Statement on Signing the
Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1988
I
have today signed H.R. 4352, an Act ``to amend the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless
Assistance Act to extend programs providing urgently needed assistance for the
homeless, and for other purposes.'' The legislation authorizes appropriations
of $633.8 million for Fiscal Year 1989 and $675.8 million for Fiscal Year 1990
for programs to assist homeless Americans. It ensures that the Federal
Government, directly and through cooperative efforts with State and local
governments and the private sector, can address effectively the plight of those
who do not have shelter.
The
funds authorized by the Act support a number of major Federal programs to
assist the homeless. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's Emergency Food
and Shelter Program funds the work of nonprofit
organizations and local governments in providing shelter, food, and supportive
services for the homeless. The Department of Housing and Urban Development's
Emergency Shelter Grants Program provides funds to State and local governments
for renovation of buildings for use as emergency shelters and for shelter
operation. The Department's Supportive Housing Demonstration Program of grants
for development of innovative approaches to providing transitional housing for
homeless families with children and persons with physical or mental
disabilities also will continue.
The
Act authorizes funds for a program of particular importance that serves both
the medical needs of the homeless and the national objective of a drug-free
America -- the Department of Health and Human Services' Primary Health and
Substance Abuse Services Program of grants to public or private nonprofit
organizations for health and substance abuse services for the homeless.
The
Act expands the scope of the path-breaking Job Training Partnership Act in
which the private and public sectors cooperate to assist individuals in
developing marketable skills that bring economic independence. This expansion
of the Job Training Partnership Act should be administered in coordination with
the work arrangements of the Family Support Act of 1988 that I signed last
month.
Those
provisions in this Act that purport to require the heads of departments and
agencies to submit legislation or recommendations to the Congress must be
implemented in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority and duty
of the President to recommend to the Congress from time to time ``such measures
as he shall judge necessary and expedient.'' Also, ensuring orderly and
effective representation of the interests of the
Ronald
Reagan
The
White House,
Note: H.R. 4352,
approved November 7, was assigned Public Law No. 100 - 628.