I wish it were possible to say that everything that this Congress and the administration achieved during this period had already completed that cycle.  But a great deal of what we have committed needs additional funding to become a tangible realization.

Yet the very existence of these commitments—­these promises to the American people, made by this Congress and by the executive branch of the Government—­are achievements in themselves, and failure to carry through on our commitments would be a tragedy for this Nation.

This much is certain:  No one man or group of men made these commitments alone.  Congress and the executive branch, with their checks and balances, reasoned together and finally wrote them into the law of the land.  They now have all the moral force that the American political system can summon when it acts as one.

They express America’s common determination to achieve goals.  They imply action.

In most cases, you have already begun that action—­but it is not fully completed, of course.

Let me speak for a moment about these commitments.  I am going to speak in the language which the Congress itself spoke when it passed these measures.  I am going to quote from your words.

In 1966, Congress declared that “improving the quality of urban life is the most critical domestic problem facing the United States.”  Two years later it affirmed the historic goal of “a decent home . . . for every American family.”  That is your language.

Now to meet these commitments, we must increase our support for the model cities program, where blueprints of change are already being prepared in more than 150 American cities.

To achieve the goals of the Housing Act of 1968 that you have already passed, we should begin this year more than 500,000 homes for needy families in the coming fiscal year.  Funds are provided in the new budget to do just this.  This is almost 10 times—­10 times—­the average rate of the past 10 years.

Our cities and our towns are being pressed for funds to meet the needs of their growing populations.  So I believe an urban development bank should be created by the Congress.  This bank could obtain resources through the issuance of taxable bonds and it could then lend these resources at reduced rates to the communities throughout the land for schools, hospitals, parks, and other public facilities.

Since we enacted the Social Security Act back in 1935, Congress has recognized the necessity to “make more adequate provision for aged persons . . . through maternal and child welfare . . . and public health.”  Those are the words of the Congress—­“more adequate.”

The time has come, I think, to make it more adequate.  I believe we should increase social security benefits, and I am so recommending tonight.

I am suggesting that there should be an overall increase in benefits of at least 13 percent.  Those who receive only the minimum of $55 should get $80 a month.