Tribal Access to Homeless Assistance Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4029) to amend the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to enable Indian Tribes and tribally designated housing entities to apply for, receive, and administer grants and subgrants under the Continuum of Care Program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 4029

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Tribal Access to Homeless Assistance Act''. SEC. 2. PARTICIPATION OF INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBALLY DESIGNATED HOUSING ENTITIES IN CONTINUUM OF CARE PROGRAM.

(a) In General.--Title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 et seq.) is amended--

(1) in section 401 (42 U.S.C. 11360)--

(A) by redesignating paragraphs (10) through (33) as paragraphs (12) through (35), respectively;

(B) by redesignating paragraphs (8) and (9) as paragraphs (9) and (10), respectively;

(C) by inserting after paragraph (7) the following:

``(8) Formula area.--The term `formula area' has the meaning given the term in section 1000.302 of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation.'';

(D) in paragraph (9), as so redesignated, by inserting ``a formula area,'' after ``nonentitlement area,''; and

(E) by inserting after paragraph (10), as so redesignated, the following:

``(11) Indian tribe.--The term `Indian Tribe' has the meaning given the term `Indian tribe' in section 4 of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103).''; and

(2) in subtitle C (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.), by adding at the end the following: ``SEC. 435. PARTICIPATION OF INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBALLY DESIGNATED HOUSING ENTITIES.

``Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, for purposes of this subtitle, an Indian Tribe or tribally designated housing entity (as defined in section 4 of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103)) may--

``(1) be a collaborative applicant or eligible entity; or

``(2) receive grant amounts from another entity that receives a grant directly from the Secretary, and use the amounts in accordance with this subtitle.''.

(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents in section 101(b) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (Public Law 100-77; 101 Stat. 482) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 434 the following: ``Sec. 435. Participation of Indian Tribes and tribally designated housing entities.''.
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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4029, the Tribal Eligibility for Homeless Assistance Grants Act of 2019, which makes Tribes and tribally designated housing entities eligible to receive McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grant funding.

Mr. Speaker, Native Americans and Alaska Natives face some of the worst housing and living conditions in the United States. They face high poverty rates, unemployment, overcrowding. Standard housing conditions are not something that they enjoy; in fact, they enjoy substandard conditions. And they have unique issues for developing housing.

As a result, Native Americans tend to be overrepresented among the homeless population. Despite the prevalence of homeless in Native communities, Tribes and tribally designated housing entities are not currently eligible to compete for HUD McKinney-Vento Continuum of Care grants.

Current housing assistance for Native communities fall substantially short of meeting their affordable housing needs, and this bill would direct more housing resources to address homelessness on Tribal lands. I am proud to see that Members have worked together to put forth a bipartisan bill to better address homelessness among Native Americans and Alaska Natives.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Heck) for introducing this important legislation that is aimed to help address Tribal homelessness.
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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, thank all of my colleagues for the bipartisan support this bill has received. I thank the sponsor of this legislation, Mr. Heck, again, for bringing it forward. It is an important piece of legislation.

I would like to say this: Native Americans and Tribal communities have, for too long, suffered from a lack of funding for housing and homelessness assistance despite the growing need for safe, decent, and affordable homes on Tribal lands.

Mr. Speaker, this is a bill that will bring some relief. It is not perfect. Mr. Heck has said it is a first step.

I urge my colleagues to join me, Mr. Heck, and Mrs. Wagner in supporting this piece of legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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