Box 6, Folder 10, Document 42

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Sunday, Journal-Constituti on, 11/23/60

re

Seen

Aid on Transit
by Volpe

Atlanta in ‘Excellent Position’
For Federal Funds, He Says

‘By BILL COLLINS

“John Volpe, former governor
of Massachusetts and one of the
front-runners for the v
; dential nod at 28s
the 1968 Repub-
lican presiden-?
tial convention} —
was in Atlantas??
Saturday night :
to address the
lth annual
meeting of the
National Con- _.
ference of States
“ue gi slativep ce se
Leaders. John Volpe

The secretary, at a news con-
ference before his speech, ex-
plained the Nixon administra-
tion’s $10 billion, 12-year public
transportation bill and said At-
lanta ‘may get the jump on
other cities” for funds under the
pill, if the measure is approved
by Congress.

‘He said the bill would author- |
ize him to make $3.1 billion |
available immediateiy uput its |
being signed into law. The fed-
eral money would be spent over
Rive Veal st 2 a cche ees
“He also said Atlanta would b
| “in an excellent position” to get
a federal grant totaling two-
thirds of the cost of a rapid
transit system because of the
planning it has done and also be-
cause it is one of five “center
cities.”



VOLPE POINTED OUT, how-
ever, that under the proposed
bill no one state could get more
than 12% per cent of the total
appropriation.

He also told newsmen the
Vietnam war is not draining
funds he has requested for his
department and added, ‘The ad-
ministration and the director of
the Bureau of the Budget have
approved the two transportation
bills I have requested.”

Volpe says the two measures
he would like to see enacted in-
clude the $10.1-billion public
transportation bill and the air-
port-airways bill which would
provide $2.5 billion for air-traffic
control and $2.5 billion for con-
struction of new airports and ex-
plansion of existing facilities.

He said the administration is
concerned about in-flight
erashes and feels the airport-
airways bill would help diminish
the possibility of future colli-
sions.

| With $2.5 billion of the air-
port-airways bill, Volpe ex-
| plained, the federal government



would work towards develop-
ment of a fully automated sys-
fem c&air-iraffie control sys-

—_— E =
{ ‘The U.S. secretary of transportation says Atlanta will be in
‘an excellent position” to get two-thirds of the money for a rapid
lransit system [rom the federal government. . —— |

“THE OTHER $2.5. billion
would be used to help build 900
‘airports and expand 2,700 air-
fields around the country,”
Volpe said. :
The secretary said the Nixon

adm nistration hopes to restrict
the umber of incoming flights
at five of the nation’s busiest
airports and to better control ;
the flights at 22 other airports
TeUSNE Atlanta’s.
n his remarks to the 800 legis-
Jative leaders attending the |
four-day conference, Volpe |
talked about the need for feder- |
al-Slale-local government coop- |
=e ie

eration in solving the nation’s |
problems.

“Much of the glamour, power
and ‘ prestige that once sur-!
rounded state Capitols shifted to |
Washington in the past 25!
years,” he said.

“And when the power went to |
Washington, many of the tal- |
ented young men went also.
Washington has been the mecca
for} young Americans who
wanted to dedicate their lives to
fulfillment of the American
drdam,” he added.

i
4

VOLPE SAID there has Bean |
a trend towards reversing the |
growing dependence on the fed- |
eral government in the past few
ears |

“This new trend first became
strongly evident under Presi-
dent dohnson,” he added.

“But President Nixon has!
gone a step further. He has pro- |
posed a program of revenue |
sharing between the states and |
Washington. And, although it is |
a modest beginning, it will be
stepped up,” Volpe said.


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