2. Title V contains the S. 1592 provision authorizing bank advances on home loans with maturities of up to 25, instead of only 20 years. 3. Title V contains the S. 1592 provision requiring annual, rather than semiannual, FHLBA examination of the banks. II. Provisions not contained in S. 1592: Sec. 503 (b) (302 (b) of S. 1592) Sec. 504 (304 of S. 1592) 1. Title V contains provisions making Federal offenses of Sec. 505 burglary and similar crimes committed against any savings and loan association or savings bank or life insurance company which is a member of the home-loan bank system. III. Provisions in S. 1592 not contained in S. 866: 1. Title V does not contain the S. 1592 provision expanding Sec. 303 of S. 1592 the statutory base which limits the amount of debentures that may be issued by the Federal home-loan banks. has been met otherwise.) (This problem Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation I. Provisions the same as those in S. 1592: 1. Title V contains the S. 1592 provision for reduction of FSLIC dividends to HOLC on the latter's capital subscription. 2. Title V contains the S. 1592 provision for Treasury purchase of FSLIC debentures. II. Provisions in S. 1592 not contained in S. 866: Sec. 506 (a) (305 (a) 1. Title V does not contain the provision in S. 1592 calling for Sec. 306 of S. 1592 a reduction in the premium charged by FSLIC for its insurance protection. Federal Housing Administration The provisions in title V are essentially a reproduction of the provisions with respect to FHA in title III of S. 1592. The only differences are: 1. Title V does not contain the S. 1592 provision eliminating Sec. 308 of S. 1592 the time limitation on FHA insurance activity on existing homes. (This provision was enacted in a separate bill subsequent to the introduction of S. 1592.) 2. The provision in S. 1592 authorizing a $1,000 increase in Sec. 508 (b) (309 (b) mortgage amount where required by higher costs prevailing in of S. 1592) particular areas has been modified (1) so as to make it a permanent authorization, and (2) so as to make it applicable whenever called for by higher costs as distinguished from "temporarily" higher costs. 1592 3. Title V does not contain the provision requiring the pay- Sec. 312 (b) of S. ment of prevailing wages on individual homes insured by FHA which was added to S. 1592 on the Senate floor. TITLE VI-HOME OWNERSHIP AND RENTAL HOUSING FOR FAMILIES This is the parallel title to title IV of S. 1592. Its provisions differ from S. 1592 in the following respects: 1. With respect to individual homes, S. 1592 authorized a maximum 32-year maturity (as compared with the existing 25-year maximum), but limited this extension to those cases where FHA was satisfied that a shorter maturity would require periodic payments beyond the mortgagor's reasonable ability to pay. Title VI of S. 866 provides for a maximum 30-year maturity, but eliminates the S. 1592 limitation. 2. With respect to mutual ownership and rental housing: (a) It makes the 90-percent maximum an over-all one, eliminating the special 95-percent maximum for mutual ownership, educational institution, and municipally undertaken or limited dividend and similar housing; Sec. 602, (b) (402 (b) of S. 1592) Sec. 604 (a) (404 (a) of S. 1592) Sec. 604 (b) (b)40 (4 of S. 1592) Sec. 605 (405 of 8. 1592) Sec. 406 of 8, 1592 Sec. 811 (d) (602 Sec. 608 (a) of S. 1592 Sec. 606 (c) of S. 1592 Sec. 803 (c) (203 of Sec. 803 (a) (605 (a) of S. 1592) Sec. 604 (b) of S. 1592 Sec. 812 (610 (e) of Sec. 810 (3) (609 (3) of S. 1592) (b) It makes the maximum interest rate 4 percent, instead of 31⁄2 percent; (c) It does not include as part of the special insurance benefits, the S. 1592 provision for interest from the date of default (so that such interest would be from date of foreclosure as under existing programs). Also, certain of the new insurance benefits are not limited to the new program but are made applicable to all FHA insured rental housing including mortgages insured under existing provisions of the National Housing Act. (d) There are omitted the provisions in S. 1592 with respect to Federal National Mortgage Association participation in the mutual ownership and rental housing program. TITLE VII-YIELD INSURANCE FOR RENTAL HOUSING This is the yield insurance title and is the parallel title to title V of S. 1592. There are no differences of substance. TITLE VIII-LAND ASSEMBLY AND PREPARATION FOR REDEVELOP- This is the parallel title to title VI of S. 1592. In its drafting, special attention was given to simplification and rearrangement for purposes of ready understanding. With respect to substance, the following represent the differences from S. 1592 provisions: 1. Local participation.-The requirements have been made more stringent than in S. 1592 by (1) requiring with respect to any public works and facilities provided by the local community as its participation that such works and facilities not only be necessitated by and of direct benefit to the project, but also that they be within the project area; (2) eliminating tax abatements as a possible credit; and (3) also eliminating as a possible credit the capitalized value of periodic assistance which will increase the net revenues from the project. There is also eliminated (as essentially duplicatory of other requirements) the S. 1592 requirement that the capital proceeds plus the local participation equal one-half of project cost attributable to the bare land. 2. Federal annual contributions.-There is eliminated the S. 1592 provision, requiring an annual examination and supervision of receipts and expenditures of the local public agency for the purpose of determining whether there are any excessive receipts which should be applied for the purpose of effecting a reduction in the amount of subsequent annual contributions. 3. Loans.-The title contains a provision for advance loans for planning. (Essentially this is not a new provision but simply specific adaptation of the provision in sec. 203 of S. 1592 to this particular program.) Also, the provisions for definitive loans have been simplified. 4. Displaced families.—There is eliminated the S. 1592 provision requiring special preferences for displaced families for admission to low-rent housing projects assisted under the United States Housing Act. (See, however, par. (7) under sec. 901 of S. 866.) 5. Delegation. In place of the provision in S. 1592 authorizing the appointment of a director to carry out the program, S. 866 prohibits delegation by the National Housing Administrator of any of his functions with respect to the program to any existing Federal agency. 6. Labor standards.-The S. 1592 requirement for monthly reports by contractors to the Secretary of Labor has been modified so that quarterly reports are required. TITLE IX-URBAN LOW-RENT HOUSING This is the parallel title to title VII of S. 1592. Aside from editorial changes, its provisions differ from S. 1592 in the following respects: 1. The provision giving preference to veterans in admission to low-rent housing projects has been strengthened by requiring Sec. 902 (a) (702 (a) preference to veterans as among eligible applicants generally, of 8. 1592) as distinguished from the S. 1592 provision giving preference as against other applicants equally in need and eligible for occu pancy. 2. The room cost limitation has been raised from $1,000 to $1,250 in cities or metropolitan areas of less than 500,000 popu- Sec. 903 (703 of S. lation, from $1,250 to $1,500 in cities or metropolitan areas over 1592) that population, and from $1,750 to $2,200 in Alaska. Also, the authorization to exceed the cost limitations by not more than $250 per room, under certain prescribed conditions, is extended from December 31, 1947, to December 31, 1949. 3. The present bill adds a clarifying definition of the term "administration." Sec. 904 (9) 4. In light of the substantial increase in building costs (reflected in the increased cost limitations above), the maximum amount Sec. 907 (a) (707 (a) of annual contributions is increased from $22,000,000 to of S. 1592) $26,400,000 for each year of the 4-year program to permit the provision of the 500,000 dwelling units contemplated. 5. Title IX contains a provision for advance loans for planning. (Essentially this is not a new provision but simply specific adaptation of the provision in sec. 203 of S. 1592 to this particular program.) TITLE X-FARM HOUSING TITLE XI-RURAL NONFARM HOUSING These two titles contain the parallel provisions to those contained in title VIII of S. 1592. The only major change lies in the clarification of the respective fields of the Department of Agriculture and FPHA. Ünder S. 1592, FPHA could extend assistance for farm housing where such assistance was not forthcoming from the Secretary of Agriculture. As a result of the clarification under this bill, the Department of Agriculture is given the complete responsibility in the field of farm housing, and FPHA's responsibility is limited to the field of rural nonfarm housing. Incidental to this basic clarification, the following further amendments have been made: Sec. 909 (203 of S. 1592) 1. "Farm" is now specifically defined (as a "parcel or parcels Sec. 1001 (b) of land operated as a single unit which is used for the production of one or more agricultural commodities and customarily produces such commodities for sale and for home use of a gross annual value of not less than $400"). 2. In connection with rentals on FPHA-aided rural housing, the provision requiring annual rental payments equal to the average annual principal payments necessary to amortize the cost of the housing, now excludes charges for utilities in the computation of rental payments for this purpose. Also, there is deleted the provision permitting credits in certain cases where the housing is made available through sale or financing, for maintenance work performed by the families of low income aided. 3. The provision with respect to land and utility projects contained in the urban low-rent housing title has also been adapted to the rural housing title Sec. 204 (1) under sec. 1101 (204 (1) under sec. 813 of S. 1592) Sec. 205 under sec. 1101; see also sec. 906 (706 of S. 1592) TITLE XII-DISPOSITION OF PERMANENT HOUSING FEDERALLY OWNED Sec. 1201 (b) (902 (b) of S. 1592) This is the parallel title to title IX of S. 1592. The only changes of substance are provisions authorizing either administrative loans or use of disposition reserves, as may be appropriate, to correct war-caused deficiencies in construction. TITLE XIII-MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS This title combines the two miscellaneous provisions of title XI of S. 1592 with the perfecting and technical administrative provisions relating to the office of the National Housing Administrator, FHLBA, FHA, and FPHA contained in title I (sec. 108) of S. 1592. Senator ELLENDER. Likewise, I would like to at this point file for the record a detailed section-by-section analysis of the bill. Senator BUCK. That will be helpful. (The above-mentioned analysis is as follows:) NATIONAL HOUSING POLICY AND PROGRAM Mr. ELLENDER. Mr. President, on Monday of this week it was my privilege, along with the senior Senator from New York [Mr. Wagner], to join with the distinguished senior Senator from Ohio [Mr. Taft] in the introduction of a comprehensive bill, S. 866, directed toward the solution of what I regard as our most important single social and economic problem, namely, housing. In my judgment, no other problem before the Congress is more important to the future welfare of this country. The necessity for the establishment by Congress of a sound, comprehensive, national housing policy and program, based upon the realities of the needs of the country as a whole, cannot be exaggerated. More than any other single factor, the character of family life, .the conditions under which our children grow up and assume the obligations of citizenship, and the general attitudes of our people toward the system of Government, are determined by the character of the home and the neighborhood in which they live. Mr. President, the strength of our democratic system of Government centers in its ability to serve more effectively than any other system the basic needs of the great majority of the people who are governed. When it fails to serve these needs, there are created the very conditions under which socialistic, communistic, and other systems of government may falsely appear to be acceptable. We are still faced with a critical shortage of housing. There is every indication that, if we fail this year to take the constructive, long-term action which the situation calls for, it will be more critical next year, and that it will become increasingly critical with each succeeding year until we face the facts and take such constructive, long-term action. In addition to the shortage of housing, our Government has never sought to adopt and adhere to a policy of replacing housing that becomes inadequate. Our rate of house construction has been so small in relation to the needs of our people for housing that we have had to keep in use practically all our housing supply. Slums and blighted areas have spread in our cities and towns. This Nation cannot safely face the difficult years of the future with the burden of hardship and discontent which unsatisfactory housing imposes upon its people. We cannot longer accept these conditions as unavoidable. If we are to avoid them, we must decide now that we will face the issue and assume the task of remedying the serious cumulative housing shortage, of eliminating slums and blighted areas, and of achieving, as soon as feasible, the objective of a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family. It is an objective which cannot be attained in 1 or 2 years. It cannot be accomplished by temporizing or by treating housing as a perennial emergency. It is an objective which as a nation we must accept and accomplish through the full use of our resources in a sound, long-term housing program. We are late with such a program. We cannot turn back the clock, but we can avoid the price of further delay. We can accept now, as the only satisfactory objective for a truly democratic system of government, the goal of a decent home and suitable living environment for all its citizens. I believe that by the enactment of the comprehensive housing bill, introduced this week, this Congress can provide the means for assuring orderly and sustained progress in the attainment of that objective. I believe that, by such action, this Congress can provide the strongest and most effective bulwark against the inroads of socialism, communism, and all the other "isms." This bill has its origin in a resolution introduced on March 1, 1943, by the senior Senator from Ohio [Mr. Taft] for himself, the Senator from New York [Mr. Wagner], and the Senator from Utah [Mr. Thomas]. The latter two Senators were, at that time, the chairman of the Banking and Currency Committee and the chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, respectively. These were the two standing committees of the Senate which traditionally had jurisdiction of housing matters. That resolution called for the establishment of a special committee of three members from each of these two standing committees of the Senate. It directed this special committee to investigate and study every phase of the housing problem and the housing activities of the Federal Government. It directed the special committee to prepare a comprehensive postwar housing program-with special reference to the encouragement of home ownership, of eliminating slums and blighted areas, and the extent of the necessity of the Federal Government subsidizing housing for lower-income groups. The resolution went to the Education and Labor Committee, on which the senior Senator from Ohio was then serving, and was favorably reported to the Senate. At that time the senior Senator from Kentucky [Mr. Barkley], the then majority leader, indicated that he did not desire to set up special_committees for every postwar subject and that, since we were then creating the Committee on Postwar Economic Policy and Planning, the so-called George committee, he preferred that committee to handle the matter. When the Senator from Georgia [Mr. George] was advised of these circumstances, he appointed the Senator from Ohio [Mr. Taft], who was a member of the Postwar Economic Policy and Planning Committee, as chairman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Redevelopment. The Senator from Ohio asked the chairman of the Banking and Currency and Education and Labor Committees each to appoint three members to the subcommittee. Senators Wagner, Radcliffe, and Ball were appointed from the Banking and Currency Committee, and when Senator Ball retired from the Banking and Currency Committee in 1945, he was succeeded by Senator Buck. The chairman of the Education and Labor Committee appointed Senators Chavez, La Follette, and myself. Beginning in the middle of 1944, this subcommittee commenced an examination of every aspect of the housing problem. We communicated with every type of major organization concerned with housing from the financing, construction, management, or consumer standpoint. Beginning in the early part of 1945, we held extensive hearings. Testimony was presented by every source of informed opinion, including private enterprise, public-interest organizations, and representatives of Federal, State, and local governments. In August of 1945, the subcommittee presented a unanimous report setting forth its recommendations for the kind of a comprehensive postwar housing program which, in its judgment, was clearly required to meet the housing needs of the country. On the basis of this study and investigation and the recommendations of the subcommittee, and after many meetings to reconcile specific methods and details in a search for the means best suited to accomplish the desired objective, a comprehensive housing bill to carry out the recommendations of the subcommittee was introduced in November 1945. Following its introduction the Committee on Banking and Currency conducted hearings for a period of several months. Thereafter a subcommittee considered the bill further, after which it was taken up by the full committee and unanimously reported to the Senate. It was passed by the Senate without a dissenting vote, but before the House completed hearings the Seventy-ninth Congress adjourned. Mr. President, I have dealt at this length with the considerations, studies, and investigations of the housing problem which have preceded the introduction of the bill this week, so that the Members of the Senate may fully realize how much work has already been done. The Congress now has available all of the basic facts and information needed for intelligent action. The hearings before the Senate subcommittee and before the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency indicated that the housing needs from 1945 to 1955 would call for the construction of approximately twelve and a half million nonfarm dwelling accommodations. About half of this volume was based upon the needs of the net addition of families, while the other half was represented by construction needed in order to replace, during this 10-year period, about half of 99279-47- -3 |