Press Release, Speech of President Harry S. Truman, Oakland, California

HOLD FOR RELEASE HOLD FOR RELEASE HOLD FOR RELEASE September 22, 1948 CONFIDENTIAL: The following address of the President, to be delivered SERVICE" in Oakland, California, today, Wednesday, September 22, 1948, MUST BE HELD FOR RELEASE in morning newspapers of THURSDAY, September 23, except papers in the San Francisco Bay Area, where release is to newspapers ap- pearing on the streets NOT EARLIER THAN 9:45 p.m. ,C.d.t., Wednesday, September 22 - or upon delivery, if earlier. NOTE: Release to radio is at 9:45 p.m. ,C.d.t., Wednesday, Septem- ber 22, 1948, or upon delivery, if earlier. PLEASE USE CARE TO AVOID PREMATURE PUBLICATION OR RADIO ANNOUNCEMENT. CHARLES G. ROSS Secretary to the President I have looked forward for a long time to this visit to the beautiful City of Oakland. I should like to stay here longer and enjoy the sights of the Bay Area, but I am here on business - not pleasure. I am here on business that concerns the welfare of every resident of California. I am here on a serious mission; and because it is so serious, I propose to speak to you as plainly as I can. An election will be held in this Nation on November second, and the result of that election can mean everything to the people of California. Stated bluntly: It will mean victory for the people, or victory for the selfish interests. You people here have already been hurt by the failure of the Republican Eightieth Congress to do anything to control high prices. You have already been hurt by the failure of this same Republican Congress to take suitable action to meet the housing shortage and the crisis in educa- tion. You have been hurt by the many other failures of the Republican leadership. Here in the Oakland area, you have a serious housing shortage. You need more housing at lower prices - prices which families of moderate income, particularly veterans! families, can afford to pay. You also desperately need low-cost rental housing so that the thousands of families living here in temporary dwellings can be taken care of. In July, 1948, I called the Congress into session and asked it to pass the Taft-Ellender-Wagner Bill which would have given us more housing at lower prices and at lower rents. This bill was bitterly opposed by the housing lobby. The Republican leadership had a choice to make between the interests of the housing lobby and the interests of the people. They chose to go along with the housing lobby. Even Senator Taft ran out on his own bill -- and voted against it. The same thing happened to my plea to the Congress to pass the Federal Aid to Education bill. Our schools are badly overcrowded and our teachers are underpaid. But the Republican Congress refused to come to the aid of the people. The most significant thing about the failures of this Republican Congress is that they show so clearly the attitude of the special interests who dominate the national Republican Party. Their actions set a definite, clear pattern. And that means a lot to your future. Above and beyond the problems that affect all our people, you folks here have a vital interest in this election because it involves the question of what happens to the water supply in California. That is a matter of life and death to Californians, and particularly to all those who are affected by the welfare of the Central Valley. (CVER)