October 07, 2003
Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) issued the following statement for the National Coalition for the Homeless Conference’s rally to support the Bring America Home Act.
“Thanks to the National Coalition for the Homeless, Congressman Conyers, and Congresswoman Carson for sponsoring this event, and a special thanks to the housing advocates who are here today to send the message to the Bush Administration that we must end homelessness now because housing is a fundamental human right. Homelessness has become a way of life for too many Americans and too many families.”
“My home state of California is supposed to be a land of riches, but homelessness robs the state of its promise. On any given night, there are 360,000 people homeless in our great state. Over the course of a year, 1 million Californians are homeless.”
“Even with all of the world’s media in California during the past two months, you didn’t see any stories on these homeless. And I guarantee that you won’t see many stories on the over 2.5 million homeless men, women and children throughout this country! You won’t hear stories on how our streets have become poor substitutes for treating those in our country desperately in need of medical care: 22% of the homeless in our cities are considered mentally ill and 37% suffer from substance abuse.”
“We must make these stories known because we must prod the Bush Administration into funding these solutions. The Administration can approve billions of dollars for rebuilding Iraq, but we can’t come up with the relatively small resources necessary to end homelessness in this country.”
“Housing should be a basic civil right, and the time is now to make this civil rights movement a reality.”
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Congresswoman Barbara Lee Speaks at National Coalition for the Homeless Conference Rally
Calls for Passage of Bring America Home Act
Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) issued the following statement for the National Coalition for the Homeless Conference’s rally to support the Bring America Home Act.
“Thanks to the National Coalition for the Homeless, Congressman Conyers, and Congresswoman Carson for sponsoring this event, and a special thanks to the housing advocates who are here today to send the message to the Bush Administration that we must end homelessness now because housing is a fundamental human right. Homelessness has become a way of life for too many Americans and too many families.”
“My home state of California is supposed to be a land of riches, but homelessness robs the state of its promise. On any given night, there are 360,000 people homeless in our great state. Over the course of a year, 1 million Californians are homeless.”
“Even with all of the world’s media in California during the past two months, you didn’t see any stories on these homeless. And I guarantee that you won’t see many stories on the over 2.5 million homeless men, women and children throughout this country! You won’t hear stories on how our streets have become poor substitutes for treating those in our country desperately in need of medical care: 22% of the homeless in our cities are considered mentally ill and 37% suffer from substance abuse.”
“We must make these stories known because we must prod the Bush Administration into funding these solutions. The Administration can approve billions of dollars for rebuilding Iraq, but we can’t come up with the relatively small resources necessary to end homelessness in this country.”
“Housing should be a basic civil right, and the time is now to make this civil rights movement a reality.”
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