Homes for Heroes Act of 2007
HOMES FOR HEROES ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - July 09, 2008)
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Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3329, the Homes for Heroes Act, and at this time I would like to thank the House leadership for allowing this legislation to come before the House expeditiously. I also thank Chairman Frank, the chairperson of the Financial Services Committee, for his outstanding service in helping us with this piece of legislation. Congresswoman Waters, who chairs the Subcommittee on Housing, is to be given a debt of gratitude as well, because without her help we could not have brought the bill to fruition. The staff has been outstanding. Ranking Member Capito on the Housing Subcommittee has been of great benefit to us, as well as Congressman Bachus, who is the ranking member on the full committee.
Mr. Speaker, of the many supporting organizations, I would like to especially thank the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. They have been with us and they have assisted us through the process. The cosponsor and co-lead, Congressman Michael Michaud, deserves a special expression of appreciation. He is the Chair of the Veterans Affairs Health Subcommittee. Finally, we thank the 53 cosponsors, and we appreciate greatly the bipartisan support that this legislation enjoys.
Mr. Speaker, we live in the greatest and richest country in the world. We literally have housing for our astronauts, who are in space. We have housing for our farm animals, called barns. We have housing for our cars, called garages. One of every 110 persons is a millionaire. However, I am sorry to report, Mr. Speaker, that as many are sleeping in the suites of life, too many are sleeping on the streets of life.
Mr. Speaker, we have 800,000 homeless people in our country. One-fourth, or 200,000 of them, are veterans. Approximately 16,000 veterans are homeless in the State of Texas, 2,400 in my City of Houston. Veterans make up 11 percent of the population, yet are 25 percent of the homeless. 1.5 million veterans have incomes below poverty, and that would be $10,787 per year for a single person who happens to be a veteran. 643,000 veterans have incomes below 50 percent of poverty. That would be $5,394 per year for a single veteran. Of the homeless veterans, nearly one-half are Vietnam vets. One-half have mental illnesses. Two-thirds suffer from alcohol or substance abuse. Fifty-six percent are African American or Latino.
The passage of this legislation will help to end homelessness among our veterans. More specifically, this legislation would establish the position of Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs within HUD. This special assistant within HUD would coordinate the services of homeless veterans, serve as a liaison to the Department of Veterans Affairs, to the States and to local officials, as well as nonprofit organizations.
This bill would establish a $200 million assistance program for permanent supportive housing and services to low income veterans. Low income veterans are those who are at 50 percent of the area median income. This bill would expand the highly successful HUD Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program known as the HUD-VASH program. This bill authorizes 20,000 such vouchers on an annual basis.
The bill authorizes $1 million in HUD grants to assist housing and service providers with the execution of their projects. This bill would require HUD to submit a comprehensive report annually on the needs of veterans who are homeless and give an indication as to what steps are being taken under this program to eliminate homelessness among our veteran population.
Mr. Speaker, some may say that this is too little. Others may say that it is too much. It is our position that we do this before it is too late for many of our veterans.
Mr. Speaker, at this time I will reserve the balance of my time.
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