Letter to The Honorable Patty Murray, Chairwoman, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and The Honorable Christopher Bond, Ranking Member...
Letter
Letter to The Honorable Patty Murray, Chairwoman, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and The Honorable Christopher Bond, Ranking Member, Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development
May 1, 2007
The Honorable Patty Murray
Chairwoman
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Christopher Bond
Ranking Member
Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairwoman Murray and Ranking Member Bond:
We are writing to urge you to support the highest fiscally responsible increase in funding for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program in the FY08 THUD appropriations bill. While we understand that many federal programs face tight funding constraints, we are concerned that the current level of funding for the Section 8 program does not come close to meeting the rental assistance need that currently exists in communities nationwide.
Americans face increasingly unaffordable rental burdens and a lack of safe and affordable housing stock that will only be compounded without an adequate increase in funding for the Section 8 program.
As you know, the housing affordability burden falls most heavily on low-income renters throughout our country. We were pleased with your leadership during the drafting of the Continuing Resolution and the
increased funding in the CR provided for Section 8. While maintaining funding for the vouchers that are currently in use, we must also provide enough funding to support new, or as they are known in the housing community, incremental Section 8 vouchers. According to the 2006 U.S. Conference of Mayors Hunger and Homelessness Survey, housing requests from low income families increased in 86 percent of the surveyed cities. Cities around the country continue to report more demand for Section 8 vouchers than they
are able to meet due to lack of federal funding. Unfortunately, waiting lists will only grow longer if the Section 8 program does not receive increased funding.
While there are certainly areas of the Section 8 program that need to be examined and perhaps reformed, a number of different government agencies and advocacy organizations, including the Government Accountability Office and the Bipartisan Millennial Housing Commission, all cite the effectiveness of
Section 8 in assisting low-income families in meeting some of their housing needs. The Millennial Housing Commission stated that the vouchers "should continue to be the linchpin of a national policy providing very low-income renters access to the privately owned housing stock" and called on Congress to fund substantial annual increments of Section 8 vouchers for families who need housing assistance. With an increase in funding for Section 8 in FY08, our communities will be better equipped to meet the rising demand for rental housing assistance.
Thank you for your consideration to our request. Your continued leadership on affordable housing issues is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Russell D. Feingold
United States Senator
Susan M. Collins
United States Senator
Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator
Tom Harkin
United States Senator
John F. Kerry
United States Senator
Maria Cantwell
United States Senator
Sherrod Brown
United States Senator
Edward M. Kennedy
United States Senator
Norm Coleman
United States Senator
Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator
Barack Obama
United States Senator
Sheldon Whitehouse
United States Senator
Herb Kohl
United States Senator
Robert Menendez
United States Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton
United States Senator
Bernard Sanders
United States Senator
Benjamin L. Cardin
United States Senator
Barbara A. Mikulski
United States Senator
Ron Wyden
United States Senator
Joseph Lieberman
United States Senator
Patrick Leahy
United States Senator
Jeff Bingaman
United States Senator
Mary Landrieu
United States Senator
Robert Casey
United States Senator
Max Baucus
United States Senator
Jon Tester
United States Senator
Benjamin Cardin
United States Senator
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