Community Services Block Grant Modernization Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1097, I call up the bill (H.R. 5129) to amend the Community Services Block Grant Act to reauthorize and modernize the Act, and ask for its immediate consideration.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

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Ms. BONAMICI. 5129, the Community Services Block Grant Modernization Act of 2022.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bipartisan legislation, H.R. 5129, the Community Services Block Grant Modernization Act of 2022.

In 1964, Congress first established the Community Action Program to support locally driven anti-poverty efforts.

Today, community action agencies, or CAAs, form a network of more than 1,000 organizations with a dedicated mission of assisting people in finding their way out of poverty.

These agencies provide services and programs that meet the unique needs of our local communities by helping individuals and families with low incomes achieve economic stability, secure meaningful employment, and adequate education, gain and improve job-related skills, obtain housing, access childcare, and participate in the community.

During our legislative hearing on updating the community services block grant, Katherine King Galian, the director of Family and Community Resources at Community Action in Washington County, Oregon, told us the story about Patricia.

Patricia lost her job and her home in the fall of 2019. Facing unaffordable rent and a rising risk of homelessness, she turned to Community Action and she got the support she needed.

At Community Action of Washington County, she accessed career coaching, help affording needed materials for her nursing curriculum, and other services that helped Patricia and her family get back on their feet. Patricia's story is just one of many from all across the United States where community action agencies have been helping low- income Americans get back on their feet for decades.

Unfortunately, the community services block grant program, CSBG, has not been reauthorized since 1998, the year Google was founded, and John Glenn flew the Discovery space shuttle mission. We are long overdue for Congress to pass a comprehensive reauthorization of this significant law.

Our bill continues the long tradition of broad bipartisan support for this program and makes important improvements to update CSBG. It will reauthorize CSBG for 10 years--the longest period in its history--which will provide critical stability to our local service providers.

Recognizing that there are many more families like Patricia's who can be served by CSBG, our bill strengthens funding for community action agencies and raises the program's income eligibility threshold to expand access to their important services.

I also highlight a provision championed by my friend and colead, Congressman G.T. Thompson, to create broadband navigator projects so community action agencies can assist their clients in accessing internet services and connected devices that are necessary for learning, finding employment, and other basic activities of everyday life.

Finally, the bill will modernize the statute to strengthen accountability and performance requirements, putting CSBG on solid footing so the program can continue to meet the complex and changing needs of low-income individuals in communities without changing the local control that is such an important part of CSBG's success.

I very much appreciate the productive collaboration with my bipartisan partner from the Education and Labor Committee, Congressman Thompson, and his staff, in leading this legislation.

I also thank our other Education and Labor Committee coleads, Representatives DeSaulnier, Stefanik, and Comer for leading us in this effort. I must also knowledge Congresswoman Betty McCollum, who led early iterations of this proposal in prior Congresses and has joined us this session to build on her foundational work to get this across the finish line.

Additionally, David Bradley, the CEO of National Community Action Foundation has been instrumental in offering his expertise to help us bring this bill to the floor today.

Finally, and importantly, I would thank Chairman Scott and his dedicated staff, particularly, Theresa Thompson, Jessica Schieder, Emily Hopkins, and Carrie Hughes, for working with us to bring this bill. I also thank my staff, Allison Smith, Jack Arriaga, Andrew Dunn, and Rachael Bornstein, who worked diligently on this bill from drafting and introduction through the committee markup.

I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this important bill to renew our Nation's commitment to reducing poverty through community action.

Additionally, I include in the Record letters by the National Community Action Foundation, National Association of Counties, and National Association for State Community Service Programs in support of passing the Community Services Block Grant Modernization Act of 2022. National Community Action Foundation, May 10, 2022. Hon. Suzanne Bonamici, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Hon. Glenn Thompson, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Rep. Bonamici and Rep. Thompson: We are writing to you today to share our enthusiastic endorsement of your bipartisan legislation, HR 5129, the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Modernization Act of 2022.

As you know, CSBG touches virtually every community in the United States. With 90 percent of each state's CSBG allocation being distributed to local Community Action Agencies (CAAs), our communities rely upon this unique flexible funding. CAAs use it to combat poverty and promote self-sufficiency, respond rapidly to unforeseen crises such as natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic and implement gap-filling activities that address unmet community needs. Additionally, CAAs use CSBG to organize and support other local charities and community-based initiatives, ensuring services are streamlined and not duplicative. Without CSBG, every single community in America would be hurt.

Your bill would codify critical updates to the program. It provides security and reliability to communities across the country by authorizing CSBG for 10 years and ensuring money flows in a timely manner. The crucial modernizations included in HR 5129, such as the new broadband navigator initiative, will increase CAAs' ability to respond to emerging needs. We are also pleased to see the emphasis on quality performance at the federal, state and local level and that the essential nature of CSBG as a locally-controlled program is retained and bolstered.

Because of HR 5129's local impact in almost every county in the country, we join in support of the bill. We hope Congress passes this essential piece of legislation quickly, thereby strengthening each community in America. Sincerely,

David Bradley, CEO, National Community Action Foundation; Mona Stallins, Financial Specialist, East Missouri Action Agency, Ironton, Missouri; Jean Ann Miller, Senior Director, Office for Student Involvement Oakland University, Rochester Hills, Michigan; Esther Shutters, Family Advocate East, Missouri Action Agency, Cape Girardeau, Missouri; Lisa Straske, Manager, Oakland County Michigan Works! Southfield, Hamtramck, Michigan; Jay Black, Jr., President CEO, Pathway Inc., Toledo, Ohio; James Fox, President/CEO, Community Action Wayne/Medina, Wooster, Ohio; Lisa Schmidtfrerick- Miller, Owner PMT Services, Inc., Jamestown, New York; Myra Lawson, Processer, East Missouri Action Agency, Park Hills, Missouri; Denise Schneider, City Manager, City of Guttenberg, Guttenberg, Iowa; Melissa Skaggs, Receptionist, East Missouri Action Agency, Inc., Bonne Terre, Missouri; Vanessa Gibson, Executive Director, Community Action of South Mississippi, Gautier, Mississippi; Paul Mark, State Representative, District 2, Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Johana Lovig, Vice President of Compliance, Full Circle Services, Oelwein, Iowa; Sandra Twardosz, CAC Board Member, Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee, Knoxville, Tennessee; Michael J Murphy, Sheriff, Livingston County, Howell, Michigan; Amy Kruppe, Superintendent, Hazel Park Schools, Hazel Park, Michigan; Brenda Robbins, Teacher, LCCAA Head Start, Lorain, Ohio; Dawn Godshall, Executive Director, Community Action Lehigh Valley, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Keyon S. Payton, Lead Pastor, New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, Pontiac, Michigan; Yvonne Cherell, CEO, Ohio Urban Resources System, Columbus, Ohio; Denise Schneider, City Manager, City of Guttenberg, Guttenberg, Iowa; Jan Cooley, Head Start Deputy Director, East Missouri Action Agency, Bonne Terre, Missouri; Kris Rowe, Executive Director, Community Action Association of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama; Mary B. Killian, East Missouri Action Agency, Cape Girardeau, Missouri; Nancy Ann Smith, Program Administrative Assistant, Lorain County Community Action Agency, Lorain, Ohio; Margaret L. Flood, Executive Director, Oberlin Community Services Council, Oberlin, Ohio; Daniel Petersen, Member, Dan's Law Office, PLC, St. Joseph, Michigan; Sharon Harmon, Apprentice Program Manager, Lorain County Community Action Agency Head Start, Lorain, Ohio; Betty Cantley, Parent Advocate, End Childhood Lead Poisoning, Grafton, Ohio; Teresa Beltran, Assistant Teacher, Lorain County Community Action, Lorain, Ohio; Sherri Hallauer, Finance and Administration Assistant, Lorain County Community Action Agency, Elyria, Ohio; Rena Mellon, Community Integration Coordinator, Imagine the Possibilities, Guttenberg, Iowa; Kenyadah Sullivan, Board Member, CAC, Knoxville, Tennessee; Lynn A. Harden, Executive Director, Brown County Public Library, Mt. Orab, Ohio; Denise Teasley, Site Manager, East Missouri Action Agency Head Start, Park Hills, Missouri; Trisha Wilkins, Executive Director, NEICAC, Decorah, Iowa; Jolene Leon, Admin, Children's Alliance, Pleasanton, Texas; Kim L. Smith Oldham, Executive Director, Southwest Michigan Community Action Agency, Benton Harbor, Michigan; Patricia Kennedy, Family Self-Sufficiency, Coordinator, East Missouri Action Agency, St. Genevieve, Missouri; Deborah L. Rhodes, Board Member, Gallia-Meigs Community Action Agency, Gallipolis, Ohio; Dennis Phelps, Executive Director, Trehab, Montrose, Pennsylvania; David Coulter, County Executive, Oakland County, Michigan; Laura L. Smith, Owner, Asset4You Professional Services, Lorain, Ohio; Mike Mellon, Regional Assoc; Exec; Director, Imagine the Possibilities, Inc.--Northeast Region, Guttenberg, Iowa; Roger McCann, Executive Director, Community Action Kentucky, Frankfort, KY, Kentucky.

Jennifer Patrick, Board Member, ABCAP, Mt. Orab, Ohio; Cheryl Williams, Board Member, Adams Brown Community Action Program, Georgetown, Ohio; Jan F. Demers, VCAP Coordinator, Vermont Community Action Partnership, Burlington, Vermont; Linda Stepp, Board Member, Adams Brown Community Action Agency, Winchester, Ohio; Suzanne Shears, CEO, Niagara Community Action Program, Inc, Niagara Falls, New York; Sharon Daugherty, Staff Accountant, EMAA, Potosi, Missouri; Daniel Wickerham, Executive Director, Adams Brown Community Action Partnership, West Union, Ohio; Amber Coleman, Associate Executive Director, Capital Area Head Start, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Barbara Bilek, Head Start Site Manager, East Missouri Action Agency, Millersville, Missouri; Deana Hageman, Director, Northeast Iowa RSVP, Decorah, Iowa; Desiree Beasley, Board Secretary, Knoxville-Knox County CAC, Knoxville, Tennessee; Brenda S; Wilmer, Executive Director, Avoyelles Progress Action, Committee, Inc., Mansura, LA 71351, Louisiana; Darlene Bigler, CEO, Blueprints, Washington, Pennsylvania; Gale Zalar, Chief Executive Officer, Central Susquehanna Opportunities, Inc., Shamokin, Pennsylvania; Shirley Vermace, Supervisor, District 3, Winneshiek County, Iowa; Lisa Spencer, CEO, SSCAC, Inc., Plymouth, Massachusetts; Lenora Leifheit, Coordinator Health Ministries, Meigs Cooperative Parish, Pomeroy, Ohio; Patricia A. Keys, Low Income Board Member Ohio, Great Lakes Community Action Partnership, Port Clinton, Ohio.

Brenda Fry, Executive, Director, South Central Iowa Community Action Program, Inc., Chariton, Iowa; Cynthia Zwick, Executive Director, Wildfire: Igniting Community Action to End Poverty in Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona; Debbie Myers, Executive Secretary/Administration, Manager, East Missouri Action Agency, Park Hills, Missouri; Florence Greiman; County Supervisor, Hancock County Iowa, Garner, Iowa; Terry L. Barley, Board Member, Emeritus Tri-County Community Action, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; Rhonda Williamson, Executive Director, Safer Path Family Violence Shelter, Inc., Pleasanton, Texas; Eugene M. Brady, Executive Director, Commission on Economic Opportunity, Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania; Kenneth Loy, Veterans Resources Coordinator, Community Council of South-Central Texas, Jourdanton, Texas; Jennifer Wintermyer, Chief Executive Officer, Community Action Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Megan Shreve, CEO, South Central Community Action Programs, Inc., Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Ewing M. Johnson, Board Member; Knoxville-Knox County Community Action, Committee, Knoxville, Tennessee; Janine Robinson, Finance Director/Co-Director, Frontier Community Action Agency, Winnemucca, Nevada; Scott Zahorik, Executive Director, Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency, Inc., Virginia, Minnesota; Karen Snair, Executive Director, Allegheny Valley Association of Churches, Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania; Renee Hungerford, Executive Director, Community Action of Orleans and Genesee, Albion, New York; Katherine Riley Harrington, Executive Director, Iowa Community Action Association, Des Moines, Iowa; Joseph Barden, Executive Director, Margert Community Corporation, Far Rockaway, New York.

Tom Heidenwirth, Board Member, North Iowa Community Action Organization, Greene, Iowa; W. Anthony West, COO, Virginia CARES Inc., Roanoke, Virginia; Georjean W. Trinkle, Executive Consultant, Community Action Partnership NJ, Inc., Clinton, New Jersey; Bailey Maulding, President, Casey Chamber of Commerce, Casey, Illinois; Jeriemy Jones, CSR, East Missouri Action Agency, Park Hills, Missouri; Mary Jane, Ostrander, Human Services Division Manager, Carson City Health and Human Services, Carson City, Nevada; Andrea Olson, Executive Director, Community Action Partnership of North Dakota, West Fargo, North Dakota; Jim Schuyler, President & CEO, Virginia Community Action Partnership, Richmond, Virginia; Michele Bautista, Board Member, Chautauqua Opportunities Inc., Dunkirk, New York; Carol L. Kern, Local Income Rep., GLCAP, Tiffin, Ohio; Harold Monroe, CEO, Pennyrile Allied Community Services, Hopkinsville, Kentucky; Melinda Gault, Chief Executive Officer, Community Action Planning Council of Jefferson, County, Inc., Watertown, New York; Amber Freeman, Associate Director, INCA Community Services, Inc., Ardmore, Oklahoma; Patricia McFarland, Executive Director, North Central West Virginia Community Action, Association, Inc., Fairmont, West Virginia; Roger Tjarks, Board Member, District 5, Titonka, Iowa; Brian Mullins, CEO, Kentucky River Foothills Development Council, Inc., Richmond, Kentucky; Joe Pisney, County Supervisor, District 2, Howard County, Iowa; Nicole Laurin, CEO, Joint Council for Economic Opportunity of Clinton and Franklin Counties, Plattsburgh, New York; Yasmin Abdul Ghafu, Outreach Aide, East Missouri Action Agency, Cape Girardeau, Missouri; Marcia Erickson, CEO, GROW South Dakota, Sisseton, South Dakota; Erik Schoen, Executive Director, Community Chest, Inc., Virginia City, Nevada; Megan Sowers, Executive Director, Jackson-Vinton Community Action, Wellston, Ohio; Sharon Price, Executive Director, Community Action Council for Lexington-Fayette, Bourbon, Harrison and Nicholas Counties, Inc. Lexington, Kentucky; Chong-Anna Canfora, Executive Director, Michigan Community Action Association, Okemos, Michigan; Rene Ewing, Board Member, Multi Service Center, Federal Way, Washington; Debbie K. Herndon, Case Manager, Community Action of Laramie County, Inc., Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Brenda L. Fox, Executive Director, Tri-County Community Action Agency, LaGrange, Kentucky; Tom Baker, Executive Director North Hills Community Outreach, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Katie Ecker, Board Member, CAO, Kendall, New York; Gina Ward, Associate Director, Southern Tier Environments for Living Inc., Jamestown, New York; Craig A. Reiter, Board Chair, Menominee-Delta-Schoolcraft Community Action, Gulliver, Michigan; David Knight, Executive Director, California Community Action Partnership Association, Sacramento, California; Josephine M. Howard, Ed. S., Board Member, The Agricultural and Labor Program, Inc, Haines City, Florida; Daniel Brown, Executive Director, Community Action Team, Inc., St. Helens, Oregon; Heather Cole, Director of Advocacy and Public Innovation, United Way of Southwest Michigan, Saint Joseph, Michigan; Duane Yoder, President, Garrett County Community Action Committee, Inc., Swanton, Maryland; David Coplan, Executive Director, Human Services Center Corporation, Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania; Robin Whitaker, Executive Director, Daniel Boone CAA, Inc., Manchester, Kentucky; Robert S. Jones, CEO, Audubon Area Community Services, Inc, Owensboro, Kentucky; Brittany Tonet, Director of Finance & Administration/CFO, North Hills Community Outreach, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Joe Diamond, Executive Director, Massachusetts Association for Community Action, (MASSCAP), Boston, Massachusetts; Pearl L. Barth, Housing Specialist II, East Missouri Action Agency, Park Hills, Missouri; Julie Pearson, Community Service Representative, East Missouri Action Agency, Bismarck, Missouri; Amy Lynn Roark, Vice Chair, Community Action Advisory Board in Clark County, Vancouver, Washington; Heather Wallace, Board Member, Community Action of Skagit County Burlington, Washington; Kimberly Ashley-Pauley, Governing Board Chairwoman, Community Action Program of Central Arkansas, (CAPCA), Conway, Arkansas; Cindy Davis, Executive Director, North Iowa Community Action Organization, Mason City, Iowa; Angela Martin, CEO, Maryland Community Action Partnership, Annapolis, Maryland; Jill Sutton, Executive Director Mid-Michigan Community Action, Farwell, Michigan; Lyndsey Schoelzel, Executive Director, Nevada Community Action Association, Reno, Nevada; Susan L. Carr, Executive Director, Community Services Network of Wyoming, Sheridan, Wyoming; Tara Glover, Executive Director, Lowcountry Community Action Agency, Inc, Walterboro, South Carolina.

Phil Verges, Board President, WestCAP, Spring Valley, Wisconsin; Alex Fortune, City Councilperson, City of Cresco, Iowa; Philip E. Cole, Executive Director, Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies, Columbus, Ohio; James Fails, Board Member, Great Lakes Community Action Partnership, Fremont, Ohio; Carmen A. Ortega, Board Member, Great Lakes Community Action Partnership (GLCAP), Bowling Green, Ohio;

Ruthann House, President/CEO, Great Lakes Community Action Partnership, Fremont, Ohio; Keri McCrorey, Executive Director, East Missouri Action Agency, Inc., Farmington, Missouri; Michael Crouse, Executive Director, STEP Inc., Rocky Mount, Virginia; Tina Tate, Commissioner, Hospital District 304, Skagit County, Washington; Reshella Hawkins, Executive Director, Emergency Shelter Services INC, Benton Harbor, Michigan; Roseann Marchetti, Commissioner, District 4, Cass County, Michigan; Alyssa Jarrett, Community Services Representative, East Missouri Action Agency, Farmington, Missouri; Myron Gray, Owner of Service Enterprises LLC, St. Louis, Missouri; Charles Hargitt, Maintenance Supervisor E.M.A.A., Fredericktown, Missouri; Nancy Jones, Board Member and Secretary, Mid- Michigan Community Action Agency, Farwell, Michigan; Patti Hall, Financial Specialist EMAA, Park Hills, Missouri; Amanda Garner, Board Member GLCAP, Fremont, Ohio; Ruth Johnson, Board of Directors, Gladwin County, Gladwin, Michigan; Jacqueline Orr, CEO, New York State Community Action Association, Guilderland, New York; Donna Dodgen, Mayor, City of Seguin, Texas; Karen McCandless, Chief Executive Officer, Community Action Services and Food Bank, Provo, Utah; Maria M. Tracy, Board Member, Multi-Service Center, Federal Way, Washington; C. Shawn Yardley, CEO Community Concepts, Inc., Lewiston, Maine; George T. Simon Jr., Executive Director, TriCounty Community Action, Inc., San Augustine, Texas; Thomas Mainella, Mayor, City of Fairmont, West Virginia; Bill Grant, Executive Director, Minnesota Community Action Partnership (MinnCAP), St. Paul, Minnesota; Elizabeth Jennings, Director of Community Engagement, Community Action of Skagit County, Bellingham, Washington; Roger Pavey, Sr., Chief Executive Officer, Community Action of Eastern Iowa, Davenport, Iowa.

Steven Zittergruen, City Councilperson, Ward 5, City of Decorah, Iowa; Shanna Yount, Community Services Rep, East Missouri Action Agency Inc, Potosi, Missouri; Anita Leiws, Section 8 Area Coordinator, East MO Action Agency, Caruthersville, Missouri; Don Munson, Board Chairperson, District 5, Douglas County, Illinois; Clint Cottam, Executive Director, Community Action Partnership of Utah, Layton, Utah; Susan Cooper, Executive Director, Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County, Santa Rosa, California; Daneen Adams, Assistant Executive Director, Open Doors, Clearfield, Utah; Teleda S. Holmes, Board Member, Multi-Service Center, Federal Way, Washington; Michelle Faught, Executive Director ICCAP, Indiana, Pennsylvania; James Hemm, Consultant, New Jersey Association on Correction, Trenton, New Jersey; Deborah Leonczyk, Executive Director, Berkshire Community Action Council, Inc., Pittsfield, Massachusetts; Barbara Kelly, Executive Director, Knoxville Knox County CAC, Knoxville, Tennessee; Kathy DiNolfi, Chief Program Officer, A New Leaf, Mesa, Arizona; Kim Embrey Hill, Executive Director, Multi-Purpose Community Action Agency, Inc., Louisville, Kentucky; Kimberly Skaggs, Housing Administrative Secretary, EMAA, Park Hills, Missouri; Erica Pogue, Associate Director, INCA Community Services, Inc., Atoka, Oklahoma; Patricia F. White, Board Member Community Action Council-Lexington, Lexington, Kentucky; Eva Felix, Director, A New Leaf, MesaCAN, Mesa, Arizona; Robin Corak, CEO, Multi-Service Center, Federal Way, Washington; Kati Ortiz, Board Member, Community Action of Skagit County, Sedro Woolley, Washington; Kenneth Walters, Executive Director, Licking Valley Community Action Program, Flemingsburg, Kentucky; David A. Rumsey, DSS Commissioner CAOG Board, Member, BOD Community Action of Orleans and Geneseee, Batavia, New York; Carol A. Mack, Teacher, East Missouri Action Agency Cape, Girardeau, Missouri; John W. Edwards, Jr., Interim Executive Director, Texas Association of Community Action Agencies, Austin, Texas; Chris Berry, Board Member--Treasurer, Multi Service Center, Milton, Washington; Lynne M. Johnson, Board Member, Community Action of Orleans and Genesee Counties, Lyndonville, New York.

Sandra Slade, Coordinator, East Missouri Action Agency, Belgrade, Missouri; Mary L. Chipps, Executive Director, West Virginia Community Action Partnerships, Inc., Charleston, West Virginia; Megan Adkins, Home Care Coordinator, Gallia County Council on Aging, Gallipolis, Ohio; Jennifer Trowbridge, President/CEO, Northwest Indiana Community Action, Crown Point, Indiana; Lisha Whitt, CEO, Pride Community Services, Inc., LOGAN, West Virginia; Hal B. Goode, Executive Director, Central Kentucky Community Action Council, Lebanon, Kentucky; Charlene Engle, CEO, Gateway Community Action, West Liberty, Kentucky; Kristin L. Peterson, Council Member At Large, City of Oberlin, Ohio; Janet Merrell, Executive Director, Community Action Partnership of Oregon, Portland, Oregon; Richard Brocksmith, City Councilperson, District 1, Mount Vernon, Washington; Jimmy Jones, Executive Director, Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, Salem, Oregon; Rebecca Missey, Cook Aide, EMAA, Bonne Terre, Missouri; Michael Lincoln, White County Judge, White County, Arkansas; Jada Shirriel, CEO, Healthy Start, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Amanda Ewing, Executive Director, Oklahoma Association of Community Action Agencies, Edmond, Oklahoma; Rebecca N. Brumagin, Town Supervisor, Town of Mina, New York; Dreama Padgett, CEO, Mountain Heart Community Services, Inc., Oceana, West Virginia; Barbara Shine, CA Board of Directors Chair, Community Action of Orleans Genesee, Batavia, New York; William Reder, Chairman Board of Directors, Mid- Michigan Community Action Agency, Auburn, Michigan; Janet Keefe, Board Member, Chautauqua Opportunities Inc., Fredonia, New York; Steve Luse, City Councilperson, City of Decorah, Iowa; John L. Hasten, Mayor, City of Marshall, Illinois; Dean King, Board Member, GLCAP, Perrysburg, Ohio; Dean Bellack, Executive Director, United Way of Orleans County, Medina NY, New York; Susan Harding, CEO, OLHSA, Pontiac, Michigan; Paula A. Brown, Head Start Collaboration Director, Oklahoma Head Start Collaboration Office, Stillwater, Oklahoma; Tamara Turner, Board Member, Seneca County, Fostoria, Ohio; Daniel Byrnes, County Supervisor, Allamakee County, Iowa; Randy Weldon, CEO, Southwest Georgia Community Action Council, Inc., Moultrie, Georgia. ____ National Association of Counties. Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Hon. Kevin McCarthy, Minority Leader, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader McCarthy:

On behalf of the National Association of Counties (NACo), the only organization representing the nation's 3,069 counties, parishes, and boroughs, I write to urge you to pass the bipartisan Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Modernization Act (H.R. 5129) led by Reps. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.), Betty Mccollum (D-Minn.), Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.) and James Comer (R-Ky.). While CSBG continues to receive funding through the annual appropriations process, it has not been reauthorized since 1998, making it overdue for substantive changes that could increase its ability to serve vulnerable county residents. Counties support H.R. 5129, which would strengthen funding and local administration of eligible anti- poverty programs focused on housing, health, employment, income and civic engagement.

CSBG, which supports local agencies in activities that mitigate the root causes of poverty, represents a unique and effective partnership between counties, states, federal government and community organizations. CSBG-eligible activities vary depending on local needs, but often include services related to educational attainment, accessing and maintaining employment and self-sufficiency, household budget management, obtaining adequate housing and promoting greater community participation. In FY 2019, the CSBG network operated in 99 percent of the nation's counties through over 1,000 eligible public or private entities to serve 10.2 million individuals living in poverty, including 3.2 million children.

The CSBG Modernization Act would strengthen these efforts through both the reauthorization and authorization of appropriations that create more program certainty and allow Congress to provide additional funding to meet our nation's growing needs. The bill specifically reauthorizes the program for 10 years and authorizes appropriations of $1 billion per year for the first five years and ``such sums as necessary'' for the following five years. Counties also support the proposed change of H.R. 5129 that would make permanent a COVID-era flexibility that allowed states to use CSBG funding to provide services to individuals earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty line, allowing the program to reach more people in need.

The CSBG Modernization Act would additionally create a federally administered Community Action Innovations Program to invigorate the CSBG network's ability to test new approaches to reducing poverty. The bill strengthens local control and responsiveness to local needs through strategic plans that set goals and create an action plan for meeting community needs. It would also authorize Broadband Navigator Projects as a new federal discretionary program available to Community Action Agencies. Increased internet access has major implications on socio-economic well-being and service delivery.

NACo supports these efforts to expand public-private partnerships and close the digital divide to provide reliable high-speed broadband services, especially in rural underserved areas.

Passing this bipartisan bill would ensure CSBG is meeting the current needs of counties and local communities through fully funded evidence-based program activities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CSBG has played a key role in providing crucial services for struggling Americans including helping communities access personal protective equipment, vaccines and other health services and school supplies for remote learning. As the nation recovers from the economic impacts of COVID-19, we are long past due for Congress to pass a comprehensive reauthorization of CSBG as it is vital to anti- poverty efforts across the country.

Now that the CSBG Modernization Act (H.R. 5129) was voted out of the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee on a bipartisan basis, NACo strongly urges the U.S. House of Representatives to pass this legislation as soon as possible. Sincerely, Matthew Chase, Executive Director. ____ National Association for State Community Services Programs, May 9, 2022. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Minority Leader, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Rep. Steny Hoyer, Majority Leader, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Rep. Bobby Scott, Ed & Labor Committee Chairman, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Madam Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer, Minority Leader McCarthy, and Chairman Scott: My name is Jeannie Chaffin, and I am the Interim Executive Director of the National Association for State Community Services Programs (NASCSP). NASCSP is the sole national association charged with advocating for and enhancing the leadership role of States in the administration of the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) across all 50 states, Washington D.C., and five U.S. territories.

As the membership association for all Community Services Block Grant State Offices, we are intimately familiar with the current CSBG Act, how it has helped individuals and communities in all corners of the Nation and how it can be improved upon. We are excited that the CSBG Modernization Act is moving forward and has such strong bipartisan support with more than 125 cosponsors from more than 25 states and the District of Columbia. We are incredibly grateful for such a strong showing of support for CSBG.

I am writing to you today not simply out of gratitude but also to express our support for the CSBG Modernization Act (HR 5129). The Act changes the eligibility criterion from 125% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) to 200% of the FPL, enabling the funding to reach more households in need, especially as we recover from the nationwide impact of COVID- 19. Important language is also included in the Act that provides for the ongoing eligibility of clients so that they do not lose assistance as they work toward achieving their goal. This is critical to households' ability to exit poverty meaningfully and sustainably. The State Offices that are responsible for overseeing this funding and ensuring it is thoughtfully spent fully and enthusiastically support these changes in CSBG.

While our network is excited for and supportive of the aforementioned language, we also have a few concerns and must note our primary concern below. As partners in the work of CSBG, State Offices carry a great deal of responsibility. States provide oversight of CSBG funds via monitoring, contract management, policy development, and evaluation of results. As State Offices fill these various roles, we recognize that there are aspects of the CSBG Modernization Act of 2021 that could be refined to support the efficient and effective implementation of CSBG at the state and local levels.

We recommend revising grant obligational requirements in Section 679 to `date of obligation' and removing language that refers to `available for expenditure' as it creates an unrealistic requirement on State Offices to release funding in extremely short periods of time (30 days). We recommend focusing on continuous funding to Eligible Entities over prescriptive timelines (Sec. 679(a)(2)(A) and Sec. 679(a)(2)(A)(i)). We believe this addresses concerns about any gaps in funding while simultaneously acknowledging that each state has its own policies, procedures and regulations that dictate how funding is distributed from the federal to local level.

We are deeply committed to the success of the CSBG and know just what a difference it makes in communities across the country. It is through the cooperation of all stakeholders, from the Federal level to Eligible Entities and, of course, State Offices, that make the great work of CSBG possible, and as such we want to be sure that the Modernization Act enables all to be successful partners. Thank you for your support of CSBG and considering our suggestions for improvements. Sincerely, Jeannie Chaffin, Interim Executive Director, NASCSP.
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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), who is the chairman of the Education and Labor Committee.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Leger Fernandez), who is a member of Education and Labor Committee.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Speaker, last week, I was approached by Larry Martinez who was there when the Community Service Block Grants first started in New Mexico. He told me that my late father worked tirelessly to secure funds so the State of New Mexico could match this new program. He called my late father the conscience of the Senate.

My father knew that these funds would make a real impact in the lives of New Mexicans, and he was right. It has made a difference. The benefits are undeniable. Instead of a family shivering in the cold in northern New Mexico, we have families using LIHEAP to keep their children warm. Instead of a family being turned out of their home because they couldn't afford rising rent, CSBG provides rental assistance. Instead of a promising young man falling into homelessness or despair without an income, we have CSBG programs helping with career training and job searches.

One of my favorite programs is Head Start. I started my academic career as a Head Start baby and fell in love with learning, and we know that an investment in our children at the earliest age is the biggest and best investment we can work; and this provides Head Start.

CSBG touches every aspect of our community because there is not one root cause of poverty. We need to uplift our most vulnerable by meeting them where they are because they have aspirations that we need to help them achieve. The Communities Services Block Grant Modernization Act would strengthen CSBG by increasing its authorization for annual appropriations. The bill would allow the Community Action Network to serve more people by increasing the income eligibility for services.

We should not kick people off a cliff back into poverty when they can rise into the working middle class. These are changes that will strengthen CSBG and strengthen our communities. We must be the conscience of our communities in the House.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson), who is a member of the Education and Labor Committee and a lead cosponsor of the legislation.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes.

Madam Speaker, we all agree that the inclusion of faith-based organizations and faith leaders is important for the community action network. In fact, they have a long history of being involved with community action since the very beginning of the war on poverty in the 1960s, and I have no doubt that they will continue to do their important work.

In recent years, the Supreme Court has made clear that religious entities cannot be excluded from participation in publicly funded programs because of their religious status. This legislation, despite what the ranking member and others claim, would not change that.

We are here today to reauthorize and modernize the community services block grant program, which is almost 20 years past its authorization expiration.

I also note that the bipartisan bill introduced in the previous Congress, the 116th, also removed the charitable choice provision with broad bipartisan support, and H.R. 5129 reflects the same sensible compromise on this issue.

In fact, some Members would have liked the legislation to go further to expressly address other nondiscrimination issues, but I did not take that approach as we crafted the bill because I wanted to maintain the bipartisan agreement we reached to make real progress toward the much- needed reauthorization of CSBG.

Twenty years is too long for this program, our community action agencies, and the communities they serve. It is too long for them to wait for us to reach an agreement, and we have reached an agreement.

Additionally, Madam Speaker, for 60 years, community action agencies have had relationships with faith-based organizations. The involvement of faith-based organizations in community action programs long predates the charitable choice provision, and their involvement will continue without this controversial provision.

We also know that HHS regulations have existed for nearly 20 years incorporating many of the same principles. Eliminating the duplicative charitable choice provision in CSBG allows us to move forward with a reauthorization that is vital to so many of our agencies and allows HHS to apply a single set of rules across programs.

This is a distraction that should not prevent us from moving forward with this reauthorization and maintaining the bipartisan consensus we have achieved.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from the Coalition Against Religious Discrimination, a broad and diverse group of leading religious, civil rights, labor, and health organizations supporting the removal of the charitable choice provision from the community services block grant program. The Coalition Against Religious Discrimination, May 11, 2022.

Dear Representative: As members and allies of the Coalition Against Religious Discrimination (CARD), we write to support the changes in H.R. 5129, the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Modernization Act of 2022, that would remove charitable choice, a highly controversial policy.

CARD is a broad and diverse group of leading religious, civil rights, labor, and health organizations that formed in the 1990s to oppose adding charitable choice to social service program authorizations. Since then, CARD has continued to advocate for strengthening the constitutional and legal safeguards that apply to such partnerships in this and other social service programs. We appreciate the important role that religiously affiliated organizations historically have played in addressing many of our nation's most pressing social needs, including in some cases, with the use of government funds; indeed, many members of CARD know this firsthand. We also recognize that the separation of church and state is the cornerstone of religious freedom.

Contrary to claims of its supporters, charitable choice provisions did not remove any ``barriers'' to participation for faith-based providers. Faith-based organizations partnered with the government to provide services long before the addition of charitable choice to the Community Services Block Grant programs. Charitable choice instead changed the rules. But faith-based organizations should follow the same rules as all other providers, and effective government collaboration with faith-based entities does not require government-supported discrimination.

Charitable choice removed traditional church-state safeguards that applied to social service providers that accept taxpayer funds. It allows taxpayer-funded faith-based organizations to discriminate in hiring, including by undermining state and local nondiscrimination protections, and threatens the rights of beneficiaries when delivering services.

People in need should never be faced with the stark choice between accessing the services they need or retaining their religious freedom protections. And no one should be forced to choose between conforming to a religious litmus test or losing a government-funded job.

Charitable choice does not protect religious freedom, rather it uses the guise of religious freedom to justify discrimination against employees and put people who need government services at risk of harm. Thus, we support the removal of the charitable choice provisions from the CSBG authorization. Sincerely,

ADL (Anti-Defamation League), African American Ministers in Action, American Atheists, American Civil Liberties Union, American Federation of Teachers, American Humanist Association, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, B'nai B'rith International, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC), Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, Catholics for Choice, Center for Inquiry and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Disciples Center for Public Witness, Disciples Justice Action Network.

Equal Partners in Faith, Family Equality, Freedom From Religion Foundation, GLSEN, Hindu American Foundation, Human Rights Campaign, Interfaith Alliance, Jewish Women International, Lambda Legal, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, Metropolitan Community Churches, Global Justice Institute, NAACP, NARAL Pro-Choice America.

National Center for Transgender Equality, National Council of Jewish Women, National LGBTQ Task Force, National Women's Law Center, People For the American Way, PFLAG National, Presbyterian Church (USA), Secular Coalition for America, Secular Policy Institute, SPLC Action Fund, Union for Reform Judaism, United Church of Christ, Justice and Local Church Ministries, The United Methodist Church--General Board of Church and Society.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), the chairman of the Education and Labor Committee.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a Statement of Administration Policy from the Executive Office of the President supporting H.R. 5129 and praising the legislation's commitment to ensuring that communities have the tools they need to address poverty and achieve economic mobility. Statement of Administration Policy H.R. 5129--Community Services Block Grant Modernization Act of 2022-- Rep. Bonamici, D-OR, and 126 cosponsors

The Administration supports the poverty-fighting goals of H.R. 5129, the Community Services Block Grant Modernization Act of 2022, to provide states, territories, and Tribes with resources for critical community services. This legislation will reauthorize the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) for a decade and help ensure that communities have the tools they need to fight poverty and build economic mobility.

The CSBG has been supporting tribal and local governments and community organizations across the country for over 50 years with funding to help them serve low-income individuals and families. Local administration of some of the most essential community programs--such as job training and placement, food and nutrition assistance, Head Start, housing and homelessness assistance, and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program--is supported by CSBG funds. While these services and strategies have always been key to helping Americans get ahead and stay ahead, the COVID-19 pandemic underscored just how vital it is to invest in the organizations that deliver them. Faced with unprecedented demand and the operational challenges of the pandemic, the more than 1,000 organizations supported by CSBG continued working to help low-income communities address housing and food insecurity, provide high-quality early childhood education, and support individuals re-entering the workforce. Now, as this Administration works to build a strong and equitable recovery, it is more important than ever to invest in locally based solutions to the causes and conditions of poverty in communities.

The CSBG update proposed by this Act would result in greater equity for Tribes, expanded income eligibility data modernization, strengthened performance management, and support for community-based services and strategies. In addition, this Act would support new broadband navigator efforts and continues critical support for community economic development and rural development activities. And reauthorizing CSBG for the first time since 1998 would provide organizations and the millions of families they serve with the confidence and stability to make the long-term investments communities need.

The Administration looks forward to working with Congress to ensure that this bipartisan legislation achieves its purposes, continues expanding opportunity for all Americans, and ultimately is enacted.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative McCollum for supporting H.R. 5129. I am thankful for her leadership in the 116th Congress' legislation to reauthorize CSBG and her continued strong support for this program.

Madam Speaker, I also include in the Record letters from various organizations, individuals, and localities supporting this bipartisan legislation to reauthorize this community services block grant. LOA, Roanoke, VA, April 19, 2022. Hon. Suzanne Bonamici, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Hon. Glenn Thompson, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Rep. Bonamici and Rep. Thompson: I am writing to you today to share my endorsement of your bipartisan legislation that supports community action agencies, including Total Action for Progress (TAP). I have the pleasure of serving on TAP's board. H.R. 5129, the Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) Modernization Act of 2022 is important to me and our community.

As you know, CSBG touches virtually every community in the United States. With 90 percent of each state's CSBG allocation being distributed to local Community Action Agencies (CAAs), our communities rely upon this unique flexible funding. CAAs, like TAP, use the funds to combat poverty and promote self-sufficiency, respond rapidly to unforeseen crises such as natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic and implement gap-filling activities that address unmet community needs. Additionally, CAAs use CSBG to organize and support other local charities and community- based initiatives, ensuring services are streamlined and not duplicative. Without CSBG, every single community in America would be hurt.

Your bill would codify critical updates to the program. It provides security and reliability to communities across the country by authorizing CSBG for 10 years and ensuring money flows in a timely manner. The crucial modernizations included in H.R. 5129, such as the new broadband navigator initiative, will increase CAAs' ability to respond to emerging needs. We are also pleased to see the emphasis on quality performance at the federal, state, and local level and that the essential nature of CSBG as a locally-controlled program is retained and bolstered.

Because of H.R. 5129's local impact in almost every county in the country, I join in support of the bill. It is hoped that Congress passes this essential piece of legislation quickly, thereby strengthening each community in America. Sincerely, Ron D. Boyd, President & CEO. ____ Rescue Mission Ministries, Roanoke, VA, April 19, 2022. Hon. Suzanne Bonamici, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Hon. Glenn Thompson, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Rep. Bonamici and Rep. Thompson: I am writing to you today to share my endorsement of your bipartisan legislation that supports community action agencies, including Total Action for Progress {TAP). I have the pleasure of serving on TAP's board. H.R. 5129, the Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) Modernization Act of 2022 is important to me and our community.

As you know, CSBG touches virtually every community in the United States. With 90 percent of each state's CSBG allocation being distributed to local Community Action Agencies (CAAs), our communities rely upon this unique flexible funding. CAAs, like TAP, use the funds to combat poverty and promote self-sufficiency, respond rapidly to unforeseen crises such as natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic and implement gap-filling activities that address unmet community needs. Additionally, CAAs use CSBG to organize and support other local charities and community- based initiatives, ensuring services are streamlined and not duplicative. Without CSBG, every single community in America would be hurt.

Your bill would codify critical updates to the program. It provides security and reliability to communities across the country by authorizing CSBG for 10 years and ensuring money flows in a timely manner. The crucial modernizations Included In H.R. 5129, such as the new broadband navigator initiative, will increase CAAs' ability to respond to emerging needs. We are also pleased to see the emphasis on quality performance at the federal, state, and local level and that the essential nature of CSBG as a locally-controlled program Is retained and bolstered.

Because of H.R. 5129's focal impact in almost every county in the country, I join in support of the bill. It Is hoped that Congress passes this essential piece of legislation quickly, thereby strengthening each community in America. Sincerely, C. Lee Clark, CEO. ____ County of Orleans, Office for the Aging, Albion, NY, April 14, 2022. Hon. Suzanne Bonamici, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Rep. Bonamici: We are writing to you today to share our enthusiastic endorsement of your bipartisan legislation, H.R. 5129, the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Modernization Act of 2022.

As you know, CSBG touches virtually every community in the United States. With 90 percent of each state's CSBG allocation being distributed to local Community Action Agencies (CAAs), our communities rely upon this unique flexible funding. CAAs use it to combat poverty and promote self-sufficiency, respond rapidly to unforeseen crises such as natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic and implement gap-filling activities that address unmet community needs. Additionally, CAAs use CSBG to organize and support other local charities and community-based initiatives, ensuring services are streamlined and not duplicative. Without CSBG, every single community in America would be hurt.

Your bill would codify critical updates to the program. It provides security and reliability to communities across the country by authorizing CSBG for 10 years and ensuring money flows in a timely manner. The crucial modernizations included in H.R. 5129, such as the new broadband navigator initiative, will increase CAAs' ability to respond to emerging needs. We are also pleased to see the emphasis on quality performance at the federal, state and local level and that the essential nature of CSBG as a locally-controlled program is retained and bolstered.

Because of H.R. 5129's local impact in almost every county in the country, we join in support of the bill. We hope Congress passes this essential piece of legislation quickly, thereby strengthening each community in America. Sincerely, Melissa Blanar, Director. ____ City of Roanoke, Office of the Mayor, Roanoke, Virginia, April 18, 2022. Hon. Suzanne Bonamici, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Hon. Glenn Thompson, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Representative Bonamici and Thompson: We are writing to you today to share our endorsement of your bipartisan legislation that supports community action agencies, including Total Action for Progress (TAP) which assists citizens in our jurisdiction. HR 5129, the Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) Modernization Act of 2022.

As you know, CSBG touches virtually every community in the United States. With 90 percent of each state's CSBG allocation being distributed to local Community Action Agencies (CAAs), our communities rely upon this unique flexible funding. CAAs, like TAP, use the funds to combat poverty and promote self-sufficiency, respond rapidly to unforeseen crises such as natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic and implement gap-filling activities that address unmet community needs. Additionally, CAAs use CSBG to organize and support other local charities and community- based initiatives, ensuring services are streamlined and not duplicative. Without CSBG, every single community in America would be hurt.

Your bill would codify critical updates to the program. It provides security and reliability to communities across the country by authorizing CSBG for 10 years and ensuring money flows in a timely manner. The crucial modernizations included in HR 5129, such as the new broadband navigator initiative, will increase CAAs' ability to respond to emerging needs. We are also pleased to see the emphasis on quality performance at the federal, state, and local level and that the essential nature of CSBG as a locally-controlled program is retained and bolstered.

Because of HR 5129's local impact in almost every county in the country, I join in support of the bill. It is hoped that Congress passes this essential piece of legislation quickly, thereby strengthening each community in America. Sincerely,

Members of Roanoke City Council, Roanoke, Virginia: Mayor Sherman P. Lea, Sr.,

Mayor. Patricia White-Boyd,

Vice-Mayor. William Bestpitch,

Council Member. Vivian Sanchez-Jones,

Council Member. Joseph Cobb,

Council Member. Stephanie Moon Reynolds,

Council Member.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, millions of families and individuals across our country benefit from the locally driven antipoverty programs and services backed by the community services block grant program. We are here today to make sure it continues to meet their needs and the unique needs of our communities.

I am pleased that the House is taking up this long-overdue update to the community services block grant program with strong bipartisan support.

CSBG enables community action agencies to be innovative, leverage public and private resources for their communities, and cost- efficiently administer many programs, including Head Start, LIHEAP, nutrition assistance, weatherization, job training, housing, and assistance for those experiencing homelessness.

This bipartisan legislation will strengthen funding for community action agencies, raise the CSBG program's income eligibility threshold to expand its important services; promote innovation in the CAA network through a federally administered community action innovations program; and, importantly, modernizes accountability, which is an important part of the bill, and performance standards.

The bottom line is that this legislation will better help low-income individuals and families achieve economic stability and access housing, childcare, utility assistance, employment, and other services.

I, once again, urge my colleagues to support this important bipartisan bill to renew our Nation's commitment to reducing poverty through community action, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, pursuant to section 11 of House Resolution 1097, I rise to offer amendments en bloc No. 1.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, these amendments en bloc containing additional Democratic amendments from my colleagues continue to improve the implementation of the community services block grant program and strengthens partnerships with communities served by this program.

Ms. Escobar's amendment adds entities who support innovative community-based approaches and research-driven responses as partners for community action agencies in their work to broaden the resources directed to eliminating poverty.

Ms. Adams' amendment clarifies that institutions of higher education, including HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs, can be considered as partners for CSBG projects.

Mrs. Hayes' amendment ensures that States provide notice on their website that CSBG services are offered at no cost and information about fraudulent activity related to CSBG.

Mr. Horsford's amendment adds language regarding Federal activities on place-based poverty alleviating strategies, clarifying that they can address health inequities.

Ms. Houlahan's amendment updates the use of funds to include behavioral health needs that an eligible entity may use CSBG funds for.

Ms. Jackson Lee's amendment requires the Comptroller General to conduct a study to identify the uses, programs, and activities that have the greatest impact and uses of funds under the program.

Ms. Moore's amendment authorizes States to use their statewide funds to ensure that eligible entities have the necessary supports to address food insecurity needs of low-income individuals, families, and communities.

Mr. Payne's and Ms. Tlaib's amendments ensure that CSBG funds can be used for home repairs for health and safety, energy, and water for low- income individuals.

Mr. Payne's amendment clarifies that CSBG funds can be used to address emergency needs, including emergency needs due to a national or public health emergency.

Ms. Pressley's amendment ensures that eligible entities take into account trauma prevention and mitigation when establishing partnerships to promote healthy communities.

Ms. Tlaib's, Mr. Payne's, Ms. Newman's, Ms. Barragan's, and Mr. Torres of New York's amendments add a requirement for the State to describe how the State and eligible entities will coordinate programs related to utility and water assistance services.

Mr. Torres of New York's amendment revises the reporting requirements of the Community Action Innovations Program to include an analysis of best practices for reducing poverty.

And Ms. Wild's amendment requires that eligible entities post their strategic plan, community needs assessment, and community action plan on their website.

These amendments en bloc contain commonsense proposals that strengthen the underlying bill. I thank my colleagues for their contributions.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford).

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Houlahan).

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Hayes), a member of the Committee on Education and Labor.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining?

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the manager of the legislation and chairman of the committee for this important legislation.

The Community Services Block Grant Modernization Act is extremely important. As we all know, this bipartisan bill will bring about an enhanced ability to serve the community.

The CSBG moneys are particularly important not only to rural areas but to urban areas. They are important as they relate to many issues, such as in my community dealing with overcoming disasters. Those dollars are utilized to ensure housing.

I include in the Record an article entitled, ``Black communities are last in line for disaster planning in Texas'' and an article entitled, ``5 years after Hurricane Harvey, many in Houston are still waiting for help.'' [From the Washington Post, May 12, 2022] Black Communities Are Last in Line for Disaster Planning in Texas

Houston.--Lawrence Hester worries every time it rains.

During heavy storms, water overflows the dirt drainage ditch fronting his yard and the bayou at the end of his block--flooding the street, creeping up his front steps, pooling beneath the house, and trapping his family inside.

``We are always underwater here,'' said Hester, 61.

And yet, the state of Texas allocated none of the $1 billion in federal funds it received to protect communities from future disasters to neighborhoods in Houston that flood regularly, according to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

HUD has now found the exclusion of those majority Black and Hispanic urban communities to be discriminatory. The state ``shifted money away from the areas and people that needed it the most,'' disproportionately benefiting White residents living in smaller towns, the agency concluded.

Houston has faced seven federally declared disasters in the last seven years and suffered an estimated $2 billion in damage from Hurricane Harvey in 2017. That storm devastated Kashmere Gardens, where Hester has lived his entire life. The floodwaters from Harvey deposited black mold throughout Hester's home and left his daughter chronically short of breath.

The state, which is appealing HUD's findings, denied discriminating, saying the Texas General Land Office administered the federal grant program based on HUD approval.

The situation in Texas illustrates the challenge facing the Biden administration, which has pledged to focus on racial equity but is struggling to protect low-income communities of color from the growing threat of climate change. Even after HUD's finding of discrimination, the agency said it does not have the power at this time to suspend the rest of the $4.3 billion in disaster mitigation money awarded to the state under criteria approved by the Trump administration.

``What is happening here with these federal dollars going through the state and not one dime coming to the City of Houston post-Hurricane Harvey is absolutely crazy, and it cannot be justified,'' said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. ``What do I say to the people in Kashmere Gardens when these storms keep coming, and we are not putting in the infrastructure that they desperately need to mitigate the risk of future flooding?''

Black and Hispanic communities in northeast Houston, including Kashmere Gardens, are especially vulnerable to the more frequent storms and catastrophic flooding expected due to climate change, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Many of the residential streets lack curbs and gutters--common storm drainage infrastructure in predominantly White neighborhoods in Houston--and rely instead on open ditches dating back to the 1930s.

``Sometimes we can't get out because the water is so high,'' said Jackie Spradley, Hester's wife. ``You're literally trapped until the water starts to subside.'' She can't get to work. Their 12-year-old daughter can't get to school.

The whoosh of traffic and trains permeates the triangular neighborhood of modest single-family homes penned between two highways and two sets of railroad tracks. During large storms, runoff from impervious highway surfaces flows onto residential streets.

Piles of trash--old tires, mattresses, furniture, home insulation--accumulate for weeks in the drainage ditches along many streets, blocking water from flowing through the ditches to the bayou. Silt and other debris clog many of the culverts beneath narrow driveways and footpaths spanning the ditches. In the summers, standing water breeds mosquitoes.

The city of Houston had hoped to use $95 million in federal grants to upgrade Kashmere Gardens' storm drainage infrastructure. The proposed improvements, including converting some of the ditches to a curb and gutter system, would have removed the flood risk to nearly 1,400 properties.

But without the money, the city shelved those plans.

Hester's daughter Ashlei was 7 years old in 2017 when Harvey floodwaters breached their family room, lapping at the legs of the card table on which the family played dominoes. Her cough worsened, and doctors prescribed four different medications for asthma. She was hospitalized in 2018 for more than a week. But doctors still did not know what was causing her illness.

It wasn't until December 2019, more than two years after Harvey, when Hester and his wife discovered the black mold that was making their daughter so sick. A city inspector recommended that the house be condemned.

``I was so ashamed,'' Hester said. ``We didn't have nowhere else to go.''

His mother had purchased the home in 1960, paying the mortgage with wages from her job flipping burgers 16 hours a day. Hester was born in the house months later.

He had stayed in the house after Hurricane Alicia flooded the home in 1983. And after Ike in 2008. Even after Harvey, Hester stayed, hoping to someday pass the three-bedroom ranch-style home onto his daughter.

But Hester, who is on disability for herniated disks in his back and neck from his years as a long-haul truck driver, and his wife, who sells insurance, never had the money to adequately repair the storm-ravaged roof and mold-covered walls.

Hester said the city informed him after Harvey that he was ineligible for funding to fix the home because of unpaid property taxes.

``It's not just about the storm drainage,'' Hester said. ``It's about everything.''

Hester said that the rainbow-hued oily waters he had splashed in while playing in the drainage ditches as a child had been polluted with cancer-causing creosote used to treat wooden railroad ties and utility poles. A 2019 state health department investigation confirmed elevated cancer rates among residents in the southern end of Kashmere Gardens, located near two Superfund sites. Residents fear that flooding will carry toxic deposits into their yards.

Hester's mother had died of cancer. So had his father. And one of his brothers. ``Cancer is killing the whole neighborhood,'' said Hester, who is too afraid to visit the doctor about his own health problems.

Federal disaster mitigation grants are supposed to improve the inferior flood infrastructure in lower income communities. But the HUD investigation found that competition rules set by the Texas General Land Office unfairly favored smaller towns with less urgent needs and where residents are more likely to be White and less likely to be lower income.

The state knowingly adopted scoring criteria that prioritized lower-density areas and excluded communities that HUD designated as the most impacted by disasters from half the grants, HUD said.

``Because the criteria had these unjustified discriminatory effects, their use failed to comply with HUD's regulations,'' the agency found.

No other state adopted Texas' method of distributing the funds, according to HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. The agency concluded that without Texas's discriminatory criteria, nearly four times as many Black residents and more than twice as many Hispanic residents would have benefited from the grants.

The General Land Office said in its April 1 appeal that the state ``does not discriminate, and the projects it has funded help minority beneficiaries across Texas.'' The state said more than two-thirds of residents in communities that received awards are Black, Hispanic or Asian. The state pointed out that its plan was approved two years ago and characterized HUD's new objections as ``politically motivated.''

In addition to Houston and surrounding Harris County, the General Land Office denied grants to the predominantly Black and Hispanic cities of Port Arthur, Beaumont and Corpus Christi as well as Jefferson and Nueces counties--all of which experienced significant flooding from Harvey, according to the civil rights complaint. Texas Housers, a nonprofit focused on housing in low-income communities, and Northeast Action Collective, a grassroots advocacy group of Houston residents, filed the complaint with HUD last year.

Instead, funds were steered toward inland, Whiter communities that were far less severely impacted by hurricanes and used to fund routine infrastructure, the complaint said. That includes $17.5 million for a new community center in Caldwell County that is supposed to double as an evacuation center; $10.8 million to install a sewage system in the 379-person town of Iola; $6 million for a new sheriff's department radio tower and radios for Gonzales County; and $4.2 million for a 2,000-foot-long road in Bastrop County to connect a Walmart parking lot and a Home Depot, justified as an alternate path for emergency vehicles in case the adjacent freeway is clogged with hurricane evacuees from the Gulf Coast 161 miles away.

``These mitigation funds are a strategy to undo the systemic racism of the past, but that's not what we're seeing Texas interested in at all,'' said John Henneberger, co- director of Texas Housers. ``This is a test of how serious HUD and the Biden administration are in enforcing civil rights.''

HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development, which oversees disaster mitigation aid, wrote to the Texas General Land Office in March expressing ``grave concerns'' over the distribution of the first round of grants. ``The State has not identified a plan to protect communities while guarding against competition criteria that could disadvantage minority residents,'' HUD wrote. If a voluntary resolution cannot be reached, HUD said it could refer the matter to the Department of Justice for enforcement.

But advocates worry that could come too late for communities like Kashmere Gardens.

While HUD said it cannot stop the state from awarding the rest of the grants ``due to prior decisions,'' it would begin monitoring how the money is distributed and warned it could claw back the funds if necessary.

``Texas has a history of sending money to those who are politically connected,'' said Shannon Van And, a professor of urban planning at Texas A.M. University whose research focuses on hazard reduction and housing. She noted that racial disparities occurred with the distribution of disaster funds after Hurricane Ike in 2008.

Civil rights advocates say HUD has the authority to suspend Texas's ability to spend federal grant money; it has done so under previous administrations. But Sara Pratt, former deputy assistant secretary in HUD's fair housing office who is now representing Texas Housers as an attorney, said there is longstanding division among HUD staff over enforcing civil rights violations when making funding decisions.

``There is deep disagreement internally,'' Pratt said. ``The secretary's job is to resolve disputes like this.''

HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge declined to comment because the Texas investigation remains open, HUD spokesman Michael Burns said.

``Her commitment to civil rights and fair housing is well documented and unwavering, and she is committed to ensuring that all HUD funds are used in compliance with all relevant laws and program requirements,'' Burns said.

In response to widespread criticism over how the first $1 billion in Harvey disaster grants was distributed, Texas now plans to allocate $750 million to Harris County. Houston is due to receive an additional $9 million out of $488 million that the state plans to send to the Houston-Galveston region.

City officials point out that the $9 million amounts to less than one tenth of the cost of its proposed improvements to Kashmere Gardens.

In Kashmere Gardens on a recent morning after a thunderstorm inundated streetside drainage ditches, bulldozers and dump trucks worked to widen and deepen Hunting Bayou to absorb runoff from future storms.

The work is a small portion of a $2.5 billion flood protection bond that Harris County passed in 2018. The bulk of the bond money was directed to wealthier neighborhoods because the county expected to receive federal disaster funds for poorer ones, according to county commissioner Rodney Ellis.

But without money to upgrade the ditch system to drain storm water from neighborhood streets, it's unclear if the bayou expansion will be effective.

``This is the Texas two-step in Houston. You have to get the water from the neighborhoods to the bayous. And then you have to get the water from the bayous to the Gulf of Mexico,'' said Ellis, who represents the area.

Residents, too, remain skeptical.

``It's a wait and see situation,'' said Dorothy Wanza, another Kashmere Gardens resident whose street turned into a river during Harvey and flooded her home with more than a foot of water. The experience left the 80-year-old so traumatized that ``every time it rains, I get the hell out of dodge.''

She spent the previous night fully dressed, prepared to evacuate to one of her children's homes. ``The ditches overflow, and once they are full, the water comes back on you,'' Wanza said.

On the other side of the bayou, Hester said the city had recently cleaned out part of a ditch lining his street for the first time he could recall in more than a decade. Dirt and bricks still block some of the culverts.

``Right up under there, look,'' he said, pointing beneath the concrete walkway leading from the street to his front yard. ``It's stopped up on both sides.''

He nodded farther down the street to another culvert: ``That whole drain hole was flooded.'' He and his next door neighbor had removed as many bricks as they could to move the water through. ``If we don't do things around here, ain't nothing going to get done. I have to go around here and try to help, and I'm in bad shape myself.''

Hester limped around the perimeter of his home and pointed two feet up the siding where Harvey floodwaters had reached-- a reminder of the catastrophe he says he failed to protect his daughter from.

A nonprofit had removed the mold inside when it fixed up the house in 2020, installing new cabinets, a new roof and laminate flooring.

But the entryway still slopes. The floor joists need to be repaired. The porch is lopsided, its wood rotted.

Hester is stooped from years of pain. Yet he remains intent on doing what he can to make things right.

``It's not my life I'm worried about. It's my daughter's,'' Hester said. ``I'm half dead.'' ____ [From Grist, April 14, 2022] 5 Years After Hurricane Harvey, Many in Houston Are Still Waiting for Help

In Billy Guevara's neighborhood on the northeast side of Houston, people get nervous when it rains. Old ditches strain under the deluge of a Gulf storm, and mud and water fill the streets. Guevara, a writer who is blind, once had a seeing- eye dog that would navigate around the ankle-deep puddles and lingering muck. ``It became unsafe because I ended up having to walk almost in the middle of the street,'' he said. ``It stays there for days.''

Guevara is a member of the Northeast Action Collective, a community group pushing the city and Harris County for equitable investments in flood control. He says drainage in his neighborhood of Lakewood is outdated: ``It cannot handle the type of rain that we see now.'' When Hurricane Harvey hit in 2017, homes across many of northeast Houston's Black and Hispanic neighborhoods flooded, swamped under 30 inches of rain in what was the country's costliest disaster that year. Under the rush of water, one of the walls in Guevara's home began to bulge out.

Years after Harvey, little aid has made it to the people of Houston. The federal government budgeted some $9.3 billion so that communities could not only rebuild, but also better prepare for the next storm. But city and regional governments have delivered little of those funds, and a state agency's ``competition'' has held back aid that the Department of Housing and Urban Development designated for post-Harvey mitigation, money which would have helped upgrade drainage systems. As a result, low-income communities like Guevara's have been left out of much-needed infrastructure improvements.

Without their fair share of aid, communities struggling to rebuild will be just as vulnerable when the next storm comes, advocates say. These obstacles also expose weaknesses in HUD's recently created mitigation program, which aims to help reduce risks from future climate disasters.

Hurricane Harvey flooded nearly 100,000 homes in Houston, inflicting $16 billion in residential damage. Guevara had growing mold, damaged floors, and a leaking pipe. With a small FEMA grant and the help of local nonprofits, he was eventually able to repair his home.

But today, thousands in Houston still wait for funds to rebuild. Disaster recovery aid through HUD often comes with significant delays since the program is ad hoc, requiring Congress to approve spending for each disaster. In 2018, HUD allocated $5 billion to Texas through its Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program, which is designed to help with long-term rebuilding.

HUD had sent the money to the Texas General Land Office, or GLO, the state agency run by George P. Bush, grandson of former President George H. W. Bush, which is responsible for public lands, mineral rights, and the Alamo historical site, as well as disaster recovery. In turn, the state agency gave Houston's share to the city, but didn't entirely relinquish control, continuing to oversee how funds were doled out. The city and state agency squabbled over how to run things, and when HUD began an audit of the program, the fight escalated, eventually making its way to the Texas Supreme Court. In October 2020, the feud ended with the state seizing control of the program.

All the while, many residents remained in dangerous living conditions, stuck in homes with leaking roofs and mold-filled walls, said Becky Selle, a codirector at the grassroots group West Street Recovery. It's unclear whether those waiting will ever get assistance. In January, when HUD published its audit, only 297 of nearly 8,800 applicants had received funds. (The state has until August 2025 to use the money.)

The struggle to access federal aid extended far beyond homeowner's assistance. Harvey was among the first disasters for which HUD's Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program made money available for mitigation projects like widening bayous, upgrading water and sewer systems, or buying out flood-prone homes. This marked a major shift: While disaster recovery funds had to be tied to damage from a specific disaster, the $4.3 billion mitigation fund could be used to improve conditions, making communities safer.

Houston and Harris County accounted for more than half of Texas' damage from Hurricane Harvey, but when the GLO released its spending plan in December 2019, city officials feared Houston wouldn't get its fair share.

Because there weren't enough funds for every proposed project, the state's land office set up a competition in which jurisdictions would apply for a slice of the $1 billion in the initial round. HUD identified 20 mainly coastal counties, including Harris County, that were most distressed by Hurricane Harvey and would be eligible for funds. The land office then expanded the list, adding counties that fell under the umbrella of the original FEMA disaster declaration in 2017. That more than doubled the list with more rural, inland counties like Milam, 200 miles from the coast.

When results from the competition came out last May, Houston didn't get a cent. The city's requests for $470 million worth of projects, like flood control in the majority-Black neighborhoods Sunnyside and Kashmere Gardens, were rejected. So was the $200 million watershed improvement plan for the flood-prone Halls Bayou, which is surrounded by some of Houston's poorest neighborhoods. ``For the State GLO not to give one dime in the initial distribution to the city and a very small portion to Harris County shows a callous disregard to the people of Houston and Harris County,'' Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a state1nent at the time.

Instead, funds largely went to smaller, whiter, inland towns. They went to drainage upgrades in Rockdale, a two-hour drive northwest of Houston, and sewage improvements in Nixon, a small town outside San Antonio that emerged from Harvey unscathed and sheltered evacuees fleeing the storm. ``The more that we're giving this money to inland counties and jurisdictions, we are actually taking away from where we truly need the money and where the money was originally intended to assist communities,'' said Julia Orduna, the southeast Texas regional director at Texas Housers, a low- income housing group.

After the snub, the city of Houston hoped for a second chance when the Houston-Galveston Area Council, a regional council spanning 13 counties, planned to deal out its own pool of the funds. But in February, the council granted just 2 percent of its $488 million to the city, which represents around 30 percent of the council's population.

According to the council, Houston and Harris County didn't need much more than that because the GLO planned to grant the county a direct payment of $750 million--a promise only made after the first competition received intense criticism. But that wasn't a fair consideration, according to Mayor Turner, since that grant had yet to be approved.

Last June, the Northeast Action Collective and Texas Housers filed a civil rights complaint with HUD, alleging that the GLO discriminated against Black and Hispanic residents. In a recent letter sharing the findings of its investigation, the federal agency sided with the organizations, saying the competition ``substantially and predictably disadvantaged minority residents, with particularly disparate outcomes for Black residents.''

A major issue, according to HUD, was that the state agency split the competition in two. Half the funds were reserved for counties that the federal government had identified as hardest hit by Harvey--where Black and Hispanic residents were most likely to live--while the other half went to more rural, inland counties included on the state's expanded list, which tended to be whiter.

At minimum, HUD required that half of the funds would go to communities on its list of hardest-hit counties. While the state agency met that requirement, dividing the competition in two also meant awards to those counties would be capped at 50 percent. But those counties represented 90 percent of the population in the entire competition, amounting to much less money available for Black and Hispanic residents.

After the winners were announced in May 2021, GLO spokeswoman Brittany Eck backed the results in a statement to the Houston Chronicle. ``It is important that Texas inland counties are resilient as they provide vital assistance to our coastal communities during events such as asset staging, evacuations, sheltering, and emergency response/recovery,'' she said.

The competition favored smaller communities. A flood control project in Houston's mostly Black and Hispanic neighborhood of Kashmere Gardens, HUD's letter explained, would have helped 8,845 residents. But Houston's total population is 2.3 million, so the project scored less than 1 out of 10 points because it would help only a small percentage of residents. On the other hand, the city of Iola applied for a wastewater project that all 379 of its residents would gain from. It scored 10 out of 10, and the project was funded.

In an email to Grist, Eck accused the federal agency of ``blatant political theater.'' She said GLO has complied with HUD's requirements, and now it's being faulted for not ``going above and beyond'' to benefit even more minority residents than it already has. Eck said the land office is appealing HUD's findings.

``GLO did not engage in discrimination, and HUD's allegations amount to nothing more than unlawful attempts to `second-guess' GLO's open and transparent competition process, which was approved by HUD,'' Eck said.

When the state agency's spending plan was still a draft, Madison Sloan, director of the disaster recovery and fair housing project at Texas Appleseed, a public interest justice center, sent a letter detailing concerns that its scoring system would divert money from the hardest-hit areas. ``I don't want to deny that communities all over the state need mitigation,'' she said. ``But when you look at where the damage was, where people are most vulnerable, it is the coast. What this represents is a missed opportunity to do some really largescale, meaningful mitigation on the coast that's going to protect a lot of people.''

These problems aren't limited to Houston. Along the coast, other cities hit hard by Hurricane Harvey, like Beaumont, Corpus Christi, and Port Arthur, lost out in the competition. In Port Arthur, where the poverty rate is twice the national average, floods propelled by nearly 50 inches of rain devastated the housing stock. Decades of underinvestment have eroded residents' ability to recover from disasters, said Michelle Smith, marketing director at the Community In-Power and Development Association, Inc., an environmental justice group in the city. Some decided to leave Port Arthur entirely because ``they had nothing to come back to,'' she said. So it stung when the city's proposal for a $97 million drainage project was rejected.

Without these funds, communities that were poorly equipped for Harvey are just as vulnerable to the next storm. ``This is an ongoing thing,'' Smith said. ``With each hurricane, we continue to suffer because we're not able to recover. The little bit that we can salvage is then taken away again and again and again.''

Sloan thinks the whole situation exposes fissures in HUD's mitigation program. It's largely up to states to decide how to divvy up funds, but studies are needed in advance to ensure fair distribution, she said. That doesn't just benefit the vulnerable; it could make the coast, as a whole, more resilient.

``Funding to areas where vulnerable people of color live is going to benefit plenty of white people, plenty of higher- income people who also live in those areas,'' she said. ``In this case, in general, equity means everyone wins.''

After backlash followed the first competition, the state's land office announced that it would give the remaining funds to regional bodies like the Houston-Galveston Area Council to distribute--the same entity that offered Houston a minuscule amount of federal aid. ``The GLO's solution to not doing a second competition was pushing the responsibility to local jurisdictions,'' said Orduna, who felt the new plan does not rectify HUD's allegations of discrimination.

There will be other storms to come, and Congress will eventually allocate more money to rebuild from them. When that happens, Billy Guevara, of the Northeast Action Collective, worries all the talk and reports will have been just that. ``That's our biggest fear,'' he said. ``Being overlooked again.''

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, my amendment is extremely important. Very quickly, it deals with accountability and performance improvement. These are the objectives of my amendment.

My amendment also deals with making sure, through a GAO study, that CSBG has performed well; which programmatic activities, services, and other uses of funds were the most effective and had the greatest positive impact; which administrative, organizational, structural, and operational strategies and tactics that were deployed were most successful; how much of the CSBG funds were allocated to States for distribution to and use by community action agencies; and whether these grants retained by each State exceeded the percentage of such funds that were allowed to be retained.

In effect, the GAO would be conducting a performance audit of this program to position it for a fresh start by determining the extent to which these funds reached their intended beneficiaries. Many times, minorities, though it was directed for them, are disadvantaged because of the agency.

Finally, the net result will be transparency and improvement so that others will be served and helped. I thank you for including it in the amendments en bloc.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5129, the ``Community Service Block Grant Modernization Act of 2022.'' I applaud Leadership for bringing H.R. 5129--which has strong bipartisan support--to the Floor for consideration and votes.

For decades, the Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) has fueled a wide range of anti-poverty programs, activities, and services across the country. It has been profoundly beneficial, improving countless lives by helping Americans who are most in need of an assist, enabling them to rise up and access the path to a better quality-of-life.

H.R. 5129 not only provides a long-overdue reauthorization of the program; it also improves the CSBG in many ways, including by adding systems that will enhance the program's transparency, accountability, and evaluations in the future.

Accountability and performance improvement are also the objectives of the Jackson Lee amendment, through additional mechanisms. My amendment would direct the Comptroller General of the GAO to study how the CSBG has performed over the past ten years, focusing on:

which programmatic activities, services, and other uses of funds were the most effective and had the greatest positive impact on individuals and communities that the CSBG was designed to serve;

which administrative, organizational, structural, and operational strategies and tactics that were deployed by states were the most productive, efficient, and successful, such that they should be considered as ``best practices'' for replication by other states going forward;

how much of CSBG funds that were allocated to states for distribution to, and use by, Community Action Agencies and other eligible entities were not fully disbursed by states to those intended recipients; and

whether CSBG funds retained by each state exceeded the percentage of such funds that were allowed to be retained by the state for administrative and other permissible purposes, the amount that was retained in excess of what was allowed, and to what other uses those funds were applied or to what other account were they transmitted.

In effect, the GAO would be conducting a ``performance audit'' of the CSBG program to position it for a fresh start, citing its strengths and shortcomings, and making recommendations that will help states optimize their efforts in the years ahead.

By determining the extent to which CSBG funds reached their intended beneficiaries and fulfilled their intended purpose, we will see which states have been conscientiously administering the program, which could help calibrate future strategies to structure and monitor the program.

The net result is that the GAO study and report provided by the Jackson Lee amendment will provide transparency and accountability to the program's recent past performance. The findings will enable the program, and the states that administer it, to learn from the past, adjust their programs to maximize results, and revitalize their efforts for each state's next chapter of CSBG performance.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, for bringing this very important bipartisan legislation to the Floor today.

I urge all my colleagues to support the bill, including the Jackson Lee amendment and the entire en bloc amendment.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Madam Speaker, once again, I reiterate that these amendments en bloc contain commonsense proposals that strengthen the underlying bill. I appreciate my colleagues for their contributions and their strong support of improving access to services, combating poverty, and uplifting low-income people in our communities.

I strongly urge support of the amendments en bloc and the underlying bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, pursuant to section 11 of House Resolution 1097, I rise to offer amendments en bloc No. 2.
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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to these amendments en bloc. The amendments contained in this en bloc are either a distraction from the bipartisan work we are doing today or fundamentally undermine the improvements we are putting forth in this legislation. Notably, this en bloc includes yet another Republican attack on women's rights and liberty.

Instead of focusing on what we have accomplished together to strengthen this program in a bipartisan way, some of my colleagues across the aisle are trying to further divide us. Madam Speaker, it has been 24 years since the last reauthorization of the community services block grant program in 1998. Our communities need a comprehensive reauthorization, not a partisan controversy that will delay the urgent need to renew this program.

From the beginning of the program, community action agencies have addressed the health needs of low-income individuals in their communities, particularly important to rural communities. The 1964 Economic Opportunity Act, which first authorized the community action program, the predecessor to CSBG, specifies that such program shall be conducted in those fields with the purposes of this part, including employment, job training and counseling, and health, indicating that health has always been and continues to be a core part of addressing poverty conditions that is the central mission of these agencies.

Additionally, this en bloc would seek to strip out language from H.R. 5129 allowing CAAs, community action agencies, to serve individuals up to 200 percent of the Federal poverty line.

Congress supported, in a bipartisan manner, allowing community action agencies to serve individuals up to 200 percent of the poverty line to provide flexibility during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act, for example, the FY 2022 Labor/HHS appropriations bill, and the recently passed omnibus all included an allowance for CAAs to serve individuals up to 200 percent of the poverty line.

The CSBG statute, which we know now is more than 20 years out of date, sets the income eligibility for CSBG services at 100 percent of the official poverty line or 125 percent if the State chooses. Currently, the very low-income eligibility criteria--this is equivalent to about $27,180 for a single person in 2022--for CSBG creates a cliff. Individuals will be cut off from public assistance and services as soon as they make a dime over the income threshold.

We must remember that community action agencies are unique, as they do not operate a single program. Rather, CAAs operate and often coordinate an array of Federal, State, and local programs, all with varying eligibility requirements. For example, more than half of community action agencies operate the Weatherization Assistance Program. That uses 200 percent of the poverty income guidance as the eligibility criteria.

I will share a story of Daniel from North Dakota. When the pandemic struck, Daniel was working in a fast-food restaurant, and his hours were reduced. With his employment income, he is above the statutory 125 percent, but below the 200 percent flexibility Congress has provided with bipartisan support. Unfortunately, Daniel's housing was unstable, and he was couch surfing. He received case management to assist with his housing search. Through CSBG funds provided under the CARES Act, he received assistance with a security deposit in February of 2021. With this assistance, Daniel has maintained stable housing for over a year.

Madam Speaker, Daniel's story is just one example of why raising the Federal poverty level eligibility to 200 percent is so critical to this legislation. Unlike the underlying legislation, these amendments en bloc would weaken CSBG, or it offers solutions in search of problems.

One of the needless proposals in this en bloc actually duplicates the current funding restriction in the bill and statute for voter registration activities which, of course, are nonpartisan activities.

Madam Speaker, we are here today to support a bipartisan CSBG reauthorization and the important work of community action agencies in our communities. These amendments en bloc would move us backward.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I have a lot to say in response to the gentleman, but I am going to take a deep breath and say, this is a bill about helping to lift low-income Americans out of poverty. It is a bipartisan bill we have been working on for many years. It is time to update the community services block grant program and help lift low- income Americans in Oregon and across the country out of poverty.

I oppose these amendments en bloc, and I encourage my colleagues to oppose them. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, again, I reiterate my strong opposition to this en bloc amendment and support for the underlying bill.

This bipartisan bill is about improving services for our communities through community action, and these efforts are long overdue.

Unlike the underlying bill that enjoys broad bipartisan support and reflects the input of stakeholders who represent these agencies and their vital work in our communities, this en bloc amendment ignores what we have accomplished together to strengthen this program and seeks to further divide us.

Rather than addressing the real needs of low-income individuals, this en bloc amendment attacks women's reproductive rights at a time when they are under attack nationally.

The sponsors of this en bloc amendment have injected controversy into a policy on voter registration, which is nonpartisan. Head Start has had a nearly identical policy for the last 40 years with little evidence of a problem.

Together, these amendments all failed in our bipartisan committee markup, and they should again.

Madam Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to reject this en bloc amendment and support the underlying bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Gottheimer for his amendment and for his leadership in addressing the needs of our country's veterans.

Madam Speaker, this amendment will help community action agencies meet the needs of veterans, particularly homeless veterans.

Although many community action agencies already implement other Federal programs serving veterans, this amendment will emphasize that all eligible entities are able and equipped to serve veterans and their communities.

Again, I thank my colleague for offering this amendment, and I thank the ranking member for supporting it as well.

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