U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME) wants to include the Rural Housing Voucher program under the umbrella of a federal domestic violence law to ensure more victims in America don’t become homeless.
Rep. Poliquin’s bipartisan bill – to amend the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 – is entitled the VAWA Protections for Rural Women Act of 2018, H.R. 5654, which he cosponsored on April 27 with its introduction by U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX).
If enacted, H.R. 5654 would add the Rural Housing Voucher program to the list of covered housing programs under VAWA, according to Rep. Poliquin’s office, such as U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rental assistance programs and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program.
“The Violence Against Women Act was a milestone law to help mobilize resources for victims and aid in preventing and responding to abuse and violence,” said Rep. Poliquin. “I’m proud to support this bipartisan proposal to make a sensible fix to the original 1994 law so that the same protections for victims in most public housing programs extend to those in this rural housing program that serves our rural communities, especially in states like Maine.”
H.R. 5654 is an important, proactive proposal that could increase protections for the nearly 50 percent of all homeless women in the United States who report domestic violence as the immediate cause for their homelessness, and the 25 percent of women in rural areas living more than 40 miles from available assistance, the congressman’s staff said in a May 3 statement.
“Abuse and violence does not discriminate between those in rural and urban settings, and it’s important that victims can access the same protections and support no matter where they live,” Rep. Poliquin said.
Rep. Gonzalez added that domestic violence victims, who are some of rural America’s most vulnerable populations, oftentimes consider access to safe and affordable housing as a determining factor in whether they’re able to leave abusive situations. “For those victims that reside in rural areas, the options are currently few and far between,” Gonzalez said.
H.R. 5654 has been referred to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.