Evening star., 1962-01-30
TEXT

FOLLOWING Is the tert OF
President Kennedy's message
to Congress today on his
plan to set up a Department
OF Urban Affairs and Hous-
ing:
I transmit herewith Reor-
ganization Plan No. / Of 1862
prepared in accordance with
the provisions of the Reorgan-
ization Act Of 1949, as amended
In my special message on
housing Of March 8, 1861. and
again in my message on the
state Of the Union earlier this
year. I recommended the es-
tablishment, in the executive
branch of a new Department
OF Urban Affairs and Housing,
Of Cabinet rank. This plan
would fulfill that recommended
tion. asr
The times we live in urgently
call, for this action. In a few
short decades we have passed
from a rural to an urban way
Of life; in a few short decades
more, we shall be a nation of
vastly expanded, population.
living in expanded urban areas
IN housing that does not now
exist, served by community IA
cilities that do not now exist.
moving about by means of sys-
TENS of urban transportation
that do not now exist.
The challenge is great, and
the time is short. I propose to
act now to strengthen and i'm
prove the machinery through
which. in large part, the Fed
eral Government must act to
carry out its proper role of en-
couragement and assistance to
States and local governments,
to voluntary efforts and to
private enterprise, in the solu-
ton of these problems.
Face Complex Problems
The present and future prob
lens Of our cities are as complex
as they are manifold. There
must be expansion; but orderly
and planned expansion, not ex-
plosion and sprawl. Basic public
facilities must be extended ever
further into the areas surround
ing urban centers; but they
must be planned and co-ordi-
mated so as to favor rather than
hamper the sound growth of
our communities.
The scourge Of blight must be
overcome, and the central core
areas of our cities, with all their
great richness of economic and
cultural wealth, must be re-
stored to lasting vitality. New
values must be created to pro-
vide a more efficient local econ
omy and provide revenues to
support essential local services.
Sound old housing must be con-
served and improved, and new
housing created, to serve better
all income groups in our popu-
lation and to move ever closer
to the goal Of a decent home in
a suitable living environment
for every American family.
We will neglect our cities at
our peril. for in neglecting them
we neglect the Nation.
The reorganization plan I am
transmitting would establish a
new executive department to be
known as the Department of
Urban Affairs and Housing. To
the department would be trans
ferred the existing programs
and responsibilities of the
Housing and Home Finance
Agency.
These programs include an
extraordinary range of diverse
yet closely interrelated activ-
tiles: Insurance of mortgages
to finance the construction Of
homes and the ready inter-
change of existing homes, as
well as their modernization and
improvement; financial aids to
local communities in compre-
hensive local planning, in slum
clearance and urban renewal,
and in the conservation and re-
habilitation of neighborhoods
and whole urban areas; ad-
vances and loans to assist in
the planning and construction
of needed public facilities; loans
to assist in meeting the needs
Of our hard-pressed colleges
and universities for student and
faculty housing; financial aids
in the search for solutions to
the battling problems of urban
mass transportation; a variety
of tools to stabilize and encour-
age liquidity in the private
mortgage market; financial as
sistance in providing decent
housing for low-income fam
lilies, and others still.
Have Wide Effects
Widely different as these
Federal programs are in sub
ject matter and in techniques,
they all affect the lives and
welfare of families in our cities
and their surrounding areas,
and they all impinge in one de-
gree or another on each other.
None can or should stand by
itself. The basic purpose of this
plan is to establish a depart
ment which will bring a maxi
mum degree of coordination
and effectiveness to the plan
ming and execution of all OF
them.
Our cities and the people
who live in and near them need
and deserve an adequate voice
in the highest councils of gov.
ernment. The executive branch