I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3298 

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

Department of Housing and Urban Development, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 1, 2011 

Mr. AL GREEN of Texas (for himself and Mr. GRIMM) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To establish the position of Special Assistant for Veterans 

Affairs in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 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 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR VETERANS AFFAIRS IN 

2 THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN 

3 DEVELOPMENT. 

4 Section 4 of the Department of Housing and Urban 

5 Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3533) is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(g) SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR VETERANS AF8 FAIRS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be in the 

10 Department a Special Assistant for Veterans Af11 fairs, who shall be a special assistant to the Sec12 retary and 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; 


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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 2011; 

23 and 


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

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

4 SEC. 3. ANNUAL SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT ON VETERANS 

5 HOMELESSNESS. 

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

7 Urban Development and the Secretary of Veterans Af8 fairs, in coordination with the United States Interagency 

9 Council on Homelessness, shall submit annually to the 

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

11 together with the annual reports required by such Secre12 taries under section 203(c)(1) of the McKinney-Vento 

13 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11313(c)(1)), a sup14 plemental report that includes the following information 

15 with respect to the preceding year: 

16 (1) The same information, for such preceding 

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

18 report by the Secretary of Housing and Urban De19 velopment and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs en20 titled ‘‘Veterans Homelessness: A Supplemental Re21 port to the 2010 Annual Homeless Assessment Re22 port to Congress’’. 

23 (2) Information regarding the activities of the 

24 Department of Housing and Urban Development reVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:00 Nov 03, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3298.IH H3298

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1 lating to veterans during such preceding year, as fol2 lows: 

3 (A) The number of veterans provided as4 sistance under the housing choice voucher pro5 gram for Veterans Affairs supported housing 

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

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

8 1437f(o)(19)), the socioeconomic characteristics 

9 of such homeless veterans, and the number, 

10 types, and locations of entities contracted under 

11 such section to administer the vouchers. 

12 (B) A summary description of the special 

13 considerations made for veterans under public 

14 housing agency plans submitted pursuant to 

15 section 5A of the United States Housing Act of 

16 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c–1) and under com17 prehensive housing affordability strategies sub18 mitted pursuant to section 105 of the Cranston19 Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 12705). 

21 (C) A description of the activities of the 

22 Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs of the 

23 Department of Housing and Urban Develop24 ment. 


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1 (D) A description of the efforts of the De2 partment of Housing and Urban Development 

3 and the other members of the United States 

4 Interagency Council on Homelessness to coordi5 nate the delivery of housing and services to vet6 erans. 

7 (E) The cost to the Department of Hous8 ing and Urban Development of administering 

9 the programs and activities relating to veterans. 

10 (F) Any other information that the Sec11 retary of Housing and Urban Development and 

12 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs consider rel13 evant in assessing the programs and activities 

14 of the Department of Housing and Urban De15 velopment relating to veterans. 

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

17 specified in this subsection are as follows: 

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

19 Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

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

21 Senate. 

22 (3) The Committee on Appropriations of the 

23 Senate. 

24 (4) The Committee on Financial Services of the 

25 House of Representatives. 


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

2 House of Representatives. 

3 (6) The Committee on Appropriations of the 

4 House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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