A bill to strengthen the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.

Mr. President, along with Senator Collins, I am introducing legislation that would eliminate the sunset date for U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness--the Council--so that this independent agency can build upon its success in helping to prevent and end homelessness nationally.

The Council was established under the Reagan administration as part of the landmark McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987. Since that time, it has worked across the Federal Government and private sector to coordinate homeless assistance nationally. In 2009, the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing, or HEARTH Act, which I authored and introduced along with Senator Collins and others, expanded the Council's role to work with public, nonprofit, and private stakeholders to develop a national strategic plan to end homelessness. On June 22, 2010, the Council unveiled this plan, called Opening Doors, which has guided its work to develop and expand on effective strategies across the country to prevent and end homelessness.

Since Opening Doors was unveiled, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, reports that overall homelessness has decreased by 14 percent, chronic homelessness by 27 percent, and family homelessness by 23 percent. In addition, we have seen veterans' homelessness drop by 47 percent. This progress is not only a result of the more than $500 million Federal investment in housing and supportive services through programs like HUD-VASH but is also because of the direction the Council provides to the Departments of Veterans Affairs and HUD, as well as public housing agencies administering assistance at the local level. Specifically, the Council helped various partners align their resources, efforts, goals, and measures of success for serving homeless veterans. Under this approach, the Commonwealth of Virginia, Connecticut, Delaware, the city of New Orleans, and DeKalb County in Georgia, to name a few, have all declared an end to veterans' homelessness.

Yet more work remains. And here, too, the Council is an important part of developing solutions. For instance, nearly 36,000 unaccompanied youth under the age of 25 experienced homelessness in 2016. While some communities have started to develop responses to youth homelessness, it is a complex problem that requires a tailored approach taking into account the local variables of foster care, primary to postsecondary education, housing, and healthcare systems. Finding new ways to deliver and fund assistance to this diverse population is essential, and that is why Senator Collins and I held a hearing in our subcommittee on this matter and worked together to include over $40 million in targeted resources to address youth homelessness in both the fiscal year 2016 and 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, THUD, appropriations bills. As part of this new funding, the Council will be executing a broader collaborative effort with foster care networks, the juvenile justice community, and education partners to create and find

success in coordinated, cost-effective solutions that meet community needs. The Council's expertise in implementing complex Federal programs at the local level will continue to be critical to the success of this initiative.

For all of this good work the Council has done and continues to do, it is vital that we keep its doors open. The Council, as the only agency at the federal level charged specifically with addressing homelessness, has helped communities not only reduce homelessness, but it has also helped to save money. We know that people experiencing homelessness are more likely to access expensive health care services and spend more time in incarceration--which are extremely costly to taxpayers, states, and local governments. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, ``Based on 22 different studies from across the country, providing permanent supportive housing to chronically homeless people creates net savings of $4,800 per person per year, through reduced spending on jails, hospitals, shelters, and other emergency services.''

The Council has helped to build upon these estimated savings by identifying and tailoring cost-effective solutions that reduce the level of health care services, as well as recidivism, for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. In fiscal year 2016 alone, the Council's modest $3.5 million budget catalyzed more than $5 billion in combined Federal resources that aim to address homelessness. It develops national strategies that inform the work and improve the cost- effectiveness of programs administered by 19 Federal agencies, and as a result, communities and Sates are able to leverage housing, health, education, and labor funding more strategically and effectively.

In our current budgetary environment we need a wise and creative arm to help our communities identify and maximize resources and opportunities where possible, to ensure we are actually addressing homelessness, and not contributing to it. The Council is proof that the government can work and save money in the process, and our bipartisan legislation ensures that the Council's doors remain open until there truly is an end to homelessness nationwide.

I thank the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, HousingWorksRI, the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, A Way Home America, Community Solutions, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, Funders Together to End Homelessness, the True Colors Fund, the National Housing Trust, the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, LISC, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association, National Network for Youth, LeadingAge, Heartland Alliance, National Housing Conference, the National AIDS Housing Coalition, Covenant House International, the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, the Forum for Youth Investment, the Housing Assistance Council, Volunteers of America, the Coalition on Human Needs, the Corporation for Supportive Housing, the Technical Assistance Collaborative, and the National Coalition for the Homeless for their support. I urge our colleagues to join Senator Collins and me in supporting this legislation.

Mr. President, along with Senator Collins, I am introducing legislation that would eliminate the sunset date for U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness--the Council--so that this independent agency can build upon its success in helping to prevent and end homelessness nationally.

The Council was established under the Reagan administration as part of the landmark McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987. Since that time, it has worked across the Federal Government and private sector to coordinate homeless assistance nationally. In 2009, the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing, or HEARTH Act, which I authored and introduced along with Senator Collins and others, expanded the Council's role to work with public, nonprofit, and private stakeholders to develop a national strategic plan to end homelessness. On June 22, 2010, the Council unveiled this plan, called Opening Doors, which has guided its work to develop and expand on effective strategies across the country to prevent and end homelessness.

Since Opening Doors was unveiled, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, reports that overall homelessness has decreased by 14 percent, chronic homelessness by 27 percent, and family homelessness by 23 percent. In addition, we have seen veterans' homelessness drop by 47 percent. This progress is not only a result of the more than $500 million Federal investment in housing and supportive services through programs like HUD-VASH but is also because of the direction the Council provides to the Departments of Veterans Affairs and HUD, as well as public housing agencies administering assistance at the local level. Specifically, the Council helped various partners align their resources, efforts, goals, and measures of success for serving homeless veterans. Under this approach, the Commonwealth of Virginia, Connecticut, Delaware, the city of New Orleans, and DeKalb County in Georgia, to name a few, have all declared an end to veterans' homelessness.

Yet more work remains. And here, too, the Council is an important part of developing solutions. For instance, nearly 36,000 unaccompanied youth under the age of 25 experienced homelessness in 2016. While some communities have started to develop responses to youth homelessness, it is a complex problem that requires a tailored approach taking into account the local variables of foster care, primary to postsecondary education, housing, and healthcare systems. Finding new ways to deliver and fund assistance to this diverse population is essential, and that is why Senator Collins and I held a hearing in our subcommittee on this matter and worked together to include over $40 million in targeted resources to address youth homelessness in both the fiscal year 2016 and 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, THUD, appropriations bills. As part of this new funding, the Council will be executing a broader collaborative effort with foster care networks, the juvenile justice community, and education partners to create and find

success in coordinated, cost-effective solutions that meet community needs. The Council's expertise in implementing complex Federal programs at the local level will continue to be critical to the success of this initiative.

For all of this good work the Council has done and continues to do, it is vital that we keep its doors open. The Council, as the only agency at the federal level charged specifically with addressing homelessness, has helped communities not only reduce homelessness, but it has also helped to save money. We know that people experiencing homelessness are more likely to access expensive health care services and spend more time in incarceration--which are extremely costly to taxpayers, states, and local governments. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, ``Based on 22 different studies from across the country, providing permanent supportive housing to chronically homeless people creates net savings of $4,800 per person per year, through reduced spending on jails, hospitals, shelters, and other emergency services.''

The Council has helped to build upon these estimated savings by identifying and tailoring cost-effective solutions that reduce the level of health care services, as well as recidivism, for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. In fiscal year 2016 alone, the Council's modest $3.5 million budget catalyzed more than $5 billion in combined Federal resources that aim to address homelessness. It develops national strategies that inform the work and improve the cost- effectiveness of programs administered by 19 Federal agencies, and as a result, communities and Sates are able to leverage housing, health, education, and labor funding more strategically and effectively.

In our current budgetary environment we need a wise and creative arm to help our communities identify and maximize resources and opportunities where possible, to ensure we are actually addressing homelessness, and not contributing to it. The Council is proof that the government can work and save money in the process, and our bipartisan legislation ensures that the Council's doors remain open until there truly is an end to homelessness nationwide.

I thank the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, HousingWorksRI, the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, A Way Home America, Community Solutions, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, Funders Together to End Homelessness, the True Colors Fund, the National Housing Trust, the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, LISC, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association, National Network for Youth, LeadingAge, Heartland Alliance, National Housing Conference, the National AIDS Housing Coalition, Covenant House International, the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, the Forum for Youth Investment, the Housing Assistance Council, Volunteers of America, the Coalition on Human Needs, the Corporation for Supportive Housing, the Technical Assistance Collaborative, and the National Coalition for the Homeless for their support. I urge our colleagues to join Senator Collins and me in supporting this legislation.

Mr. President, border security is one of the Federal Government's most important responsibilities, and the Federal Government has no better partners than local law enforcement agencies from border communities like those in my home State of Arizona. These officers and deputies serve on the front lines. They provide critical assistance to the missions of Federal agencies.

Unfortunately, these efforts are expensive and the locals end up picking up most of the tab. For example, local law enforcement agencies hold those facing immigration violations at county-operated jails, and they provide medical care for the undocumented inmates while they are in custody. In providing these services, Arizona's counties have incurred more than $310 million in costs associated with criminal undocumented immigrants since 2009. That is $310 million since 2009.

Despite these enormous costs, the Federal Government has left many local jurisdictions to shoulder the burdens of illegal immigration on their own. This is particularly frustrating when so many of our local law enforcement agencies are already struggling to carry out basic duties on overstretched budgets.

I hope we can all look forward to a time when we have the appropriate resources for securing the border, the means for those seeking to fill the needs of our economy to enter the country legally, a remedy for those who are here already illegally, and also a way for employers to ensure that those whom they hire are legally present.

These critical steps toward solving our immigration problems will require Congress to act. However, in the meantime, we can't continue to allow the Federal Government to pass off immigration responsibilities onto cash-strapped local agencies.

That is why I wish today to introduce a bill to reauthorize and reform the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, better known as SCAAP. This bill is cosponsored by my friend and colleague, John McCain, and is supported by the Arizona Sheriffs Association.

SCAAP is a Federal program that reimburses State, local, and Tribal law enforcement for the costs associated with incarcerating and caring for criminal undocumented immigrants while in custody.

To ensure that local law enforcement receives sufficient reimbursement under SCAAP, my bill would make some commonsense reforms under the program. The bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reauthorize SCAAP through fiscal year 2021. Reauthorizing this program will provide local law enforcement agencies in Arizona and across the country with the certainty that any costs incurred from incarcerating criminal immigrants will be covered by Federal reimbursements.

Our State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies are committed to partnering with the Federal Government on immigration enforcement. But that partnership can't succeed unless the Federal Government provides the necessary reimbursements for those services.

As Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels said:

Arizona's counties continue to struggle under the fiscal

strain of anemic growth in rural areas and cost-shifts from

the State of Arizona. Housing criminal aliens without federal

assistance diverts needed resources away from our

communities' public safety priorities.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this letter from the Arizona Sheriffs Association in support of my bill to reauthorize SCAAP be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, the SCAAP program is the foundation of the immigration partnership between local law enforcement and the Federal Government for keeping our communities safe. I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation to reauthorize and reform the SCAAP program.

Mr. President, a skilled workforce is essential to addressing the growing cybersecurity challenges in the United States. In both the public and private sectors, a shortage of skilled cyber security professionals has hindered the Nation's cyber preparedness. According to a 2017 Global Information Security Workforce Study, 1.8 million more cyber security professionals will be needed worldwide by 2022.

Data breaches at the Office of Personnel Management in 2015 highlighted the need for robust cyber security protections at the Federal level, which include a strong and skilled workforce. Since 2001, the Federal Government has operated a cyber security education program known as CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service. Thanks to great leadership by Chairman John Thune and the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Congress codified the CyberCorps Program as part of the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014. Serving roughly 70 institutions, the National Science Foundation, NSF, grants award to institutions as part of the CyberCorps Program. Institutions utilize grants to build capacity for cyber security programs and provide scholarships to students. Scholarship recipients must fulfill a service requirement in a federal, state or local government cyber security job upon graduation.

In recent years, more community colleges have provided opportunities for students to gain much needed cyber security skills. An October 2015 study by the National Academy for Public Administration reviewed the CyberCorps Program and formulated major recommendations to improve it. One of the Academy's recommendations was to include qualified 2-year programs in the program regardless of their association with a 4-year institution. Currently, NSF only provides scholarship awards to students in 2-year programs who will transfer into a 4-year program.

Today, I am pleased to introduce with my colleague Senator Roger Wicker, the Cybersecurity Scholarship Opportunities Act of 2017. This legislation will improve the federal cyber security workforce pipeline by directing the CyberCorps Program to provide 5 percent of scholarships to career changers and military veterans at qualified 2- year programs with no transfer requirement. The bill would also codify CyberCorps' K-12 education program and align the skills required for scholarship eligibility with the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education Framework.

In addition, the bill would enhance cyber security protection for critical infrastructure by allowing CyberCorps graduates, on a case-by- case basis, to meet their service requirements in critical infrastructure missions at government-affiliated entities like the Tennessee Valley Authority. Just today, a report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that digital threats to U.S. critical infrastructure demand attention and that the Nation does not produce enough graduates with the skills to protect critical infrastructure. It recommended that the President take steps to increase the supply of skilled professionals. By allowing CyberCorps graduates to fulfill service obligations in critical infrastructure missions, this legislation represents an important step in the right direction.

The Cybersecurity Scholarship Opportunities Act is a commonsense, bipartisan bill that would help students succeed and strengthen our national security. There are cyber security jobs in Virginia and across the country that are going unfilled, and it is clear we must make it easier for students to access the programs that prepare them for these roles.