Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016
Floor Speech
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Mr. Chairman, I rise tonight in support of the people who make it possible for us to be here. Of course, I speak of those persons who go to distant places, those persons who serve us in our military who don't always return the same way they left.
I rise tonight because we have had a successful program. The HUD VASH program has been successful, and it has contributed to the decline in homelessness among those persons who make it possible for us to be here, who make real the great and noble American ideals: liberty and justice for all; government of the people, by the people, for the people.
Mr. Chairman, homelessness has declined 33 percent among our veteran population since 2010, and this is because the President made it a priority. President Obama indicated that he would reduce homelessness among veterans, and he had 2015 as a targeted date.
I am proud to say that in my city of Houston, Texas, our mayor, Annise Parker, had an event just recently with three HUD Secretaries, and it was announced at that event that in Houston, Texas, the resources were available to accommodate a veteran in need of a place to call home.
Tonight, Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment that would accord $75 million to the HUD VASH program. This $75 million would be used to make sure that what we have done we will not only continue to do, but we can do even better.
I believe that the people who have served us and who find themselves now living on the streets of life should have a better quality of life. For this reason, I will promote this amendment tonight, understanding that a point of order has been made, but also understanding that it is necessary for us to continue to remind ourselves that we have people who are willing to make the sacrifice and that we should make sacrifices for them.
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Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman and I thank the Congress of the United States of America because Congress has appropriated money for these VASH vouchers, this program. I have always tried to get more because I think our veterans deserve as much as we can give them, but I am appreciative for what Congress has done, and I am appreciative for what the chairman has done.
So tonight I will withdraw my amendment, Mr. Chairman, but I do so with the understanding that as we move forward, knowing that we have done a great job, the President has done well, that the cities and municipalities have worked well with the President, this has been an integrated system, holistic approach to ending homelessness among our veterans, but I still believe that we cannot allow ourselves to relax. We must never assume that we have done enough for those who are willing to do all for us.
With that, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.
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Mr. Chairman, let me please start by acknowledging the Honorable Maxine Waters. What I present tonight is an amendment that she actually authored, and I would like to present it. In so doing, I want to remind us that this amendment deals with two programs that are near and dear to my heart, the affordable housing trust fund and the HOME program.
These programs are near and dear to my heart because the greatness of a nation will not be measured by how we treat people who live in the suites of life, how we treat the well off, the well heeled, and the well to do.
The greatness of a nation is often measured by how we treat people who live in the streets of life, those who are too often among the least, the last, and the lost.
This amendment seeks to provide aid and comfort for those who, but for the grace of God, could be you or me, but those who find themselves living in the streets of life. This amendment, in dealing with the affordable housing trust fund, will restore it.
The current bill would actually eliminate the affordable housing trust fund. This amendment provides some degree of aid and comfort for those who are living at 30 percent of the area median income, wherever they happen to live.
In Ms. Maxine Waters' district, this would mean an annual income of $20,200 for a family of four. I would dare say that there are few among us who would dare attempt to live off of $20,200 as an individual. This helps a family of four with $20,200. This is what the affordable housing trust fund does. It helps people who are extremely low of income.
My hope is that we will be able to prevent this elimination of the affordable housing trust fund, and this amendment does it.
This amendment also will help those who can benefit from the HOME program. The HOME program can serve a family of four that earns up to $53,900 per year. This program is a partnership, if you will, between State, municipal, and Federal Government.
It has been a program that has been of great benefit across the length and breadth of this country. There is not a State in the country, I would dare say, that has not benefited from the HOME program.
It is my hope that we can meet the President's request for the HOME program. Right now, it is about $293 million short of the President's request. This amendment would add that $293 million that the President has requested.
I started by indicating that these are two programs that are near and dear to me. Mr. Chairman, I believe that Ruth Meltzer was right when she indicated that some measure their lives by days and years, others by heartthrobs, passions, and tears; but the surest measure under God's sun is what for others in your lifetime have you done.
These programs afford us an opportunity to do for others, to be a blessing to those that have not been as blessed as we. My hope is that we will find a way to salvage both of these programs, restore the HOME program to what the President has requested, and prevent the affordable housing trust fund from finding its way to the ash heap of history.
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