Daily Kos & The Bring America Home Now Campaign Launch National Petition Drive & Letter Campaign Urging Congress To Pass HR 4496, “The Ending Homelessness Act of 2022”

The Bring America Home Now Campaign, BAHN, is proud to announce that we are working in close collaboration with Daily Kos, a leading national group blog and internet forum focused on issues of social justice to help build grassroots support for passage in the House of Representatives of Rep. Maxine Water’s “Ending Homelessness Act of 2022,” HR 4496 in Congress.

As of September 2014, Daily Kos has had an average weekday traffic of hundreds of thousands; and in 2008 Time magazine, listed Daily Kos the second best blog. Daily Kos has the ability to rapidly mobilize hundreds of thousands Americans to send letters and petitions to Congress to show support for HR 4496; something that is truly needed, if we are going to pass federal legislation that will ultimately solve and end the homeless crisis in our nation.

HR 4496 currently has 74 House co-sponsors in Congress. The Bill would provide over 1,500,000 Housing Choice Vouchers to low income people who are in urgent need of housing, and create an entitlement for the Vouchers for those who meet low income eligibility criterion. Rep. Maxine Waters, who Chairs the powerful House Financial Services Committee, has the power to have an Official Hearing on HR 4496. However, typically a federal bill must have over 100 co-sponsors to spark an official Hearing in The Committee of Jurisdiction, and then would proceed to a full House Vote for passage. HR 4496 does not yet have a Senate Sponsor, however the BAHN Campaign seeks to find a Senator who will introduce the Bill.

Joel Segal, a former senior legislative assistant to Rep. John Conyers from 2000-2013, and now the National Director of the BAHN Campaign said: “Members of Congress are definitely impacted by letters, petitions, emails, meetings with staffers, and phone calls to their offices both in their home offices or on Capitol Hill. This is especially true if they hear from their constituents, who they know will ultimately determine if they will remain in office. We need all hands on deck if we are going to pass HR 4496 and other significant federal legislation needed to solve and end the homeless emergency  in America.

The Daily Kos letter writing and petition drive for passage of HR 4496 in Congress is being targeted to both Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate. We need Members of Congress from both sides of the isle to support this very important bill that will help hundreds of thousands of low income families and individuals have access to affordable housing.

*If you are interested in participating in the Daily Kos national petition and letter writing campaign in support of HR 4496, please contact Joel Segal at Jsegal@nationalhomeless.org, or call 571 344-1518.    

[Featured Photo Credit: Karolina Grabowska ]