Cabinet Profile:
Housing and Urban Development

Dateline: 03/27/98

A short article on one of our Cabinet-level Federal agencies.

Agency Profile
Name: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary: Andrew M. Cuomo (1997)
Date Created: November 9, 1965
Main Legislative Authority: Housing and Urban Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3532-3527)
Area of Responsibility: Policy and programs addressing housing needs, community development, and fair housing laws.
Annual Budget: $19.5 Billion
Employees: 11,600

HUD's Beginnings
In his 1964 re-election campaign, President Lyndon B. Johnson promised sweeping federal programs of social, cultural, and economic reforms modeled after the aspirations of the late John F. Kennedy.

LBJ won a landslide victory over Republican Barry Goldwater and declared that the huge margin of votes represented a "mandate" from the people for he -- and the new 89th US Congress -- to go ahead and build the "Great Society".

The very first year of the Johnson administration, 1965, brought America no less than:

• Medicare
• The Voting Rights Act of 1965 removing obstacles preventing blacks from exercising their right to vote
• The "War on Poverty" -- food stamps -- youth employment opportunities
• Increased Federal aid to schools
• The Department of Transportation, and
• The Department of Housing and Urban Development

Not since the "First 100 Days" of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal" in 1935, had Federal Government address so many social and economic issues.

Over the years since 1965, several major laws, like the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and the Housing and Community Development Act have expanded HUD's role in the development of American communities.

From the HUD Web site:
HUD Historical Timeline

HUD's Missions
"To help people create communities of opportunity."

In January of 1998, President Clinton presented five principals defining how HUD should accomplish this mission:

• A commitment to Community
• A commitment to Support Families
• A commitment to Economic Lift
• A commitment to Reciprocity and to Balancing Individual Rights and Responsibilities
• A commitment to Reducing the Separations by Race and Income in American Life

HUD's primary areas of responsibility under their mission are:

• Meet the developmental needs of America's communities
• Promote economic growth in financially impacted neighborhoods
• Provide housing assistance for the poor and homeless
• Develop and rehabilitate moderate and low-cost housing
• Enforce all of the nation's Fair Housing laws

Resource Links

Internet Public Library - Presidential history on Lyndon B. Johnson and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

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