Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the amendment of my friend and colleague, Congressman Lieu, that would allow the Department of Veterans Affairs and community partners to address the needs of homeless veterans in the Los Angeles area by authorizing the use of innovative funding streams. Currently, the VA's West Los Angeles Leasing Act of 2016 restricts funding. Any Federal revenue generated from leases on the West Los Angeles VA campus may be used only for the renovation and maintenance of land and facilities. This means that while the VA can use proceeds from the leases to pay for things like running utility lines, they cannot use funds for the supportive services that veterans residing on the campus need. Los Angeles has the largest homeless veteran population in the country, with close to 10 percent of all homeless veterans across the U.S. residing there. The West LA VA hospital campus provides an enormous opportunity to provide shelter and support for those who have served our Nation, but face hard times, by building a supportive community for veterans. We have made great strides at the West LA VA campus to address veteran homelessness, but there is still so much more that needs to be done. Specifically, this amendment will ensure that the West LA VA is able to collect $25 million from the Los Angeles Purple Line Metro easement and put that money toward housing and supportive services for homeless veterans.…”