I voted Yes on H.R. 384, the Homes for Heroes Act of 2013.

This legislation would greatly improve our ability to address homelessness among veterans. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), there were 62,619 homeless veterans in the United States in 2012. Such a disproportionately high percentage of homelessness among our veteran population is morally inexcusable. We have an obligation to take care of these brave men and women who sacrificed so much on our behalf.

I supported this measure as an important step toward combating homelessness among our veterans. This bill would create the position of Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs within the HUD to focus specifically on veterans programs. The Special Assistant will oversee services for homeless veterans and facilitate inter-agency coordination to improve the government's response to homelessness among veterans. Furthermore, this act requires HUD to submit an annual report to Congress detailing the housing needs of homeless veterans and the work HUD as done to address these needs.

Inter-agency coordination will improve the government's ability to reduce homelessness among veterans and reduce inefficiencies in the current system that wastes funding that could be better spent to properly address this national issue.

The bill was approved by a vote of 420 – 3.