Sean Reyes: “I rise in support of H.R. 2716, the Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Assistance Act of 2001. I want to thank the chairman…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 2716, the Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Assistance Act of 2001. I want to thank the chairman of the full committee, the gentleman from New Jersey; and our ranking member, the gentleman from Illinois, for responding in a bipartisan fashion to the needs of our Nation's homeless veterans. I fully support the bill's goal of ending chronic homelessness among our Nation's veterans within a decade. I am pleased to see that the bill requires dedicated employees at Veterans Administration regional offices to serve large numbers of our homeless veterans. It is difficult enough for veterans who are not coping with the hardships of homelessness to navigate through the VA bureaucracy. Our homeless veterans often need special assistance. This bill will provide it. Madam Speaker, I would like to direct my remarks today to the great need of some of our most severely disabled and mentally ill homeless veterans. This bill contains a number of provisions to address the special needs of chronically mentally ill homeless veterans. It encourages the VA to make grants targeted to the chronically mentally ill. It requires access to mental health services and substance abuse treatment at VA health care facilities. These veterans clearly need more intensive services in order to achieve stable housing and maximum independence, even if employability is not a realistic goal.”