Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2004-Continued
DEPARTMENTS OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004-CONTINUED
Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, today I rise in support of Senator Sarbane's resolution, which expressed the sense of the Senate that Section 8 housing vouchers are a critical resource and that the Department of Housing and Urban Development should ensure that all vouchers can be used by low-income families. I have joined many of my colleagues as an original cosponsor of this amendment and would like to thank both Senator Bond and Senator Mikulski for including it in the pending VA/HUD Appropriations bill. I would like to commend the Senators for their commitment to balancing the competing housing priorities we face given the constraints they were working under. The Senate provisions are a big improvement over the House bill and would greatly reduce the chances of cuts to this program.
Earlier this year, I joined my colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary Martinez expressing our reservations and concerns about the President's proposal to block grant this critical program. Experience with block grants tells us that this plan could have actually undermined the program and reduced the number of families being served, so I was pleased that both the House and the Senate Committee rejected it.
The fact is the gap between wages and housing costs is growing and is pushing affordable housing beyond the reach of an increasing number of working families. On average, a family in this country must earn $15.21 an hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment, which is almost three times the minimum wage. In my home State of New York, a minimum wage worker would have to work 147 hours a week to afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent. Section 8 vouchers make housing affordable and are making a real difference in the lives of approximately 2 million elderly and disabled individuals as well as families with children across the Nation. We should expand the program so that more families can receive assistance they so desperately need, but if we cannot expand it we should preserve it to ensure that families receiving vouchers can continue to depend on the support they have been promised.
New York's housing crisis is particularly alarming. In my State more than 500,000 renter households, roughly one-fourth of all renters, continue to pay more than half of their income in rent. These rents impose enormous pressures on them and add on to the financial burdens they already face. Many severely disadvantaged households find themselves unable to pay rent and meet their other basic needs. Some are forced to live on the street or in shelters. More than 38,000 homeless people sleep in New York City's shelter system each night, almost double the number of just 5 years ago and the largest annual increase since the Great Depression. The largest and fastest-growing segment of this homeless population is families with children. Section 8 housing vouchers provide a lifeline that helps these individuals make ends meet. We must help America afford safe and decent housing so that parents are not forced to choose between finding the money to pay for rent and putting food on the table.
The Housing Choice Voucher program is more than just a housing program. We know that affordable housing helps families increase their employability, earnings, educational outcomes, and children's well being.
In New York, Section 8 housing vouchers are assisting approximately 200,000 seniors, people with disabilities, and families with children. Under the House VA-HUD appropriations bill, New York could lose 6,020 vouchers, of which approximately 1,840 would go to working families, 1,020 to elderly households, 1,320 to disabled households, and 1,840 to other households. If the final VA-HUD conference report retains the Senate provisions referenced in the Sense of the Senate-directing HUD to fund these vouchers-then none of these vouchers would be lost and all of these families would be helped.
As this bill moves forward during conference, I urge my colleagues to support this language. It sends a message to HUD that America is depending on housing vouchers to ensure that all of our families can afford a safe, decent and adequate place to live.
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AMENDMENT NO. 2184
Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I rise to offer an amendment that would provide education awards to all volunteers who are part of the VISTA-Volunteers in Service to America-program, which is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Before I begin, I want to thank Senator BOND and Senator MIKULSKI for all the hard work they have done to support national and community service. They have been real champions of this program. I would also like to thank Senators SNOWE, KENNEDY, CHAFEE, HARKIN, REED, MURRAY, and DODD for co-sponsoring this amendment. This amendment that I rise to offer today is not a partisan amendment-I know that I have support on both sides of the aisle because the VISTA program has such deep, strong roots among many political leaders on both sides of the aisle.
The VISTA program was first envisioned by President Kennedy soon after the Peace Corps was created. And in 1965, as part of President Johnson's War on Poverty, President Kennedy's dream was realized.
VISTA, like Head Start and so many other lasting anti-poverty programs, was created to serve the needs of the poorest Americans. On December 12, 1964, just four months after the legislation was enacted, President and Lady Bird Johnson welcomed the first group of twenty VISTA volunteers with these remarks:
Your pay will be low; the conditions of your labor often will be difficult. But you will have the satisfaction of leading a great national effort and you will have the ultimate reward which comes to those who serve their fellow man.
When my husband championed the effort to dramatically expand national service and create AmeriCorps, he wanted to preserve this important part of President Kennedy and President Johnson's legacy. The VISTA program was authorized within the National and Community Service Trust Act and today it is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service.
A staple of the program since its inclusion within the National and Community Service Trust Act is that every member who signs up shall receive a choice-a scholarship toward their education or a cash stipend. In recent years, more than two-thirds of the individuals participating in the VISTA program have opted for the education scholarship instead of the cash stipend.
In November of 2002, the Corporation for National and Community Service began denying new volunteers the option of receiving education awards. They were provided cash stipends, regardless of their preference.
I began hearing from New Yorkers who were frustrated by the decision. They felt like they had been duped-given a bait and switch. Their morale dropped dramatically and some have resigned as a result. Many saw a fundamental problem of equity. Members were passed over for education and awards while those who enrolled just two months later received them. I'm sure we all agree that this is unfair.
New Yorkers described to me the difference that VISTA has made in their life and in the lives of people they serve and expressed their frustration about what has happened to the program. Two New York VISTA members serving in West Seneca, New York developed a pilot program for ex-offenders, and I want to tell you a little bit about the first graduate: "he got his driver's license and was getting things in order for this first apartment ever-he had been incarcerated for 28 years, since his youth. The joy on the guy's face was unbelievable and I was proud to know that two VISTA members had made it possible," said one of them.
Across the country, at least 1,766 volunteers who were affected by this decision, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service. The organization established to support the VISTA program-called Friends of Vista-estimates the impact at 3,200.
I do not want to haggle over the numbers or argue about who's to blame. I simply want the problem addressed.
This amendment is straightforward and simple. It says that VISTA volunteers shall be provided the option of receiving an education award or a cash stipend, consistent with the law and current practice. It does not have a cost associated with it, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and rectify this injustice.