COOKING AND HEATING FACILITIES-MINTO AREA HOME

Furthermore, inadequate housing in depressed rural areas everywhere cannot be divorced from the more general economic problem in those areas. There is a vicious cycle. Without decent housing, schoolchildren lack the proper environment for study, and health is impaired. Yet both good education and good health are essential if poverty conditions are to be overcome.

Within the past few years many new programs, Federal and State, have been developed to improve social and economic conditions. Certainly, some of these programs offer hope in dealing with the housing problem in Alaska. Whether additional special legislation for

Alaska is needed cannot be determined until these programs have been carefully reviewed. And I certainly agree with Senator Bartlett that we ought to carry out that review quickly and develop a position on this legislation. I have talked to Secretary Weaver and other officials of the Administration, including representatives of the Bureau of the Budget, and we have agreed to undertake a thorough study of existing programs of the Economic Development Administration, the Office of Economic Opportunity, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development-as well as the Department of the Interior-in order to establish what can be done. Out of this review we will develop with Sentaor Bartlett and the committee recommendations for any additional legislation that may be needed.

The reason, I am sure, that Senator Bartlett felt special legislation. was needed is that this is a region of the United States, northern and western Alaska, which in terms of the living conditions of people, the way of living of these people, of the climatic conditions, this is a very special and unique situation and unique problem. And the point, I think, that the Senator is making and the point of concern in my Department is that if present programs are not adequate, if we cannot develop an Alaska housing program under existing legislation, well, let us write special legislation. But, for heaven's sake, let us get a program and get going.

I am convinced, Mr. Chairman, that we can carry out a sound housing program in Alaska. I am convinced of this for several reasons. One of the other remote regions of our country that has special circumstances is the island of Samoa, of American Samoa, and 2 or 3 months ago that island was largely flattened by a hurricane. Most of the housing was destroyed. Governor Rexley of Samoa came in, and with the help of the Office for Health Planning for the housing people, he put together a very unique program. There is no housing program like it. It isn't on the books, as a matter of fact. It is splicing together two or three existing programs. This convinces me all over again that Senator Bartlett is right, that we can develop a housing program for the Alaska native people and that we can make it. work and that we can get it underway. But I think that the Senators will see from these photographs that this is undoubtedly the lowest level of housing, the most disgraceful housing that exists in our United States, and I would simply propose that we recognize that these people are citizens of the United States, that they are entitled to participate in these programs that have so long benefited all segments of American society and that we do something and do it in this session of Congress to get a proper housing program for Alaska through.

I regret very much that we don't have this morning all of the details worked out in an administration position, but I certainly hope that the committee will require us to develop such a position and do it quickly so that this problem can be taken into account in writing new legislation. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator PROXMIRE. I thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, and I want to commend you on your support for this position taken by Mr. Bartlett. It makes all the sense in the world.

I would like to ask, however, whether or not it would not be wise to consider broadening legislation. I have not had a chance to study it, and it may be broad enough in its present form. But it strikes me this is a problem as to Indians, not only in Alaska, but Wisconsin and Minnesota and elsewhere.

I would like to read three short paragraphs from a speech made by Senator Mondale in a colloquy with Senator Harris, who made his great speech on Indians the other day on the floor of the Senate. Senator Mondale said:

As some of you may know, it can get rather cold in northern Minnesota in the early months of the year, and these Indians go through winter after winter on dirt floors, with six, seven, eight people to a room, no sanitation facilities, carrying water to their homes in buckets. I do not think we would need a very careful study to determine what this does to the people's health, particularly young children.

I have seen actual health history cards prepared and kept by our U.S. Public Health Service on Minnesota Indian reservations. These cards would shock the average American with what they reveal about the repeated and costly health care required for American Indians, in Minnesota and elsewhere, simply because of the dilapidated and unsanitary housing in which they live. I visited some of those homes in late November, and I saw it happening.

We have a study, conducted by the Division of Indian Health of the Public Health Service, that shows we will get back every dollar we spend on minimum decent housing for Minnesota Indians in reduced costs of Government programs for Indian health. Over the long run, it will not cost us a penny more to provide decent housing than to allow the present disgraceful situation to continue. And yet it does continue.

Senator PROXMIRE. This Indian housing problem continues in my State. I was just up at Oneida, Wis., where we have our Oneida Indians last Saturday and spoke at a small public housing development. They were pleased and delighted to get the public housing; it was limited and modest. It is obvious to me that not only in Minnesota, but in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the country we also need this kind of thing, and I don't mean in any way to suggest anything that would delay action on the Alaska proposal, because I think it is urgent here. This is a very impressive presentation, but I think it would be helpful if we could broaden this to include other areas, too.

Mr. UDALL. I think, Senator, we would certainly be well advised at this point to look at the whole problem and see whether additional legislation is needed in the larger area. The Indian Bureau people are here and can testify in detail on this, but I wanted to come up this morning to express my personal concern.

The thing that has disturbed me most, if I may say so, with regard to our Indian people and our national legislation is the fact that in too many programs the Indians have just been left out. We have had Federal housing programs, public housing programs, low-rent programs for many years, and it has only been within the last 4 or 5 years that we, for the first time, worked it out so that there would be some participation. My point is that there should be full participation. To dramatize the point further, a year ago the Congress passed historic legislation with regard to assistance from the President's program for qualified organizations to assist the disadvantaged children in school and educate those children. The Indian children were left out. We went to the Bureau of the Budget and tried to put money in, and they said, "No, go get the law changed." I testified

earlier on that legislation pending this year, but the Indians have already lost a year under this program, and we are not certain yet that they will be qualified. I can't see any hope to really make the type of strides, the type of progress that I think we should make with our Indian people unless we not only don't leave them out, but put them first in terms of our consideration, and this is all that I am suggesting. Senator PROXMIRE. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. Senator BARTLETT. Mr. Byler is the next witness.

Senator PROXMIRE. Fine. Mr. Byler, delighted to have you. Proceed in your own fashion. We have a statement. It is a concise statement. If you would like to read it, just fine, or summarize it, whatever you wish to do.

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM BYLER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ASSOCIATION ON AMERICAN INDIAN AFFAIRS, ACCOMPANIED BY ARTHUR LAZARUS, GENERAL COUNSEL

Mr. BYLER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like the written statement submitted for the record, and I would like to comment on it briefly.

Mr. BYLER. My name is William Byler, executive director of the Association on American Indian Affairs. I am accompanied by Mr. Arthur Lazarus, general counsel for the Association on American Indian Affairs.

The association is a private, nonprofit organization founded some 44 years ago. Its purpose is to aid Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts in achieving social and economic equality with other citizens.

My purpose in appearing here today is to speak in support of Federal measures such as S. 1915 and S. 3255, which would provide financial and technical assistance to remote Alaska communities in order that they might improve their housing conditions and begin community development programs.

For a resident of Connecticut I have traveled extensively in Alaska, some five separate trips, covering many months in total, and I also traveled to Indian reservations throughout the United States from Florida to the west coast.

Undoubtedly, in remote villages of Alaska, one finds the poorest housing conditions in the United States. I believe that in few places in the world are the housing conditions as appalling as they are in Alaska. But I feel that even the vivid impression that this housing makes on the scene, on the ground, on the real estate, the most chilling experience for me was here in Washington, reading the morbidity and mortality rates for the Alaska native, and the single most outstanding statistics in my mind, the average age of death is 32 years. Alaska natives can expect to live half as long as the average Ameri

can.

This low health status of Alaska natives is certainly tragic for the individuals and families in vast areas of Alaska.

Senator PROXMIRE. Is this primarily because of infant mortality? Mr. BYLER. This is largely because of infant mortality rates, yes. It is costly to the Federal Government. The low housing status I think is intolerable in our society which prides itself on its opportunities.

Now, the connection between housing and the morbidity rates and mortality rates in Alaska, I think, is beyond dispute. We have a figure from the American Health Research Center indicating 45 square feet of space per person. This is one-quarter what the standard is for the United States.

Many of the diseases that afflict them, especially the pneumonia, diarrhea complexes

Senator PROXMIRE. Forty-five square feet, let us see, that would be about 5 by 8, roughly?

Mr. BYLER. Roughly, yes.

Senator PROXMIRE. About the size of an oversize bed. And that is the whole area he has to live in.

Mr. BYLER. The diseases that are the chief killers up there and the highest incidence rates are pneumonia and the diarrheas, and only one out of five, I understand, of these are susceptible to prevention or treatment by medical techniques. The only way we can reduce the remaining 80 percent of incidence that is not susceptible of treatment by prevention by medical science is improving the indoor environment and outdoor environment through techniques of environmental health. One of these is certainly housing.

We have here, I think, a great deal of crowding in the houses. This, in turn, leads to high disease rates. This, in turn, makes it very difficult to reduce the high rate of fertility in the families, and this, in turn, leads to crowding once more, and it is a vicious circle that must be broken at one point, and the point that seems to be most susceptible of breaking of the vicious circle seems to be in the area of housing. The others, then, the reduction of the death rate and the reduction of the high fertility rate may follow and the reduction of crowding.

Senator PROXMIRE. You would agree this is a general economic problem. Housing is certainly a very, very important aspect of it, but unless we make a concerted effort in the health area, jobs, education, and so forth, housing alone would not do it any more than helping one of the other elements?

Mr. BYLER. No, but even in the field of economics, I would like to point to this perhaps as one of the best places to start. It is not going to be probable that there is going to be massive employment in remote villages of Alaska for some time to come. However, there is a subsistence economy flourishing in many villages, and there is a small cash economy in many of these villages, but the cash that is earned. by trapping and arts and crafts so often has to be spent on fuel oil to heat inefficient houses. The labor that the man might devote to getting more cash through arts and crafts or trapping he may expend in the form of getting water, hauling water from long sources or hauling wood from long sources. So that the small amount of cash that is available to him or that he might earn he either spends on trying to maintain his house at a subsistence level in heat or he expends. his labor in an inefficient way and can never accumulate enough cash capital in order to break out of the subsistence economy.

In the field of education there are ramifications. Secretary Udall pointed to the difficulty of children studying in a crowded home. I would add to that health conditions that result from crowding lead to mental retardation, deafness diseases, which, in turn, makes it much.