rectly and indirectly, with labor unions involved in our rehabilitation program.

For example, in New York City, when we did this instant rehabilition which I spoke of here, there was a question of prefabrication of the bathroom and kitchen units. Obviously this could not be done without the cooperation of labor.

My people and the local sponsor met, at my direction, with the Plumbers Union, the union which was primarily involved, and worked out an agreement on what would be done by union labor offsite. When the discussions bogged down, I talked to their international representative here in Washington to get it straightened

out.

HUD ENCOURAGES MINORITY GROUP PARTICIPATION IN UNIONS

We are also constantly in touch with labor on another and most difficult matter. That is the permission for nonwhites and other minority groups to get into labor unions, opening up the apprenticeship programs to them. Therefore I am delighted to see that they want more consultation. I can guarantee we will have it. Senator HARRIS. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator RIBICOFF. What bothers me-and let me say this to you, Mr. Secretary, most respectfully-basically you still have got the bricks and mortar job. As you know, I have felt right along that to make HUD a meaningful Department, the executive branch and the Congress, has to give you a lot more authority.

What bothers me is this: You talk about long-range approaches to many of our problems. That is correct. You are not going to be able to do it tomorrow or the day after. There is no panacea in one single answer.

PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP NEEDED IN CITY CRISIS

Now, it seems to me that there is a great responsibility on the President of the United States. The President of the United States deserves the sympathy of all of us with the great load he is carrying. The problems of Vietnam certainly occupy a lot of his time.

The President does not hesitate to rally public opinion for his point of view. Bringing General Westmoreland to this country to address a special session of Congress on Friday indicates the President's concern and the need to have the country understand the President's position. And yet, can we as a nation overlook the burning turmoil, and the problems in the cities of America? In the final analysis, while all of us-the members of the Cabinet, the Congress, the press, leaders, the rank and file of citizens have responsibility for the problems of the city, the only individual who can supply the leadership is the President of the United States.

To my memory, the last major speech the President made on the cities was last August, at Syracuse. He did not send up a special message on cities. The problems of the cities were covered in his general message on urban and rural poverty.

At this point I would like to place the President's Syracuse speech in the record.

(The speech referred to follows:)

Remarks of President Lyndon B. Johnson at Syracuse, N.Y., August 19, 1966, published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

I

want to talk to you today about the center of our society-the American city.

Over 70 percent of our population live in urban areas. Half a century from now 320 million of our 400 million Americans will live in cities, with our larger cities receiving the greatest impact of this growth.

For almost three years my Administration has been concerned with the question: What do we want our cities to become?

For you and your children, the question is: What kind of place will Syracuse be fifty years from now?

A city must be more than a collection of shops and buildings; more than an assortment of goods and services; more than a place to escape from.

A city must be a community where our lives are enriched. It must be a place where every man can satisfy his highest aspiration. It must be an instrument to advance the hopes of all its citizens. That is what we want our cities to be. And that is what we have set out to make them.

One word can best describe the task we face-and that word is immense. Until this decade, one description fitted our response: "too little and too late." By 1975 we will need two million new homes a year-schools for 60 million children-health and welfare programs for 27 million people over the age of 60—and transportation facilities for the daily movement of 200 million people in more than 80 million automobiles.

In less than 40 years--between now and the end of this century— urban population will double, city land will double, and we will have to build in our cities as much as has been built since the first settler arrived on these shores.

Our cities are struggling to meet this task. They increased their taxes by 39 percent between 1954 and 1963, and still their tax debts increased by 119 percent. Far more must be done if we are to solve the Number 1 domestic problem of the United States.

Let me be clear about the heart of this problem: It is the people who live in our cities and the quality of the lives they lead that

concern us.

We must not only build housing units; we must build neighborhoods. We must not only construct schools; we must educate our