US Presidency
1968

Employment officials estimate that 500,000 of these persons are now unemployed in the major cities of America. Our objective is to place these 500,000 in private industry jobs within the next 3 years. To do this, I propose a $ 2. 1 billion manpower program in the coming fiscal year a 25 percent increase over the current year. Most of this increase will be used to start a new partnership between government and private industry to train and to hire the hard core unemployed persons. I know of no task before us of more importance to us, to the country, or to our future. Another essential is to rebuild our cities. Last year the Congress authorized $ 662 million for the Model Cities program. I requested the full amount of that authorization to help meet the crisis in the cities of America. But the Congress appropriated only $ 312 million less than half.