Political Quotes

“Mr. President, along with Senator Collins, I am reintroducing legislation that would eliminate the sunset date for the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (the Council) so that this agency can further build upon its success in helping to prevent and end homelessness. The Council was launched under the Reagan Administration as part of the landmark McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987. Since then, it has worked across the Federal government and private sector to coordinate homeless assistance nationally. In 2009, the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing, or HEARTH Act, which I introduced along with Senator Collins and others, expanded the Council's role to work with stakeholders to develop a national strategic plan to end homelessness, which has guided its work to develop effective strategies to prevent and end homelessness. Since 2010 when this national strategic plan was first developed, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reports that overall homelessness has decreased by 13%, chronic homelessness by 16%, and family homelessness by 25%. In addition, we have seen veterans' homelessness drop by 49%.…”