WASHINGTON – Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, made the following remarks to open a hearing before the committee and introduce West Virginia native – and committee witness – Amy Weintraub: 

“Thank you, Chairwoman Waters, for scheduling this hearing today on the reauthorization of the McKinney-Vento Act   I want to take this opportunity to welcome one of our witnesses today, Amy Weintraub, Executive Director of the  Covenant House in Charleston, WV.  Amy is a good friend and a tireless advocate for the homeless in not only Charleston, West Virginia, but also the surrounding metropolitan area.   She has been very active in the Charleston Community and in West Virginia over the last decade within the homelessness advocacy community and many other issues including health care, education, and domestic violence.  I would like to thank her and all of our witnesses for taking time from their schedules to share their experiences on the front lines of helping to end homelessness.

“While the overall number of homeless families and individuals in this country is extremely difficult to predict, on any given day, it is estimated that at least 700,000 people are homeless in the U.S. and as many as 2.3 – 3.5 million people experience homelessness at least once during an average year.   Unfortunately, this number continues to grow.  In recent years, cities in my district like Charleston have seen an increase in their homeless shelter occupants.  While the numbers continue to grow, there is little consensus on why and there appears to be even less consensus on how best to address the problem.

“Two comprehensive homeless bills have been introduced in the 110th Congress.   H.R. 840, the “Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2007,” introduced by Congresswoman Julia Carson with Congressman Geoff Davis as an original cosponsor; and S. 1518, the “Community Partnership to End Homelessness Act” introduced by Geoff Davis and Senators Jack Reed and Wayne Allard.  The Senate Committee on Banking and Urban Affairs approved S. 1518 on September 19, 2007.  In addition to the Carson and Reed bills, the Administration has recently transmitted a legislative proposal to Congress that is similar to the bills introduced by Senators Reed and Allard.  I want to take this opportunity to commend our colleague Congresswoman Carson for the work that she has done on this issue.  I am sorry that she cannot be with us today and I hope that she will be feeling better soon and be back with us working on this important issue in the days ahead.

“My hope is that this hearing today and the recent action by our Senate colleagues on S. 1518 will represent an important step forward in determining how best to go about fixing this country’s serious homeless problem.  There are many areas of agreement when you compare the various homeless legislative proposals.  For example, there is general consensus among the legislative proposals that consolidation of the three competitive grant programs into one program under the Continuum of Care process would be beneficial.  In fact, the Senate and the HEARTH bills, as well as the Administration’s proposal, call for this consolidation.   This consolidation would alleviate the need for HUD to review each project individually, which could cut the time it takes HUD to approve projects to an estimated 3 months.  Consolidation would also increase local control and flexibility of funding decisions, which would help the programs’ effectiveness and efficiency.
 
“Reauthorization and reform of the McKinney-Vento homeless programs is an important goal.  I know that we can certainly better address the pressing needs of the homeless across this country.  This is a bipartisan issue.  I believe that the first step to making progress and moving forward is to focus on the areas of agreement and less on where there is disagreement.  I know that both Congresswoman Biggert and Chairwoman Waters are committed to working on comprehensive legislation to reform and reauthorize the McKinney Vento homeless programs, and I want to pledge my willingness as the new Ranking Member of the Housing Subcommittee to work together with them on this important issue.  

“Thank you again Chairwoman Waters for holding this important hearing and I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today.” 

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