Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation to facilitate additional housing and services for Southern California's veterans. It would allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to leverage the resources of local governments and non-profits to build supportive housing for veterans at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center Campus. My colleague Senator Barbara Boxer is a cosponsor of this bill. Congressman Ted Lieu is introducing companion legislation in the House of Representatives. The Department of Veterans Affairs, Mayor of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors all support this legislation. Los Angeles has the largest concentration of homeless veterans in the United States, currently estimated to be 4,300. These are brave men and women who served our nation with honor, and I believe it is our duty to ensure they have access to housing and the clinical services of the Greater Los Angeles VA Health System. This legislation would provide two authorities to the department. First, it would allow the West Los Angeles VA to use enhanced-use leases to engage in public-private partnerships to provide supportive housing for veterans. Enhanced-use leases allow the department to leverage private or local funding and partners to construct new housing on the campus. For example, California passed a bond measure in 2014 that provides $600 million in funding for the construction of supportive veteran housing.…”