Washington Headlines (Hoey Committee Hearing; Rent Control Program Cuts Described)

Title: Washington Headlines (Hoey Committee Hearing; Rent Control Program Cuts Described) 02:54:00 Military men sitting down at table; Congressmen at front of room w/ Senator Hoey in center. Spectators & press. 02:54:23 MCU Military officers, swearing in. Congressmen standing to leave. Military & spectators leaving. Swish pan. 02:54:48 MCU Man in polka dot bow tie. Speaks (SOF): “Since it was announced that the budget of the Office of the Housing Expeditor has been cut by Congress I received many calls from tenants & others to know what this means to the future of rent control. Briefly here is the situation. The budget for the operation of the rent control program has been cut approximately 40% from the amount which was sent to Congress by the Bureau of the Budget. We must drop approximately 2,000 employees from our staff. This will affect all offices from my own staff in Washington down to the smallest field office. Secondly, we have to step up our decontrol actions, or the elimination of rent control in areas where it appears that the need for rental housing has been reasonably met. However the law provides that, if rents increase exorbitantly, we can restore controls to an area where they have been removed by an action of my office. Third, the third course of action may be to close offices throughout the country even though rent control is still in effect in the area.” Post-WWII Inflation; Rent Control; Economics; 1949 (?); Note: Probably Wilson W. Wyatt.