Homes for Heroes Act of 2013

Floor Speech

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Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by thanking Mr. Hensarling, the chairperson of the committee. He gave me his word. He said this bill would come to the floor, and he has kept his word. I would like to thank the ranking member, Ms. Waters. She committed to help with this bill. In fact, the genesis of this was a conversation I had with her, and she kept her word. I'd like to thank Mr. McHenry. Indeed, he and I do serve on Oversight and Investigations, and I appreciate very much his being here today to help us by managing this piece of legislation. I believe he and I will accomplish additional things on a bipartisan basis. This is a bipartisan piece of legislation.

I'd also like to thank the staff. While I will stand here and hopefully rise to the occasion, it really takes greater people to make the occasion. These people are the staffers that work long into the night on many occasions to try to reach a consensus on legislation. The staff really put a lot of time into this legislation, Mr. Speaker, and I think they should be complimented.

I especially would recognize one staffer in particular, Ms. Harmeet Kaur. This is her last week in our congressional office. She's a fellow, and I'm honored to say she worked with us on this piece of legislation.

Finally, I'd like to thank our veterans. Mr. Speaker, we stand here in the well of the House and enjoy many of the freedoms that we have because there are people who are willing to go to distant places, willing to risk their lives. Indeed, Mr. Speaker, many of them do not return the way they left. I just believe, Mr. Speaker, that the least a grateful Nation can do is make sure that when they return home, they return home to good jobs, the best health care, and good housing. I believe that it's almost sinful to see a veteran standing on the corner with a sign that reads, ``Homeless, hungry.'' I believe that we ought to do everything within our power to help people who are willing to risk their lives for us.

I had the good fortune or misfortune, I'm not sure which, to pass by a VA hospital with a sign out front that read, ``Come in and see the price of freedom.''

Something that bears repeating: ``Come in and see the price of freedom.''

The price of freedom is quite high, Mr. Speaker. The price of freedom will cost some in the prime of their lives things that you and I can never replace, money can't buy. And when money can't buy and you and I can't replace, the least we can do is all that we can. This is why we're asking that this Special Assistant be placed in the Office of the Secretary of HUD, that this be codified into the law; that it is not going to be easy now for this person to be replaced or this position to be removed.

And, Mr. Speaker, I must say also that HUD has been quite helpful. HUD has established a similar position in another part of the Department, but this would place a person in the office with the Secretary. And this person in the Office of the Secretary would try to help us with some of the statistics that we find abhorrent.

We find that there are approximately 76,000 to 144,000 veterans who are homeless. This is unacceptable. We find that on any night in 2012 about 62,000 veterans were homeless. This is unacceptable. And what this assistant will do is work with the homeless veterans organizations, serve as a liaison person to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, and with State and local officials, and not-for-profit organizations. This assistant will coordinate services with these various entities.

Mr. Speaker, this is not enough, but it is a start. It is a continuation, if you will, of what we've been trying to accomplish. Mr. Speaker, I beg that my colleagues--I would besiege them and implore them to please support this legislation because you're really supporting our veterans.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I will remind us that the greatness of America is not going to be measured by how we treat people who live in the sweets of life. The greatness of America is often going to be judged by how we treat people who live in the streets of life. Too often, we have people who have served their country living in the streets of life. They literally live on the streets. It is time for us, the richest country in the world, where one out of every 100 persons is a millionaire, to acknowledge what our veterans have done to make it possible for us to enjoy these great and noble American ideals as extolled in the Pledge of Allegiance, liberty and justice for all, and in the Constitution, wherein we would have all people be created and treated equally.

So, Mr. Speaker, I just beg in closing that we, Members, take advantage of this opportunity to support our veterans. It is not something that is going to break the bank. In fact, it has a minimal impact on the deficit, but it can have a huge impact on our veterans.

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