Remarks to Top Officials at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

I first want to tell you how very delighted I am to be visiting this new building and this relatively new Department. I understand you have moved in quite recently.

As I saw the building, I could certainly understand why the working conditions could be perhaps much improved over what it was. My reports are that Secretary Romney jogs to work. And as I understand, previously he would have 'to jog to 18 different buildings. So at least he is setting an example for me, however, that is very hard to find. I do not know whether these reports are true, but they tell me that as he jogs along that some of the people who are working in the Department wave to him as they go in their limousines.

Of course, knowing the Secretary's background and having remembered some of those striking television commercials he used to do when he was the head of the American Motors--I was going to say General Motors--I know that it is just very hard for him to ride in one of those gas guzzlers.

As I had the opportunity to come through the halls and come up in the elevator, I saw many hundreds of employees. And as I stand before you, I realize that the 300 in this room are those who will determine the morale of those who work in this great Department, this tremendously important Department, that you will provide the leadership that will make the difference between success and failure, not only for your Department but for so many of the objectives of the American people in the new administration.

One of the reasons I am paying these visits--I guess they are somewhat unprecedented visits right at the beginning of an administration--to each of the major departments of Government is that I want you to know, first of my interest in work, and, second, of my interest in your leadership, and, third, I particularly want those who are career civil servants, those that were not appointed by the new administration, to know that I have an interest in what you are doing, that interest which is shared by all of the members of this Cabinet.

We bring in very few new people, as you know, those that can be appointed at the assistant secretary and at the certain exempt areas, exempt from civil service. But the success of a government, the success of any department, depends upon the competence, depends upon the dedication of the hundreds at the top and the thousands down in the ranks who are the career people.

We need their help--and to the extent that they are in this room, we need your help. And I thought the best way to make it clear that we did first support those who have given their careers to Government service was to came to the agencies, as I am presently doing.

Now in referring specifically to this agency, it has, of course, a very interesting name--Housing and Urban Development. And as I look at this building and recognize it is the only one of its kind in the United States, it shows innovation that the agency already has been responsible for. I understand, incidentally, there are two like this in France.

What, of course, interests me, and I understand also has made a great impression on the Director of the Budget, is that it cost $3 million less than the Congress appropriated. I don't know whether the Secretary can maintain that kind of a record in the future. But if he does, he will be the first one in history that has ever done that.

But more important than that, more important than the dollars, more important than what we think of as the housing, housing and urban development in a sense that is a very impersonal phrase-is the human factor that is involved.

I was pointing out to the Secretary, as we were chatting upstairs before coming down here, that in my travels around the world, and particularly in some of the countries that do not have the freedom and the diversity that goes with freedom, that one thing that has been appalling to me is the great dullness of huge housing projects without character.

We need, of course, to rebuild America's cities. We are going to have to put billions of dollars into this rebuilding program in the years ahead, looking down to the end of the century when the cities of America will be rebuilt. The question is not whether we do it and not how many units we are going to build. That will be done. But the question is, can we do it and still maintain some character? Can we still maintain for the individuals that will live in this housing, a sense of identity, a sense of dignity which does not come when they are just numbers in a huge, big block that you are unable to find unless somebody guides you to it, particularly if it is very late in the evening?

Under the circumstances, then, I think you have an exciting challenge in that respect. And I am happy to inform the members of this group that I have had an opportunity to sit now with Secretary Romney in several meetings of the Cabinet Council on Urban Affairs. I have noticed what he brings to that Council. I was not surprised that he brings this particular viewpoint to it.

But he constantly emphasizes in the discussions of that Council that we are not just concerned about things, we are not just concerned about buildings, but we are concerned about people. It is this individual, human characteristic which is so important.

And I just want to emphasize to the group in this room, this group so essential to the future of America, so essential because you will provide the leadership that will determine the kind of housing in the broadest sense that we are going to have, that if at the same time you can have that sense of mission with regard to not only retaining character in American life insofar as the shelter that we have, but even, as I might suggest, making it more meaningful, because we can do better than we have done in the past.

And I think this is a charge, a challenge, which your Secretary has been giving to you and which I wish, too, to underline.

Another thought that I wish to leave with you is this: The other night--I say the other night, it seems like a long time ago--but one day last week we had a very great responsibility within the administration in developing a program for the District of Columbia.

Part of that responsibility, a major part of it, had to be met by this agency. Governor Romney reported to me that a very large group of people in this agency worked clear around the clock in order to meet the deadline that I had set for having a positive report about what we were going to do about the District of Columbia, rather than having that report limited simply to the tremendously important objective of controlling the growth of crime in this area. I just want to express my appreciation to the individuals in this room that worked on that project.

And I would appreciate it, too, if you would express my thanks, personal thanks, to all of those down the line--the secretaries, the others, people who never have a chance to meet a President, who perhaps even see him just on television, or perhaps see him coming through the hall-to let them know that we recognize, those of us at the top, you at the top, that we all recognize that up and down the line, everyone, every individual in this Department counts, every individual in this Government counts.

There are 4 million people at the present time who are in one way or another in the Government of the United States of America. And I think that sometimes, with our emphasis on the people at the top, we forget that down the line are people who, in many instances, are not making as much money as they might if they were in private enterprise, but who are here because of a sense of dedication and a sense of purpose. They want to be here. This is the contribution that they want to make.

And what they live for is not only what they create, but they also live for a recognition, from those who may be the senior officials, of the fact that they are appreciated, that they are making a contribution that is meaningful. I want you to know that I am aware of what they are doing. And I would appreciate it if you would convey that same sense of appreciation to those down the ranks.

Then, finally, another point that I would like to emphasize in talking to this group is that we are going to be doing some new things in the new administration. This is no reflection on the old. What we are doing at the present time is to examine all of the programs, a lot of exciting new programs, that have come along in the last few years. We are attempting to improve on some of them. Some of them we will discard.

But our main purpose is to move forward in an effective way to solve these immense problems that we have in our cities. And I know of no department in this Government which will make a greater contribution to those solutions than this Department.

I urge you to give us the benefit of your thinking. We won't always agree. I say "we" speaking only in terms at the Cabinet level. But only by having the excitement that comes from people who disagree as to the solutions to problems, only by having that competition of good ideas, do we get the superior ideas that America needs in this and in so many other fields.

So with that, Mr. Secretary--I have already kept this group longer than I should have, for I know of the many tasks that they have to undertake for the balance of this day and the weeks and months ahead--I again tell you how grateful I am for what you have done. I look forward to working with you, to supporting you and your colleagues in the work that you are undertaking.

I appreciate the fact that you in Government service have in many instances made a sacrifice, not only to be in it but to stay in it. And I just want you to know that the Nation is grateful, too.

And speaking of housing and urban development, Mr. Secretary, I was only going to suggest, this is a brand new building, that certainly you ought to have room for a little larger auditorium up here for all of these people to begin with.

Thank you very much.