Improving Emergency Disease Response Via Housing Act of 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6294) to require data sharing regarding protecting the homeless from coronavirus, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 6294

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 ``Improving Emergency Disease Response via Housing Act of 2020''. SEC. 2. DATA SHARING BETWEEN HUD AND HHS.

(a) In General.--For the purpose of increasing the ability of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to target outreach to populations vulnerable to contracting coronavirus, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall share with the Secretary of Health and Human Services information regarding the location of projects for supportive housing for the elderly assisted under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q) and the location of Continuums of Care with high concentration of unsheltered homelessness.

(b) Removal of Personally Identifiable Information.--In sharing the information required under subsection (a), the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall ensure that appropriate administrative and physical safeguards are in place to remove all personally identifiable information.

(c) Consultation.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall consult with the Secretary of Health and Human Services promptly after the date of the enactment of this Act to provide for the sharing of the information required under subsection (a).

(d) Limitation.--Information shared pursuant to this Act shall not be shared beyond the Department of Health and Human Services or used for purposes beyond those intended in the Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6294, the Improving Emergency Disease Response via Housing Act, which will help the Federal Government better identify and serve populations particularly at risk from COVID-19.

This bill will require the Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, to share with the Department of Health and Human Services the locations of HUD senior housing properties and local continuums of care with high concentrations of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. The bill also includes important protections to ensure people's privacy and to prevent the misuse of this information.

Early in this pandemic, we learned the devastating impact COVID-19 has on seniors. Seniors often have underlying health conditions, which make them particularly vulnerable to the virus. Making matters worse, many seniors live in large multifamily buildings, including HUD- subsidized properties, where the risk of contagion is particularly high.

This constellation of factors--close living quarters, advanced age, higher prevalence of underlying health conditions--puts this population at substantial risk for contracting and at a higher risk for dying from COVID-19.

According to The New York Times, as of last month, 40 percent of COVID-19-related deaths have occurred in senior communities, not just to those who have reached senior age but that subset of seniors who live in these senior communities.

People experiencing homelessness are also particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 because they are disproportionately likely to have underlying conditions and because they often do not have the means to follow CDC guidelines around handwashing, social distancing, mask-wearing, et cetera.

People experiencing homelessness who contract COVID-19 are twice as likely to be hospitalized, two to four times as likely to require critical care, and two to three times as likely to die as others in the general public.

So, Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Tipton for introducing this bill to help us better protect some of this country's most vulnerable people, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I, again, thank my colleague, Mr. Tipton, for introducing this bill to help us better protect seniors and people experiencing homelessness from COVID-19.

We have lost too many people to this terrible virus. While it is important that we ensure the safety of those who are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus, I hope that we can all work together this month to provide a comprehensive response to this public crisis, modeled after the HEROES Act, which this House passed in May of this year.

Our constituents want us to act on major legislation, but in the meantime, it is good to pass this bill to help those who are particularly impacted by COVID.

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

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