SECTION 8 VOUCHER REFORM ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - July 12, 2007)
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(Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Let me thank the distinguished gentlelady from Illinois for yielding me the time.
Mr. Chairman, this is a historic occasion, a historic time. I want to express my appreciation to the chairman of the full committee, Mr. Frank, and the chairwoman of the subcommittee, Congresswoman Waters, and the ranking members, for what I hope will ultimately be an enormous step forward for the homeless and the underserved.
I also want to acknowledge my colleague and friend, Congressman Al Green, who has worked so hard to ensure that cities who have the background of Houston, Texas, are also accounted for. Those are cities that have for years had thousands of individuals on the waiting list.
I think the number 25,000 in Houston has literally become a number of the decade, because there has been a waiting list of 25,000 for as long as I can remember, having served on the Houston City Council.
I am very pleased to acknowledge that we are going to reorder the formula so that cities can borrow against moneys that are already in their account, so that the cities that have an excessive number of individuals on the waiting list can still be able to utilize those dollars.
I want to pay special attention to the resources that will be utilized for the disabled and special resources that are going to be utilized for innovative programs dealing with, for example, the housing innovation program, which has previously been Moving to Work.
One of the issues that I hope that we will look forward to is giving incentives to cities to help them reduce the waiting list. Now, you can change the formula, and I had an amendment that would provide at least a pilot study to construct, if you will, an incentive to make sure that cities took advantage of this new structure and worked hard to reduce the waiting list.
It is one thing to have the laws in place. It is another thing to have housing authorities sit by and just watch, rather than working very hard to bring down their list.
I am very grateful that we now have an understanding that there is less and less affordable housing being built in America. These individuals that use section 8 vouchers are working people, people who are paying their taxes, who cannot find housing in high-priced markets. This section 8 voucher program will allow these individuals to purchase homes. They are creative, unique and forward thinking, because they are individuals who have put their stake down in these particular areas.
I am also hoping, as I close, and I am hoping that we will continue to work on this issue, is to ensure individuals will not be put out because of combat pay for soldiers who are coming back.
I ask my colleagues to support this legislation.
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Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1851, the ``Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2007.'' I support this bipartisan measure for three important reasons. First, H.R. 1851 reforms Section 8 vouchers to make their allocation more efficient and targets them based on need. Second, the legislation also increases access for rural families, and expands the number of families receiving housing vouchers. Third, the bill permits families to use housing vouchers as a down payment on a first-time home purchase, and includes other provisions to encourage family self-sufficiency including incentives for families to obtain employment, increase earned income, pursue higher education, and save for retirement.
I wish to express my special thanks to the Chair of the Financial Services Committee, Mr. FRANK, for his leadership and commitment to affordable housing for low and moderate income families. Let me also thank the gentlewoman from California, Ms. WATERS, the Chair of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity for her yeoman work in bringing this important and much needed legislation to the House floor today.
Mr. Chairman, a strong America requires strong families and communities. Affordable housing is critical to maintaining strong families and communities. Section 8 housing vouchers provide vital rental assistance for low-income families, seniors, and the disabled to help them afford housing. The Section 8 housing voucher program contributes to the strengthening of our nation. Let me discuss briefly for our colleagues some of the more beneficial provisions in the legislation.
The legislation eliminates inefficiencies that have resulted in $1.4 billion in unused funds and provides incentives for agencies to use funds to assist more families. Thus, the voucher Funding Formula is made more efficient and will lead to an increase in the number of families receiving vouchers. And that is good because the number of housing vouchers issued has declined more than 150,000 since 2004. The bill authorizes 20,000 incremental vouchers in each of the next five years, for a total of 100,000 new vouchers.
Mr. Chairman, I also support this legislation because it protects tenant rights, promotes home ownership, and encourages economic self-sufficiency for low income voucher and public housing families. The legislation also protects housing agencies adversely affected by formula changes, by allowing them to use voucher reserves in the transition to maintain the number of families being assisted.
Homeownership is promoted because, for the first time, families will be permitted to use housing vouchers as a down-payment on a first-time home purchase, and to use vouchers for purchase of a manufactured home on leased land. Economic self-sufficiency for low income voucher and public housing families is encouraged because H.R. 1851 includes several incentives for families to obtain employment, increase earned income, pursue higher education, and save for retirement. The bill also increases voucher opportunities for lower-income working families in rural areas.
Finally, the bill contains several tenant protections, including provisions to preserve voucher families' ability to move to other areas, to address excessive voucher rent burdens, to provide for more accurate fair market rent calculations, and to protect voucher holders in units that are in need of repair.
Mr. Chairman, for millions of our fellow citizens, finding safe and affordable housing is still a constant and often futile struggle. Today, about 1.4 million households nationwide participate in the voucher program; but not all qualified applicants are guaranteed housing. The demand for housing assistance consistently exceeds the limited resources available from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and local government agencies. Long waiting lists have, unfortunately, become very common.
In my hometown of Houston, the largest city in Texas, and the fourth largest in the United States, there is a multi-year backlog of applications for individuals seeking government assistance. It is not unusual for individuals and families to be placed on the waiting list for more than three years.
I believe it imperative that something be done to reduce this backlog. That is why I offered an amendment to the bill that would establish a pilot program to aid in the reduction of Section 8 waiting list.
Mr. Chairman, I also offered an amendment providing that funds received by a section 8 family from a family member serving in the Armed Forces in a hostile combat theater be excluded from the computation of income for eligibility purposes.
The military is one of Americans most precious resources and one whose efforts ought to never be taken for granted. Daily, these men and women in uniform risk their lives to ensure the national security and safety of our country. One way to express our gratitude to them is to offer relief to their family members.
Eligibility for housing vouchers is typically based on the family size and the total annual gross income, which ought to not exceed 50 percent of the median income for the area in which they choose to live. HUD's Housing Voucher (HCV) handbook lists both special pay (except pay received by a service member who is exposed to hostile fire) and the Base Housing Allowance (BAH) as income for purposes of determining a family's income eligibility. Excluding monies received by section 8 tenants from family members serving in combat zones when evaluating income eligibility for Section 8 housing would provide a little piece of mind to the families of these soldiers serving overseas.
The final amendment I offered sought to provide economic opportunities to Section 8 tenants by requiring the Secretary of the Housing and Urban Development carry out programs whereby public housing agencies develop curriculums and policies designed to increase employment and contracting opportunities for recipients of tenant-based rental assistance under the United States Housing Act of 1937. These economic opportunities can be in the form of maintenance, inspection, and management of rental properties for which rental assistance is provided.
Families living with Section 8 vouchers can achieve self-sufficiency through active participation in education and employment. Self-sufficiency eliminates the need to be dependent on public assistance and increase one's self esteem and sense of accomplishment. My amendment was intended to help section 8 become more economically independent.
But taken as a whole, Mr. Chairman, H.R. 1851 is a very good bill and represents a significant step forward in the direction of an enlightened policy of affordable housing. Accordingly, I strongly support H.R. 1851, the ``Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2007.'' I urge my colleagues to join in voting for this much need legislation.
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