Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015
Floor Speech
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Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen, this amendment seeks to increase funding for the National Homeless Data Analysis Project by $2 million. This requested increase from $5 million to $7 million is consistent with both the President's budget request and the appropriations bill the Senate reported out of the committee late last week.
The level of funding provided for in this bill falls below not just requested amounts, but also below the current enacted amount for this program. My amendment amount would solve this discrepancy.
Mr. Chair, homelessness is not only corrosive to individual lives, but also to our national character. It is unthinkable that more than a million people routinely go homeless in the most prosperous nation this world has ever known.
In the struggle to eliminate homelessness, the National Homeless Data Analysis Project is essential. In 2001, Congress directed HUD to ``take the lead on data collection'' on homelessness, and the result was this project. It provides critical resources to communities to improve data collection, reporting, and integration of data with other Federal funding streams.
Over the past decade, the data collection, integration, and reporting produced by this project has allowed HUD and other agencies to move away from using largely anecdotal and often inconsistent evidence to using quality data for policy decisions.
At the end of the day, no matter which side of the aisle we sit on, this is the type of initiative we should all support. Better information leads to better decisionmaking and, ultimately, better policy outcomes, particularly in times of shrinking budgets.
In a policy arena as important as homeless assistance, this House cannot afford to underfund enhanced data collection initiatives. A vote for this amendment is a vote for smarter use of Federal funds and a vote to make every homeless assistance program better targeted and more effective.
In my own district, homelessness is a chronic problem. In the Detroit area during 2012, over 19,000 people were homeless at some point. That figure includes nearly 4,000 children. In order to help them, however, we need to understand the circumstances that have forced them onto the streets.
The 6,000 homeless families with children in Detroit have different needs than homeless adults. Certain similarities between those who are homeless because of unaffordable housing and those who are homeless because of mental illness or domestic violence may hide the critical differences that prevent help from achieving its intended goal.
I fully support any project that would lead to a better accounting of the real experiences of the poorest people in my district or anyone else's and ultimately result in better decisionmaking in the provision and administration of Federal homeless assistance programs. I hope and feel certain that my colleagues feel the same.
This measure is, quite simply, about good government. This measure is not a budget increase. This amendment would simply grant discretion to allocate up to $2 million of the already existing funding in the bill for homelessness assistance grants to the National Homeless Data Analysis Project. It would not increase the overall appropriations under the heading for homelessness assistance grants. Under the $2.1 billion heading for homelessness assistance grant, there is still approximately $100 million in flexibility.
I urge support for the National Homeless Data Analysis Project. I urge support for smarter usage of Federal funds; and I urge support for enhanced policy outcomes. I thank you for the time, and I hope that we can pass this amendment.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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