Draft of Statement for Congressman John E. Fogarty on Final
Passage of Appropriations to Implement the Economic Oppor-
tunity Act of 1964

Now that appropriations to implement the Economic Opportunity
Act have been cleared by the Senate, the War Against Poverty -
one of the most challenging and important programs in the history
of this nation - is scheduled to begin. This tremendous under-
taking has important implications for Rhode Island, and for that
reason, I am particularly glad to have performed the task of
guiding the appropriations through the House of Representatives.

It was only ten short months ago that President Kennedy
sent the first memorandum to his department heads asking for
their comments on the feasibility of beginning an all-out attack
on the problems of poverty. In the period since then, plans
have been carefully laid for a broad, comprehensive approach
toward eliminating poverty in our country. This will not happen
overnight, but the very fact that we have begun is evidence
that we intend to succeed.

There are many ways in which Rhode Island can reap the
benefits of the Economic Opportunity Act.

The Work-Training Program under Title I will provide both
income and job experience for our State's youth who would
otherwise be permitted to drift. When this program becomes
operative, many Rhode Island youngsters who are on the brink

of dropping out of school because of financial reasons will
4

be able to remain. Those who have already dropped out but
wish to return will be able to do so. A third group of
youngsters, those who are not returning to school but who
lack work, will be helped to obtain the experience and skills
they need to increase their employability.

These things will be accomplished through a Neighborhood
Youth Corps which will be operated for the new Office of
Economic Opportunity by the Department of Labor. Contracts
with local Rhode Island governmental units or private nonprofit
organizations will be entered into for the purpose of develop-
ing and conducting work-training projects. These projects
would place young boys and girls in full-time or part-time
employment in hospitals, schools, libraries, children's homes,
settlement houses, public and private welfare agencies, and
so on. No persons in the older age group will be adversely
affected as a result of these programs. Training will take
place in occupations where there is an expanding demand for
workers or in altogether new jobs in fields now developing.
The keynote of this program, as with all the other programs
in the War Against Poverty, will be local initiative and
control. I am now taking steps to make certain that Rhode
Island will be high on the list of states in which these

projects will be conducted.
.

Another program of importance to young people in Rhode
Island is the Work-Study Program, also under Title I. Rhode
Island college students from low-income families will be
given a chance, which they might not otherwise have, to begin
on continue higher education.

The sum of $296,218 has been earmarked for our State.
From this amount, grants will be made in response to requests
from our universities and colleges to operate part-time
employment programs which will place deserving students in
certain on-campus and off-campus jobs. The maximum earnings
will be determined by the student's financial need, the rate
of pay for the job he will hold, and the number of hours he
is to work during the year. It is also wisely provided that
no student may work more than fifteen hours during any week
in which classes are in session, since his education comes
first.

Rhode Island has its share of students who need this kind
of assistance. Loans, scholarships and other aids are fre-
quently not sufficient for the young man or woman who must
be completely self-supporting.

The Work-Study Program will be delegated by the Office of
Economic Opportunity to the Office of Education for administra-
tion. The program will make it possible for many able students
from poor families to complete their education and go on to

become leading citizens.
a

The communities of Rhode Island will also have the unique
opportunity of developing broad community action programs to
fight poverty by mobilizing public and private resources for
a direct attack at its root causes in the various cities and
towns of our State. A basic amount of $933,101 is allocated
to Rhode Island for this purpose, but it is more than likely
that considerable additional funds will be available from such
sources as the monies reserved for distribution by the Director
of the Office of Economic Opportunity, Sargent Shriver, who
knows the problems of this State and who visited here this
June for the Providence College Commencement, from monies set
aside for research and training, from monies earmarked for
technical assistance, and from the many other Federal programs
which will give special priority to communities which have
developed comprehensive programs to fight poverty. Just how
much these additional funds will amount to will depend upon
the readiness of Rhode Island communities to respond to the
challenge presented by the Economic Opportunity Act.

The concept of Community Action is dynamic and exciting.
The legislation passed provides up to ninety percent Federal
financing for programs undertaken as part of a comprehensive
community drive to end poverty. Since the problems of poverty

are seen as a close-knit series of social ills, it stands to
aon

reason that their alleviation will require an equally close-
eat i  eaais of remedies. Therefore, a community action program
OULD

elec es efforts in such areas as remedial reading, health
services, literacy courses, job training, homemaker services,
employment counseling, vocational rehabilitation, and many
more. Each community or group of communities carrying out

such a broad program must pool its local talent so that
business, labor, government, public and private schools, SFfy/CE
organizations, welfare agencies, the poor themselves, and

other community elements are united in their willingness to
work together to achieve positive results.

I pledge my all-out efforts, not only to cooperate with
these communities to the fullest extent possible, but also to
work on their behalf with the Office of Economic Opportunity
to make sure that our State will be one of the leaders in
effectively combating the difficulties of poverty which face
almost 37,000 of Rhode Island's families and which indirectly
affect us all through loss to the State's economy.

The second part of Title II provides for Adult Basic
Education and Literacy Training. Too many Rhode Islanders
are handicapped by sheer inability to read and write. Our
State will receive $101,109, from which grants will be made
to provide elementary level education for adults, with

emphasis on the skills of speaking, listening, arithmetic,

citizenship, health practices, consumer knowledge, human
- 6 -

relations, and home and family living. These skills will be
taught in addition to reading and writing. The training
received under this program will increase opportunities for
more productive and profitable employment, and give those
enrolled in it a better chance to meet their adult responsi-
bilities.

Our State Department of Education will be responsible
for administering the program through a State plan approved
by the U. S. Commissioner of Education, who will be delegated
this task by Director Shriver. The Department of Education
will, in turn, work through local school boards.

Under Title IV of the Act, small business concerns in
Rhode Island which have been unable to meet normal credit
requirements may be assisted under a special program of loans
and loan guarantees.

These loans, up to $25,000 and repayable in fifteen years,
will be directed mostly toward retail and service enterprises -
generally employing three or fewer persons - such as luncheon-
ettes, filling stations, drugstores, barbershops, delicatessens,
beauty parlors, shoe repair establishments, furniture movers,
dry cleaners, and the like. Due to their limited resources,
many enterprises of these kinds have been unable to strengthen
or expand their operations, and this has been one cause of

poverty found in many urban areas.
= ae

The Small Business Administration, by delegation of
Director Shriver, will implement this program with existing
capital. The legislation provides that where a bank will
make the loan, SBA may guarantee or participate in it. If
no bank can be involved, it will be possible to make a direct
government loan.

A key aspect of this program is that the good character
of the applicant, plus reasonable ability to repay, will be
considered as more important than collateral. Primary
emphasis will be placed on making loans which will create
jobs and raise the living standards of the long-term unem-
ployed or under-employed. Applications will be accepted
only from disadvantaged persons or those on the verge of
poverty, and only in those areas where community action pro-
grams have been developed in accordance with Title II of the
Act.

Title V, which provides for Work-Experience Programs
for those receiving some form of public assistance, is of
particular interest to Rhode Island. We all know that those
on public welfare, no matter how deserving, constitute a
liability to themselves and to their communities. While
Title V does not contain a formula to make allotments to
States, and while it is impossible at this time to estimate
with any certainty the number of persons or the amount of

money that is likely to go to a particular state, if we take
a

into account that Rhode Island has a program of Aid to Families
With Dependent Children and has no Community Work and Training
Program in operation, it would appear that a proportionate
share of funds under Title V would provide work experience
and other training for about eight hundred to nine hundred
individuals. If members of families are considered, a total
of thirty five hundred to four thousand persons would benefit.
Therefore, Rhode Island could well receive an estimated
$800,000 to $900,000 for work experience programs. I am now
taking steps to establish just what Rhode Island can expect
by way of funds for such experimental, pilot, or demonstration
projects. Monies under this Title of the Act will be trans-
ferred by Director Shriver to the Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare which will operate the program.

The Economic Opportunity Act establishes under Title VI
a type of domestic Peace Corps to be called Volunteers in
Service to America (VISTA). Volunteers will be recruited
in Rhode Island and throughout the country to work in community
action programs in such capacities as workers at children's
day-care centers, as aides» in literacy classes for unemployed
adults who cannot read or write, as family advisors to those
overwhelmed by red tape which often blocks the way to public
health, welfare, and legal services, and in many other capa-
cities, both here in Rhode Island and in other areas of the

nation. Volunteers must be eighteen or over and will receive
os

a monthly living allowance while in service, and $600 at the
end of the standard one-year tour of duty. Married couples
are eligible, and all volunteers can request service in a
specific geographical area.

I am proud of the part I was able to play in the authoriza-
tion and appropriation phases of the Economic Opportunity Act
of 1964. I believe that Rhode Island occupies a singularly
fortunate position to benefit from this measure. We are
compact; eighty percent of our population lives within fifteen
miles of the Providence City Hall. Our State's population is
made up of several different national and ethnic groups and
yet is stable. A close working relationship has existed over
the years among local, State, and Federal governments. We
have a head start on community planning and development in
that Providence began a fifteen year master plan for the
social, economic and physical renewal of the city and the
Providence Youth Progress Board is now engaged in planning
a comprehensive delinquency program. Both these projects
are examples of the many things we are doing and can do here
in Rhode Island.

With the continued interest and cooperation of everyone
in our State, we can use the Economic Opportunity Act as a
means of improving the lot of our less fortunate fellow
citizens, and, by so doing, strengthening the social conscience

and economic welfare of us all.