Washington, D.C. – Today, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee held a hearing regarding the persistent homeless veterans population that continues to plague 40,000-45,000 of the men and women who served our nation in honor. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), attended the hearing, and after a discussion with panelists form the Veterans Health Administration, the VA National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, called for solutions to eliminate the current bureaucratic barriers to find both short- and long-term strategies to end veteran homelessness.

After the hearing, Senator Tillis released the following statement:

“Five years ago, the White House vowed to end veteran homelessness by the end of 2015, a promise that will undoubtedly be broken by the Obama Administration as officials estimate more than 40,000 homeless veterans at the end of 2014,” said Senator Tillis. “We need to address the constraints the Department of Veterans Affairs is facing and streamline its interaction with other agencies so we can get a faster rate of solutions to the homelessness problem. We also need to be mindful of the different approaches that are required to help homeless veterans in rural and urban areas.”