Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to introduce bipartisan legislation with my colleague Senator Portman that would expand the definition of ``homeless'' used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, to ensure all homeless children and families are considered eligible for existing Federal homeless assistance programs. This change in the definition would be in alignment with what is already currently used by the U.S. Department of Education. According to the U.S. Department of Education, approximately 1.2 million children were homeless during the 2012-2013 school year, which accounts fora 6 percent increase from the 1,166,436 homeless students enrolled in the 2011-2012 school year. In California, 259,656 children experienced homelessness last year. This increase is nearly four times the 65,000 homeless children that were reported in California in 2003. Unfortunately, the numbers reported by the HUD ``Point-in-Time Count'' fail to accurately reflect the upward trend in homeless families. According to the 2013 HUD ``Point-in-Time Count,'' there were only 222,197 people counted as homeless in households that included children, a fraction of the number reported by the Department of Education. This issue is important because only those children and their families counted by HUD are eligible for vital homeless assistance programs.…”