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Statement by J. Irwin Mi ll er , President, Cummins Engine Company and Membe r, Policy Council, Urban Coalition Action Council before the Subcomi71itte e on Employme nt , Manpower and Poverty CoITLrnittee on Labor and Publ ic Welfare U.S. Se nate April 23, 1969 Mr. Chai rman: I appreciate the o pport unity to ap p ear wi th Mr. Gardner on behalf of th e Urban Coali tion Ac t ion Council in support of extension and adequate funding of t he Economic Opportu nity Act. I endorse Mr. Gardner's statement, particularly his conclusions and proposed Congress i ona l action. There are two points ma d e by Mr. Gardner to wh ich I wish to call s pe cial at t e ntion. The first conce rns the fact th a t we -- business, l a bor , mayors, religion, minority and ci v ic groups - - r e presen t a broad -b as e d n at ion a l coa l i tion of norma ll y diverg en t i n t e rest s . The Urban Co a l i tion Action Council was fo rmed b e c a us e of our conce rn with the futur e of t his incre a s ingl y ur baniz ed so ci ety, and th e l e gislation ne e d e d to me e t t he challe nge s of such a soci e t y . The Economic Opportun i ty Ac t i s one of the l e g is la tive too ls mee ting thos e chall e n ge s . Notw ith stan ding our divers ity o f v i ews on many issue s we r e co gn i ze t he rol e th e Eco nomic Opp o r t un ity Ac t h a s play e d not only in mater ia l l y imp ro v in g , but in gi v ing sub s tan r ~ to th e lives of ma n y of th e po o r a n d d i s advantage d citi zens in our s o cie t y. There shoul d b e no tho u gh t g i ve n to cut t ing ba c k , re t renchi n g o r limiti ng the as si s t ance the Fede r a l governmen t c a n p ro v i de through l eg i s l ati o n s uch a s th is . In s t ead, t he Fede r a l governmen t . sh o u l d be ge nu inely concerned t o make cert ain th e f un ding i s e no ugh to d o the j ob within r.easonab l e t i me. �- 2 - Th e s eco nd po i nt I wi sh t o make , and a g a in one Mr . Ga rdne r d eve loped i n hi s testimony, concerns the ro l e of com..rnun i ty a c t ion in the overal l ant i poverty effort . It seems t o me essen t ial that t he Congress give full support i n t his problem The poor and d i sadvantaged t o l o cal community i nvo l vement. are more concerned today than ever before in gaining an effect i ve role in determining their own destiny. They no longer see themselves as helpless a n d powerless before the u nyielding and unchanging institutiona l forces of our society. They now h ave a dire ct and significant i mpa ct on these i nstitutions. Although not all view this impact in the same way , I p ersonally beli eve th at greater invo lvemen t by the disadvantaged in social action programs is nec essary, and that resul ts to date have been favorable. concept should be encouraged. Expansion o f this There is also no question in my mind but th at community action programs, fostered and nurtured by community action agencies, wil l turn out to have been th e forerunners of a much wider range of community involvement by the poor. For this we have the Economic Opportuni ty Act largely to thank. I j oin Mr. Gardner in urging Congress to continue its support of this legislation by giving it not only the ex~ended life it deserves, but the funds, i n the form of appropriations, it needs to prosper. �