Oceanside, CA – Yesterday, U.S. Representative Mike Levin (D-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, leda bipartisan congressional hearing entitled “Housing our Heroes: Addressing the Veteran Homelessness Crisis.”House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mark Takano (D-CA), Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Ranking Member Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and Representative Scott Peters (D-CA) also participated in the hearing.
The hearing addressed issues related to veteran homelessness such as risk factors, federal homelessness programs, unique challenges faced by women veterans, and additional challenges homeless veterans facein areas such as health care, employment, and the criminal justice system.
Levin has introduced and passed six bipartisan veterans bill through the House of Representatives, including two that President Trump has signed into law:
•H.R 2196, legislation introduced with Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) to expand veterans’ access to STEM Scholarship programs. The bill was signed into law by the President on July 31st.
•The Ryan Kules Specially Adaptive Housing Improvement Act of 2019, introduced with Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) to improve the Veterans Benefits Administration’s Specially AdaptedHousing program.
•The Vet Center Eligibility Expansion Act of 2019, introduced with Representative Phil Roe (R-TN) to expand eligibility to receive counseling from VA Vet Centers.
•The Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer William “Bill” Mulder (Ret.) Transition Improvement Act of 2019, a bill introduced with Representative Jodey Arrington (R-TX) to improve theTransition Assistance Program (TAP) for servicemembers returning to civilian life.
•The Veterans’ Education, Transition, and Opportunity Prioritization Plan (VET OPP) Act of 2019, introduced with Representative Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) to prioritize veterans’ employment, transition, housing, and education benefits at VA.
•The Protecting Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act, introduced with Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) to provide a technical fix critical to maintaining liquidity in the veteran homeloan market and ensuring continued access to affordable VA mortgages. The bill was signed into law by the President on July 25th.
I want to thank everyone for joining us for today’s field hearing of the House Veterans’ Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee.
It is with great pride that I serve as chair of this subcommittee and am able to bring Congress to my constituents in Oceanside, California.
Our subcommittee addresses many key challenges for our nation’s veterans such as housing and homelessness, transitions to civilian life, higher education, and job training.
Today, our hearing titled “Housing our Heroes: Addressing the Veteran Homelessness Crisis” will examine how federal, state, local, and non-governmental resources are working to reduce veteran homelessness.
We will also review how all of these important partners can better coordinate.
Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with VA Secretary Wilkie in my Washington office to discuss our collaboration on veterans’ issues.
He made clear his desire to send more resources to Southern California because, and I quote the Secretary, “if you can solve veteran homelessness in Southern California you can solve it anywhere.”
In 2009, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs committed to ending veteran homelessness by the end of 2015.
There is no question that we have taken significant steps to get our heroes the services they need, with roughly 50,000 fewer veterans experiencing homelessness than a decade ago.
However, we have much work to do before we meet our goal, especially in California where 28 percent of our nation’s homeless veterans are located.
There are a number of factors that makes California unique: high cost of living, several military bases close to our urban centers, and a climate that is less taxing on homeless individuals.
But while these factors contribute to homelessness, we also are a state and nation with many resources.
That means we have no excuse to fail those who proudly serve in uniform.
This Congress, my subcommittee has continued working to improve the variety of federal programs that currently exist to support homeless veterans.
This includes permanent housing, transitional housing, prevention services, treatment, and employment programs at the VA, Department of Housing and Urban Development known as HUD, and the Department ofLabor.
HUD also offers some additional resources to local or regional planning organizations, also referred to as continuums of care.
But yet, homelessness – and specifically veteran homelessness – persists.
In addition to the testimony we will hear today, our Committee is currently reviewing a number of bills to address veteran homelessness.
My legislation, the Housing for Women Veterans Act, would ensure a portion of Supportive Services for Veteran Families grants go to organizations that have a focus on women veterans and their families.
This program provides financial assistance, case management, and other services to low-income veterans who are residing in permanent housing or transitioning from homelessness.
And I support two bills my colleague, Mr. Peters, has introduced to improve the HUD-VASH program, which provides housing vouchers to homeless veterans.
Beyond these efforts, we are here to learn from our witnesses about how we can better support your work.
But first, I would like to recognize Ranking Member Bilirakis for five minutes for his opening statement. Ranking Member Bilirakis is a good friend from Florida, and it’s been a privilege to work with himon the many bipartisan issues addressed by our subcommittee.
