Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I find very often we tend to stereotype and present a very shallow narrative as to who experiences homelessness or is on the precipice of experiencing it. The reality is that struggle is certainly not a character flaw, and hardship is transcendent. Many of us have disruptive life events: a layoff, a death, a natural disaster, displacement. I could go on. The point is that far too many Americans are living on the brink of financial collapse. So while this administration continues to undo basic protections for those experiencing homelessness, we must be working to support them and help them to regain stability. There is no hierarchy of hurt. As someone who faced multiple eviction notices growing up, I can tell you that losing one's home is every bit as traumatic as losing one's job or being diagnosed with a life- threatening illness. We should be working to help people find housing, not punishing and criminalizing those without it. This amendment would make it clear that Americans facing homelessness are able to get relief under our bill. I am proud to support it. Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague from California for offering this amendment. And in that this is the final amendment, I want to thank Chairwoman Waters for her leadership; the dedicated Financial Services Committee staff; Representative Lawson; and my dedicated A Team, specifically Aya Ibrahim, who has been the lead on this bill. Mr. McHENRY. Mr.…”