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THE URBAN COALITION ACTION COUNCIL
JOHN W:GARDNER
CHAIRMAN
1819 H STREET, N.W. $s
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20006 ; June 27, 1968
Honorable
U. S. House of Representatives
Washington, D. C. 20515
Dear
I°am writing to you out of personal conviction and a deep
concern for the future of our country. But also I write
on the express instruction of 38 prominent Americans who
form the Urban Coalition Action Council. A list of their
names is attached.
We are united in the certainty that this nation is going
through an unprecedented crisis -- a crisis that -could tear
it apart.
No one has a perfect understanding of the crisis. No one
knows all the answers. But there are some positive measures
that we can take and it is of supreme importance that we
. take them promptly. We cannot allow this great nation to.
falter while things that can reasonably be done go undone.
We-must not bicker and equivocate when the nation's fate
hangs in the balance.
We must act. And we must act in a constructive Sprrit,. Tt
is unthinkable that we would turn our backs on this nation's
great tradition of positive problem-solving and retreat into
fearful inaction, :
We must face forward. We must do the things we can do now
to solve real problems, correct real injustices, alleviate
real suffering.
TELEPHONE: 202 293-1530 : : r ea >@)
= Fin
At this writing no group more surely holds the key to the
nation's future than the Congress of the United States.
Uniquely, Congress has the power to take immediate. and
effective action. It must not leave undone the significant
things it can do, —
The nation watches.
This is not just any year. This is a year of sorrow, of
confusion, of explosive anger. Congress must lead, and the
only path’ compatible with our future greatness as a nation
is the path of constructive action to combat, known evils --
crippling poverty, inadequate housing, educational disparities,
discrimination and all the conditions that blight individual .
lives.
There are some measures that seem to us especially critical.
The proposed $75 million supplemental appropriation for
summer jobs is one. Another is the $25 million supplemental
for Head Start.
The Congress should create at this session a public service
employment program with the funding to make it effective. It
should pass the Administration's housing bill. Budget cuts
should not be made in programs aimed at helping the nation's
deprived with jobs, housing and education.
The men who make up the Urban Coalition Action Council repre-
sent many different segments of American life. They are
realists who know the costs of the programs they are asking
you to support.. But they know the far greater costs to the
nation of unproductive human beings and decaying cities.
They appreciate as you do the vast range of requirements
which you must consider as you set the priorities and allocate
the resources of this country. But they believe that this is
a time for extraordinary measures in behalf of the nation.
Sincerely,
John W, Gardner
Chairman
Attachment