I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2999 
To provide for rental assistance for homeless or at-risk Indian veterans, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 23, 2019 
Mr. LUJA´N (for himself, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. 
DELBENE, Mr. COLE, and Ms. MCCOLLUM) 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, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tribal HUD–VASH 
Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. RENTAL ASSISTANCE FOR HOMELESS OR AT-RISK 
INDIAN VETERANS. 
Section 8(o)(19) of the United States Housing Act 
of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19)) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
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‘‘(D) INDIAN VETERANS HOUSING RENTAL 
ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara-
graph: 
‘‘(I) 
ELIGIBLE
INDIAN
VET-
ERAN.—The term ‘eligible Indian vet-
eran’ means an Indian veteran who 
is— 
‘‘(aa) homeless or at risk of 
homelessness; and 
‘‘(bb) living— 
‘‘(AA) on or near a res-
ervation; or 
‘‘(BB) in or near any 
other Indian area. 
‘‘(II) 
ELIGIBLE
RECIPIENT.— 
The term ‘eligible recipient’ means a 
recipient eligible to receive a grant 
under section 101 of the Native 
American Housing Assistance and 
Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 
U.S.C. 4111). 
‘‘(III) INDIAN; INDIAN
AREA.— 
The terms ‘Indian’ and ‘Indian area’ 
have the meanings given those terms 
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in section 4 of the Native American 
Housing Assistance and Self-Deter-
mination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 
4103). 
‘‘(IV) INDIAN
VETERAN.—The 
term ‘Indian veteran’ means an In-
dian who is a veteran. 
‘‘(V) PROGRAM.—The term ‘Pro-
gram’ means the Tribal HUD–VASH 
program carried out under clause (ii). 
‘‘(VI) TRIBAL
ORGANIZATION.— 
The term ‘tribal organization’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 4 
of the Indian Self-Determination and 
Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 
5304). 
‘‘(ii) 
PROGRAM
SPECIFICATIONS.— 
The Secretary shall use not less than 5 
percent of the amounts made available for 
rental assistance under this paragraph to 
carry out a rental assistance and sup-
ported housing program, to be known as 
the ‘Tribal HUD–VASH program’, in con-
junction with the Secretary of Veterans Af-
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‘‘(bb) SECRETARY
OF
VET-
ERANS AFFAIRS.—After consulta-
tion with Indian tribes, eligible 
recipients, and any other appro-
priate tribal organizations, the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
may make necessary and appro-
priate modifications to facilitate 
the use of the Program by eligi-
ble recipients to serve eligible In-
dian veterans. 
‘‘(iv) 
ELIGIBLE
RECIPIENTS.—The 
Secretary shall make amounts for rental 
assistance and associated administrative 
costs under the Program available in the 
form of grants to eligible recipients. 
‘‘(v) FUNDING
CRITERIA.—The Sec-
retary shall award grants under the Pro-
gram based on— 
‘‘(I) need; 
‘‘(II) administrative capacity; and 
‘‘(III) any other funding criteria 
established by the Secretary in a no-
tice published in the Federal Register 
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after consulting with the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs. 
‘‘(vi) 
ADMINISTRATION.—Grants 
awarded under the Program shall be ad-
ministered in accordance with the Native 
American Housing Assistance and Self-De-
termination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 
et seq.), except that recipients shall— 
‘‘(I) submit to the Secretary, in a 
manner prescribed by the Secretary, 
reports on the utilization of rental as-
sistance provided under the Program; 
and 
‘‘(II) provide to the Secretary in-
formation specified by the Secretary 
to assess the effectiveness of the Pro-
gram in serving eligible Indian vet-
erans. 
‘‘(vii) CONSULTATION.— 
‘‘(I) GRANT RECIPIENTS; TRIBAL 
ORGANIZATIONS.—The Secretary, in 
coordination with the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs, shall consult with el-
igible recipients and any other appro-
priate tribal organization on the de-
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sign of the Program to ensure the ef-
fective delivery of rental assistance 
and supportive services to eligible In-
dian veterans under the Program. 
‘‘(II) INDIAN
HEALTH
SERV-
ICE.—The Director of the Indian 
Health Service shall provide any as-
sistance requested by the Secretary or 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in 
carrying out the Program. 
‘‘(viii) WAIVER.— 
‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—Except as 
provided in subclause (II), the Sec-
retary may waive or specify alter-
native requirements for any provision 
of law (including regulations) that the 
Secretary administers in connection 
with the use of rental assistance made 
available under the Program if the 
Secretary finds that the waiver or al-
ternative requirement is necessary for 
the effective delivery and administra-
tion of rental assistance under the 
Program to eligible Indian veterans. 
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‘‘(II) 
EXCEPTION.—The 
Sec-
retary may not waive or specify alter-
native requirements under subclause 
(I) for any provision of law (including 
regulations) relating to labor stand-
ards or the environment. 
‘‘(ix) RENEWAL
GRANTS.—The Sec-
retary may— 
‘‘(I) set aside, from amounts 
made available for tenant-based rental 
assistance under this subsection and 
without regard to the amounts used 
for new grants under clause (ii), such 
amounts as may be necessary to 
award renewal grants to eligible re-
cipients that received a grant under 
the Program in a previous year; and 
‘‘(II) specify criteria that an eli-
gible recipient must satisfy to receive 
a renewal grant under subclause (I), 
including providing data on how the 
eligible recipient used the amounts of 
any grant previously received under 
the Program. 
‘‘(x) REPORTING.— 
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‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—Not later 
than 1 year after the date of enact-
ment of the Tribal HUD–VASH Act 
of 2019, and every 5 years thereafter, 
the Secretary, in coordination with the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the 
Director of the Indian Health Service, 
shall— 
‘‘(aa) conduct a review of 
the implementation of the Pro-
gram, including any factors that 
may have limited its success; and 
‘‘(bb) submit a report de-
scribing the results of the review 
under item (aa) to— 
‘‘(AA) the Committee 
on Indian Affairs, the Com-
mittee on Banking, Housing, 
and 
Urban 
Affairs, 
the 
Committee on Veterans’ Af-
fairs, and the Committee on 
Appropriations of the Sen-
ate; and 
‘‘(BB) 
the 
Sub-
committee on Indian, Insu-
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lar and Alaska Native Af-
fairs of the Committee on 
Natural 
Resources, 
the 
Committee 
on 
Financial 
Services, the Committee on 
Veterans’ Affairs, and the 
Committee 
on 
Appropria-
tions of the House of Rep-
resentatives. 
‘‘(II) ANALYSIS
OF
HOUSING 
STOCK
LIMITATION.—The Secretary 
shall include in the initial report sub-
mitted under subclause (I) a descrip-
tion of— 
‘‘(aa) any regulations gov-
erning the use of formula current 
assisted stock (as defined in sec-
tion 1000.314 of title 24, Code of 
Federal Regulations (or any suc-
cessor regulation)) within the 
Program; 
‘‘(bb) the number of recipi-
ents of grants under the Pro-
gram that have reported the reg-
ulations described in item (aa) as 
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