May 6, 1952
Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen of the Housing Conference:
It is a pleasure indeed for me to be able to come over here for a few minutes. You know, I have been right busy here lately, and it is hard for me to get anywhere. I understand that I missed some excellent talks here tonight, and I am sorry for it. I wish I could have heard them all. Even if I did serve 10 years in the Senate, I still like to hear Senators speak.
I am very glad to have this opportunity to speak to the National Housing Conference. You have a wonderful record in helping to get decent housing done for the American people, and I as President appreciate everything you have done. If everybody had a viewpoint about public interest and the welfare of the people similar to yours, it would be wonderful--what a really great happy country we could have. But there are a lot of people who don't feel that way, and you know very well from your battles with the real estate lobby that that is so.
We had a housing battle after the war. You will remember how we started out, after that war, to get Congress to pass comprehensive legislation. I sent a message to Congress with a 21-point program, in September 1945. And that 21-point program is just as good today as it was in 1945--and some of it hasn't been done yet. One of those points was a housing program--public housing and slum clearance, and urban development and housing loan guarantees. You people were already working for that kind of legislation, and you know what I am talking about.
The Senate had a bill before it. I talked about this bill some, in 1948--the Wagner-Ellender-Taft bill. That was in the 79th Congress, and we tried to get it through and came very close to success. The Senate passed the Wagner-Ellender-Taft bill in 1946, but it was blocked by the Republican Members of the House committee.
Then came that famous 80th Congress-the one I made famous. This time the bill was called the Taft-Ellender-Wagner bill. It was still a good bill. Changing the names around didn't hurt it a bit. The Democrats tried again and again in both the Senate and the House to get the bill through, but they were blocked at every turn of the road by the Republicans.
Then the Republicans adjourned and went to their convention in Philadelphia, and put a plank in their platform saying they were for housing legislation--the very thing they had been fighting against for 3 years.
So I called them back into session on Turnip Day, July 26th, to see if they meant what they said in their Philadelphia 'platform. You remember what happened. Senator Taft himself turned against the bill, and asked the Senate to kill it, and the Senate did kill it. And then that famous 80th Congress passed a housing bill, but there was so little in it, it was called the "teeny-weeny housing bill." And it was "teeny-weeny."
Things got better after the election of 1948. We had a new Congress in 1949, and we finally got the housing bill passed--and it was a good bill. The real estate lobby took a good licking, for once, and you people here had a lot to do with it. And I congratulate you on that.
I say that a great deal of the credit for that victory--a victory for the welfare of all the people--should go to Senator Maybank and Congressman Spence, the Chairmen of the Senate and House Banking and Currency Committees. The bill never would have passed without those two gentlemen.
I would think that the real estate lobbies might have given up after that, but they didn't. They are a stubborn and selfish lot and, besides, some of them make a living by fighting against housing. Real estate lobbies have been going all up and down the country into the local communities, trying to throw monkey wrenches into public housing and slum clearance programs.
Out in Los Angeles it took the courts to save the public housing, after the real estate boys got to work. And I haven't got anything against real estate men--I used to be in the real estate business myself. But, I think, in this public business, they ought to use a little judgment--they would be much better off if they did--because it will help them just as much as it will everybody else.
The lobby has been busy here in Washington. They have been very busy. They have been trying to choke the public housing program to death by cutting off its appropriations. And I am sorry to say that that seems to he a policy now, to try to hamstring the Government by cutting off appropriations. They are trying to choke the Executive Office to death, and they are about to ruin our national defense program. And they really don't know what they are doing. I am going to tell them about it one of these days, in words of one syllable.
Within 2 years from the time Congress passed the law authorizing 135,000 units a year as a reasonable goal for public housing, the lobby was here trying to get it cut to 5,000. Last year they almost succeeded, and this year they are at it again. When the House of Representatives passed the appropriation bill this time, they put the 5,000 unit limit on again. I had asked for 75,000 units. Now we will have to try to get the number increased in the Senate again, just as we did last year.
I hope you people will keep up the good fight for decent housing for all our people, at prices they can afford to pay. I hope you will help me get that 5,000 limit on public housing knocked out of this year's appropriation bill.
And I want some help on some other appropriation bills too, while you are here-might just as well do a first-class job of lobbying while we are at it. It's all right to lobby the same as everybody else. I hope you will keep after the housing lobby, just as you always have done. And I hope you will elect the kind of candidates to office this year that care enough about the people--and the people's welfare--so that they will support a housing program that will be all in the public interest.
I want you to know this, however, that whether I am in office or out--and I will be out on the 20th of January--I am still going to continue this fight with everything I have got. I am going up and down this country as a private citizen, and I am going to tell them what the Government means, from precinct to President--and I am going to tell them in words of one syllable, so they will understand it. And I am going after these fellows--hammer and tongs--who have been trying to hamstring the Government, and who have been trying to keep us from doing our duty as a world power.
You must understand that we have entered a new age, and a new era. We are the most powerful nation in the world. If we will just keep our heads and stay that way-if we do that--we can get a peace in this world that will last. If we do not, we can't. That's all there is to it.
There have been certain things happening in this country that are right down the alley that Mr. Stalin wants us to go. Now let's stop it. Let's get our senses back, and go ahead and keep this country just what it ought to be: the greatest and the most prosperous country in the world--and that is what it is now.
It has been a pleasure for me to be here with you this evening. I almost missed the chance this year to make "whistlestop" speeches, so I took one out on you tonight.
Thank you.
NOTE: The President spoke at 10:05 p.m. at the Statler Hotel in Washington. His opening words "Mr. Chairman" referred to Raymond M. Foley, Administrator of the Housing and Home finance Agency, who served as chairman of the banquet.
Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen of the Housing Conference:
It is a pleasure indeed for me to be able to come over here for a few minutes. You know, I have been right busy here lately, and it is hard for me to get anywhere. I understand that I missed some excellent talks here tonight, and I am sorry for it. I wish I could have heard them all. Even if I did serve 10 years in the Senate, I still like to hear Senators speak.
I am very glad to have this opportunity to speak to the National Housing Conference. You have a wonderful record in helping to get decent housing done for the American people, and I as President appreciate everything you have done. If everybody had a viewpoint about public interest and the welfare of the people similar to yours, it would be wonderful--what a really great happy country we could have. But there are a lot of people who don't feel that way, and you know very well from your battles with the real estate lobby that that is so.
We had a housing battle after the war. You will remember how we started out, after that war, to get Congress to pass comprehensive legislation. I sent a message to Congress with a 21-point program, in September 1945. And that 21-point program is just as good today as it was in 1945--and some of it hasn't been done yet. One of those points was a housing program--public housing and slum clearance, and urban development and housing loan guarantees. You people were already working for that kind of legislation, and you know what I am talking about.
The Senate had a bill before it. I talked about this bill some, in 1948--the Wagner-Ellender-Taft bill. That was in the 79th Congress, and we tried to get it through and came very close to success. The Senate passed the Wagner-Ellender-Taft bill in 1946, but it was blocked by the Republican Members of the House committee.
Then came that famous 80th Congress-the one I made famous. This time the bill was called the Taft-Ellender-Wagner bill. It was still a good bill. Changing the names around didn't hurt it a bit. The Democrats tried again and again in both the Senate and the House to get the bill through, but they were blocked at every turn of the road by the Republicans.
Then the Republicans adjourned and went to their convention in Philadelphia, and put a plank in their platform saying they were for housing legislation--the very thing they had been fighting against for 3 years.
So I called them back into session on Turnip Day, July 26th, to see if they meant what they said in their Philadelphia 'platform. You remember what happened. Senator Taft himself turned against the bill, and asked the Senate to kill it, and the Senate did kill it. And then that famous 80th Congress passed a housing bill, but there was so little in it, it was called the "teeny-weeny housing bill." And it was "teeny-weeny."
Things got better after the election of 1948. We had a new Congress in 1949, and we finally got the housing bill passed--and it was a good bill. The real estate lobby took a good licking, for once, and you people here had a lot to do with it. And I congratulate you on that.
I say that a great deal of the credit for that victory--a victory for the welfare of all the people--should go to Senator Maybank and Congressman Spence, the Chairmen of the Senate and House Banking and Currency Committees. The bill never would have passed without those two gentlemen.
I would think that the real estate lobbies might have given up after that, but they didn't. They are a stubborn and selfish lot and, besides, some of them make a living by fighting against housing. Real estate lobbies have been going all up and down the country into the local communities, trying to throw monkey wrenches into public housing and slum clearance programs.
Out in Los Angeles it took the courts to save the public housing, after the real estate boys got to work. And I haven't got anything against real estate men--I used to be in the real estate business myself. But, I think, in this public business, they ought to use a little judgment--they would be much better off if they did--because it will help them just as much as it will everybody else.
The lobby has been busy here in Washington. They have been very busy. They have been trying to choke the public housing program to death by cutting off its appropriations. And I am sorry to say that that seems to he a policy now, to try to hamstring the Government by cutting off appropriations. They are trying to choke the Executive Office to death, and they are about to ruin our national defense program. And they really don't know what they are doing. I am going to tell them about it one of these days, in words of one syllable.
Within 2 years from the time Congress passed the law authorizing 135,000 units a year as a reasonable goal for public housing, the lobby was here trying to get it cut to 5,000. Last year they almost succeeded, and this year they are at it again. When the House of Representatives passed the appropriation bill this time, they put the 5,000 unit limit on again. I had asked for 75,000 units. Now we will have to try to get the number increased in the Senate again, just as we did last year.
I hope you people will keep up the good fight for decent housing for all our people, at prices they can afford to pay. I hope you will help me get that 5,000 limit on public housing knocked out of this year's appropriation bill.
And I want some help on some other appropriation bills too, while you are here-might just as well do a first-class job of lobbying while we are at it. It's all right to lobby the same as everybody else. I hope you will keep after the housing lobby, just as you always have done. And I hope you will elect the kind of candidates to office this year that care enough about the people--and the people's welfare--so that they will support a housing program that will be all in the public interest.
I want you to know this, however, that whether I am in office or out--and I will be out on the 20th of January--I am still going to continue this fight with everything I have got. I am going up and down this country as a private citizen, and I am going to tell them what the Government means, from precinct to President--and I am going to tell them in words of one syllable, so they will understand it. And I am going after these fellows--hammer and tongs--who have been trying to hamstring the Government, and who have been trying to keep us from doing our duty as a world power.
You must understand that we have entered a new age, and a new era. We are the most powerful nation in the world. If we will just keep our heads and stay that way-if we do that--we can get a peace in this world that will last. If we do not, we can't. That's all there is to it.
There have been certain things happening in this country that are right down the alley that Mr. Stalin wants us to go. Now let's stop it. Let's get our senses back, and go ahead and keep this country just what it ought to be: the greatest and the most prosperous country in the world--and that is what it is now.
It has been a pleasure for me to be here with you this evening. I almost missed the chance this year to make "whistlestop" speeches, so I took one out on you tonight.
Thank you.
NOTE: The President spoke at 10:05 p.m. at the Statler Hotel in Washington. His opening words "Mr. Chairman" referred to Raymond M. Foley, Administrator of the Housing and Home finance Agency, who served as chairman of the banquet.