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Mr. Chairman, ten years ago the Congress passed legislation that reaffirmed the 1949 national housing goal of achieving "a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family." To help realize this goal, the 1968 act established a ten-year target for the production of additional housing. With the end of that ten-year period, the Congress faces decisions about future housing goals and the design, funding, and implementation of programs to achieve them.

As background for these decisions, I would like to review briefly the purposes that a statement of policy goals can serve. Next, I will present evidence regarding current housing conditions and examine the progress that has been made towards achieving the national housing goal. I will then review experiences since 1968 that might bear on the choice of a goal and the mechanisms for achieving it.

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