Congress OKs $50 Million for Homeless

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday for an additional $50 million to build shelters and provide food for homeless people in cities across the nation.

The bill, which was passed earlier by the House, was amended in the Senate to express opposition to proposed federal pay raises and also to earmark special funding for mentally disabled homeless veterans. The legislation now goes to a conference committee to iron out the differences between the two versions before being sent to President Reagan, whose advisers have indicated strong opposition.

Calling the plight of the nation’s homeless “a continuing disgrace,” Sen. Lawton Chiles (D-Fla.), whose budget committee recommended the legislation, said the extra $50 million was needed to help displaced people struggling through an unusually cold winter across the nation.

Sees ‘Pressing Need’

“Just by walking through the streets of Washington, D.C., tonight . . . seeing homeless people sleeping on heating grates and under boxes, trying to stay warm, you can see the pressing need for this money,” Chiles said.

Although the Senate’s 77-6 vote was bipartisan, Democratic leaders touted the homeless assistance as an example of their determination to seize control of the nation’s legislative agenda early in the 100th Congress. Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W. Va.) said the measure had been put on a “fast track” for that reason.

However, Democrats conceded that they may be setting up a confrontation with the White House. Earlier in the week, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget said the emergency measure was fiscally irresponsible and criticized the way in which Congress obtained extra funds for the homeless program.

Transfer of Funds

To pay for the emergency assistance, House and Senate leaders transferred $50 million from a program offering low-income loans and other assistance to victims of natural disasters. The new funds would be distributed to local governments and nonprofit groups under the Emergency Food and Shelter Program.

Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Tex.) assailed the transfer as dangerously shortsighted. Sponsors of the homeless legislation, he said, were taking money from the Disaster Relief Fund “without securing a guarantee from the Lord that there will be a commensurate reduction in disasters.”

Gramm charged also that Congress would have to replenish the $50 million sooner or later and added that the extra funds would exceed the budgetary spending limits imposed by the Gramm-Rudman deficit reduction law.

However, a majority of senators in both parties strongly endorsed the bill. Some admitted that the political appeal of voting additional aid for homeless people in the heart of the winter was irresistible.

Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N. M.), noting that the federal budget had already allocated $70 million in aid to the homeless this year, said the new legislation “is not really an emergency, it’s not needed immediately.”

Critical of Motives

“But we’re in a rush to sort of prove that we’re more for the homeless than anybody else . . . maybe more than the President. We’re just going to rush this on through.”

Domenici speculated that the new funds might not even be technically available for homeless programs until after the winter months. Still, he said, the money would be wisely spent and should not be denied.

Earlier in the day, a Senate subcommittee opened hearings on the plight of the homeless, receiving testimony from federal housing officials, several mayors and activists on behalf of the homeless, including television actress Valerie Harper.

“In city after city across the country, the (homeless) problem has grown markedly worse in the last year,” said Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), who heads the housing subcommittee of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

Would Target Veterans

Cranston, noting that a disproportionately high percentage of the men in housing shelters across the nation are Vietnam veterans--as much as 30% in several cities--said he would soon introduce legislation geared to the special needs of homeless veterans.

Other committee members pledged support for a $500-million bill pending in the House that would provide significantly increased aid for the homeless.

The $50-million emergency aid bill approved Thursday was “an important down payment on the eventual $500-million total,” said Harper, who has worked with several groups aiding the homeless in the Los Angeles area.