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term, of any contract or agreement to which he is a party or which has been transferred to him pursuant to this title; and

(7) include in any contract or instrument made pursuant to this title such other covenants, conditions, or provisions (including such covenants, conditions, or provisions as, in the determination of the Administrator, are necessary or desirable to prevent the payment of excessive prices for the acquisition of land in connection with projects assisted under this title) as he may deem necessary to assure that the purposes of this title will be achieved. No provision of this title shall be construed or administered to permit speculation in land holding.

(d) Section 3709 of the Revised Statutes shall not apply to any contract for services or supplies on account of any property acquired pursuant to this title if the amount of such contract does not exceed $1,000.

(e) Not more than 10 per centum of the funds provided for in this title, either in the form of loans or grants, shall be expended in any one State.

PAYMENT FOR LAND USED FOR LOW-RENT PUBLIC HOUSING

SEC. 107. If the laud for a low-rent housing project assisted under the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, is made available from a project assisted under this title, payment equal to the fair value of the land for the uses specified in accordance with the redevelopment plan shall be made therefor by the public housing agency undertaking the housing project, and such amount shall be included as part of the development cost of the low-rent housing project.

SURPLUS FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY

SEC. 108. The President may at any time in his discretion, transfer, or cause to be transferred, to the Administrator any right, title, or interest held by the Federal Government or any department or agency thereof in any land (including buildings thereon) which is surplus to the needs of the Government and which a local public agency certifies will be within the area of a project being planned by it. When such land is sold to the local public agency by the Administrator, it shall be sold at a price equal to its fair market value, and the proceeds from such sale shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.

PROTECTION OF LABOR STANDARDS

SEC. 109. In order to protect labor standards—

(a) Any contract for financial aid pursuant to this title shall contain a provision requiring that not less than the wages or fees prevailing in the locality, as determined or adopted (subsequent to a determination under applicable State or local law) by the Administrator, shall be paid to all architects, technical engineers, draftsmen, technicians, laborers, and mechanics employed in the development of the project involved; and the Administrator may require certification as to compliance with the provisions of this paragraph prior to making any payment under such contract;

(b) The provisions of sections 1 and 2 of the Act of June 13, 1934 (U. S. C., title 40, secs. 276b and 276c), shall apply to any project financed in whole or in part with funds made available pursuant to this title;

(c) Any contractor engaged on any project financed in whole or in part with funds made available pursuant to this title shall report monthly to the Secretary of Labor, and shall cause all subcontractors to report in like manner, within five days after the close of each month and on forms to be furnished by the United States Department of Labor, as to the number of persons on their respective pay rolls on the particular project, the aggregate amount of such pay rolls, the total man-hours worked, and itemized expenditures for materials. Any such contractor shall furnish to the Department of Labor the names and addresses of all subcontractors on the work at the earliest date practicable.

DEFINITIONS

SEC. 110. The following terms shall have the meanings, respectively, ascribed to them below, and, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, shall include the plural as well as the singular number:

(a) "Redevelopment area" means an area which is appropriate for development or redevelopment and within which a project area is located.

(b) "Redevelopment plan" means a plan, as it exists from time to time, for the development or redevelopment of a redevelopment or project area, which plan shall be sufficiently complete (1) to indicate its relationship to definite local objectives as to appropriate land uses and improved traffic, public transportation, public utilities, recreational and community facilities, and other public improvements; and (2) to indicate proposed land uses and building requirements in the project area: Provided, That the Administrator shall take such steps as he deems necessary to assure consistency between the redevelopment plan and any highways or other public improvements in the locality receiving financial assistance from the Federal Works Agency.

(c) "Project" may include (1) acquisition of (i) a slum area or a deteriorated or deteriorating area which is predominantly residential in character, or (ii) any other deteriorated or deteriorating area which is to be developed or redeveloped for predominantly residential uses, or (iii) platted urban or suburban land which is predominantly open and which because of obsolete platting, diversity of ownership, deterioration of structures or of site improvements, or otherwise substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of the community and which is to be developed for predominantly residential uses, or (iv) open unplatted urban or suburban land necessary for sound community growth which is to be developed for predominantly residential uses (in which even the project thereon, as provided in the proviso of section 103 (a) hereof, shall not be eligible for any capital grant); (2) demolition and removal of buildings and improvements; (3) installation, construction, or reconstruction of streets, utilities, and other site improvements essential to the preparation of sites for uses in accordance with the redevelopment plan; and (4) making the land available for development or redevelopment by private enterprise or public agencies (including sale, intial leasing, or retention by the local public agency itself) at its fair value for uses in accordance with the redevelopment plan. For the purposes of this title, the term "project" shall not include the construction of any of the buildings contemplated by the redevelopment plan, and the term "redevelopment" and derivatives thereof shall mean develop as well as redevelop. For any of the purposes of section 109 hereof, the term "project" shall not include any donations or provisions made as local grants-in-aid and eligible as such pursuant to clauses (2) and (3) of section 110 (d) hereof.

(d) "Local grants-in-aid” shall mean assistance by a State, municipality, or other public body, or any other entity, in connection with any project on which a contract for capital grant has been made under this title, in the form of (1) cash grants; (2) donations, at cash value, of land (exclusive of land in streets, alleys, and other public rights-of-way which may be vacated in connection with the project), and demolition or removal work, or site improvements in the project area, at their cost; and (3) the provision, at their cost, of parks, playgrounds, and public buildings or facilities (other than low-rent public housing) which are primarily of direct benefit to the project and which are necessary to serve or support the new uses of land in the project area in accordance with the redevelopment plan: Provided, That, in any case where, in the determination of the Administrator, any park, playground, public building, or facility is of direct and substantial benefit both to the project and to other areas, the Administrator shall provide that, for the purpose of computing the amount of the local grants-in-aid for such project, there shall be included an allowance of an appropriate portion (as determined by the Administrator) of the cost of such park, playground, public building, or facility. No demolition or removal work, improvement, or facility for which a State, municipality, or other public body has received or has contracted to receive any grant or subsidy from the United States, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, for such work, or the construction of such improvement or facility, shall be eligible for inclusion as a local grant-in-aid in connection with a project or projects assisted under this title.

(e) "Gross project cost" shall comprise (1) the amount of the expenditures by the local public agency with respect to any and all undertakings necessary to carry out the project (including the payment of carrying charges, but not beyond the point where the project is completed), and (2) the amount of such local grantsin-aid as are furnished in forms other than cash.

(f) "Net project cost" shall mean the difference between the gross project cost and the aggregate of (1) the total sales prices of all land sold, and (2) the total capital values (i) imputed, on a basis approved by the Administrator, to all land leased, and (ii) used as a basis for determining the amounts to be transferred to the project from other funds of the local public agency to compensate for any land retained by it for use in accordance with the redevelopment plan.

(g) "Going Federal rate" means the annual rate of interest (or, if there shall be two or more such rates of interest, the highest thereof) specified in the most recently issued bonds of the Federal Government having a maturity of 10 years or more, determined at the date the contract for advance of funds or for loan is made. Any contract for loan made may be revised or superseded by a later contract, so that the going Federal rate, on the basis of which the interest rate on the loan is fixed, shall mean the going Federal rate, as herein defined, on the date that such contract is revised or superseded by such later contract.

(h) "Local public agency" means any State, county, municipality, or other governmental entity or public body which is authorized to undertake the project for which assistance is sought. "State" includes the several States, the District of Columbia, and the Territories, dependencies, and possessions of the United States.

(i) "Administrator" means the Housing and Home Finance Administrator.

TITLE II-LOW-RENT PUBLIC HOUSING

LOCAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND DETERMINATIONS; TENANCY
ONLY BY LOW-INCOME FAMILIES

SEC. 201. The United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, is hereby amended by adding the following additional subsections to section 15:

"(7) In recognition that there should be local determination of the need for low-rent housing to meet needs not being adequately met by private enterprise— "(a) the Authority shall not make any contract with a public housing agency for preliminary loans (all of which shall be repaid out of any moneys which become available to such agency for the development of the projects involved) for surveys and planning in respect to any low-rent housing projects initiated after March 1, 1949, (i) unless the governing body of the locality involved has by resolution approved the application of the public housing agency for such preliminary loan; and (ii) unless the public housing agency has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Authority that there is a need for such low-rent housing which is not being met by private enterprise; and

"(b) the Authority shall not make any contract for loans (other than preliminary loans) or for annual contributions pursuant to this Act with respect to any low-rent housing project initiated after March 1, 1949, (i) unless the governing body of the locality involved has entered into an agreement with the public housing agency providing for the local cooperation required by the Authority pursuant to this Act; and (ii) unless the public housing agency has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Authority that a gap of at least 20 per centum has been left between the upper rental limits for admission to the proposed low-rent housing and the lowest rents at which private enterprise unaided by public subsidy is providing (through new construction and available existing structures) a substantial supply of decent, safe, and sanitary housing toward meeting the need of an adequate volume thereof.

"(8) Every contract made pursuant to this Act for annual contributions for any low-rent housing project initiated after March 1, 1949, shall provide that—

"(a) the public housing agency shall fix maximum income limits for the admission and for the continued occupancy of families in such housing, that such maximum income limits and all revisions thereof shall be subject to the prior approval of the Authority, and that the Authority may require the public housing agency to review and to revise such maximum income limits if the Authority determines that changed conditions in the locality makes such revisions necessary in achieving the purposes of this Act;

"(b) a duly authorized official of the public housing agency involved shall make periodic written statements to the Authority that an investigation has been made of each family admitted to the low-rent housing project involved during the period covered thereby, and that, on the basis of the report of said investigation, he has found that each such family at the time of its admission (i) had a net family income not exceeding the maximum income limits theretofore fixed by the public housing agency (and approved by the Authority) for admission of families of low income, to such housing; and (ii) lived in an unsafe, insanitary, or overcrowded dwelling, or was to be displaced by another low-rent housing project or by

a public slum-clearance or redevelopment project, or actually was without housing, or was about to be without housing as a result of a court order of eviction, due to causes other than the fault of the tenant: Provided, That the requirement in (ii) shall not be applicable in the case of the family of any veteran or serviceman (or of any deceased veteran or serviceman) where application for admission to such housing is made not later than five years after March 1, 1949;

"(c) in the selection of tenants (i) the public housing agency shall not discriminate against families, otherwise eligible for admission to such housing, because their incomes are derived in whole or in part from public assistance and (ii) in initially selecting families for admission to dwellings of given sizes and at specified rents the public housing agency shall (subject to the preferences prescribed in subsection 10 (g) of this Act) give preference to families having the most urgent housing need, and thereafter, in selecting families for admission to such dwellings, shall give due consideration to the urgency of the families' housing needs; and

"(d) the public housing agency shall make periodic reexaminations of the net incomes of tenant families living in the low-rent housing project involved; and if it is found, upon such reexamination, that the net incomes. of any such families have increased beyond the maximum income limits fixed by the public housing agency (and approved by the Authority) for continued occupancy in such housing, such families shall be required to move from the project."

VETERANS' PREFERENCES

SEC. 202. The United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, is hereby amended as follows:

(a) By adding the following new subsection to section 10:

"(g) Every contract made pursuant to this Act for annual contributions for any low-rent housing project initiated after March 1, 1949, shall require that the public housing agency, as among low-income families which are eligible applicants for occupancy in dwellings of given sizes and at specified rents, shall extend the following preferences in the selection of tenants:

"First, to families which are to be displaced by any low-rent housing project or by any public slum-clearance or redevelopment project, or which were so displaced within three years prior to making application to such public housing agency for admission to any low-rent housing; and as among such families where an application for admission is made not later than five years after March 1, 1949, first preference shall be given to families. of disabled veterans whose disability has been determined by the Veterans' Administration to be service-connected, and second preference shall be given to families of other veterans and servicemen (including families of deceased veterans or servicemen);

"Second, to families of other veterans and servicemen (including families of deceased veterans or servicemen) where an application for admission is made not later than five years after March 1, 1949; and as among such families first preference shall be given to families of disabled veterans whose disability has been determined by the Veterans' Administration to be service-connected."

(b) By adding the following new subsection to section 2:

"(14) The term 'veteran' shall mean a person who has served in the active military or naval service of the United States at any time on or after September 16, 1940, and prior to July 26, 1947, and who shall have been discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable. The term 'serviceman' shall mean a person in the active military or naval service of the United States who has served therein on or after September 16, 1940, and prior to July 26, 1947."

COST LIMITS

SEC. 203. Subsection 15 (5) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(5) No contract for any loan, annual contribution, or capital grant made pursuant to this Act shall be entered into by the Authority with respect to any lowrent housing project completed after January 1, 1948, having a cost for construction and equipment of more than $1,750 per room (excluding land, demoli

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tion, and nondwelling facilities); except that in the case of Alaska any such contract may be entered into with respect to a project having a cost for construction and equipment of not to exceed $2,500 per room (excluding land, demolition, and nondwelling facilities): Provided, That if the Administrator finds that in the geographical area of any project (i) it is not feasible under the aforesaid cost limitations to construct the project without sacrifice of sound standards of construction, design, and livability, and (ii) there is an acute need for such housing, he may prescribe in such contract cost limitations which may exceed by not more than $750 per room the limitations that would otherwise be applicable to such project hereunder. The Authority shall make loans, grants, and annual contributions only for such low-rent housing projects as it finds are to be undertaken in such a manner that such projects will not be of elaborate or extravagant design or materials, and economy will be promoted both in construction and administration. In order to attain the foregoing objective, every contract for financial assistance entered into with respect to any low-rent housing project initiated after March 1, 1949, shall provide that no award of the main construction contract for such project shall be made unless the Authority, taking into account the level of construction costs prevailing in the locality where such project is to be located, shall have specifically approved the amount of such main construction contract."

PRIVATE FINANCING

SEC. 204. In order to stimulate increasing private financing of low-rent housing projects, the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, is hereby amended as follows:

(a) The last proviso of subsection (b) of section 10 is repealed, and subsection (f) of said section is amended to read as follows:

"(f) Payments under annual contributions contracts shall be pledged as security for any loans obtained by a public agency to assist the development or acquisition of the hosusing project to which the annual contributions relate.”; (b) The following is added after section 21:

"PRIVATE FINANCING

"SEC. 22. To facilitate the enlistment of private capital through the sale by public housing agencies of their bonds and other obligations to others than the Authority, in financing low-rent housing projects, and to maintain the low-rent character of housing projects—

"(a) Every contract for annual contributions (including contracts which amend or supersede contracts previously made) may provide that—

"(1) upon the occurrence of a substantial default in respect to the covenants or conditions to which the public housing agency is subject (as such substantial default shall be defined in such contract), the public housing agency shall be obligated at the option of the Authority, either to convey title in any case where in the determination of the Authority (which determination shall be final and conclusive), such conveyance of title is necessary to achieve the purposes of this Act, or to deliver possession to the Authority of the project, as then constituted, to which such contract relates;

"(2) the Authority shall be obligated to reconvey or to redeliver possession of the project, as constituted at the time of reconveyance or redelivery, to such public housing agency or to its successor (if such public housing agency or a successor exists) upon such terms as shall be prescribed in such contract and as soon as practicable: (i) after the Authority shall be satisfied that all defaults with respect to the project have been cured, and that the project will, in order to fulfill the purposes of this Act, thereafter be operated in accordance with the terms of such contract; or (ii) after the termination of the obligation to make annual contributions available unless there are any obligations or covenants of the public housing agency to the Authority which are then in default. Any prior conveyances and reconveyances, deliveries and redeliveries of possession shall not exhaust the right to require a conveyance or delivery of possession of the project to the Authority pursuant to subparagraph (1), upon the subsequent occurrence of a substantial defaut.

"(b) Whenever such contract for annual contributions shall include provisions which the Authority, in said contract, determines are in accordance with subsection (a) hereof, and the annual contributions, pursuant to such contract, have been pledged by the public housing agency as security for the payment of the

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