I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2141 

To reform the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2009 

Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. HASTINGS

of Florida, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. RUSH, Mr. HARE, Mr. SIRES, 

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. LEWIS of 

Georgia, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Ms. CLARKE, and Ms. 

FUDGE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To reform the United States Interagency Council on 

Homelessness. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Interagency Council 

5 on Homelessness Reform Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MISSION. 

7 Section 201 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist8 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11311) is amended by inserting be9 fore the period at the end the following ‘‘whose mission 


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1 shall be to coordinate the Federal response to homeless2 ness and to create a national partnership at every level 

3 of government and with the private sector to reduce and 

4 end homelessness in the Nation while maximizing the ef5 fectiveness of the Federal Government in contributing to 

6 the end of homelessness’’. 

7 SEC. 3. MEMBERS. 

8 Subsection (a) of section 202 of the McKinney-Vento 

9 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11312(a)) is amend10 ed— 

11 (1) by redesignating paragraph (16) as para12 graph (19); and 

13 (2) by inserting after paragraph (15) the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(16) The Commissioner of Social Security, or 

16 the designee of the Commissioner. 

17 ‘‘(17) The Attorney General of the United 

18 States, or the designee of the Attorney General. 

19 ‘‘(18) The Director of the Office of Manage20 ment and Budget, or the designee of the Director.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. MEETINGS. 

22 Subsection (c) of section 202 of the McKinney-Vento 

23 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11312(c)) is amend24 ed by striking ‘‘annually’’ and inserting ‘‘four times each 

25 year, and the rotation of the positions of Chairperson and 


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1 Vice Chairperson required under subsection (b) shall occur 

2 at the first meeting of each year’’. 

3 SEC. 5. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. 

4 (a) SENATE CONFIRMATION.—Subsection (a) of sec5 tion 204 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 11314(a)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘The Council shall appoint an 

8 Executive Director’’ and inserting ‘‘The President 

9 shall appoint an Executive Director, with the advice 

10 and consent of the Senate, who shall serve at the 

11 pleasure of the President, and’’; 

12 (2) by striking the last sentence. 

13 (b) REPORTING TO DIRECTOR OF DOMESTIC POLICY

14 COUNCIL.—Section 202 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 

15 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11312) is amended by adding 

16 at the end the following new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATION.—The Executive Director of 

18 the Council shall report to the Director of Domestic Policy 

19 Council.’’. 

20 SEC. 6. DUTIES. 

21 Section 203 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist22 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11313) is amended—— 

23 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), 

2 (3), (4), (5), (6), and (7) as paragraphs (2), 

3 (3), (4), (5), (10), (11), and (12), respectively; 

4 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 

5 so redesignated by paragraph (1), the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) not later than the expiration of the 12- 

7 month period beginning upon the date of the enact8 ment of the Interagency Council on Homelessness 

9 Reform Act of 2009, develop, make available for 

10 public comment, and submit to the President and to 

11 the Congress a national plan to end homelessness for 

12 all Americans, setting forth actions to accomplish 

13 such goal, and update such plan every 2 years;’’; 

14 (C) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated 

15 by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, by in16 serting before the semicolon at the end the fol17 lowing: ‘‘and ensure that related programs and 

18 activities to assist homeless individuals of Fed19 eral agencies are coordinated with each other’’; 

20 and 

21 (D) by inserting after paragraph (5), as so 

22 redesignated by subparagraph (A) of this para23 graph, the following: 

24 ‘‘(6) develop constructive alternatives to crim25 inalizing homelessness and eliminate laws and poliVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:22 May 05, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2141.IH H2141

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1 cies that prohibit sleeping, feeding, sitting, resting, 

2 or lying in public spaces when there are no suitable 

3 alternatives, result in the destruction of a homeless 

4 person’s property without due process, or are selec5 tively enforced against homeless persons; 

6 ‘‘(7) makes recommendations, in the reports 

7 submitted pursuant to subsection (b) on— 

8 ‘‘(A) long-term goals for the Congress to 

9 reduce homelessness; and 

10 ‘‘(B) legislative strategies for the Congress 

11 to achieve such goals; 

12 ‘‘(8) evaluate the Federal role in interacting 

13 and coordinating with State and local entities that 

14 address homelessness; 

15 ‘‘(9) conduct research and develop methods— 

16 ‘‘(A) through consultation with State and 

17 local agencies, to improve coordination between 

18 the Council and Federal agencies in existence 

19 upon the date of enactment of the Interagency 

20 Council on Homelessness Reform Act of 2009 

21 that specifically deal with homelessness; and 

22 ‘‘(B) to minimize the period during which 

23 individuals remain homeless;’’; and 

24 (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 

25 following new paragraphs: 


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1 ‘‘(3) BIENNIAL REPORT.—The Council shall 

2 prepare and transmit to the President and the Con3 gress a biennial report detailing the efforts of the 

4 Council to address homelessness. 

5 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Council shall 

6 make each report submitted to the Congress pursu7 ant to this paragraph, or paragraph (2) or (3) of 

8 this subsection, and the national plan and updates 

9 of such plan submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) of 

10 subsection (a), publicly available, including through 

11 posting on a World Wide Web site maintained by 

12 the Council.’’. 

13 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is 

15 amended by striking section 208 (42 U.S.C. 11318) and 

16 inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 208. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

19 this title $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2009 and such sums 

20 as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2010 through 

21 2015. Any amounts appropriated to carry out this title 

22 shall remain available until expended.’’. 

Æ 


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