NATIONAL HOUSING ACT HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON BANKING AND CURRENCY SEVENTY-THIRD CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ON H.R. 9620 A BILL TO IMPROVE NATION-WIDE HOUSING STANDARDS, Mr. Albert L. Deane, President General Motors Holding Corporation. 9 Mr. E. Avery McCarthy, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Calif Mr. Don A. Loftus, president Homer Permanesque, Cleveland, O Mr. Langdon Post, chairman of the New York Housing Authority, 290 III HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE OF BANKING AND CURRENCY, Washington, D.C. 4% The committee met at 2: 45 p.m., Hon. Henry B. Steagall (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen, we have under consideration H.R. 9620, and we have with us Mr. Hopkins, Mr. Riefler, Mr. Eccles, Mr. Deane, Mr. Fahey, and Mr. Russell. We are first going to ask Mr. Hopkins to make a statement relating to this bill, and I am going to suggest to the members of the committee that we permit Mr. Hopkins to proceed in his own way, without interruption, until such time as he shall have finished with his consecutive statement and is ready to be interrogated. Mr. GOLDSBOROUGH. Mr. Chairman, my understanding of Mr. Hopkins' view is, in order that the committee may get a complete statement, they allow Mr. Hopkins, Mr. Riefler, Mr. Eccles, and Mr. Deane, all four, to complete their statements without interruption and then go back for examination. The CHAIRMAN. What Mr. Hopkins suggests is that each one of those four be permitted to conclude his statement and that they then return, beginning with Mr. Hopkins, and submit to interrogation in the order that each one testifies. That will be quite satisfactory and we will now ask Mr. Hopkins to proceed. STATEMENT OF HARRY L. HOPKINS, FEDERAL EMERGENCY RELIEF ADMINISTRATOR Mr. HOPKINS. Mr. Chairman, I would like to make a very brief statement in regard to this bill on four points: One, the present unemployment situation as it relates to building trades, and our relief organization and relief work as it relates to building trades; second, on the social value of housing; third, on the importance of moving heavy industries; and, fourth, on the great importance of our getting private credit into this picture rather than Government bonds. The building trades in America represent by all odds the largest single unit of our unemployment. Probably more than one-third of all the unemployed are identified, directly and indirectly, with the building trades. More than one-third of all of the 4,000,000 families on the relief rolls are identified with the building trades. In other 1 |