Lapas attēli
PDF
ePub

Senator SPARKMAN. The Federal Government is the obligor. Mr. LEWIS. Yes. The Federal Government is the obligor. Senator SPARKMAN. And you cannot very well conceive that the Federal Government will default; can you?

Mr. LEWIS. The same with an FHA-insured mortgage, Mr. Chairman. Senator SPARKMAN. Oh, no. That is an entirely different thing. There is a very great difference. That is an insurance and the primary obligor there is the insurance reserve. The Government is the secondary endorser. But here the Government is primarily responsible. Mr. LEWIS. I do not see how any mortgagor will lose on the program.

Senator CAPEHART. Technically, of course, Mr. Lewis is right, and there can be a default. But there cannot ever be one because the

Government will never permit it.

Mr. LEWIS. May I continue?

Senator SPARKMAN. Yes. Certainly.

Mr. LEWIS. It has been brought to my attention that certain witnesses who have testified before the subcommittee on this bill have blown up out of proportion the overhead expense in administering title X housing. It was envisioned that the military would have to set up some type of complicated bookkeeping system in order to convert quarters allowances into mortgage payments. As I see the program from studying the bill and discussing it with those who know something about the legislation, all that should be required is for a monthly check to be sent from one central point with no reference at all to the individuals who for the time being will be occupying the units. The bill itself limits the available dollar to the average of the quarters allowances.

If I am not out of order at this time, I would also like to propose that there be created an Assistant Secretary of Defense for Housing to be charged solely with all policymaking and in general coordinating the military family housing program under title X. His office could also take over the insuring of title X mortgages after it is possible to transfer the insuring of such mortgages from FHA to the military.

At this time I would like to recognize the help of Senator Ives' and Senator Lehman's offices in trying to solve our problem in Plattsburgh. Plattsburgh has been activated with a net of 3,000 family units, with only 72 family housing units. Following the suggestion of our two distinguished Senators, we filed an application under title IX for some critical defense housing. May I say to the committee, never in all my experience have I received a greater run-around than I did in trying to process that application through the HHFA.

Senator DOUGLAS. What time was this, Mr. Lewis? What year? Mr. LEWIS. During the last 90 days, Mr. Senator.

Senator DOUGLAS. In other words, there has not been a great improvement in the administration of the HHFA?

Mr. LEWIS. I am convinced the HHFA and the FHA want very little to do with defense housing at this time, especially around Strategic Air Command bases.

To show you further what has happened, they have frozen in Plattsburgh to an average of 100 to 150 title II units per year, which is

the number of units that has been approved during past years. It is impossible for us to have any relief around our base so far as FHA title insurance or title commitments are concerned. There is just no other way out.

Senator CAPEHART. Do you see any other way to get housing for the military other than the route we are traveling here, that is, the so-called Capehart bill?

Mr. LEWIS. Senator Capehart, in my opinion it is the only acceptable way it can be worked out at the present time. As many members of the committee know, we have worked on this for the past 5 months ourselves, studying it and trying to coordinate it among the various places in the Strategic Air Command. This is a labor of love with me, as I have told many people before. We do hope this committee will see fit to approve the bill in some modified form. Of course I understand some amendments are necessary, but then it will help to cure the acute problem which we have.

Senator CAPEHART. The principle you think is correct, and it will get the job done?

Mr. LEWIS. Absolutely, Senator.

May I in the few minutes left that are allotted to me have incorporated in the record some telegrams from some other communities that are working with us on this project? First is one that comes from the mayor of Lake Charles, La., and the chairman of his airport committee and the general manager of the association of commerce in that area. It reads as follows:

The governing authorities of the city of Lake Charles and Calcasieu Parish, La., along with the association of commerce are in accord with the provisions of Senate bill 1501 for military housing. We urge passage of this legislation to relieve acute deficiencies in low-cost rental housing for personnel stationed at Lake Charles Air Force Base. Senate bill 1501 includes provisions for private industry to help meet demands for low-cost housing at the local level. We earnestly solicit consideration and passage of this legislation by the members of the Senate Banking and Currency Committee on Housing.

SIDNEY L. GRAY,

Mayor of Lake Charles. HOWARD B. DAUGHERTY,

Chairman Airport Committee, Calcasieu Parish Policy Jury.
J. WALKER OWENS,
General Manager, Association of Commerce.

Here is one that I know Senator Payne will be interested in, which comes from his good friend, Mr. Curtis M. Hutchins, president of the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad Co., who worked with us on the overall problem in the New England area. It says:

Regret must speak before Society Security Analysts in New York at noon next Friday and hence cannot join with you in person to urge passage of Senate bill 1501; however for whatever value it may have, here is our thinking on the

measure:

With three Air Force bases in our comparatively small area we have had an excellent opportunity to observe the vital necessity of adequate housing if we are to maintain service morale at the level demanded by our international situation. We are equally aware of the hard fact that this housing can be achieved only through some type of Federal assistance.

For that reason we are happy of the chance to join with you in urging the passage of Senate bill 1501 which is now under consideration by the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency.

Regards and good luck.

CURTIS M. HUTCHINS,

President, Bangor & Aroostook Railroad Co.

Senator PAYNE. The only thing I might do is amend that to read "four Air Force bases" because there is the Loring Air Force Base at Limestone, the Dow Air Force Base at Bangor, the Presque Isle Air Force Base at Presque Isle, and the Brunswick Army Air Base at Brunswick.

Senator DOUGLAS. I would like to remark that the Democratic Party was very good to the State and the Senator.

Senator SPARKMAN. That is shown in their gratitude.

Senator PAYNE. Maine happens to hold a very strategic position in the country.

Senator CAPEHART. I want you to know you have already been repaid and that is the end of it.

Senator SPARKMAN. Suppose we continue, since our time is limited. Mr. LEWIS. I have another telegram from the Altus, Okla., chamber of commerce, which has another acute housing shortage. This is a labor of love and we have been corresponding. That telegram reads:

Sincerely we regret we will not be in a position to have representative from Altus present to testify in support of Senate bill 1501 for military housing before Senate Banking and Currency Committee Friday. We do wish to go on record as strongly supporting this bill since it seems to be only means whereby adequate housing may be furnished to meet family housing requirements for military personnel at Altus Air Force Base.

If the title X legislation is enacted as proposed without restrictive amendments it is our opinion that it would be the most acceptable legislation proposed so far to solve acute military housing problem.

We heartily endorse legislation as proposed.

MATTYE WILSON WILLIAMS,

Manager, Altus Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce.

The last telegram I may explain comes from one of the really great civilian workers for the Air Force a man who has done probably as much as anyone in helping the Air Force to locate a Strategic Air Command Base in Abilene, Tex., Mr. W. P. Wright, chairman of the defense committee of the Abilene, Tex., chamber of commerce, and a tireless worker. This telegram is addressed to me and reads as follows:

Because I am at this time and have for the past several days been traveling constantly from Phoenix, Ariz., to El Paso, Fort Stockton, San Antonio, Dallas and Ft. Worth in an effort to interest reputable and capable builders in bidding on and becoming sponsors of the proposed 1,000-unit Wherry project at Abilene Air Force Base

May I say, on which the plans have already been prepared, and he is carrying it around trying to sell it

I am unable to be in Washington to support your position in behalf of Senate bill 1501 as I could certainly do in view of the responses I have received on the many calls I have made in the past few days. It is quite evident that I must continue my efforts to stimulate interest and persuade qualified prospects to sponsor our project at Abilene as the potential sponsors are most difficult to interest in view of the imminent expiration of the current act and because of the restrictions imposed by the last session of Congress in regard to certification of costs. The contractors that I have called on regard the present act as a oneway street from whence once you depart there is no return since they are required to make a firm bid the loan supporting which can be reduced through cost certification procedures but not increased in event unforeseen contingencies arise which sharply increase their costs of construction.

If the cost certification procedure in existence in 1953 could be reinstated with any controls necessary to prevent windfalls and other unethical benefits of a questionable nature then a contractor would be required to risk all of the reason

able profit to which he is entitled under our American system and no more in his efforts to meet the stringent restrictions which have been imposed by FHA. The lack of uniformity in interpretation of existing regulations by various FHA offices and the mass of routine and red tape which seem to be required has made this Wherry project extremely unattractive to builders who could qualify as sponsors. I think it is imperative to extend the Wherry Act with modifications for at least 1 year to permit projects such as ours at Abilene Air Force Base to be carried to conclusion. Then I also think Senate bill 1501 should be enacted to continue a program of housing for military personnel at those bases whose needs though urgent are not of as emergency a nature as our and other similar projects which are at the point of award and construction. But also at the point of supporting legislation expiring I am also convinced after many conferences with builders and suppliers of building materials that the $9,000 limitation on construction of Wherry houses is no longer realistic or compatible with recognized increases in the costs of construction.

The families of those men whose profession is the defense of this country are entitled to and must be provided adequate housing at a reasonable rental or those men will be enticed to accept some other employment in competition with the armed services. I know this to be a fact because I have talked with many, many wives of these men in their Wherry homes from Florida to California at the time of a recent survey which I made for our chamber of commerce when we began working in our Wherry project. Let me again say I wholeheartedly endorse Senate bill 1501 as well as a 1-year extension with modifications of the Wherry Act. W. P. WRIGHT,

Chairman of the Defense Committee, Abilene, Tex., Chamber of Commerce. That concludes my statement, Mr. Chairman.

Senator SPARKMAN. Without objection, the full statement of Mr. Lewis will be printed in the record at this point.

(The prepared statement of Mr. Lewis follows:)

Military housing

STATEMENT OF CLYDE A. LEWIS OF PLATTSBURG, N. Y.

Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, my name is Clyde A. Lewis. I reside at Plattsburg, N. Y., am a lawyer, a World War II Air Force veteran and Reserve officer, served as commander in chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States in 1949-50, and for the past 3 years have served as nonsalaried chairman of Plattsburg Air Base Liaison Commission, a 104-member group charged with representing the city of Plattsburg and assisting the Air Force in constructing and activating Plattsburg Air Force Base, which has already been activated and is to be dedicated in November of this year. I am also chairman of an informal group of representatives from 10 cities in 8 States with nearby Strategic Air Command bases, which group during the past 5 months has attempted to coordinate the individual efforts of the communities involved in meeting the family housing requirements for military personnel assigned to the SAC bases in their immediate area. All of said bases have military family housing deficiencies in excess of 500 units.

Plattsburg Air Force Base has been activated with only 72 available on-base family dwelling units against an overall requirement by the fall of 1956 of approximately 3,000 officers and airmen who are married and will want to live with their families in Plattsburg.

During the past 12 months representatives of the 10 SAC cities involved have made little or no progress in meeting their requirements through presently available legislation. Speaking for myself, I have made 19 trips to Washington specifically on housing matters for Plattsburg Air Force Base, have visited a number of other Air Force bases, and have conferred, on occasions too numerous to mention, with officials of the Air Force, Housing and Home Finance Agency, and Federal Housing Administration regarding housing at Plattsburg. Frankly, we are no further along with our housing than we were 1 year ago. To those who want to become completely frustrated in the shortest possible time, I recommend working for military housing.

We who have tried, during the past year, to help the Air Force acquire needed family housing have been almost completely unsuccessful. I never thought

any problem could be so difficult to solve-that is, until I became familiar with the provisions of S. 1501.

At the outset I wish to commend this subcommittee and its very distinguished chairman for the manner in which hearings have been conducted on this bill. Everyone interested in military family housing owes the subcommittee a debt of gratitude. The bill when finally enacted will become a lasting tribute to your efforts. I also wish to congratulate you for having invited General LeMay to testify before your subcommittee. His statement yesterday was the clearest and strongest expression of the reason for enacting S. 1501 that has or will be made before this subcommittee.

Arrangements had been made for wives of personnel assigned to five SAC bases to accompany me to this hearing so that they could tell the subcommittee the conditions in which many service families have and are being forced to live because of lack of adequate housing. Those plans were changed on Monday of this week because of the necessity of this subcommittee curtailing hearings after today, and the fact that all of us interested in this problem have become convinced that it is not now necessary for such additional testimony to be presented. Wives are really running the Air Force so far as the length of service a man with a family gives to the Air Force during peacetime.

Present legislation has proved grossly inadequate in meeting the existing problem. High present-day construction costs have made adequate title VIII housing on installations in the northern areas almost a thing of the past. The average Air Force family requires and is entitled to a three-bedroom unit. It is almost impossible to construct in northern New York or New England within the limitations of title VIII an acceptable 2-bedroom, much less 3-bedroom, unit. Proposed Senate bill 1501 (title X) would give the Department of Defense a usable, flexible vehicle which could produce a substantial portion of the family housing required by the military through utilizing presently available private capital. Such housing would be paid for by the Government on a time payment basis and in the same way as most of us as individuals pay for our homes.

Under title X, the military, after determining the desired composition, will develop an appropriate directive, employ an architect-engineer to develop specific plans and specifications in accordance with the limitations contained in the bill.

When the plans and specifications are approved by the military, interested builders would be invited to submit bids for the construction of the project. The construction of the project would be awarded to the lowest acceptable bidder. In this connection it is to be noted that, unlike title VIII, the relationship between the Government and the builder under the proposed bill will be defined by contract drafted in accordance with the Armed Services Procurement Act of 1947. Accordingly, the military departments will be enabled to exercise the same degree of control over the builder as is obtained by construction with appropriated funds. Moreover, the possibility of a windfall will be eliminated and excessive profits will be minimized by the adoption of established procurement practices in dealing with the builders. The low bidder will be required to obtain mortgage financing which would include the construction loan and the permanent loan. He would also be required to start a new corporation as the mortgagor corporation furnishing the necessary assurances that he will be able to complete the project. The successful bidder would be required to file an application with FHA for mortgage insurance in the amount of 100 percent of his bid price. Prior to commencing construction, the mortgagor corporation would be required to execute the necessary legal documents for the security of the loan. It is my understanding that inspection of the project during construction would be accomplished by the architect-engineer, which is the case with most public works projects.

At the end of the construction period, which should require not more than 18 months, the mortgagor corporation would tranfer all of its stock in the corporation to the military. When this has been accomplished the branch of service involved will manage and operate the project as public quarters and assign the units to military personnel with forfeiture of quarters allowance in the same manner as allowances are forfeited by military occupants of appropriated fund housing. The military will make the monthly payments on the mortgage out of the quarters allowance funds appropriated each year. In using this method it will not be necessary to increase appropriations nor increase the public debt.

The only alternative to S. 1501 is appropriated housing. The recommendation of Assistant Secretary of Defense Floete for appropriated housing, and the action taken by the House Armed Services Committee in recommending a limited number

« iepriekšējāTurpināt »