Political Quotes

“Ladies and gentlemen, this amendment seeks to increase funding for the National Homeless Data Analysis Project by $2 million. This requested increase from $5 million to $7 million is consistent with both the President's budget request and the appropriations bill the Senate reported out of the committee late last week. The level of funding provided for in this bill falls below not just requested amounts, but also below the current enacted amount for this program. My amendment amount would solve this discrepancy. Mr. Chair, homelessness is not only corrosive to individual lives, but also to our national character. It is unthinkable that more than a million people routinely go homeless in the most prosperous nation this world has ever known. In the struggle to eliminate homelessness, the National Homeless Data Analysis Project is essential. In 2001, Congress directed HUD to ``take the lead on data collection'' on homelessness, and the result was this project. It provides critical resources to communities to improve data collection, reporting, and integration of data with other Federal funding streams. Over the past decade, the data collection, integration, and reporting produced by this project has allowed HUD and other agencies to move away from using largely anecdotal and often inconsistent evidence to using quality data for policy decisions. At the end of the day, no matter which side of the aisle we sit on, this is the type of initiative we should all support.…”