Indian Veterans Housing Opportunity Act Of 2009
Floor Speech
Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3553) to exclude from consideration as income under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 amounts received by a family from the Department of Veterans Affairs for service-related disabilities of a member of the family.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3553
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Indian Veterans Housing Opportunity Act of 2009''.
SEC. 2. EXCLUSION FROM INCOME.
Paragraph (9) of section 4 of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103(9)) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(C) Any amounts received by any member of the family as disability compensation under chapter 11 of title 38, United States Code, or dependency and indemnity compensation under chapter 13 of such title.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Cleaver) and the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.
GENERAL LEAVE
Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Missouri?
There was no objection.
Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, according to the most recent U.S. census data from 2003, there are 561 federally recognized tribes, which include Native American Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages. More than three-quarters of a million Native Americans live on reservations or in other tribal areas, and another 1.68 million live outside tribal areas. Furthermore, a total of 34 percent of the Native population resides in rural areas, where many reservations are located.
It has become clear that much of the housing in tribal areas lack adequate housing compared to the general U.S. population. According to the 2000 Census Bureau report, 14.7 percent of homes in tribal areas are overcrowded, compared to 5.7 percent of homes of the general U.S. population. On Native American lands, 11.7 percent of residents lack complete plumbing facilities, compared to 1.2 percent of the general U.S. population. Furthermore, according to a 2005 Government Accounting Office report, 11 percent of residents lack kitchen facilities, compared to merely 1 percent of the general U.S. population.
This situation is even more dire for those in need of housing on tribal lands. In total, approximately 90,000 Native American families are homeless or underhoused and an estimated 200,000 housing units are needed immediately in Indian Country, according to a 2003 report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
However, Native Americans have the highest rate of serving in the military, making them more likely to serve of any ethnic group. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 22 percent, 22 percent, of Native Americans are currently serving in the military. It is appalling that although Native Americans are the most likely to serve of any ethnic group, little has been provided to ensure adequate and sufficient housing for the brave veterans who have served our Nation. Furthermore, with the total number of disabled veterans in the United States currently at 24 million and 3.1 million veterans receiving service-connected disability benefits, it is also evident that many Native American veterans are also struggling with disabilities.
The Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996, or NAHASDA, was established through the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide housing services to Native Americans based on a needs-based formula. Unfortunately, under the current calculation, Native American veterans and their families and survivors are often disqualified from this program.
By calculating disability payments and survivor benefits into the family's income, the family will often exceed the 80 percent area median income threshold required under this program's regulations, thereby disqualifying the family from the program.
Mrs. Kirkpatrick's bill, H.R. 3553, will correct this provision by amending the definition of ``income'' in NAHASDA to exclude payments for disability and service-related injuries. By doing so, disabled Native American veterans, their families, and their survivors will be able to qualify for this program. This bill will do much to help ensure that all citizens are adequately served in government housing programs, especially those who have served our Nation bravely.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support of H.R. 3553, the Indian Veterans Housing Opportunity Act of 2009.
This bill would amend the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act, also called NAHASDA, so that a disability income is not counted against Native American veterans when determining eligibility for NAHASDA housing benefits.
Currently, Native American households with incomes below 80 percent of an area's median income are eligible for housing assistance under this program. Unlike similar programs for non-Native American households, NAHASDA counts Veterans Affairs disability payments or survivor benefits as income when determining eligibility for housing assistance. As a result, many Native American families of disabled veterans can lose their eligibility for housing aid if their disability benefits place them beyond the 80 percent threshold.
Interestingly, the Internal Revenue Service does not consider disability payments as income. Yet without changes included in this bill before us, Native American veterans who have been left disabled as a result of their service to our country will remain limited in their access to affordable housing on the reservation.
H.R. 3553 simply amends the definition of ``income'' under the law to exclude payments for disability compensation. The bill would not affect any tribe's current funding under NAHASDA, and the Congressional Budget Office has said that there is no cost to this bill.
Mr. Speaker, we must meet our commitments to our troops both in the field and when they return home. This legislation will help extend existing housing resources to Native American veterans, allow them to return to the reservation, and will provide their families with access to stable housing.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Mrs. Kirkpatrick), the sponsor of this legislation.
Mrs. KIRKPATRICK of Arizona. I wish to extend my thanks to Mr. Cleaver for the opportunity to address my bill, H.R. 3553, the Indian Veterans Housing Opportunity Act. And I also want to thank Chairman Frank and Ranking Member Bachus for their support of this. I especially want to thank Chairwoman MAXINE WATERS and her staff, Jeff Riley and Keo Chia, who traveled the long distance to Window Rock, Arizona, to have a field hearing on April 10 on this bill.
Mr. Speaker, growing up in Indian Country, I learned at an early age the long history of Native Americans sacrificing in service to our country. This history includes Indian scouts assisting United States units throughout the American West. It includes the best known example, the brave and honorable service of the Navajo code talkers who saved the lives of countless Americans in World War II and the Korean War by using Dine to transmit sensitive military communications. And it continues to this very day as Native Americans serve proudly and honorably in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world.
Today, the Department of Housing Affairs estimates that 20 percent of Native Americans are veterans or are currently serving. That's the most of any ethnic group.
Despite this honorable service, far too many Native American veterans return home to tribal land to face extraordinary challenges in finding safe, quality, affordable housing. Service-disabled veterans returning to Indian Country face the added challenge of having to make every dollar of their disability compensation count as they deal with circumstances unique to tribal land, including very long distances to VA medical centers and under-improved surfaces, we call them washboard roads, that accelerate wear on prosthetics and wheelchairs.
I am a member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, where we have taken a number of steps to keep our promises to all veterans. We remedied budget shortfalls in veterans health care and benefits to address an aging vets population and returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
We helped finally pass a law that veterans service organizations have been pushing for years, a law to require Congress to approve the VA health care budget 1 year in advance to ensure timely, sufficient funding of these necessary programs.
However, we can and must do more to ensure that Native American veterans are not allowed to slip through the cracks, even as we make broad advances to better serve these veterans, and Native Americans in general.
The Native American Housing Assistance and Self-determination Act of 1996 was a monumental step forward in helping tribes provide safe, quality, affordable housing for thousands of low income Native American families across the country.
This assistance can come in the form of down payment assistance, property acquisition, new construction, and housing rehabilitation, and is limited to families making less than 80 percent of the median income in their area. This income limit contains one important flaw. The act treats compensation, either paid to veterans with service-related disabilities, or for the families of those killed in service, as income. As a result, these benefits can push veterans and survivor families above the limit, making them ineligible, and costing them assistance that they badly need.
In fact, when we had the field hearing in Window Rock, I met with many families who told me because of this flaw they had to move in with their children because they couldn't qualify for their own home. This flaw has caused disabled veterans, their families and survivors to be denied help because that extra income has pushed them over the allowable limit.
My bill would fix this flaw by changing the definition of income to explicitly exclude veterans disability and survivor compensation, ending this unfair practice and lifting the burden from Native American veterans.
Native American veterans have sacrificed so much for this country, and neither they nor their surviving families should be punished for receiving the compensation they have earned. It is long past time to right this wrong and ensure that this Nation keeps its sacred promise to its native veterans.
Thank you again for the opportunity to address H.R. 3553.
* [Begin Insert]
Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, as a proud member of the Native American Caucus, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3553, the Indian Veterans Housing Opportunity Act, which will address a critical need in tribal lands.
First, I would like to acknowledge Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer, Chairman Rahall, and Congresswoman Kirkpatrick for their leadership in bringing this important bill to the floor. My colleague Congresswoman Kirkpatrick, the author of this legislation, has worked hard to ensure that underserved communities, including tribal lands, have the housing necessary to support our growing population.
H.R. 3553, the Indian Veterans Housing Opportunity Act, makes an important fix to the existing bill for providing Native American housing. The Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) is the foundation for providing housing assistance to low-income Native American families on Indian reservations, in Alaska Native villages, and on Native Hawaiian Homelands.
In California, the State I represent, there are over 100 Native American tribes, many of varying levels of economic success. Based on the 2000 Census, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has determined that nationwide, almost 543,000 American Indian and Alaska Native households have ``severe housing needs,'' meaning they live in conditions that are overcrowded, substandard, or cost-burdensome.
To complicate matters further, the NAHASDA statute does not contain an income exception for service-disabled veterans or families of soldiers killed in action. The Indian Veterans Housing Opportunity Act remedies this situation by revising the definition of income for NAHADA to exclude payments for service-related disability, dependence, or indemnity. Veterans are especially likely to fall into these categories, which is unacceptable considering the role they have played in the defense of our country. Native Americans have the highest rate of enlistment in our armed services out of any group of Americans, and they deserve our support. Therefore, as a long time friend and supporter of the Native American community, I am so pleased to champion a bill such as H.R. 3553, which provides the housing this community needs.
In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 3553 because it ensures that Native American veterans do not face extraordinary obstacles when procuring or financing housing after serving this country. The Native American servicemen and women benefiting from H.R. 3553 deserve our full support. I am proud to work with my colleagues to ensure that they are not overlooked.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 3553.
* [End Insert]
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Cleaver) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3553.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
Source