Tribal Access to Homeless Assistance Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HECK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4029, the bipartisan Tribal Access to Homeless Assistance Act.

As Congress is working to alleviate our national housing crisis, we also need to make sure our Federal assistance is getting to those that are hardest hit. And Indian country is facing a severe pervasive housing crisis. There is a widespread lack of affordable housing.

Mr. Speaker, 38 percent of Native American households are considered cost-burdened by high housing costs. Insufficient stock of affordable safe housing in Indian country also results in increased homelessness. A study commissioned by HUD--I presume the same one referred to by my friend from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner)--found that there are between 42,000 and 85,000 homeless Native Americans living on Tribal lands. That is several times the number of people who are homeless in Seattle and in San Francisco combined. And unfortunately, both cities are known for having significant homeless populations.

On Tribal lands, homelessness also leads to overcrowding. Families double up by taking in friends and loved ones who can no longer afford their housing. And as has been indicated, 16 percent of Native American and Alaskan Native households experience overcrowding. It is worth repeating--16 percent compared to 2 percent in the general population.

So, here is the thing about homelessness and overcrowding that we all know intuitively but it behooves us to be reminded of it: When you are homeless or in an overcrowded circumstance, it is nearly impossible to find a meaningful job or go to school or otherwise engage in the community. When you are constantly worried about shelter, you are unable to deal with whatever other issues you are confronted with in your life, whether it is health or holding down a job or substance abuse.

I have also considered that one of the most important duties I have as a Member of Congress is ensuring the sovereignty of the four Tribes in the district I have a privilege to represent and the 29 Tribes in my State, and to help them as they work to help their Tribal members on a range of issues, including combatting homelessness in Indian country. I know you all feel the same way.

That is our Federal trust responsibility, and that is why I introduced this legislation.

Despite the prevalence of homelessness in Indian country, Tribes and Tribally designated housing entities simply cannot access the homeless assistance grants offered by HUD, including the Continuum of Care program, and this bill fixes that.

By establishing Tribal eligibility to compete for HUD McKinney-Vento Continuum of Care grants, this bill would improve Tribes' ability to combat homelessness and, frankly, potentially help tens of thousands of people.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Young who is also a part of this bipartisan deal, and former Congressman Duffy, for joining me in introducing this bill.

I hope all my colleagues will join me in supporting H.R. 4029 today. And finally, let us note, this bill is an important first step to fulfill our obligations to Indian country, but to be clear, this is not the last step.

I hope to soon introduce a bill to reauthorize and update the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act--we call it NAHASDA for short. NAHASDA is a critically important program that helps provide safe and affordable housing to Tribes and their members.

I look forward to working with Chair Waters in the full committee on a bipartisan NAHASDA bill as we continue to discuss how we can continue or keep our obligations to Indian country.

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