Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. Chairman, this town, this Congress, spends a lot of money to alleviate the pain of poverty, of homelessness, and hunger, but a majority of that money is focused on urban centers. I don't take issue with that. There is a lot of poverty in the urban parts of our country. But so often, the rural parts of America are forgotten.

I have to tell you, coming from rural America, the pain of poverty is just as great, and it affects our communities in rural America just like in urban America. Oftentimes, it can be a lot more complicated, poverty in rural America.

The face of poverty is different in rural America. Instead of having families living on the street, oftentimes we see neighbors, two, three families move into a single-room apartment so they can give their kids shelter.

Last year I hosted a homelessness and hunger summit where I brought in people who provide food and shelter for folks in rural Wisconsin. We had a conversation about what we can do better out of Washington to help them address the pain of this poverty in our community. In regard to the homeless shelters, their main point was that they need flexibility so that they can address the risks of homelessness in our community.

In 2009, a program was included in the HEARTH Act called the Rural Housing Stability Assistance program. This program allows rural communities to serve individuals that don't necessarily meet HUD's definition of homelessness but are, in fact, without a stable home of their own.

My amendment is very simple and doesn't cost a lot of money. It would allow $10 million to be made available for the Rural Housing Stability Assistance program.
Now, take a look at how much money we spend on homelessness--$2.1 billion. My amendment asks for $10 million to be used for the Rural Housing Stability Assistance program. Let's not forget rural America.

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