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Gardner Describes Pri ori ty Programs for Federal A ction Action Counci l Chairman John W. Gardner has described "jobs, housing and education" as top priority items for federal action. He was interviewed o n the CBS "Face th e Nation " r:: r og ram Jan;2 6 . Legislative and administr2 tive actions urged b y Gardner included: - - Adequate funding of the Housing Act of 1968, the elementary education program for children from low-income families and manpower programs. --Vigorous enforcement of school desegregation guidelines . - -Economic development of th e black community . - - Extension of the tax surcharge. · - - Support for private enterprise activities in the inner city as a supplement to _federal programs. Gardne r s a id his tas k as head of the Action Council is to make v i v id to p e ople throughout the nation the problems that confront the citi e s and the ste ps l e ading to solutions. This in turn will bri ng th e Congressional action that is nee ded, he said. ACTION COUNCIL LETTER LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN OF THE URBAN COALITION ACTION COUNCIL February 25, 1 9 69 Senate Hunger Committee Is Extended With Full Funding The special Senate committee studying hunger in the United States has been extended through this year and given $250,000 for its investigations. Mea.nwhi le, Administration officials ha v e responded to the committee hearings by initiating actions to combat malnutrition problems. The impact of the committee's hearings, which have been going on since December, was clear when Senators on February 18 took the URBAN COALITION ACTION COUNCIL WORKS ON LEGISLATION . The Urb an Coa lition Action Council was formed, and incorp orated separa t e l y f r om th e Urban Coaliti o n, in the sp rin g of 1968 to mobi li ze p ublic support for n e eded urban l e gislation. The Action Coun cil is a nonprofit tax exemp t organi z ation. Gifts ar e ge n e rall y no t t ax d educti b l e to t he donor . The Action Council works closel y with many other inter e sted org a n iz a tion s and indi v iduals in p ressing for Cong ressional action to mee t the urg en t needs of the cities . Leg islation it has supp orted include s the Housing and Urban De ve lopment Act , fai r housing, t h e ta~ s urc h a rge, and a public serv ice job p ro g r am as we ll a s pr i v at e en t erpris e' s ef fort s to hire and trai n the hard-c o r e u nemp l oyed. I t h as s ought , and c ontinue s to se ek, mor e ad equat e fu nd i ng o f educa t ion, h o us i ng, ma npowe r a nd anti po ve rty le g islati on. · Thi s is th e fir st i ss ue o f the Ac tion Counc il Letter . It wil l be pub l ished o n a time l y b asi s t o r epo r t l eg islati v e deve l opment s in the urban fi eld. �r rare step of rejecting the recommendations of the Senate Rules Ccmwittee. It had cut the hunger commit.tee's fund request to $150,000. Sen. Georg e McGovern (D-S.D.), chairman of the hunger committee -- officially, the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs -- said the Rules Committee cut would nullify hiE plans to coll e ct f ull statistics showing "the inadequaci e s of our present fooc. programs. " Without a roll-call vote, the Senate agreed to the full $250,000 McGover~ had asked for the study. So f ar, the highJ_j_ght. of committee t e st i mony has been a p relimin a r y report b y a gove rnment surveJ group on the prevalence of hunger in four states studied for a National Nutrition Survey. Dr. Arnold E . Schaefe r , chief of the nutrition progra m of the Public He alth Serv ice , testi fied Janu ary 22 t hat i n v estigations had uncovered widespread maln utrition in low- i ncome are as. He said that 1 6 to 17 p e r c e nt o f the pe r son s examine d were in n eed o f me dical a tt e nti o n f o r p robl e ms associat e d with starvat ion . Earlier, the outg oing Se c retary o f Agriculture , Or v ille L. F r eeman, t e st if i ed that t h e g o v e rnmen t wou ld h ave to s pe nd $ 1 billion more th a n the $1.l billion now b e ing spe n t i f h u n ger i s to be wiped o u t . Fr eeman s a i d a c ruci a l p r ob l em i s " t o ge t the food t o whe re i t i s need e d. " Administrative Actions Describ i n g fe d e r a l programs for the p o or as "wo e fu lly inadeq u ate ," HEW Se c re t a ry Robe rt H. F in c h a n n ounced February 17 th a t h e h ad o rdered a o e·p a rtme nt -w i de r e view of possible pre ventive a nd reme d i a l a c tions to d ea l with ma l nutrition a n d its c ons e que nc e s . F i nc h a l so as ked for f ull da t a on the relat i onship be t ween menta l ret a rdation and improper nutrition in children's early years. The first free food stamps for the poorest of the poor were authorized b y Secretary of Agriculture Cli ff o rd M. Hardi n February 19. The pilot p ro j ect in t wo South Carolina counties, if approv ed b y local officials, will prov ide free stamp s for persons who cannot p a y the $3 required in those counties for stamps that can buy $45 o f f ood in local stores. The action had been urged on Hardin b y McGov ern and Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D S.C.), who h ad made his own inv estig ation o f h unger in his state . CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ESEA -- The House Education and Labor Committe e has b e e n holding h e aring s since Janu a r y 15 on a bill (HR 514 ) to ext e nd the El e me ntar y and Secon d a ry Educ a tion Act f or fi ve yea r s . Committee Chairman Car l D. Perk i n s (D Ky .) r e portedly p l a ns t o h a ve the f ull Committee c o n side r t h e bi ll as soon as hear i ngs end , with t h e hope th a t t h e Hou se wi ll pa s s t h e bill b efore Easte r. HUD Appro p r i ati o ns -- The f irst a p propri a tion h e arin g s of t he ye ar h ave b egun b e for e the Hou se Su bcomm i ttee o n I ndependent Off i ce s and the Department o f Hou sing a nd Urban Deve lopme n t . Th e s u pp l e me ntal a ppropr i ations r equ e sted for t he se a g e nc i es by Pres i d e n t J ohnson b e for e he lef t off i c e are the sub j e ct o f the c los ed - do o r h e arings being h e ld by the Appropriations s ubcommitt ee . Subcommi tt ee h earings on the prop os e d fisc a l 197 0 b u dget f or the s e age n c i es , covering the fi s ca l y e ar tha t be g i ns J ul y 1 , wi l l start i n l ate Ma rch . Re location and Land Ac quisi tion - - Se n . Mu s ki e ' s Su bcommi ttee on Inte r gove rnment a l Re l at i ons has begu n hear ings on h is Uni form Relocati on Assis tance and Land Acquisition bi ll (S 1 ) . �Urban Affairs Council Meets With Action Council Leaders Chairman John Gardner and a group of Action Council leaders met February 17 with President Nixon and his Urban Affairs Council to discuss a number of proposals. The list was not made public, but Gardner told newsmen that among the proposals were federal standards for welfare payments, expansion of pre-school and early education programs and revitalization of the attack on poverty. Full funding of the 1968 Housing Act and manpower p rograms also were urged, Gardner said. While the President made no commitments, "the reaction was fa v orable, I believe," Gardner added . A statement by the President was released b y the White House. It described the meeting as "most productive," warmly praised the Urban Coalition's efforts, and called on business leaders "to lend active support to the Urban Coalition." Council Studies -- The first product of studies by the Urban Affairs Council was made public February 19 when President Nixon sent Congress a message asking for a one-year extension of the present anti-poverty agency. That would allow time for a comprehensive study of the future of the Office of Economic Opportunity, Mr. Nixon said. As a first step, however, he has ordered the transfer of several activities from OEO to regular departments. The Head Start program for pre-school children, neighborhood health centers and the foster grandparents plan will be delegated to the HEW Department by July 1. The Job Corps will be administered by the Labor Department. The President's Counci l for Urban Affairs: standing from left to rig ht, Sec retary Sh ul tz, Budget Burea~ Direct~ r May o, Coun se llo r Burns, Attorney General Mitchell, Secretaries Volpe and, hidde n, Finc h, Vice President Agnew, Secreta ries Hardin a nd Ro mney, Executive Secretary Moyn ihan , Secretary Stans. �Among other issues now under study by the President's Council on Urban Affairs is whether to extend the Model Cities program to more than the 150 cities now participating in it. The y have received funds to prepare plans for a concerted attack on all aspects of blight in selected inner city areas and will receive additional federal aid when their plans are completed. The 1968 Housing and Urban Development Act authorized inclusion of additional cities in the program, but the fiscal 1970 budget submitted by President Johnson before leaving office recommended funds only for the 150 programs now under development. Mr. Johnson proposed $750 million for supplementary grants in fiscal 1970 and an advance appropriation of $1.25 billion for the next year, to aid the cities' long-term planning. John Gunther of the U.S. Conference of Mayors talks with Wayne Smithey of the Ford Motor Co . while, in the back, Mark Keane of the International City Managers Association and Tom Hannigan of the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers talk together . Action Council Discusses New 91 st Congress Member s of the Action Council staff met January 8 with Washington representatives of Policy Council members to discuss the outlook for urban legislation in the new Congress. With little change in membership from the previous Congress, the 91st Congress is not expected to make radical changes in e x isting programs but will need considerable encouragement to move forward fast enough on current problems, it was generally agreed at the meeting. The most urgent need is for full appropriations to carry out major programs for the cities that previous Congresses have authorized, many participants said. Among those participating in the meeting was a good cross section of the Action Council's constituents. Included were representatives of municipal groups, business, labor unions and spokesmen for civil rights and religious organizations. The Urban Coalition Action Council 1819 H St., N.W. Washington , D.C. 20006 Tel: 202 293-1530 Chairman , John W. Gardner Co-Chairmen: Andrew Heiskell A. Philip Randolph Executive Di rector: Lowell R. Beck Legi sla t ive Associates : Joh n P. Lagomarcino Ronald J . James Ass istant for Legis la ti ve Information: Georgianna F. Rathbun Ronald J . James, an attorney in Waterloo, Iowa , and former executive director of that city' s Com mission on Human Rights, joi ne d the staff of the Urba n Coali tion Action Council Feb. 17. A graduate of the University of Missouri, Jam es worked for Congressmen Rum sfe ld (R Ill.) and Bromwell (R Iowa) whi le studying fo r hi s law degree at American University . ~ 31 �