A Law Is Made (1961)

foreign committee which amendment and which passed further amendments in the house it mile had a similar history schools committee passed by the house it differed from the Senate Bill house conference committee now worked out a compromise which was patented in house as to the president keep this chart in mind as we follow the story of the Housing Act of 1959. [Music] foreign [Music] in January of 1959 as I headed for Washington for the first session of the 86th Congress my mind was on housing I had long had an interest in housing and had fought for housing legislation this year I knew a housing bill would become law [Music] I knew it because well the reason had to do with Suburbia the 1950s were a time of great Suburban boom veterans legislation and federal housing legislation had a role in that boom they made possible long-term locals with low down payments which brought millions of people into the homeowner class the Boom in Suburbia but in 1959 the FHA loan authorization had been used up and the demand was extended keep it going prospective homeowners real estate people and Mortgage Bankers were all saying keep it going I knew the Eisenhower Administration was anxious to heed those demands and we Democrats were too in fact many of us wanted to decrease down payment still further and that was why I knew a housing bill would become law the Boom in Suburbia would be continued but I had other reasons for wanting a housing bill I was especially concerned with the city the slums all over the United States cities have been experiencing this creeping blight overcrowding obsolescence housing experts have told us that a fifth of our homes are by current standards unfit for habitation over the decades we are not gaining on this problem [Music] meanwhile some people move out to the suburbs many you stay do so because they can't afford to move as mayor of Philadelphia some years ago I became deeply concerned with this problem later in the Senate for the housing subcommittee I was among those who held hearings in various cities and everywhere I found the same problem [Music] thank you near the Heart of the City can't respond around it an area of decay finally at The Fringe a fairly prosperous belt of suburbs this belt was inhabited to a large extent by people who worked in the city but most of them for perfectly human reasons were not inclined to think of the city's problem as their problem [Music] but isn't it their problem what is the cost of the nation as a whole of the spreading blight in the cities can this soil grow the kind of citizens we need what is the cost of tensions illness hostility back in the 1930s under the leadership of men like Senator Wagner federal law had begun to recognize slum blight as a national problem needing National Solutions including public housing before long this view had the support not only of liberals but of leading conservatives men like Senator Robert Taft who said this uh there didn't seem to be any alternative except to subsidize low rent housing and so I came to be a believer in that and one of the authors of the various bills which finally were enacted in the form of the 1949 housing the Housing Act of 1949. the Wagner ellender Taftville to my mind it was a great Turning Point yet inaugurated the urban renewal program under which the federal government became a partner in the job of clearing vast areas of slums so that private buildings could make a store of course this had to be combined with public housing to House people displaced from slums the act of 49 provided for that too and so in city after City and clearing the land is reimbursed by the federal government Senator Taft co-author of that bill was a candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 1952 many looked on him as Mr Republican but he was considered too conservative and general Eisenhower won the nomination and the election in the following years a number of federal programs were curtailed on grounds of economy on this ground a democratic housing bill of 1958 was beaten in the house but in the Congressional elections that year Democrats and all now Urban and Noel and public housing this time they would have their day I had a talk with Senator Sparkman of Alabama chairman of the subcommittee on housing I wanted to know his plans well Joe it seems that we must have an Omnibus Bill that's uh obvious if we have a public housing Bill separately it'll run into a veto if we try to put through a good urban renewal program he'll veto that so I think the only thing for us to do is to wrap it up in one package along with the extension of the FHA authorization the president wants that wants it badly and I don't believe he'll veto a bill that has that in it yes I agree with that John I think that's right well I uh what I plan to do Joe is to introduce practically the same bill that passed the Senate last year the Omnibus Bill it was a very good bill and I believe we can get it through without any difficulty and I don't believe the president will veto it well I don't think he will either but I'd hope we'd get something more in for urban renewal and public housing and also for college housing loans they're badly needed too well so would I and by the way you recall that in last year's Bill we did have college housing and certainly we'd take whatever fund was necessary to take care of the program uh we could make a good bill out of it and um by stepping that up if if you go to public housing and increased urban renewal why don't you introduce your own bill well if it's all right with you I think that's what I'll do because I don't think the present rate at urban renewal is nearly high enough to meet the need so if it's all right with you that's what I think I'll do oh second it's all right go ahead and do it and we'll we'll see what we can do with it okay foreign a few days later I introduced my bill in the Senate a number of other housing bills were also introduced following the usual procedure they were referred for consideration to the banking and currency Committee of the Senate [Music] thank you there on January 22nd hearings began under the chairmanship of Senator Sparkman as chairman of the housing subcommittee election there's several bills that are before us s57 which I introduced and Senator Fulbright has joined me in sponsoring S65 by Senator capart and others s193 194 and 195 by Senator Clark and other co-sponsors as the first Witnesses according to custom represented the administration they urged immediate extension of the FHA insurance authorization on a permanent basis they recommended no appropriation for public housing they asked the stop Gap authorization for urban renewal while urging that the federal government decrease its share in the program the American people can be improved only if their earnings and their savings are protected if the administration proposal goes through isn't it perfectly clear that there will be less rather than more urban renewal because some states and many cities will be forced out of the program because they can't afford it Senator Clark of course if more money is available to the American people the American people will spend more on their housing I can't argue on this score with you at all I do say that when a city becomes imbued with the idea of wanting to clean up its slum conditions and the citizens of that City want to clean up the slum conditions then they will do a lot with uh with some federal help and with their own initiative isn't that wishful thinking isn't all you're doing to shift the tax burden from a progressive income tax system to a regressive sales and property tax system I think when you do that you're really doing a great Injustice you know Senator Clark on the basis of our present knowledge what we know now of course I can't argue with you on what you have to say you are a correct of course but this Administration believes that the American public given the opportunity can come up with some of these answers that we are looking for some of the answers to the problems of the slum areas of our cities but at the moment Mr Mason the administration doesn't have any new ideas at all does it I don't think we are at the point where we have to depend on the federal government for all our work to clear up Urban blight in our cities in fact I know many cities that do that are doing this without federal funds and so do all the members of this committee they were followed by a number of Labor spokesmen Mayors and others who urged instead and expanded housing program including College housing and non-dormitory building loans fellow committee members we need this legislation we need it badly we hope and urge that a bill at least equivalent to West 57 sufficient to meet our needs and those of many other municipalities Across the Nation Finds Its way to the president's desk and that he signs this bill but these ideas brought occasional warnings from Republican members of our committee for example from Senator Bush chairman allow me to make a suggestion at this time I think we're wasting our time discussing an Omnibus pill of this size because it can never be signed into law the president won't sign it he'll veto this bill I'd like to say once more right here before the committee that I don't like these Omnibus bills I think it's a poor way to legislate each of the titles in this bill are important enough to be considered on their own Merit and thus uh you give the president a chance to consider each issue so that he won't have to veto an entire bill in order to get rid of one very objectionable item most of our States now give the governors the power of item veto it's time that the federal government did the same thing with the president of the United States in spite of the warning our committee approved an Omnibus Bill it included FHA extension housing urban renewal and other matters including a proposal of mine a Loan Fund for college classroom building most democratic members of the committee felt the bill would be passed by Congress and signed into law then a few days later we had a surprise the housing bill provides have much more expansive program than the budget does for example it has a very much expanded assistance to the to colleges where we had about 200 million dollars they have 575. I don't believe that we should have higher taxes and I do not believe that the United States wants higher taxes that means to me living within your income by avoiding unnecessary expenditures I stand on this and you're going to hear me saying this often during the coming session you'll probably get weary of it but it's honest and I think all of us should try to reason with ourselves with our own minds what it means if we just go into this Reckless spending despite the president's warning the Senate on the following day passed the Omnibus Bill and even accepted an amendment of mine to increase the annual sums for urban renewal then it sent the bill to the house the house referred the bill with other proposals to its Banking and currency committee that committee finally approved the Senate bill with Amendments of its own then the house rules committee for almost three months stalled action on the bill impatiently we waited for the house to act finally word came that the house had passed the bill because its version different from the Senate version a conference committee was appointed to reconcile the differences [Music] this resulted in compromises which were to me a bitter disappointment the urban renewal Figures were scaled down but some people said now it will be signed the compromise bill was promptly passed by Senate and House and sent to the president again we had a surprise the president's veto message was referred to the banking and currency committee in an unusual move hearings on the message were scheduled by the housing subcommittee these hearings are of considering the president's veto message personally I was shocked and bewildered by the tone and the substance of the president's message the message characterizes the housing bill as extravagant inflationary discriminatory and unnecessary I emphatically deny that the housing bill can be accurately described by any of these extreme and intemperate catch words again we heard a parade of witnesses current demands on the federal government many of an emergency nature the administration does not feel that any new public housing units should be authorized at this time it is inconceivable to me in this the richest nation in the world that we cannot afford to eliminate our slums completely and to begin the job now we Mayors ask you to approve a program of 600 million dollars a year for 10 years our surveys and our own direct knowledge and observation of the size of the problem in our cities indicates to us this full sum is required in the light of the 1960 budget allocations at least on the domestic level our requests are not unreasonable the resources of our nation are not so meager that we need put up with even one slum-dwelling unit I urge you Mr chairman at we in all of us raise our sight the question was should an attempt be made to override The veto could such a move succeed could a two-thirds vote be obtained could the doubtful votes be won in mid-summer on July 31st a rather desperate device was tried let the committee come to order before calling today's Witnesses let me say that Arrangements have been made for the subcommittee to hear a recording of what was probably probably the last major speech made by Senator Robert a Taft co-author of the Housing Act of 1949 and one who sincerely believed in the National policy of a decent home in a suitable living environment for every American Family unfortunately the years which have transpired since Senator Taft expressed those views have shown little evidence that this Administration shares his views I respectfully request that members of the committee and those in the hearing room be most attentive to his words I think we felt very clearly after that those hearings that it was a field in which Private Industry no matter what they said could not successfully operate to finally get down to the point where people have so little money to pay that the money they pay their landlords can't even keep up those houses in repair uh there didn't seem to be any alternative except to subsidize low rent housing and so I came to be a believer in that and one of the authors of the various bills which finally were enacted in the form of the 1949 Housing Act on August 12th after some indecision the senate committee decided to recommend overriding the president's veto in the Senate the attempt failed by nine votes so the bill was scaled down further to meet some of the present subjections the revised bill was passed by Senate and House and once more sent to the White House again the president uses veto Omnibus Bill idea and instead to enact a separate FHA extension without delay we stuck to the Omnibus Bill this time in the last week of the session our committee removed the appropriation for college classroom building loans and made a few other changes again Senate and House passed the bill [Music] and signed it so a housing bill was passed it wasn't what I wanted it had some public housing and some funds for urban renewal not what I had hoped for still it was worth having but the new FHA authorization had a ceiling on it that meant that in about a year when this amount was used up there would have to be another housing bill for the sake of Suburbia so we would be able to try again with another Omnibus Bill in the spring of 1960 hearings began on various new bills now we can start again for urban renewal public housing College housing for the purpose of considering legislation for a 1960 Housing Act there are a great number of bills that have been introduced we intend to hold hearings on all of them and to consider them in the course of these hearings the bills now before us include s-467 s 914-s-1342 s1680 [Music] the legislative process has no beginning and no end it originates in the needs and desires of the American people expressed through elected officials and interest groups it is a process with many steps requiring carefully planned strategy the process involves clashes and compromise between President and Congress the between political parties among factions within the parties and among private interest groups dissatisfaction with compromise leads to new attempts and the process goes on [Music] thank you foreign