IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 634 
Expressing that the United States is obligated to permanently end the 
unhoused crisis by 2027 and uphold, protect, and enforce the civil and 
human rights of unhoused individuals, including the human rights to 
housing, universal health care, livable wages, education, employment op-
portunities, access to public facilities, free movement in public spaces, 
privacy, confidentiality, internet access, vote, freedom from harassment 
by law enforcement, private businesses, property owners, and housed 
residents, and equal rights to health care, legal representation, and 
social services without discrimination based on housing status. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2023 
Ms. BUSH (for herself, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. NORTON, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. 
JAYAPAL, Mr. BOWMAN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. CLARKE of New 
York, Mr. CARSON, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. CASAR, 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. 
PRESSLEY, and Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addi-
tion to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and the 
Workforce, the Judiciary, Agriculture, and Ways and Means, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing that the United States is obligated to perma-
nently end the unhoused crisis by 2027 and uphold, 
protect, and enforce the civil and human rights of 
unhoused individuals, including the human rights to 
housing, universal health care, livable wages, education, 
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•HRES 634 IH 
employment opportunities, access to public facilities, free 
movement in public spaces, privacy, confidentiality, inter-
net access, vote, freedom from harassment by law en-
forcement, private businesses, property owners, and 
housed residents, and equal rights to health care, legal 
representation, and social services without discrimination 
based on housing status. 
Whereas there are currently between 582,000 and 1,500,000 
unhoused individuals residing in the United States; 
Whereas the population of unhoused individuals in the United 
States is disproportionately comprised of Black, brown, 
and Indigenous people, women, children, veterans, un-
documented immigrants, people with mental, develop-
mental, and physical disabilities and substance use dis-
orders, and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, 
transgender, gender nonconforming, and queer commu-
nity; 
Whereas older adults are the largest growing segment of the 
homeless population and nearly 40 percent of older 
Americans rely only on Social Security income in retire-
ment, leaving housing stability out of reach for most 
older Americans; 
Whereas Black Americans make up more than 40 percent of 
the unhoused population, but represent 13 percent of the 
general population, and Indigenous people are similarly 
disproportionately overrepresented within the unhoused 
population; 
Whereas children under the age of 18 comprise almost 40 
percent of the total unhoused population in the United 
States; 
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Whereas 4,200,000 children and youth experience homeless-
ness each year in the United States; 
Whereas 420,000 children are not connected with a school 
system because of homelessness each year in the United 
States; 
Whereas lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender noncon-
forming, and queer individuals, including children, are 
forced to accept inappropriate or unsafe accommodations 
to access publicly funded emergency shelters; 
Whereas survivors of domestic violence, partner violence, sex-
ual assault, and stalking are faced with the impossible 
choice of living with an abusive person or becoming 
unhoused due to a lack of an adequate housing safety 
net; 
Whereas the root causes contributing to the unhoused crisis 
are poverty, a lack of affordable housing options, sys-
temic racism, chronically low wages, underemployment 
and unemployment, gentrification, housing discrimina-
tion, mass incarceration, immigration status, criminaliza-
tion of poverty, domestic violence, discrimination against 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender noncon-
forming, and queer individuals, trauma, disabilities, per-
sonal and medical debt, a lack of affordable childcare, 
natural disasters, institutionalization, and unexpected 
loss of household income; 
Whereas in the wake of a deadly global pandemic and a 
compounding economic crisis that resulted in massive job 
loss, rates of housing insecurity have skyrocketed as mil-
lions of people across the Nation faced financial insta-
bility; 
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Whereas the pandemic significantly increased the number of 
unhoused children and youth due to high unemployment, 
unstable living conditions, and job insecurity, leaving mil-
lions of children and youth vulnerable to criminalization, 
exposure to extreme weather, disease, malnutrition, men-
tal and physical disorders, substance use disorders, sex 
trafficking, kidnapping, physical and sexual assault, and 
premature death; 
Whereas the Emergency Rental Assistance Program provided 
$46,000,000,000 to keep countless tenants housed during 
the COVID–19 pandemic, along with stimulus checks, ex-
panded unemployment benefits, child tax credits, and in-
creased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program allo-
cations; 
Whereas low-income renters face increasingly high rents and 
rising housing instability, and without the supports pro-
vided by pandemic-era benefit programs, safe, stable, and 
affordable housing remains out of reach; 
Whereas, since July 2009, Federal minimum wage has re-
mained stagnant at an abysmal $7.25, forcing low-wage 
workers to work two to three jobs to afford housing and 
basic needs; 
Whereas, from 2009 to 2021, the median rent across the 
United States increased 42 percent, from $817 a month 
to $1,163; 
Whereas, according to the National Low Income Housing Co-
alition, in 2023 the housing wage, defined as an annual 
estimate of the hourly wage full-time workers must earn 
to afford a rental home at fair market rent without 
spending more than 30 percent of their incomes, was 
$28.58 per hour for a modest two-bedroom rental home 
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and $23.67 per hour for a modest one-bedroom rental 
home; 
Whereas, in no State, metropolitan area, or county can a full- 
time minimum-wage worker afford a modest two-bedroom 
rental home, and a full-time minimum-wage worker can-
not afford a modest one-bedroom rental home in more 
than 92 percent of United States counties; 
Whereas the gap between wages and housing costs is largest 
for people of color, and particularly women of color, as 
a result of decades of racist housing policies that have led 
to people of color facing disproportionate challenges ac-
cessing decent and affordable homes; 
Whereas lack of access to public restrooms, handwashing fa-
cilities, laundry facilities, showers, and garbage removal 
services severely deteriorates overall quality of life and 
greatly increases the chance of unhoused individuals con-
tracting communicable diseases, impacting both housed 
and unhoused communities and threatening public health; 
Whereas health disparities significantly contribute to a bro-
ken social system that creates and maintains poverty, 
and the unhoused crisis is a public health crisis, resulting 
in unhoused persons suffering from significantly higher 
rates of chronic health conditions and premature death 
than housed persons, and vastly increasing the spread of 
communicable diseases throughout unhoused and housed 
communities; 
Whereas unhoused persons exhibit higher rates of depression, 
anxiety, psychological distress, physical health problems, 
substance use disorders, and mental trauma than housed 
persons, combined with increased difficulties in accessing 
health services due to a lack of stable living environment, 
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functioning communication devices, physical distance, and 
knowledge of programs and procedures, among other 
structural barriers, thereby exacerbating the public health 
crisis; 
Whereas inadequate access to healthy, affordable, and fresh 
food options, and severe restrictions on the usage of Sup-
plemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Tem-
porary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Spe-
cial Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, In-
fants, and Children (WIC) benefits foster conditions of 
chronic malnutrition and food insecurity for unhoused 
persons, particularly youth, significantly weakening their 
ability to stave off infections and diseases and contrib-
uting to compounding public health crises; 
Whereas unhoused people lack the necessary stable, safe, and 
supportive environment to comply with treatment plans 
and heal from illnesses and are often prematurely dis-
charged from medical facilities, thereby exacerbating ex-
isting medical conditions and hindering the recovery and 
treatment processes; 
Whereas, according to the National Coalition for the Home-
less, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immuno-
deficiency syndrome and the unhoused crisis are intri-
cately related—as many as 50 percent of people living 
with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immuno-
deficiency syndrome in the United States are at risk of 
becoming unhoused due to high medical costs and health- 
related job loss, and since human immunodeficiency 
virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome targets the 
immune system, unhoused people living with human im-
munodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syn-
drome do not have the ability to fight off disease due to 
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factors related to malnutrition, access to hygiene facili-
ties, and exposure to extreme weather conditions; 
Whereas the compounding physical and psychological trauma 
stemming from lack of access to housing, health care, 
safety, food, water, restrooms, showers, laundry facilities, 
electricity, internet, technology, property storage, and lei-
sure, combined with exposure to extreme weather condi-
tions, and higher rates of personal violence, including 
physical and sexual assaults endured by unhoused indi-
viduals, inevitably worsens the mental health of individ-
uals and makes it more difficult to access permanent 
housing and employment, as well as social, medical, and 
mental health services; 
Whereas the criminalization of unhoused individuals and 
communities through the creation of State and local ordi-
nances that ban panhandling, loitering, sleeping in tents 
or vehicles, eating in public, and third parties distributing 
food to unhoused people violates the basic human and 
civil rights of unhoused individuals to exist in public 
without fear of law enforcement surveillance, harassment, 
violence, destruction of property, fines, vehicle impound-
ment, or arrest; 
Whereas the vicious cycle of mass incarceration forces people 
to lose employment, homes, student loans, and financial 
assistance, and makes access to housing, gainful employ-
ment, education, and public assistance extraordinarily 
difficult for individuals reentering the community from 
the criminal and juvenile justice systems or with criminal 
records, thereby contributing to higher recidivism rates 
and exacerbating the unhoused crisis; 
Whereas unhoused individuals lack the resources necessary to 
obtain adequate legal representation and are often denied 
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relief or damages through courts when they have been 
unfairly targeted by law enforcement officers, private 
businesses, property owners, or housed residents and 
have had their constitutional rights violated; 
Whereas encampment sweeps, evictions, and cleanups, the re-
moval of outdoor living spaces, or impounding vehicles 
being used as residences exacerbates the complex issues 
faced by unhoused individuals and fails to address the 
lack of affordable and accessible housing options; 
Whereas neighborhood protection orders criminalize people 
without homes and needlessly bar individuals from ac-
cessing social services that will help them transition to 
permanent supportive housing; 
Whereas unhoused people are disproportionately impacted by 
the climate crisis because chronic exposure to climate in-
duced extreme weather and disasters including hurri-
canes, wildfire, freezing temperatures, and extreme heat 
conditions leaves unhoused persons susceptible to hypo-
thermia, hyperthermia, frostbite, sunburn, heat exhaus-
tion, and death; 
Whereas hostile architecture and defensive urban design 
transform 
public 
spaces 
into 
impractical 
and 
unwelcoming environments for both housed and unhoused 
communities, by making benches thinner or with arm-
rests to prevent laying down, building bus stops with no 
seating or shelter, deliberately placing gaps in awnings 
that allow in rain, adding rocks to parks, trails, and 
highway underpasses, installing devices that prohibit sit-
ting, or adding spikes, rocks, or studs to flat surfaces to 
render them dysfunctional; 
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Whereas the Department of Housing and Urban Develop-
ment point-in-time method to count the number of shel-
tered and unsheltered individuals in the United States 
undercounts children, youth, older adults, and families by 
not accounting for individuals who fall in and out of 
homelessness throughout the year, people who are shel-
tered with family or friends, or individuals temporarily 
residing in hotels, motels, medical facilities, and jails, and 
is limited to a count one night per year during one of the 
coldest months; 
Whereas 
inadequate 
statistical 
methods 
for 
counting 
unhoused individuals severely limit the capacity of policy-
makers to develop accurate, data-driven legislation; 
Whereas the long-term solution for ending the unhoused cri-
sis is a housing first approach that provides adequate, ac-
cessible, and affordable permanent housing for unhoused 
individuals, without preconditions and low or no barriers 
to entry, and permanently fosters conditions that prevent 
persons from becoming unhoused; 
Whereas rates of homelessness continue to rise, the overbur-
dened repair backlog for public housing units is estimated 
at over $70,000,000,000, and the overburdened tenant- 
based ‘‘section 8’’ rental assistance program, also known 
as a housing choice voucher, is not funded by Congress 
at the level necessary to match the ever-increasing de-
mand for housing assistance; 
Whereas emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, 
permanent supportive housing initiatives, and rapid re-
housing programs are inadequately funded and unable to 
keep up with the constant demand to provide adequate 
temporary, transitional, or permanent housing for 
unhoused individuals; 
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Whereas the cost of maintaining an unhoused population 
places undue financial burden on taxpayers of an amount 
between $30,000 and $50,000 each year for each chron-
ically unhoused person because of the costs of incarcer-
ation, medical treatments, jails, detention centers, psy-
chiatric and rehabilitation institutions, congregate shelter 
that does not lead to permanent housing, law enforce-
ment costs of encampment cleanups and evictions, and 
the criminalization of unhoused people; 
Whereas there are nearly 16,000,000 vacant homes in the 
United States that are available to house individuals and 
families, and the cost to end the unhoused crisis is at 
least $20,000,000,000, nearly 2 percent of the 2024 fis-
cal year defense budget of $886,300,000,000; 
Whereas a lack of political will at the Federal, State, and 
local levels of government drastically restricts the amount 
of funding available for States, counties, cities, and mu-
nicipalities to provide services and resources to unhoused 
communities; and 
Whereas addressing the roots of the housing affordability cri-
sis requires a sustained commitment to investing in new 
affordable, accessible housing, preserving affordable rent-
al homes that already exist, bridging the gap between in-
comes and rent through universal rental assistance, pro-
viding emergency assistance to stabilize renters when 
they experience financial shocks, and establishing strong 
renter protections: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Unhoused Per-
sons Bill of Rights’’. 
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SEC. 2. ESTABLISHING PROTECTIONS FOR UNHOUSED IN-
DIVIDUALS FROM VIOLATIONS OF THEIR 
RIGHTS. 
(a) PROTECTED RIGHTS
OF UNHOUSED INDIVID-
UALS.—It is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that the United States must protect the fundamental civil 
and human rights of unhoused individuals, including— 
(1) the right to decent, affordable, and acces-
sible housing, livable wages, and universal health 
care; 
(2) the right for persons reentering the commu-
nity from the criminal justice system to access pub-
lic housing, voucher programs, rental assistance pro-
grams, employment, higher education grants, schol-
arships, and Federal student loans without discrimi-
nation on the basis of their criminal record; 
(3) the rights, privileges, or access of an indi-
vidual to public services, parks, sidewalks, transpor-
tation, buildings, or facilities without discrimination 
on the basis of their housing status; 
(4) the right to uninhibited access to public 
parks, transportation, facilities, sidewalks, buildings, 
and restrooms without discrimination on the basis of 
their housing status; 
(5) the right to access safe and clean restroom 
facilities, safe and clean drinking water, public 
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handwashing facilities, and public electricity sources 
without discrimination on the basis of their housing 
status; 
(6) the right to access 24-hour and disaster 
emergency shelters, transitional housing, social serv-
ices, public housing, and voucher programs without 
discrimination on the basis of their housing status; 
(7) the right not to be subject to penalties for 
standing, walking, resting, or sleeping in a public 
place or vehicle in a nonobstructive manner, includ-
ing relying on tents, sleeping bags, additional cloth-
ing, or other supplies intended to make sleep com-
fortable and possible; 
(8) the right to pray, meditate, or practice reli-
gion in public spaces without being subject to crimi-
nal or civil sanctions, harassment, or arrest; 
(9) the right to solicit donations in public 
spaces without being subject to criminal or civil 
sanctions, harassment, or arrest in a manner that 
violates the right to free speech; 
(10) the right to engage in lawful self-employ-
ment, including the right to seek self-employment in 
junk removal and recycling that requires the collec-
tion, possession, redemption, and storage of goods 
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(18) the right to a reasonable expectation of 
privacy in personal property to the same extent as 
personal property in a permanent residence; and 
(19) the right to protest, gather in groups, and 
conduct community outreach without harassment by 
law enforcement or private citizens. 
(b) PROTECTIONS OF UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS.—It 
is the sense of the House of Representatives that the 
United States must establish regulations and enforcement 
tools to protect unhoused individuals from the violation 
of their fundamental civil and human rights, including 
protections from— 
(1) law enforcement against undue surveillance, 
mistreatment, harassment, destruction of personal 
property, vehicle impoundment, and unjustified de-
tention, searches, ticketing, and arrests; and 
(2) private businesses, property owners, includ-
ing business improvement districts, and housed resi-
dents against discrimination, harassment, mistreat-
ment, assault, detention, banishment, and destruc-
tion of private property. 
(c) PROTECTIONS FOR THIRD PARTIES PROVIDING 
SERVICES TO UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS.—It is the sense 
of the House of Representatives that the United States 
must establish blanket legal protections for third parties 
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distributing food, beverages, clothing, or providing services 
to unhoused individuals and communities. 
(d) CIVIL ACTIONS
FOR
A VIOLATION
OF
THE 
RIGHTS OF UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS.—It is the sense of 
the House of Representatives that the United States must 
establish a process such that in any civil action alleging 
a violation of rights described previously, a court may 
award appropriate damages and all attorney’s fees and 
costs to a prevailing plaintiff, and the court may take into 
consideration housing status and apply leniency while at-
tempting to compile records, receipts, and documentation 
from the plaintiff. 
SEC. 3. ACTIONS IN PURSUIT OF PROTECTION OF THE 
RIGHTS OF UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS. 
(a) FUNDING.—The House of Representatives shall 
strive to provide funding for the following: 
(1) The House of Representatives shall strive to 
allocate— 
(A) not less than $20,000,000,000 from 
the defense budget to permanently end and pre-
vent the unhoused crisis in the United States; 
(B) $140,000,000,000 every 5 years in the 
Public Housing Capital Fund to urge the Sub-
committee on Transportation, Housing and 
Urban Development, and Related Agencies of 
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the Committee on Appropriations of the House 
of Representatives to preserve public housing 
units for future generations; 
(C) full funding for the Public Housing 
Operating Fund to better support this impor-
tant source of affordable housing until the 
United States has permanently ended and pre-
vented the unhoused crisis; 
(D) $40,000,000,000 annually in the De-
partment of Housing and Urban Development 
National Housing Trust Fund to build and pre-
serve homes affordable to the lowest-income and 
most marginalized households in the United 
States; 
(E) $3,000,000,000 annually for a perma-
nent Emergency Rental Assistance Program ad-
ministered by the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development; 
(F) the highest level of funding possible for 
city, county, State, Indian Tribal governments, 
and local governments to build and maintain 
24-hour public restrooms, handwashing sta-
tions, showers, laundry facilities, and water 
fountains in proportion to their respective 
unhoused population; and 
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(G) robust funding for States, Indian Trib-
al governments, cities, localities, and munici-
palities to provide trash cans, recycling bins, 
sharps disposal containers, and frequent gar-
bage removal services to unhoused camps and 
common areas in coordination with local 
unhoused advocates and community-based orga-
nizations. 
(2) The House of Representatives shall strive to 
provide the highest possible funding level for Federal 
housing and supportive services programs, includ-
ing— 
(A) the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development Continuum of Care (CoC) pro-
gram; 
(B) the Department of Housing and 
Urban 
Development 
Emergency 
Solutions 
Grants (ESG) program; 
(C) the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Hous-
ing (HUD–VASH) program; 
(D) the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development Community Development 
Block Grants (CDBG) program; 
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(E) the Violence Against Women Act 
(VAWA) transitional housing assistance grants 
program for survivors of domestic violence, dat-
ing violence, sexual assault, and stalking; 
(F) the Substance Abuse and Mental 
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) 
Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals 
(GBHI) program; 
(G) the Substance Abuse and Mental 
Health Services Administration Treatment for 
Individuals Experiencing Homelessness (TIEH) 
program; 
(H) the Substance Abuse and Mental 
Health Services Administration Projects for As-
sistance in Transition from Homelessness 
(PATH) program; 
(I) Health Resources and Services Admin-
istration health center programs, particularly 
the Health Care for the Homeless program; 
(J) the Health Resources and Services Ad-
ministration Primary Care Human Immuno-
deficiency Virus Prevention (PCHP) program; 
and 
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(K) the Department of Education McKin-
ney-Vento Education for Homeless Children 
and Youth (EHCY) Act program. 
(3) The House of Representatives shall strive to 
provide the highest level of funding to— 
(A) 
permanently 
provide 
nutritious, 
healthy, and expansive universal school meals 
for K–12 students; 
(B) drastically expand eligibility, income 
thresholds, and time limitations and remove all 
purchase restrictions for the Supplemental Nu-
trition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary 
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) pro-
gram, and Special Supplemental Nutrition Pro-
gram for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); 
and 
(C) remove food assistance restrictions on 
the purchase of hot foods and ready-to-eat 
foods at retailers that accept the Supplemental 
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 
(4) The House of Representatives shall strive to 
provide robust Federal funding and resources to ag-
gressively enforce fair housing and civil rights laws. 
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(b) LOW-INCOME HOUSING.—The House of Rep-
resentatives shall strive to increase the availability of low- 
income housing by— 
(1) funding the construction of permanent low- 
income housing to replenish all of the units that 
have been removed from the stock since 1978; 
(2) fully funding subsidies to operate additional 
units to meet demand; and 
(3) repealing the Faircloth Amendment to allow 
a net increase in the number of public housing units. 
(c) HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHERS.—The House of 
Representatives shall strive to provide universal housing 
choice vouchers to all eligible households through the ten-
ant-based ‘‘section 8’’ rental assistance program. 
(d) RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH AND TRAF-
FICKING PREVENTION ACT CONSOLIDATED PROGRAMS.— 
The House of Representatives shall strive to reauthorize 
and provide at least $300,000,000 to the Runaway and 
Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act consoli-
dated programs, including the street outreach program. 
(e) FAIR HOUSING ACT PROTECTIONS.—The House 
of Representatives shall strive to— 
(1) bolster and enforce tenant protections 
against discrimination as described in the Fair 
Housing Act; and 
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•HRES 634 IH 
(2) expand the Fair Housing Act to ban dis-
crimination based on previous housing status, ad-
verse effects of domestic violence, sexual orientation, 
gender identity, marital status, and source of in-
come, particularly in shelters, transitional housing 
programs, permanent supportive housing initiatives, 
and rapid rehousing programs. 
(f) DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVEL-
OPMENT REQUIREMENTS.—The House of Representatives 
shall strive to require the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development to— 
(1) develop policies, guidelines, and procedures 
for permanently eradicating the unhoused crisis by 
2027; 
(2) work in coordination with tenant advocates 
community-based organizations to develop, imple-
ment, and enforce regulations that disrupt and re-
verse 
trends 
of 
neighborhood 
displacement, 
gentrification, and redlining that disproportionately 
impact communities of color, particularly Black and 
brown communities; 
(3) develop, implement, and enforce regulations 
to immediately remove barriers which prevent people 
with criminal backgrounds and undocumented immi-
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•HRES 634 IH 
grants from accessing public housing, section 8 
vouchers, and rental assistance programs; 
(4) work in partnership with community-based 
organizations and advocates to bolster criminal jus-
tice reentry programs and wraparound services to 
prevent 
individuals 
from 
becoming 
unhoused 
postrelease; 
(5) develop, implement, and enforce perform-
ance standards and regulations for immediately 
making all public shelters, transitional housing pro-
grams, and supportive services available 24 hours 
each day, and prohibit these programs from profiling 
unhoused individuals, denying services, and discrimi-
nating against individuals based on their medical 
conditions and treatments, gender identity, criminal 
background, immigration status, and other protected 
classes of the Fair Housing Act; 
(6) work in coordination with the Department 
of Health and Human Services, the Health Re-
sources and Services Administration, and related 
health agencies to provide 24-hour medical respite 
programs to cities, counties, Indian Tribal Govern-
ments, and States to allow unhoused people to fully 
recover from medical conditions or injuries without 
fear of premature discharge; 
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•HRES 634 IH 
(7) 
develop 
and 
implement 
processes 
to 
prioritize funding allocations directly to grassroots 
and community-based organizations, as well as orga-
nizations led by impacted individuals who provide di-
rect supportive and housing, medical, and emergency 
services to unhoused persons; 
(8) develop and implement more accurate meth-
ods of counting unhoused individuals throughout the 
duration of the year, accounting for individuals re-
siding inside of housing structures with family and 
friends, undocumented immigrants, unhoused indi-
viduals in jails, medical, and rehabilitation facilities, 
and those who experience temporary homelessness 
throughout the year; 
(9) make the Homeless Management Informa-
tion System (HMIS) more comprehensive by imple-
menting biennial gaps analyses to identify gaps in 
access to housing or services appropriate to meet the 
needs of unhoused persons and make recommenda-
tions to improve the system components that worsen 
the quality of life for unhoused persons, including— 
(A) the accessibility of information and 
barriers to accessing existing housing resources 
and services; 
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•HRES 634 IH 
(B) the geographic and physical location of 
programs within the respective region; 
(C) the quality of outreach in identifying 
and targeting unhoused individuals and families 
for services; 
(D) the ability of prevention services to 
prevent individuals from becoming unhoused in 
the first place; and 
(E) the quality of access to supportive 
services and resources for unhoused persons in 
emergency shelters, transitional housing pro-
grams, permanent supportive housing, and 
rapid rehousing programs; 
(10) develop policies and guidelines for imple-
menting the new method of unhoused population 
measurement and gaps analyses and present a re-
port to the Committee on Financial Services of the 
House of Representatives within 6 months of the en-
acted legislation; 
(11) work in coordination with the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention to develop proce-
dures to track and report the number of deaths di-
rectly caused by persons being unhoused in the 
United States; 
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•HRES 634 IH 
(12) work in coordination with all Federal 
agencies that service unhoused people to designate 
federally subsidized shelters, libraries, social service 
providers, and other institutions as fixed addresses 
to be used by multiple unhoused people to receive 
mail, employment opportunities, and documents, and 
to vote and conduct all business in a manner similar 
to housed people; 
(13) coordinate with the Department of Trans-
portation and the National Parks Service to restrict 
the use of Federal funding on hostile architecture 
projects and to remove hostile architecture from all 
privately owned public spaces, public parks, trails, 
sidewalks, buildings, and transportation facilities; 
(14) work in coordination with the Social Secu-
rity Administration to develop guidance and regula-
tions creating hardship exemptions for individuals 
who have difficulty obtaining social security docu-
mentation and benefits due to their housing status; 
and 
(15) coordinate with local community stake-
holders, housing advocates, shelters, churches, and 
transitional housing programs to register and receive 
voting ballots for unhoused persons, in coordination 
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•HRES 634 IH 
with the Department of Health and Human Services 
and related social services. 
(g) PUBLIC HEALTH.—The House of Representatives 
shall strive to require the Department of Health and 
Human Services to declare the unhoused crisis a public 
health emergency and work in coordination with the 
Health Resources and Services Administration to imme-
diately provide guidance to mitigate the compounding ef-
fects of the unhoused and public health crises, particularly 
as it relates to the COVID–19 pandemic, human immuno-
deficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, 
hepatitis, tuberculosis, and other communicable diseases. 
(h) FEDERAL GRANT PROGRAMS.—The House of 
Representatives shall strive to require Federal grant pro-
grams to establish guidelines for measuring direct impact 
to communities and holding grant awardees to the highest 
levels of community accountability, particularly in relation 
to the impact of the programs on unhoused persons dis-
proportionately impacted by criminalization and discrimi-
nation. 
(i) LAW ENFORCEMENT ANNUAL STATISTICS.—The 
House of Representatives shall— 
(1) encourage law enforcement agencies to com-
pile annual statistics showing the number of in-
stances of physical violence against unhoused indi-
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•HRES 634 IH 
viduals, as well as citations, arrests, and other law 
enforcement activities, to track instances of crim-
inalizing unhoused populations, including camp 
cleanups, vagrancy violations, sleeping in public, ve-
hicle citations, street sweeps, and panhandling cita-
tions, and provide these annual statistics to the De-
partment of Justice; and 
(2) require the Department of Justice to com-
pile the data and statistics provided by law enforce-
ment agencies as incentivized in paragraph (1), and 
present an annual report to Congress. 
SEC. 4. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 
The House of Representatives shall strive to require 
the Department of Justice, the Department of Housing 
and Urban Development, and the Department of Health 
and Human Services to coordinate with community advo-
cates, policymakers, and unhoused people to develop 
guidelines, policies, and procedures for decriminalizing 
unhoused individuals and communities, and providing re-
sources and direct services to unhoused communities, and 
make available a report to Congress not later than 6 
months of the enactment of the relevant legislation. 
Æ 
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