II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5140 

To provide for rental assistance for homeless or at-risk Indian veterans, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 29, 2022 

Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. LUJA ́N, and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for rental assistance for homeless or at-risk 

Indian veterans, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. RENTAL ASSISTANCE FOR HOMELESS OR AT4 RISK INDIAN VETERANS. 

5 Section 8(o)(19) of the United States Housing Act 

6 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19)) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub8 paragraph (E); and 

9 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol10 lowing new subparagraph (D): 


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1 ‘‘(D) INDIAN VETERANS HOUSING RENTAL

2 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 

3 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara4 graph: 

5 ‘‘(I) ELIGIBLE INDIAN VET6 ERAN.—The term ‘eligible Indian vet7 eran’ means an Indian veteran who 

8 is— 

9 ‘‘(aa) homeless or at risk of 

10 homelessness; and 

11 ‘‘(bb) living— 

12 ‘‘(AA) on or near a res13 ervation; or 

14 ‘‘(BB) in or near any 

15 other Indian area. 

16 ‘‘(II) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.— 

17 The term ‘eligible recipient’ means a 

18 recipient eligible to receive a grant 

19 under section 101 of the Native 

20 American Housing Assistance and 

21 Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 

22 U.S.C. 4111). 

23 ‘‘(III) INDIAN; INDIAN AREA.— 

24 The terms ‘Indian’ and ‘Indian area’ 

25 have the meanings given those terms 


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1 in section 4 of the Native American 

2 Housing Assistance and Self-Deter3 mination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 

4 4103). 

5 ‘‘(IV) INDIAN VETERAN.—The 

6 term ‘Indian veteran’ means an In7 dian who is a veteran. 

8 ‘‘(V) PROGRAM.—The term ‘Pro9 gram’ means the Tribal HUD–VASH 

10 program carried out under clause (ii). 

11 ‘‘(VI) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 

12 The term ‘tribal organization’ has the 

13 meaning given the term in section 4 

14 of the Indian Self-Determination and 

15 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

16 5304). 

17 ‘‘(ii) PROGRAM SPECIFICATIONS.— 

18 The Secretary shall use not less than 5 

19 percent of the amounts made available for 

20 rental assistance under this paragraph to 

21 carry out a rental assistance and sup22 ported housing program, to be known as 

23 the ‘Tribal HUD–VASH program’, in con24 junction with the Secretary of Veterans AfVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Nov 30, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5140.IS S5140

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1 fairs, by awarding grants for the benefit of 

2 eligible Indian veterans. 

3 ‘‘(iii) MODEL.— 

4 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 

5 provided in subclause (II), the Sec6 retary shall model the Program on the 

7 rental assistance and supported hous8 ing program authorized under sub9 paragraph (A) and applicable appro10 priations Acts, including administra11 tion in conjunction with the Secretary 

12 of Veterans Affairs. 

13 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(aa) SECRETARY OF HOUS15 ING AND URBAN DEVELOP16 MENT.—After consultation with 

17 Indian tribes, eligible recipients, 

18 and any other appropriate tribal 

19 organizations, the Secretary may 

20 make necessary and appropriate 

21 modifications to facilitate the use 

22 of the Program by eligible recipi23 ents to serve eligible Indian vet24 erans. 


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1 ‘‘(bb) SECRETARY OF VET2 ERANS AFFAIRS.—After consulta3 tion with Indian tribes, eligible 

4 recipients, and any other appro5 priate tribal organizations, the 

6 Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

7 may make necessary and appro8 priate modifications to facilitate 

9 the use of the Program by eligi10 ble recipients to serve eligible In11 dian veterans. 

12 ‘‘(iv) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—The 

13 Secretary shall make amounts for rental 

14 assistance and associated administrative 

15 costs under the Program available in the 

16 form of grants to eligible recipients. 

17 ‘‘(v) FUNDING CRITERIA.—The Sec18 retary shall award grants under the Pro19 gram based on— 

20 ‘‘(I) need; 

21 ‘‘(II) administrative capacity; and 

22 ‘‘(III) any other funding criteria 

23 established by the Secretary in a no24 tice published in the Federal Register 


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1 after consulting with the Secretary of 

2 Veterans Affairs. 

3 ‘‘(vi) ADMINISTRATION.—Grants 

4 awarded under the Program shall be ad5 ministered in accordance with the Native 

6 American Housing Assistance and Self-De7 termination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 

8 et seq.), except that recipients shall— 

9 ‘‘(I) submit to the Secretary, in a 

10 manner prescribed by the Secretary, 

11 reports on the utilization of rental as12 sistance provided under the Program; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(II) provide to the Secretary in15 formation specified by the Secretary 

16 to assess the effectiveness of the Pro17 gram in serving eligible Indian vet18 erans. 

19 ‘‘(vii) CONSULTATION.— 

20 ‘‘(I) GRANT RECIPIENTS; TRIBAL

21 ORGANIZATIONS.—The Secretary, in 

22 coordination with the Secretary of 

23 Veterans Affairs, shall consult with el24 igible recipients and any other appro25 priate tribal organization on the deVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Nov 30, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5140.IS S5140

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1 sign of the Program to ensure the ef2 fective delivery of rental assistance 

3 and supportive services to eligible In4 dian veterans under the Program. 

5 ‘‘(II) INDIAN HEALTH SERV6 ICE.—The Director of the Indian 

7 Health Service shall provide any as8 sistance requested by the Secretary or 

9 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in 

10 carrying out the Program. 

11 ‘‘(viii) WAIVER.— 

12 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 

13 provided in subclause (II), the Sec14 retary may waive or specify alter15 native requirements for any provision 

16 of law (including regulations) that the 

17 Secretary administers in connection 

18 with the use of rental assistance made 

19 available under the Program if the 

20 Secretary finds that the waiver or al21 ternative requirement is necessary for 

22 the effective delivery and administra23 tion of rental assistance under the 

24 Program to eligible Indian veterans. 


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1 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTION.—The Sec2 retary may not waive or specify alter3 native requirements under subclause 

4 (I) for any provision of law (including 

5 regulations) relating to labor stand6 ards or the environment. 

7 ‘‘(ix) RENEWAL GRANTS.—The Sec8 retary may— 

9 ‘‘(I) set aside, from amounts 

10 made available for tenant-based rental 

11 assistance under this subsection and 

12 without regard to the amounts used 

13 for new grants under clause (ii), such 

14 amounts as may be necessary to 

15 award renewal grants to eligible re16 cipients that received a grant under 

17 the Program in a previous year; and 

18 ‘‘(II) specify criteria that an eli19 gible recipient must satisfy to receive 

20 a renewal grant under subclause (I), 

21 including providing data on how the 

22 eligible recipient used the amounts of 

23 any grant previously received under 

24 the Program. 

25 ‘‘(x) REPORTING.— 


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1 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Not later 

2 than 1 year after the date of the en3 actment of this subparagraph, and 

4 every 5 years thereafter, the Sec5 retary, in coordination with the Sec6 retary of Veterans Affairs and the Di7 rector of the Indian Health Service, 

8 shall— 

9 ‘‘(aa) conduct a review of 

10 the implementation of the Pro11 gram, including any factors that 

12 may have limited its success; and 

13 ‘‘(bb) submit a report de14 scribing the results of the review 

15 under item (aa) to— 

16 ‘‘(AA) the Committee 

17 on Indian Affairs, the Com18 mittee on Banking, Housing, 

19 and Urban Affairs, the 

20 Committee on Veterans’ Af21 fairs, and the Committee on 

22 Appropriations of the Sen23 ate; and 

24 ‘‘(BB) the Sub25 committee for Indigenous 


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1 Peoples of the United States 

2 of the Committee on Nat3 ural Resources, the Com4 mittee on Financial Services, 

5 the Committee on Veterans’ 

6 Affairs, and the Committee 

7 on Appropriations of the 

8 House of Representatives. 

9 ‘‘(II) ANALYSIS OF HOUSING

10 STOCK LIMITATION.—The Secretary 

11 shall include in the initial report sub12 mitted under subclause (I) a descrip13 tion of— 

14 ‘‘(aa) any regulations gov15 erning the use of formula current 

16 assisted stock (as defined in sec17 tion 1000.314 of title 24, Code of 

18 Federal Regulations (or any suc19 cessor regulation)) within the 

20 Program; 

21 ‘‘(bb) the number of recipi22 ents of grants under the Pro23 gram that have reported the reg24 ulations described in item (aa) as 


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1 a barrier to implementation of 

2 the Program; and 

3 ‘‘(cc) proposed alternative 

4 legislation or regulations devel5 oped by the Secretary in con6 sultation with recipients of 

7 grants under the Program to 

8 allow the use of formula current 

9 assisted stock within the Pro10 gram.’’. 

Æ 


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