2027 Presidential Budget Request Will Make Life Harder

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Garcia and Mr. Neguse for organizing this Special Order hour about President Trump's budget request for next year.

The one saving grace of the President's budget is how clearly it demonstrates the failed policies and misplaced priorities of the White House and the Republican Congress. While proposing a massive increase in defense spending to support a reckless war of choice in Iran and supporting numerous policies to protect the billionaire class, the Trump budget would slash programs that provide healthcare, education, and housing to working Americans and would do nothing to lower gas prices or make groceries more affordable.

While there are too many outrages contained in this budget to mention all of them, I want to focus on one program in particular that highlights the senseless cruelty represented by this budget: the President would completely eliminate support for the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS, or HOPWA, program.

HOPWA provides critical housing support to hundreds of thousands of individuals and their families across the country. Housing is one of the greatest needs for those living with HIV/AIDS, and it is among the strongest predictors of access to treatment and health outcomes. Unstable housing or homelessness is linked to late or limited access to care, higher viral loads, increased hospitalizations, and premature death.

HOPWA was created in 1990 to respond to the HIV crisis, and it has enjoyed bipartisan support for decades. It has led to dramatic improvements in healthcare and reduced mortality for people living with HIV and AIDS. Yet, this President wants to cut HOPWA to the bone, leaving people with HIV and AIDS vulnerable to more HIV transmissions and a spike in homelessness.

Congress established HOPWA--under a Republican President, I might add--because of illegal discrimination in the private housing market against people with HIV and AIDS. As for public housing, many individuals with HIV and AIDS on the waiting list for housing tragically died while waiting for an open unit. HOPWA changed that.

A study from 2010 found that HOPWA has been tremendously effective in improving the physical health and housing status of enrollees. These gains did not come overnight. They came from funding this program year by year for over 30 years, and Donald Trump wants to gut all of it.

I was proud to lead 107 of my colleagues in supporting HOPWA funding for fiscal year 2027 appropriations, and I am outraged at the President's disregard for vulnerable Americans. We must protect HOPWA and stand up for all Americans in need.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source