PEARCE’S BILL TO PROVIDE FOR IMPROVED NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING PASSES HURDLE Washington, DC (Aug. 1, 2014) Congressman Steve Pearce applauded the bipartisan passage of a bill this week that he introduced, and that will provide for improved housing opportunities for Native Americans across the nation. The Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act passed the Financial Services Committee Wednesday. The approval reauthorizes NAHASDA for five more years, and reforms the law. “Native Americans in New Mexico and across the nation deserve better living conditions and housing opportunities. This five-year extension to NAHASDA continues to transform housing conditions for thousands of tribal members,” said Pearce. “This bill seeks to allow Native Americans to purchase their own homes. It not only reauthorizes this important program, but also strengthens the law. Homeownership, as was the case with my family, can pave the way for continued improvement.” Richard Luarkie, Governor of Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico, added: Community well-being, healthy children and families, stable education systems and sustainable economic models are all influenced by access to housing and homeownership,” Luarkie said. “I am extremely pleased to see the bipartisan passage of the NAHASDA bill out of the Financial Services Committee. For tribes across the nation, this provides an incredible opportunity for the tribal governments to create and advance conditions for successful homeownership. The innovative thinking about native housing and the work by Congressman Steve Pearce and others is greatly appreciated.” National American Indian Housing Council Chairwoman, Sami Jo Difuntorum also applauded the passage Wednesday. “The National American Indian Housing Council applauds Rep. Pearce and all those who have worked on NAHASDA for their commitment to supporting improved housing for Native people,” Difuntorum said. “Rep. Pearce’s bill takes proactive steps to improve the current law and make it more effective by including provisions that streamline administrative efficiencies. Programs developed pursuant to NAHASDA have greatly improved housing conditions for many Native Americans and Alaska Natives. The NAIHC urges swift passage of HR 4329. Phil Bush, Chairman of the Nevada/California Indian Housing Association, added: “All of Indian Country is currently operating not only with insufficient funding, but also without an authorized Indian Housing law for almost a year now!” Bush said. “NAHASDA Reauthorization is a matter of highest priority for us, and we need the support of every member of the House to pass this bill now and send it quickly to Conference.” NOTE: H.R. 4329 was passed through the Financial Services Committee by a bipartisan vote of 47-11.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 22:16:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015