House OKs homeless veterans bill amid veto threat

[babylonsister]

House OKs homeless veterans bill amid veto threat
7/9/2008, 8:03 p.m. EDT
By SUZANNE GAMBOA
The Associated Press


WASHINGTON (AP) — The House approved a homeless veterans housing bill overwhelmingly Wednesday, even though White House advisers warned they'd urge President Bush to veto it.

The bill sponsored by Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, authorizes spending $200 million on housing and services for veterans, requires 20,000 rental vouchers a year for low-income housing for veterans and authorizes $1 million for grants to nonprofit groups to provide housing and services for veterans.

The bill, which passed 412-9, also creates a job in the Department of Housing and Urban Development for someone to coordinate with Veterans Affairs on homelessness and make regular reports to Congress on the issue.

The Senate version of the bill is sponsored by Democrat Barack Obama, the Illinois lawmaker who is the party's presumptive presidential nominee.

Bush's advisers said in a statement they oppose a wage provision in the bill that requires builders of veterans housing to pay employees prevailing wage. The advisers said that provision is the bill's major problem. Bush has long opposed any changes to the law that would either increase or decrease the number of employers subject to the prevailing wage requirements in the Davis-Bacon Act, the advisers said.

more...

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/washington/index.ssf?/base/politics-15/1215648552294000.xml&storylist=washington

[Enrique]

1. good for Al Green

a legislative accomplishment that will help people that desperately need help. :toast:

[Enrique]

2. kick

:kick:

[Enrique]

3. kick

:kick:

[nam78_two]

4. Why? Why are these people still considered the party that supports the troops?

Why? How many more of these stories are people going to read till it sinks in?

And their excuse is so mean-spirited in itself-God forbid the government require that their contractors pay a prevailing wage.

[Enrique]

5. kick

at some point, who cares about who's a "progressive". This is the stuff that matters.

[Enrique]

6. kick