Political Quotes

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a cosponsor of H.R. 6361, the Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act of 2012. I strongly urge my colleagues to support its passage. Put simply, this legislation will ensure that we don't punish low- income disabled veterans who are seeking or receiving housing assistance simply because of their disability benefits. Currently, if a veteran gets help with in-home care for their disability, that help is incorrectly calculated as income, which increases their housing costs. For purposes of section 8 and public housing assistance, H.R. 6361 would exempt from a veteran's income his or her service-related disability benefits as well as expenses for in-home aid and care. It also reforms how section 8 and other housing programs calculate utility subsidies, and it awards grants to rehabilitate and modify homes for our disabled and low-income veterans. As part of our effort to eliminate homelessness among veterans and help low-income veterans, our Financial Services Committee has closely examined the housing barriers facing disabled and low-income veterans. As recently as last week, we heard from veterans like Cassondra Flanagan of Philadelphia, who asked us specifically to fix how government programs treat disability benefits in their financial assessments. H.R.…”