring that vouchers might still be available through Tribal housing authorities should an eligible nonprofit not be available.

Because some of the Tribal areas are located in very remote areas, the nonprofit entities envisioned under this demonstration program may not have the capacity to reach onto those reservations. This amendment provides remote Tribal communities an avenue for providing transitional housing to persons recovering from addiction when such nonprofit participation could be low. This amendment ensures that Tribal communities are not disadvantaged by a lack of nonprofit access so that they have an adequate voucher dispersion entity to community individuals in need of transitional housing as they recover from addiction.

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Mr. BARR. Mr. Chairman, in conclusion, I accept and support the gentlewoman's amendment.

I will just remind all Members, and especially Members who might be considering whether or not they want to vote for the legislation, if you are concerned about additional appropriations, the proper channel is to request that from the appropriators. Any Member of Congress considering voting on this legislation can sign this bipartisan letter to the appropriators asking for additional financial support for this demonstration project. But it is not a reason to not vote ``yes.''

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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