I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 251 

To transfer the position of Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs in the 

Department of Housing and Urban Development to the Office of the 

Secretary, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2015 

Mr. AL GREEN of Texas (for himself, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. 

LIPINSKI, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. HONDA, Mr. RUSH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. 

HAHN, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. MOORE, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. 

MCDERMOTT, and Mr. MCGOVERN) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To transfer the position of Special Assistant for Veterans 

Affairs in the Department of Housing and Urban Development to the Office of the Secretary, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Homes for Heroes Act 

5 of 2015’’. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 251 IH

1 SEC. 2. SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR VETERANS AFFAIRS IN 

2 THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN 

3 DEVELOPMENT. 

4 (a) TRANSFER OF POSITION TO OFFICE OF THE SEC5 RETARY.—Section 4 of the Department of Housing and 

6 Urban Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3533) is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(h) SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR VETERANS AF9 FAIRS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) POSITION.—There shall be in the Office of 

11 the Secretary a Special Assistant for Veterans Af12 fairs, who shall report directly to the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(2) APPOINTMENT.—The Special Assistant for 

14 Veterans Affairs shall be appointed based solely on 

15 merit and shall be covered under the provisions of 

16 title 5, United States Code, governing appointments 

17 in the competitive service. 

18 ‘‘(3) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Special Assist19 ant for Veterans Affairs shall be responsible for— 

20 ‘‘(A) ensuring veterans have fair access to 

21 housing and homeless assistance under each 

22 program of the Department providing either 

23 such assistance; 

24 ‘‘(B) coordinating all programs and activi25 ties of the Department relating to veterans; 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 251 IH

1 ‘‘(C) serving as a liaison for the Depart2 ment with the Department of Veterans Affairs, 

3 including establishing and maintaining relation4 ships with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; 

5 ‘‘(D) serving as a liaison for the Depart6 ment, and establishing and maintaining rela7 tionships with the United States Interagency 

8 Council on Homelessness and officials of State, 

9 local, regional, and nongovernmental organiza10 tions concerned with veterans; 

11 ‘‘(E) providing information and advice re12 garding— 

13 ‘‘(i) sponsoring housing projects for 

14 veterans assisted under programs adminis15 tered by the Department; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) assisting veterans in obtaining 

17 housing or homeless assistance under pro18 grams administered by the Department; 

19 ‘‘(F) coordinating with the Secretary of 

20 Housing and Urban Development and the Sec21 retary of Veterans Affairs in carrying out sec22 tion 3 of the Homes for Heroes Act of 2015; 

23 and 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 251 IH

1 ‘‘(G) carrying out such other duties as may 

2 be assigned to the Special Assistant by the Sec3 retary or by law.’’. 

4 (b) TRANSFER OF POSITION IN OFFICE OF DEPUTY

5 ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR SPECIAL NEEDS.—On the 

6 date that the initial Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs 

7 is appointed pursuant to section 4(h)(2) of the Depart8 ment of Housing and Urban Development Act, as added 

9 by subsection (a) of this section, the position of Special 

10 Assistant for Veterans Programs in the Office of the Dep11 uty Assistant Secretary for Special Needs of the Depart12 ment of Housing and Urban Development shall be termi13 nated. 

14 SEC. 3. ANNUAL SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT ON VETERANS 

15 HOMELESSNESS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 

17 Urban Development and the Secretary of Veterans Af18 fairs, in coordination with the United States Interagency 

19 Council on Homelessness, shall submit annually to the 

20 Committees of the Congress specified in subsection (b), 

21 together with the annual reports required by such Secre22 taries under section 203(c)(1) of the McKinney-Vento 

23 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11313(c)(1)), a sup24 plemental report that includes the following information 

25 with respect to the preceding year: 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 251 IH

1 (1) The same information, for such preceding 

2 year, that was included with respect to 2010 in the 

3 report by the Secretary of Housing and Urban De4 velopment and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs en5 titled ‘‘Veterans Homelessness: A Supplemental Re6 port to the 2010 Annual Homeless Assessment Re7 port to Congress’’. 

8 (2) Information regarding the activities of the 

9 Department of Housing and Urban Development re10 lating to veterans during such preceding year, as fol11 lows: 

12 (A) The number of veterans provided as13 sistance under the housing choice voucher pro14 gram for Veterans Affairs supported housing 

15 (VASH) under section 8(o)(19) of the United 

16 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

17 1437f(o)(19)), the socioeconomic characteristics 

18 of such homeless veterans, and the number, 

19 types, and locations of entities contracted under 

20 such section to administer the vouchers. 

21 (B) A summary description of the special 

22 considerations made for veterans under public 

23 housing agency plans submitted pursuant to 

24 section 5A of the United States Housing Act of 

25 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c–1) and under comVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jan 16, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H251.IH H251

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 251 IH

1 prehensive housing affordability strategies sub2 mitted pursuant to section 105 of the Cranston3 Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 12705). 

5 (C) A description of the activities of the 

6 Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs of the 

7 Department of Housing and Urban Develop8 ment. 

9 (D) A description of the efforts of the De10 partment of Housing and Urban Development 

11 and the other members of the United States 

12 Interagency Council on Homelessness to coordi13 nate the delivery of housing and services to vet14 erans. 

15 (E) The cost to the Department of Hous16 ing and Urban Development of administering 

17 the programs and activities relating to veterans. 

18 (F) Any other information that the Sec19 retary of Housing and Urban Development and 

20 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs consider rel21 evant in assessing the programs and activities 

22 of the Department of Housing and Urban De23 velopment relating to veterans. 

24 (b) COMMITTEES.—The Committees of the Congress 

25 specified in this subsection are as follows: 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 251 IH

1 (1) The Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

2 Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

3 (2) The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

4 Senate. 

5 (3) The Committee on Appropriations of the 

6 Senate. 

7 (4) The Committee on Financial Services of the 

8 House of Representatives. 

9 (5) The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

10 House of Representatives. 

11 (6) The Committee on Appropriations of the 

12 House of Representatives. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS