July 25, 1968
Page 23288
BOLD NEW STEPS IN HOUSING
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, our Nation and our Government have been searching for better homes for our people and a better way of life within our communities for many years.
At no time in our history has the pursuit of that goal been as strong as it has in the years since President Lyndon B. Johnson has been in the White House. Four major housing acts, including such creative new programs as model cities, rent supplements, and incentive grants for metropolitan development and the establishment of a Cabinet-level Department of Housing and Urban Development are witness to the concern of this administration for better housing and better cities.
However, over the years, our achievements have not been entirely even. While the programs of the FHA and the VA have increased our housing supply enormously and made it possible for middle class America to achieve an unprecedented rate of homeownership, there are today 20 million Americans condemned to intolerable, substandard housing.
And, over the years, we have not kept pace with our growing population and changing problems. Our cities are decaying, our transportation systems are clogged, our facilities are worn and outdated.
Nothing is so clear to me as the fact that changing times, changing problems, changing population demands new approaches, new goals, new solutions. Mr. President, the legislation before us today meets these demands. It involves new concepts, new programs, and the revision of existing programs to meet new problems.
For the first time, Mr. President, we have before us not just a goal but a well defined, workable program to reach that goal within the next 10 years. President Johnson in his message on the cities last February set forth the goal – to build 26 million new homes and apartments in the next 10 years and to abolish the 6 million substandard dwellings where 20 million Americans live.
The Housing and Urban Development Act will move us 3 years toward that goal.
HOME OWNERSHIP
For the first time, Mr. President, this act brings homeownership within the reach of millions of lower income Americans. Under title I families whose incomes fall within the range of $3,000 to $6,500 per year would be eligible for a Federal assistance payment that could reduce the cost of their home mortgage to as low as 1 percent. By paying 20 percent of its monthly income toward principal, interest, taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance premium a family could have a decent home of its own.
RENT SUPPLEMENTS
For the first time, Mr. President, an almost identical system would be used to make decent rental housing available to those American families in the same income range who are unable or unwilling to undertake the responsibilities of homeownership and to help the elderly and handicapped in their quest for good housing at a reasonable price.
EXPANDED ROLE FOR PRIVATE ENTERPRISE
For the first time, Mr. President, we will rely primarily upon the talents and energies of private industry in reaching the mammoth construction goals needed to house our people. The national policy on housing set forth in the Taft-Wagner-Ellender Act of 1949 stated that "private enterprise shall be encouraged to serve as large a part of the total-housing-need as it can" and "governmental assistance shall be utilized where feasible to enable private enterprise to serve more of the total need. S. 3497 will make it possible, for the first time, to implement those statements fully.
The housing units produced under these new programs will be constructed by private builders. It will be sponsored and owned by private groups and individuals. The funds will come primarily from the private investment market.
Involvement of private groups achieving greater production of low- and moderate-income housing will also be encouraged by other provisions of S. 3497:
A National Homeownership Foundation will be established and will be authorized to make grants and loans to these groups to help defray organizational and administrative expenses, necessary preconstruction costs and costs of services to families that will be served.
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development will be authorized to provide substantial technical assistance to groups that wish to sponsor housing under the programs of titles I and II and may make 80 percent interest-free loans to these nonprofit sponsors to cover certain preconstruction costs of these federally assisted programs.
Title VIII of this bill authorizes the creation of a national housing partnership to mobilize private investment and the application of business skills in the job of creating low- and moderate-income housing in large volume.
NEW FHA PROGRAMS
For the first time, Mr. President, the Federal Housing Administration, which has served middle income America so long and so well, will be given some new tools to enable it to aid lower-income Americans in achieving homeownership and to save inner cities from further deterioration. S. 3497 authorizes FHA to insure mortgages for families who presently are not acceptable risks because of poor credit histories or because of irregular income patterns caused by seasonal employment.
Section 103 of the bill before us allows the Federal Housing Administration to insure mortgages for purchase, repair, and rehabilitation of homes that, because they are located in older, declining areas of a city, might not meet all of the usual insurance requirements. Mr. President, many have leveled charges of "redlining" at the FHA. This section of the bill will give the Administration authority to act to prevent further deterioration of neighborhoods where low- and moderate- income families may find good housing and good lives.
NEW DIRECTIONS IN PUBLIC HOUSING AND URBAN RENEWAL
For the first time, Mr. President, existing programs such as public housing and urban renewal have been substantially revised to meet human needs.
For the first time, Federal funds are authorized to assist local housing authorities in providing desperately needed social services to tenants of low-rent public housing projects.
Many public housing residents are new to the city, unable to cope with its complexities, and unaware of many social aids available.
Many local authorities have attempted to provide aid to tenants in such areas as counseling on housekeeping and diet and money management and have sought to aid tenants in seeking job training and placement, educational opportunities, and health services.
It has been proved that these services can have a substantial effect upon resident's lives.
However, it is impossible for local authorities to finance these services adequately. The $20 million authorized for fiscal 1969 and $40 million for fiscal 1970 will do much to humanize the often isolated existence of the public housing resident.
For the first time, other means have been sought to provide something more than a roof and four walls to the public housing resident:
High rise public housing projects for families with children is prohibited in most cases.
The problems of very large families with very low incomes are acknowledged and an additional annual support of $120 is authorized for units where these families live.
Tenants will be able to purchase any low-rent housing unit suitable for individual ownership, rather than only the detached or semidetached units in the present law.
For the first time, a new neighborhood development program will make it possible for a city to speed up the renewal process and show visible accomplishments in short periods of time.
I could go on, Mr. President, for there are other "firsts" in this legislation. However, I believe the most important fact is that we have acknowledged the problems, seen the need to involve all the varied elements of our society in solving them and, through this legislation, provided the tools to begin the job.
In closing, Mr. President, I want to pay tribute to the distinguished chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency, the Senator from Alabama [Mr. SPARKMAN], for his leadership in the Senate and in conference in bringing the legislation to such a successful conclusion. In addition, I wish to direct some praise to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Weaver, and to his associates for the imagination, administrative accomplishment, and new directions they have provided in the past several years, all of which has made this legislation possible.