HOUSING LEGISLATION OF 1966

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 1966

U.S. SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON BANKING AND CURRENCY,
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HOUSING,

Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to recess, at 10:08 a.m., in room 5302, New Senate Office Building, Senator William Proxmire, acting chairman of the subcommittee, presiding.

Present: Senators Douglas, Proxmire, and Muskie.

Senator PROXMIRE. The Housing Subcommittee will come to order. Our first witnes is our distinguished colleague from Alaska, Senator Bartlett. I understand, Senator Bartlett, that you have some associates with you from Alaska and elsewhere who will appear with you, including Mr. William Byler, executive director, Association on American Indian Affairs. Is Mr. Byler present?

Senator BARTLETT. Mr. Byler is here, Mr. Chairman. If you will let me initiate the presentation, please.

STATEMENT OF E. L. BARTLETT, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF ALASKA; ACCOMPANIED BY STEWART L. UDALL, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; WILLIAM BYLER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AND ARTHUR LAZARUS, GENERAL COUNSEL, ASSOCIATION ON AMERICAN INDIAN AFFAIRS; EBEN HOPSON, STATE SENATOR, ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE, AND VICE CHAIRMAN, ALASKA NATIVE HOUSING COMMITTEE; EMIL NOTTI, CHAIRMAN, ALASKA NATIVE HOUSING COMMITTEE; CHARLES EDWARDSEN, VICE PRESIDENT, ARCTIC SLOPE NATIVE ASSOCIATION; DR. MARTHA WILSON, SERVICE UNIT DIRECTOR, PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE OF ALASKA; AND CHARLES BLOMFIELD, ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALASKA STATE HOUSING AUTHORITY

Senator BARTLETT. I have a statement here, an extended statement, which I would like permission to file for the record.

Senator PROXMIRE. Without objection, the entire statement will be printed as presented for the record.

Senator BARTLETT. This hearing pertains, as you know, Mr. Chairman, to two bills, S. 1915 and S. 3255. S. 3255 is the bill now before the committee which I introduced only last week.

We have several witnesses from Alaska present. Secretary Udall is here, or will be momentarily, but I thought you might care to hear

first, until the Secretary arrives, from Mr. William Byler, American Association of Indian Affairs, who is rather anxious to testify in due season so he may go down to the White House to witness the swearing in of Robert L. Bennett as Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

Senator PROXMIRE. Mr. Byler, you are in an enviable position if you are going down to witness the swearing in of Robert LaFolletteBennett, of Wisconsin, as head of Indian Affairs.

Senator BARTLETT. It is all very good, Mr. Proxmire, but I noted he was appointed from Alaska.

Senator PROXMIRE. Yes, he was; and he was born, educated, and grew up in Wisconsin.

The Secretary is here. You can proceed as you wish.

Senator BARTLETT. We will have Secretary Udall lead off this testimony.

Senator PROXMIRE. Mr. Secretary, you are mighty welcome, and you are our first witness.

STATEMENT OF STEWART L. UDALL, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. UDALL. Mr. Chairman, I have a prepared statement, and I will read most of it, and I would also like to make other comments, if I may.

I specifically asked to come here today to testify on this legislation because of a new effort that we are making to attempt to upgrade the effort to provide better conditions and do a better job of developing the resources of our Indian people in this country.

I am to be present this morning and participating in the swearing in of the new Indian Commissioner, and the main point I wanted to make to this committee, the reason I am here is that too often it gets in questions of Indian education to Indian housing. The ball has more or less dropped between stools, because there are some who have said that the responsibility on these matters is with the Indian Bureau, and it was many years after this country had national housing policies, FHA program, veterans housing program, before our Indian people could qualify for Indian housing.

I think the issue that Senator Bartlett's legislation has raised is a very important one, because in my judgment there is no area of the United States that has a more acute housing problem than do the native people of Alaska.

I have some illustrative materials, Mr. Chairman. I have a booklet I should like to present to you and have also-I don't know whether my people have arrived with it-some pictures that dramatically show what conditions are in Alaska.

Senator Bartlett is even more familiar with these conditions than I am. We have both seen them at first hand, and this is and should be, I think, a paramount objective in terms of housing legislation.

Until I personally visited Alaska I must confess that I had no real concept of just how hopeless the prospects for decent housing must seem to these people. The thought occurred to me that showing you a few pictures of typical hovels-you cannot call them houses-you see them in a book before you will accomplish much more than words.

BETHEL HOUSE.-TYPICAL HOME IN BETHEL, ALASKA, IN FAR WESTERN RIVERDELTA COUNTRY. HOUSE IS BASICALLY ONE-ROOM WITH PIECEMEAL ADDITION. THERE IS LITTLE INSULATION, AND A FAMILY OF 10 OR 12 MAY OCCUPY SUCH A HOME.

BARROW VILLAGE, 1962.-SMALL ONE-ROOM HOMES; ALL MATERIALS IN THE AREA MUST BE IMPORTED. FREIGHTER ARRIVES ONLY ONCE A YEAR, IN THE FALL.

Yes; will you spread these photographs out, please?

I had high hopes that the public housing mutual-help program, which has been quite useful on Indian reservations elsewhere, could be applied to Alaska. A successful mutual self-help project was recently completed at Metlakatla. However, Metlakatla in southeast Alaska is far from typical of other Alaskan villages which are plagued by severe climatic problems, high costs for imported building materials, and serious permafrost. These problems, coupled with the fact that most Alaskan natives earn their meager income during the few months of the construction season, make it impossible for them to develop an equity in their homes, through the contribution of labor, as is required under the present program.

With the exception of the self-help program, it is difficult to adapt Federal housing and community improvement projects to the conditions which prevail on most Indian reservations in the "lower 48," and in this sense the Alaskan problem is not unique. (The booklet mentioned is available in the subcommittee files.)