I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4359 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 9, 2017 

Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico (for himself and Mr. RUIZ) introduced 

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

A BILL 

To provide for rental assistance for homeless or at-risk 

Indian veterans. 

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 ‘‘Tribal HUD–VASH 

5 Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RENTAL ASSISTANCE FOR HOMELESS OR AT-RISK 

7 INDIAN VETERANS. 

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

9 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19)) is amended by adding 

10 at the end the following: 


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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) residing in or near an 

12 Indian area. 

13 ‘‘(II) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.— 

14 The term ‘eligible recipient’ means a 

15 recipient eligible to receive a grant 

16 under section 101 of the Native 

17 American Housing Assistance and 

18 Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 

19 U.S.C. 4111). 

20 ‘‘(III) INDIAN.—The term ‘In21 dian’ has the meaning given the term 

22 in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter23 mination and Education Assistance 

24 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 


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1 ‘‘(IV) INDIAN AREA.—The term 

2 ‘Indian area’ has the meaning given 

3 the term in section 4 of the Native 

4 American Housing Assistance and 

5 Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 

6 U.S.C. 4103). 

7 ‘‘(V) INDIAN VETERAN.—The 

8 term ‘Indian veteran’ means an In9 dian who is a veteran. 

10 ‘‘(VI) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 

11 The term ‘tribal organization’ has the 

12 meaning given the term in section 4 

13 of the Indian Self-Determination and 

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

15 5304). 

16 ‘‘(ii) PROGRAM SPECIFICATIONS.— 

17 The Secretary shall use not less than 5 

18 percent of the amounts made available for 

19 rental assistance under this subsection to 

20 carry out a rental assistance and sup21 ported housing program (in this subpara22 graph referred to as the ‘Program’), in 

23 conjunction with the Secretary of Veterans 

24 Affairs, for the benefit of eligible Indian 

25 veterans. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) MODEL.— 

2 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 

3 provided in subclause (II), the Sec4 retary shall model the Program on the 

5 rental assistance and supported hous6 ing program authorized under sub7 paragraph (A) and applicable appro8 priations Acts, including administra9 tion in conjunction with the Secretary 

10 of Veterans Affairs. 

11 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(aa) SECRETARY OF HOUS13 ING AND URBAN DEVELOP14 MENT.—After consultation with 

15 Indian tribes, eligible recipients, 

16 and any other appropriate tribal 

17 organizations, the Secretary may 

18 make necessary and appropriate 

19 modifications to facilitate the use 

20 of the Program by eligible recipi21 ents to serve eligible Indian vet22 erans. 

23 ‘‘(bb) SECRETARY OF VET24 ERANS AFFAIRS.—After consulta25 tion with Indian tribes, eligible 


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1 recipients, and any other appro2 priate tribal organizations, the 

3 Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

4 may make necessary and appro5 priate modifications to facilitate 

6 the use of the Program by eligi7 ble recipients to serve eligible In8 dian veterans. 

9 ‘‘(iv) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—The 

10 Secretary shall make amounts for rental 

11 assistance and associated administrative 

12 costs under the Program available to eligi13 ble recipients. 

14 ‘‘(v) FUNDING CRITERIA.—The Sec15 retary shall award rental assistance under 

16 the Program based on— 

17 ‘‘(I) need; 

18 ‘‘(II) administrative capacity; and 

19 ‘‘(III) any other funding criteria 

20 established by the Secretary in a no21 tice published in the Federal Register 

22 after consulting with the Secretary of 

23 Veterans Affairs. 

24 ‘‘(vi) ADMINISTRATION.—Rental as25 sistance made available under the Program 


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1 shall be administered in accordance with 

2 the Native American Housing Assistance 

3 and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 

4 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.), except that grantees 

5 shall— 

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

7 manner prescribed by the Secretary, 

8 reports on the utilization of rental as9 sistance provided under the Program; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(II) provide to the Secretary in12 formation specified by the Secretary 

13 to assess the effectiveness of the Pro14 gram in serving eligible Indian vet15 erans. 

16 ‘‘(vii) CONSULTATION.— 

17 ‘‘(I) GRANT RECIPIENTS; TRIBAL

18 ORGANIZATIONS.—The Secretary, in 

19 coordination with the Secretary of 

20 Veterans Affairs, shall consult with el21 igible recipients and any other appro22 priate tribal organization on the de23 sign of the Program to ensure the ef24 fective delivery of rental assistance 


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1 and supportive services to eligible In2 dian veterans under the Program. 

3 ‘‘(II) INDIAN HEALTH SERV4 ICE.—The Director of the Indian 

5 Health Service shall provide any as6 sistance requested by the Secretary or 

7 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in 

8 carrying out the Program. 

9 ‘‘(viii) WAIVER.— 

10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 

11 provided in subclause (II), the Sec12 retary may waive or specify alter13 native requirements for any provision 

14 of law (including regulations) that the 

15 Secretary administers in connection 

16 with the use of rental assistance made 

17 available under the Program if the 

18 Secretary finds that the waiver or al19 ternative requirement is necessary for 

20 the effective delivery and administra21 tion of rental assistance under the 

22 Program to eligible Indian veterans. 

23 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTION.—The Sec24 retary may not waive or specify alter25 native requirements under subclause 


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1 (I) for any provision of law (including 

2 regulations) relating to labor stand3 ards or the environment. 

4 ‘‘(ix) REPORTING.—Every 5 years, the 

5 Secretary, in coordination with the Sec6 retary of Veterans Affairs and the Director 

7 of the Indian Health Service, shall— 

8 ‘‘(I) conduct a review of the im9 plementation of the Program, includ10 ing any factors that may have limited 

11 its success; and 

12 ‘‘(II) submit a report describing 

13 the results of the review under sub14 clause (I) to— 

15 ‘‘(aa) the Committee on In16 dian Affairs, the Committee on 

17 Banking, Housing, and Urban 

18 Affairs, the Committee on Vet19 erans’ Affairs, and the Com20 mittee on Appropriations of the 

21 Senate; and 

22 ‘‘(bb) the Subcommittee on 

23 Indian, Insular and Alaska Na24 tive Affairs of the Committee on 

25 Natural Resources, the ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:13 Nov 16, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4359.IH H4359

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1 mittee on Financial Services, the 

2 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 

3 and the Committee on Appropria4 tions of the House of Representa5 tives.’’. 

Æ 


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