Mr. Speaker, I rise today as the lead Republican cosponsor of this legislation and I strongly urge my colleagues to support it. I’d also like to thank my good friend Congressman Murphy, who introduced H.R. 5772, the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2008, to modernize the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Section 811 program.
Mr. Speaker, for the past four years, this Administration has proposed deep cuts to the Section 811 program. In response, for the past four years I have led letters to the Appropriations Committee leaders urging them to reject those cuts and fully fund the program.
Why? Because Section 811 is the only federal program that funds housing and vouchers for people with disabilities who seek to live as independent members of the community. I’m pleased to report that for the past four years, Congress has agreed to fully fund this important program.
This year, we are going beyond appropriations. We are seeking to modernize the program, which hasn’t been updated in over fifteen years.
H.R. 5772 is critical to the goal of increasing the number of affordable units for people with disabilities.
By better aligning the Section 811 program with other federal, state, and local funding sources, it allows non-profit sponsors to more easily leverage additional financing, thereby maximizing federal dollars.
By requiring HUD to simplify its more than 400 pages of guidelines, it streamlines the program. In addition, it delegates grant authority to state and local housing authorities, which housing experts agree will make the program more efficient. Finally, the bill calls for a new demonstration project that is estimated to generate as many as 3,000 new units of housing for non-elderly people with disabilities.
Mr. Speaker, the bill we are considering today will make the program more user-friendly and attractive to non-profits that develop permanent housing for those with disabilities. But most importantly, the reforms in this bill will hold enormous benefits for some of the neediest members of our communities.
Before I close, I would like to once again thank my colleague from Connecticut, Congressman Murphy, for working with me on this bill. In addition, I would like to thank Chairman Frank, Ranking Member Bachus, Chairwoman Waters, and Ranking Member Capito, as well as their staffs, for helping us with this legislation.
Of course, I cannot forget to thank one of my constituents from Tinley Park, Illinois, Tony Paulauski, the Executive Director of the Arc of Illinois, who testified before our Committee about the need for these reforms.
And on a similar note, I also would like to thank the wonderful people in Illinois that work for Trinity Services and Cornerstone Services, as well as all those volunteers, parents, and other members of the community who have reached out to me and expressed their support for this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5772 is a common-sense bill that modernizes an important federal housing program that hasn’t been updated in over 15 years. I urge my colleagues to support it, and I reserve the balance of my time. |