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EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PR ESIDENT OFFICE OF ECONOMIC WASHIN GTON , D.C. 20506 CJllll(Jl~TlJNITY February 20, 1969 MEMORANDUM FROM BERTRAND M. HARDING ACTING DIRECTOR I'm sure that by now you have all seen news reports on the President's long-awaited statement regarding the future of the. Office of Economic Opportunity. I believe all of us at OEO, the operators of our programs in the field, our supporters among the general public and most of all the poor_ whom we seek to serve should be gratified at the course charted by the Administration's newly announced anti-poverty policy. President Nixon's statement to Congress of February 19 represe·nts in every important aspect an endorsement of much of the work OEO has -done over the past 4 years. But, of even greater significance, is the President's recognition that a major effort still lies ahead to redeem the lives and hopes of America's poor . As the President put' it: "From the experience of OEO , we have learned the value of having in the Federal Government an agency whose special concern is the poor . We have learned the need fo r fle x ibi lity, responsiveness , and continuing i nnovation. We have learned the need for m anagement eff ect i ven ess. " As I s ee it the key poin t s i n the Pres i de n t 's m es sage ar e these : 1. OEO will continue , unde r th at name a n d within the Executive Office of the P res ident. The Pr e side nt will pr opo se t o C o ngr e ss t h at OEO's autho rization fo r appr op riatio ns be exte nded for one year to J une 3 0 , 19 7 0 . 2 . Later this year, the President will send to Congress a "comprehensive proposal for ·the future of the poverty program" which he will propose to become effective July 1, 1970. �-23. Head Start will be delegated to the Office o f the Secre t ary of the Department of Health, Education a n d We lfar e, effective July 1, 1969. 4. Job Corps will be de le gated t o the Department of Labor e ffective July 1, 1969, with the Departments o f Interior and Agr iculture retaining ope r ating responsibilit y fo r conse rvation cente rs. 5. Preparat ions w i ll be made for the eventual t ransfer of the Comprehens ive Health Centers a nd Fo ster Grandparents progr ams to HEW . 6. The "vital" Community Action Prog ram will be pressed fo rward, and C AAs will c ontinue to b e involved in the ope ratio n of programs at the local level, even though such progr ams may be delegated to other Departments at the natio nal level. There will, of course, be difficulties as we seek to carry out the administ ra tive changes the President wishes, a s Congres s performs its legi slative duties a nd even as we at OEO meet our continuing responsibilities to the poo r. Thes e, however, are difficulties inherent in the t ransition process , rathe r than difficulties of substance affecting the c o ntinuation of p r ograms and their impact on the poor. As such they are difficulties I am confident can be effectively resolved. The overriding questi o n for the past few of OE0 1 s mandate to help the po<;>r out of hand and I think all of us concerne d with heartened and ready to pus h forward our months h as been the continua tio n p ov~r t y. That mandate is now in the pli ght of America's poor are common cau se. During the past four yea rs OEO has made major strides toward erasing poverty . But some 22 million poor remain with us, so there is much s t ill to be done. In essence we now have the Presidential support to get on with the job. • �