I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 871
To provide rental assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing
Act of 1937 for victims of domestic violence to enable such victims to relocate.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 27, 1997
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. JACKSON-LEE
of Texas, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. OBERSTAR,
Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. FROST, Ms. PELOSI, Mr.
DEFAZIO, and Ms. SLAUGHTER) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services
A BILL
To provide rental assistance under section 8 of the United
States Housing Act of 1937 for victims of domestic
violence to enable such victims to relocate.
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 ‘‘Domestic Violence Vic-
tims Housing Act’’.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
The budget authority under section 5(c) of the
United States Housing Act of 1937 for assistance under
subsections (b) and (o) of section 8 of such Act is author-
ized to be increased by $50,000,000 on or after October
1, 1997 and by such sums as may be necessary on or after
October 1, 1998.
SEC. 3. USE OF AMOUNTS FOR HOUSING ASSISTANCE FOR
VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Amounts available pursuant to
section 2 shall be made available by the Secretary of Hous-
ing and Urban Development only to public housing agen-
cies and qualified nonprofit organizations only for use for
providing tenant-based rental assistance on behalf of fami-
lies victimized by domestic violence (as such term is de-
fined in section 4 of this Act) who have left or are leaving
a residence as a result of the domestic violence.
(b) DETERMINATION.—For purposes of subsection
(a), a family victimized by domestic violence shall be con-
sidered to have left or to be leaving a residence as a result
of domestic violence if the public housing agency or quali-
fied nonprofit organization providing rental assistance
under this Act determines that the member of the family
who was subject to the domestic violence reasonably be-
lieves that relocation from such residence will assist in
avoiding future domestic violence against such member or
another member of the family.
(c) ALLOCATION.—Amounts made available pursuant
to section 2 shall be allocated by the Secretary on the basis
of a national competition to the public housing agencies
and qualified nonprofit organizations that submit applica-
tions to the Secretary that best demonstrate a need for
such assistance and the ability to undertake and carry out
a program under this Act, as the Secretary shall deter-
mine.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS RELATING TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
For purposes of this Act, the following definitions
shall apply:
(1) ABUSE.—The term ‘‘abuse’’ includes any
act that constitutes or causes, any attempt to com-
mit, or any threat to commit—
(A) any bodily injury or physical illness,
including placing, by physical menace, another
in fear of imminent serious bodily injury;
(B) any rape, sexual assault, or involun-
tary sexual activity, or any sexual activity with
a dependent child;
(C) the infliction of false imprisonment or
other nonconsensual restraints on liberty of
movement;
(D) deprivation of medical care, housing,
food, or other necessities of life; or
(E) mental or psychological abuse, includ-
ing repeated or severe humiliation, intimidation,
criticism, acts designed to induce terror, or
verbal abuse.
(2) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘domestic
violence’’ means abuse that is committed against an
individual by—
(A) a spouse or former spouse of the indi-
vidual;
(B) an individual who is the biological par-
ent or stepparent of a child of the individual
subject to the abuse, who adopted such child, or
who is a legal guardian to such a child;
(C) an individual with whom the individual
subject to the abuse is or was cohabiting;
(D) a current or former romantic, inti-
mate, or sexual partner of the individual; or
(E) an individual from whom the individ-
ual subject to the abuse would be eligible for
protection under the domestic violence, protec-
tion order, or family laws of the applicable ju-
risdiction.
(3) FAMILY
VICTIMIZED
BY
DOMESTIC
VIO-
LENCE.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘family vic-
timized by domestic violence’’ means a family or
household that includes an individual who has
been determined under subparagraph (B) to
have been subject to domestic violence, but does
not include any individual described in para-
graph (3) who committed the domestic violence.
The term includes any such family or household
in which only a minor or minors are the individ-
ual or individuals who was or were subject to
domestic violence only if such family or house-
hold also includes a parent, stepparent, legal
guardian, or other responsible caretaker for the
child.
(B) DETERMINATION THAT FAMILY OR IN-
DIVIDUAL
WAS
SUBJECT
TO
DOMESTIC
VIO-
LENCE.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), a
determination under this subparagraph is a de-
termination that domestic violence has been
committed, which is made by any agency or of-
ficial of a State or unit of general local govern-
ment (including a public housing agency) based
upon—
(i) information provided by any medi-
cal, legal, counseling, or other clinic, shel-
ter, or other program or entity licensed,
recognized, or authorized by the State or
unit of general local government to provide
services to victims of domestic violence;
(ii) information provided by any agen-
cy of the State or unit of general local gov-
ernment that provides or administrates the
provision of social, medical, legal, or health
services;
(iii) information provided by any cler-
gy;
(iv) information provided by any hos-
pital, clinic, medical facility, or doctor li-
censed or authorized by the State or unit
of general local government to provide
medical services;
(v) a petition or complaint filed in a
court or law or documents or records of ac-
tion of any court or law enforcement agen-
cy, including any record of any protection
order, injunction, or temporary or final
order issued by civil or criminal courts or
any police report; or
(vi) any other reliable evidence that
domestic violence has occurred.
SEC. 5. OTHER DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act, the following definitions
shall apply:
(1) PUBLIC
HOUSING
AGENCY.—The term
‘‘public housing agency’’ has the meaning given the
term in section 3(b) of the United States Housing
Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)).
(2) QUALIFIED
NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATION.—
The term ‘‘qualified nonprofit organization’’ means
a private organization that—
(A) is organized, or has as one of its pri-
mary purposes, to provide shelter or transi-
tional housing for victims of domestic violence;
(B) is organized under State or local laws;
(C) has no part of its net earnings inuring
to the benefit of any member, shareholder,
founder, contributor, or individual; and
(D) is approved by the Secretary as to fi-
nancial responsibility.
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
(4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the
States of the United States, the District of Colum-
bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam,
the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and any other
territory or possession of the United States.
(5) UNIT OF GENERAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—
The term ‘‘unit of general local government’’ has the
meaning given the term in section 102(a) of the
Housing and Community Development Act of 1974
(42 U.S.C. 5302(a)).
Æ