Veasey, Warner Lead Letter to Trump, Carson on Shutdown Housing Crisis
This week, Texas Representative Marc Veasey joined with Virginia Senator Mark Warner in sending a bicameral letter to President Trump and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson urging the administration to end the shutdown and re-open the department. Joining Veasey and Warner in signing the letter were 170 members of the House and Senate.
“Every day that the Trump shutdown continues, more Texas children and families are placed in immediate danger of losing their housing,” said Rep. Veasey. “Public servants and their families should never be faced with eviction from their homes. No family should lose their home over a wall the majority of Americans do not support. This must end. That’s why Senator Warner and I urged the President and Secretary Carson to put aside politics and consider the unjust burden on Americans across the country.”
In the letter, members outlined the direct and immediate consequences of the shutdown on housing stability for more than four million households across the country. They contend that an estimated 2.2 million low-income households are among those at risk of eviction, including housing for thousands of veterans, seniors, and people living with disabilities.
“By now, virtually every American has either been hurt by this shutdown, or knows someone who has,” said Sen. Warner. “No one – particularly our most vulnerable citizens – should have to lose their home just so that the President can make a political point. This has to stop now. The President must allow the government to re-open before the damage gets even worse.”
