Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for 2008
The distinguished chairman, Mr. Obey, and Chair of the Subcommittee on Housing, Mr. Olver, had to make many difficult decisions in drafting this bill, and I am pleased that most of our vital housing programs see increases over the President's budget request for funding year 2008. As Chair of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, I believe this bill will preserve many of the housing programs we have fought for over the years.
On July 12, the House passed H.R. 1851, the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act, by an overwhelming bipartisan majority. A central purpose of H.R. 1851 is to provide reliable, adequate funding for the Nation's largest subsidized housing program, buffeted in recent fiscal years.
In light of this, I am troubled that the President once again grossly underfunded section 8 in his budget request, asking for a mere $8 million above last year's funding level for the renewal of section 8 housing vouchers, an amount that won't even cover the cost of inflation. I commend Chairman Olver for rejecting this abysmal funding level and putting the dollars needed back into the section 8 program.
I also urge my colleagues in the Senate to take up the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act and to pass the companion bill so that we can make needed reforms and bring stability and security to this critical program.
I am honored to be an original cosponsor of the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007, H.R. 2895, which will provide for the preservation and construction of 1.5 million units of affordable housing over the next 10 years. Because preservation begins with funding the units we have now, I am pleased that the bill increases the funding for project-based rental assistance by $667 million over the President's request; however, I am dismayed at the news that the Department has not paid some project-based owners for the month of July. It isn't enough for us to appropriate the dollars; HUD has to get them out of the door. I urge the Department to make these payments on time so that we do not risk losing owners of precious affordable housing units.
For too many years, the Nation's public housing program has been grossly underfunded. In 2007, PHAs will only receive between 82 cents and 85 cents for every dollar it costs to run public housing, impacting their ability to repair and maintain public housing units. By increasing funding for public housing programs to levels above the President's request, this bill maintains our investment in public housing. I am also pleased that the committee has rejected the administration's attempt not only to kill the HOPE VI program, but to take back prior-year funds appropriated by this House. The HOPE VI program needs to be updated, but it is a valuable program. That is why we'll soon introduce a bill to reauthorize and improve HOPE VI providing for, among other things, one-for-one replacement and the right of residents to return to a revitalized public housing unit.
Again, I want to applaud the committee for ensuring that the CDBG program is not severely underfunded. The CDBG program is funded at $3.396 billion, representing a $225 million increase compared to funding year 2006 funding level and $959 million above the President's funding year 2008 request. CDBG is vital to communities all over the country, providing valuable resources for almost every program imaginable from seniors programs to gang violence eradication programs. Without this increased level of funding, one of the Federal Government's only poverty fighting tools would have been stretched to the limit, leaving many communities desperate.
In addition, the bill provides funding for other key programs the administration sought to zero out, including the Brownfields, the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program, and rural housing and economic development. The bill also maintains critical funding for the HOME program, Native American and Hawaiian housing grants, fair housing enforcement, and housing counseling.
Some of these important programs were scheduled to expire without reauthorization, but reauthorization without funding is the equivalent of killing a program.
Finally, the House today passed a resolution that I was pleased to cosponsor with Congressman Shays commemorating the 20th anniversary of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987. While this is not a birthday for any of us we would prefer to be celebrating, these programs remain effective and desperately needed. Therefore, I am pleased that the bill funds the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grant at $1.561 billion, a full $234 million over funding year 2006.
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