Homeless Veterans Credit Repair, Enhancement, and Debt Improvement for Tomorrow Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, my friend from California, for moving this bill through the committee as quickly as he did.

I rise today in support of the bill, H.R. 1257, the Homeless Veterans Credit Repair, Enhancement, and Debt Improvement for Tomorrow Act.

We know that veterans' homelessness continues to be a blight on our Nation. Congress and advocates from across the country have worked hard to nearly halve the homeless veteran population in the past decade.

Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic jeopardized this progress by negatively impacting the credit and financial stability of our Nation's veterans.

Now is the time to redouble our efforts and do everything we can to ensure stable housing for veterans. We must start by examining the underlying causes of veteran homelessness in our Nation.

The VA has declared credit and financial counseling services a top 10 unmet need for our homeless veterans. My bill directs the Secretary of the VA to conduct a study of the credit and financial counseling services available to homeless veterans and veterans facing housing instability. The study will assess current services available to veterans and the barriers they face in utilizing them, including the COVID-19 pandemic and other health challenges.

During a time of such economic uncertainty, we must look out for our most vulnerable communities, including homeless veterans and veterans experiencing housing instability. We have a responsibility to help those who served in uniform and stood ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

The CREDIT Act will identify the credit and financial counseling services needed to help our veterans avoid financial pitfalls and make informed decisions about their future.

Madam Speaker, again, I thank Chairman Takano for his partnership on this issue, and I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense, bipartisan legislation. Together, we can improve veterans' financial literacy to build a better life for themselves after they complete their service to our country.

Madam Speaker, I also thank my staff member, Jake Freed, who basically came up with this idea, after talking to various veterans groups, and put this together.

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