The CHAIRMAN. Any questions of the mayor? (No response.) The CHAIRMAN. I, for one, want to thank you for coming. The CHAIRMAN. I am grateful to you. Mr. LAGUARDIA. You have been very patient and tolerant. The CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen of the committee, we have with us this morning Mr. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr., to present his testimony on behalf of the American Veterans' Committee. STATEMENT OF FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT, JR., CHAIRMAN OF THE AMERICAN VETERANS' COMMITTEE The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Roosevelt. Mr. ROOSEVELT. Thank you, Senator. I would like to just in a preliminary way say that this is my first opportunity to appear before any committee of the Senate or House and I appreciate this opportunity, particularly because it is on a subject which is very dear to my heart, which I have been putting in a great deal of extra-curricular time and activity on since I have gotten out of the Navy. I was particularly interested in listening to Mayor LaGuardia's statement that this bill must be passed, and very briefly I would like to endorse the statements which the senior Senator from Ohio, Senator Taft, made 2 days ago with respect to this bill. I think the Federal Government does have a responsibility to the people of this country to see that they are decently and adequately housed. It is urgent, especially today, because of the predicament that our veterans find themselves in. We feel that this bill will go a long way toward relieving their problem. Housing alone will not be the only result of passage of this bill. Our child delinquency, our crime, the very moral fiber of our people, especially the lower income group of our people, will be raised by the passage of this bill. I think you all have copies of the statement. I would like to read it quickly, with emphasis on one or two points. The AVC is an organization of close to 100,000 World War II veterans who have banded together in the belief that the first major problem of the veteran is his successful readjustment to civilian life. In the last year it has been increasingly apparent that the major obstacle to the veteran in making a satisfactory transition from the armed services to community life has been the acute and continuing housing crisis. The AVC is therefore intensely interested in the TaftEllender-Wagner bill which proposes a comprehensive national housing program. I might say, with all due respect to Senator Wagner, I think that the change in the name of this bill will eliminate some of the humor that has been coming upon it in recent years. The veteran is only part of our society, although today a very large part. Special veterans' benefits which are harmful to the rest of the Nation are, in the long run, harmful to the veteran. In passing, I might say, that at our last national convention, in backing up that belief, the AVC voted two to one against a bonus, since it was predominantly a special privilege group interest which would be served. The long range housing bill being considered benefits all citizens and is especially valuable to veterans who have been most gravely affected by the housing shortage. Veterans want and need housing desperately. They need housing to fit their limited incomes. Today it does not require extended investigation but merely a few conversations with veterans to dicover that they are not happy about the current housing picture. Veterans have been reasonable and patient in their housing demands. They have endured a multitude of extreme hardships in living in substandard housing make-shifts which have threatened their health and that of their families. They have doubled up with in-laws under circumstances which have caused general unhappiness and in many cases broken homes. But despite the patience and the fortitude of our veteran population no American can escape the conclusion that it is the Nation's duty to make a sincere and hard-hitting effort to face and solve the housing problem. I think that most of you have probably seen this recent survey by the Bureau of the Census: It was issued on March 18. I would like to review one or two of the facts and to include it in the record if you have not already got it. (The March 18 Bureau of the Census report is as follows:) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE-BUREAU OF THE CENSUS Population: HVet-No. 103 SUMMARY REPORT OF VETERANS' HOUSING SURVEYS MADE FROM JULY THROUGH SEPTEMBER 1946 The results of the Veterans' Housing Surveys made by the Bureau of the Censu between July and September 1946 were summarized today by Director J. C. Capt' Bureau of the Census. The surveys, requested by the National Housing Agency for the Veterans' Emergency Housing Program, were made in 70 selected cities. Individual reports have been issued for each of the surveys and are available on request. Thirty-two additional Veterans' Housing Surveys are currently being made by the Bureau of the Census and seven are being made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor. A report summarizing the results of these surveys will be published as soon as individual reports for the additional surveys have been released. The Veterans' Housing Surveys are sample surveys covering a representative cross-section of all veterans in the localities surveyed except those living in institutions and hotels. The information was collected by trained interviewers directly from the veteran or his wife, or in some cases from some other reliable member of his family. The information presented in this summary consists of several items on the personal characteristics of the veterans and their housing intentions, and the present living arrangements of the married veterans. DEFINITION OF TERMS Employed. A veteran is considered employed if he worked for pay or profit or had a job (but was not at work) during the week prior to the enumeration. In-migrant.-An in-migrant veteran is one whose residence, prior to his entering the service, was outside the housing market area for the locality being surveyed. Weekly income. The veteran's weekly income is his usual weekly income from all sources including overtime pay, commissions, dividends, and pensions. For the wage and salary workers, the income includes the full weekly wages before deductions are made for bonds or taxes. For married veterans, the wife's income is also included. Doubling up. For purposes of this survey, a veteran is living doubled-up if he lives in a dwelling unit which contains, in addition to the head of the household, either a married couple or a married woman whose husband is living elsewhere. Housing intentions.-The veteran was asked two basic questions in order to measure his housing intentions. The first question was designed to determine what the veteran really wanted to do about his housing, that is, what he would do under conditions he desires. The question asked of the veteran was: "Suppose you could rent, buy, or build a house or apartment of the price, size, and quality you desire-what would you do about your living arrangements in the next 12 months?" The second question on the veteran's intentions was designed to determine what he would do if other living quarters were available but only at today's prices and quality. It was asked only of those veterans who had already indicated they wanted different quarters under desired conditions. The question was: "You said you would (rent, buv, build) if you could get the kind and price house you desire-what would you do in the next 12 months if houses became available only at present prices and quality?" Gross monthly rent able to pay.-This was the amount of monthly rent, including payments for heat, light and cooking fuel, which the veteran said he could afford to pay. The monthly rent shown is the median reported by those veterans who would rent under desired conditions of price and quality. In responding to this question the veteran was not to report what he thought he would have to pay but what he considered he could reasonably pay, taking into account his income and other expenses. Price house able to buy.―This is the price the veteran reported he was able to pay for a house taking into consideration his income and other resources. The median prices shown in this summary are for those veterans who reported they would buy or build under desired conditions. The corresponding price figures for those veterans who said they would buy or build under present prices and quality are not shown in this summary. They may be obtained by referring to the individual reports. TECHNICAL NOTE The number of World War II veterans shown for each area surveyed is an estimate of the number of veterans in the locality exclusive of those in institutions and hotels. These figures are based on the weighted sample results and on independent estimates derived from the distribution of veterans by State of preservice residence and the proportion of 1-C Selective Service registrants in the locality. The estimates are only rough approximations but are the best that can be made from the limited information available. An examination of the results shows that these surveys, like practically all others based upon a field canvass of a cross-section of the population, did not cover a proportionate share of the most mobile parts of the population, e. g., veterans who were traveling about preparatory to taking a job and establishing a residence In addition, some persons who were actually veterans were not identified as such because of inaccurate or inadequate information furnished by the respondents. The characteristics of such groups may not be the same as those of the enumerated veterans, but in the absence of information concerning these characteristics no adjustment has been made in the results of the survey because of this factor. Because the results of the surveys are based on data obtained from a sample of veterans, the figures presented here may differ somewhat from the results which would have been obtained by a complete census. In general, the allowance to be made for the sampling variation depends both on the numerical value of the percentage and the size of the base on which the percentage is determined. A percentage based on a larger number of veterans has less variability due to sampling than one based on a smaller number. Examples of variations which may be expected because of the sample are as follows: In two chances out of three, for the 31 percent of the veterans in Philadelphia who would buy or build a house under desired conditions, it may be expected that the proportion which would have been obtained by a complete census would have been between 29 and 33 percent, and for the 43 percent of the married veterans in Philadelphia who were living doubled up, or in a rented room, the proportion for a complete census would have been between 40 and 46 percent. 3 PERCENT MARGIN OF ERROR For Atlanta, for the 47 percent of the married white veterans who are living doubled up or in a rented room, the chances are two out of three that the rate which would have been obtained by a complete census is between 44 and 50 percent, and for the 48 percent of the married Negro veterans who are living doubled up, or in a rented room, the chances are two out of three that the rate would have been between 43 and 53 percent. Because of the many variations possible in the magnitude of the sampling errors, the examples of sampling variations given above should not be applied indiscriminately to all of the figures presented in this report. For more accurate information on the errors due to sampling variation for any particular area, refer to the individual report for that area. In addition to the difference due to sampling variability, the estimates are subject to errors of response. Such errors may be expected to affect the sample estimate to about the same degree as they would affect the results of a complete census. |