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“HELP FOR HOMELESS VETERANS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E765-E766 on April 26, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
HELP FOR HOMELESS VETERANS
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HON. BOB FILNER
of california
in the house of representatives
Monday, April 26, 1999
Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, following is the testimony I gave on April 22, 1999 to the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education of the Committee on Appropriations:
Thank you for the opportunity to testify this morning on behalf of the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program.
There is virtually no disagreement that one-third of the homeless men in this country are veterans--and that approximately 58 percent of those individuals are veterans of the Vietnam era. In my home town of San Diego, it is estimated that 40-50% of the homeless served in our Armed Forces. This means, Mr. Chairman, that tonight in this great country of ours, more than 275,000 veterans who served their country with honor will sleep in doorways--in boxes--in alleys--and on grates in our cities--and in barns--and lean-tos--and on the ground in rural America. This is a troubling and shameful image and a troubling and shameful reality.
Since 1987, the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program
(HVRP), a modest, cost-effective program designed to help homeless veterans reenter and succeed in the job market, has proven its worth. More than 46,000 homeless veterans have received help and support from the community-based organizations funded under HVRP, and many were placed in jobs at a cost of less than $1,500 per veteran. Few government programs can claim to have achieved so much with so little.
At its fully authorized level of $10 million, HVRP is profoundly underfunded--and the $5 million funding level included in the Administration budget, although a welcome increase over past years, is woefully inadequate. The Department of Labor estimates that $5 million will enable HVRP grantees to assist more than 6,000 veterans and actually place 3,500 homeless veterans in jobs. I ask that you provide the maximum authorization of $10 million for this program so that more than 7,000 veterans may return to economic self-sufficiency and independence.
Mr. Chairman, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans estimates that 550,000 veterans are homeless over the course of a year. This, to me, is an absolutely staggering and tragic statistic--and to limit funding to $10 million for the only program that focuses on employment of veterans who are homeless makes no sense. Consequently, I introduced legislation on Tuesday that would authorize $50 million for HVRP for each fiscal year through 2004. The need is enormous--and the need is real.
I know there are those who ask why we can't simply serve veterans along with other homeless populations. They want to know why we need veteran-specific programs. The answer is rooted in the uniqueness of the shared active-duty military experience--in the discipline, sacrifice, and camaraderie associated with military service. When they go through basic training, young recruits quickly learn that their lives could some day depend on the guy in the next bunk--and that they themselves may be responsible for the lives of their comrades. They learn that they must work together if they are to succeed in their mission--and they will succeed as a group only if each servicemember exercises the self-discipline required to perform responsibly. As a result of this training, homeless veterans respond to, and trust other veterans, and they succeed in programs that replicate the military structure. I expect that the non-veteran homeless population might not benefit from the organization and discipline of veteran-specific homeless programs, but veterans do thrive in this environment.
One of the key factors in the success of HVRP is the outreach to homeless veterans that is most often done by formerly homeless veterans. They are best able to reach out to and convince homeless vets to seek services and assistance. They are best able to recognize the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and arrange for the necessary treatment. They are best able to determine when their fellow veterans are ready to get a job--and to keep a job. And, perhaps most importantly, they are the best possible role models for success. In a recent conversation about the importance of veteran-specific homeless programs, someone said to me--``If one-third of the homeless men in this country spoke only Latin, would it make any sense for homeless providers to speak to them only in English?'' And the answer is--of course not! Veterans speak the same unique language, and they share the same unique experiences. The programs that are based on the principle of
``vets helping vets'' are most likely to succeed with homeless veterans. The Department of Labor is currently funding HVRP programs ion New York, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Texas, and California--and I hope that the members of this Subcommittee who represent those states will make a point of visiting their HVRP grantees and seeing their good work first hand.
Mr. Chairman, I listened closely to the impressive testimony I heard from the veterans' service organizations who testified before the House Veterans Affairs Committee over the past few months--and I sense an urgently and frustration that I've not heard before. America's veterans are telling us that they have done more than their fair share--and now they expect us to be their advocates. They are reminding us that America is safe and free only because of the generations of men and women who willingly endured the hardships and sacrifices required to preserve our liberty. I urge you to demonstrate your commitment to America's veterans and provide full funding for the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program and help bring homeless veterans home.
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