1962 As the result of an agreement with the Agency for International Development (successor to ICA), OIH services became still broader. For example: HHFA assisted in developing criteria to be used in reviewing loan applications in housing and related fields. Seven consultants were drawn from the staff of HHFA for assisgnments in Egypt, Dominican Republic, Surinam, Iran, Pakistan and Argentina, and program were arranged for 100 foreign nationals who came to the US to be trained. HHFA took on a new role of identifying technicians for UN missions, and in developing and supervising training programs for UN participants coming to the US. 1963 At the request of AID, OIH assumed responsibility for serving as the Secretariat for the "AID Housing and Urban Development Advisory Committee." In this capacity, HHFA provided the committee with technical backstopping, resource material and research. An unprecedented 800 requests were received for a wide range of technical publications on such diverse topics as establishing savings and loan associations and the stabilization of soil for mud-brick construction. The dissemination of information was fast becoming one of the most important means of making available American housing skills and experiences and those of foreign countries, available to developing nations. servation tours for high ranking foreign officials visiting the US such as mayIn addition to its usual training program, OIH also briefed and arranged obors, city councilmen, directors of housing agencies, as well as architects, builders, economists, lawyers and city planners. 1964 Of outstanding significance in 1964 was the launching of an intern program whereby foreign participants shared with American interns the opportunity to work and study in many parts of the Agency over a three to twelve month period. That year, UN fellows, AID participants, together with persons studying or observing here under various other programs numbered 469. AID's Housing Investment Guaranty Program (HIG), begun in 1963, insures US inventors abroad against loss of his investment in an AID-approved housing investment project-in the manner FHA insures mortgages in the US. OIH's functions now broadened to include consultation services to the HIG program. 73 applications were received the first year from 15 countries. Training programs were expanded to include a new foreign international program, and held the first session at Loyola University with 29 participants and OIH staff. OIH staff also carried out IAD-sponsored programs in 10 countries, and an assessment was made of secondary mortgage lending capabilities of the Central American Development Bank. Cooperation with the Peace Corps began with OIH field seminars in Gabon, and the briefing of Peace Corps Volunteers in Washington. 1965 The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was created as a Cabinet post, and the designation of "International Housing" was dropped in favor of "International Affairs" to reflect the broadened interests and objectives of both domestic and international programs of the Agency. 37 HUD staff were sent to 19 countries during the year to supply consultation services on earthquake and war reconstruction, native housing programs, housing finances, market analysis, codes and standards, and other subjects. Further activities with the UN, OECD, CIB and other international organizations were directed to information exchange, the formation of policy and a search for resources to meet newly recognized domestic needs. That year saw the beginning of a bilateral program directed specifically to the solution of domestic problems, with the Soviet Union being among the first countries showing interest. The first group program, The Urban Development Seminar #1, was conducted. Fifty-six policy level officials from twenty-nine countries studied urban planning and urban problems in Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Norfolk and San Juan. 1966 The Division of International Affairs was created to maintain close cooperation with the State Department and the international agencies to assure free and ample exchange of information on housing, building and urban planning between the US and other countries. Study programs, internships, and visitors totalled 823. 508 other official, professional and business representatives financed by their own governments also were programmed. 22 participants from 11 countries participated in an urban and regional planning workshop which presented various aspects of planning in a small, medium and large US city. For the first time, the US Government was host to a UN seminar in Pittsburgh, with urbanization as the theme. HUD provided the chairman, two technical papers, and professional participation, including an address by the Secretary. 1967 A particularly significant undertaking in 1967 was the HUD sponsorship, jointly with AID and the State of Hawaii, of the Pacific Conference on Urban Growth in Honolulu in May. More than 120 delegates from 17 Asian countries and three territories attended. The Under Secretary and other senior officials of HUD took leading parts in the conference program. Working in close cooperation with AID, HUD continued to provide information and training for foreigners visiting the US together with technical support and assistance to US Government programs abroad. About 900 visitors participated in HUD training and education programs. This period was one of considerable activity in house research and documentation directed to the less developed countries, and a corresponding improvement in the capacity to respond to technical requests. Housing finance, water supply, program management, secondary mortgage markets, dwelling design and urban planning were among the subjects for response to AID requests for field service. This year also saw the peak in FHA intensive activity under the AID HIG Program which was to total some 100 cases recommended as feasible over a seven year period. 1968 HUD took part in preparations for the observance of Human Rights Year decreed by the UN and proclaimed by the President. HUD's Division of International Affairs played a major role in helping organize the US portion of the Fourth Triennial Congress of the International Council for Building Research Studies and Documentation (CIB) in Canada. Other international meetings attend by HUD representatives included the 1968 meeting of the Committee on Housing, Building and Planning of the Economic Commission for Europe, followed by a tour of the USSR; a bilateral discussion team meetng with Irish officials in Dublin, and a conference in Turkey on the subject of earthquakes. More than a hundred additional European sources of research reports and other technical and professional information were identified during the year, and an exchange relationship established between them and the HUD library. A unique three way cooperative effort was developed in the Ivory Coast. HUD's Division of International Affairs staff trained 18 Peace Corps volunteers to work on housing problems there. The Peace Corps then supervised the building of more than 3,000 houses there. About 1200 visitors participated in HUD education and training programs. 1969 With the reorganization from the Division to the Office of International Affairs, OIA began to implement service to US programs in a manner never achieved in the previous 25 years of international operations. A major step was to strengthen the bilateral program and take steps for its systematic implementation. The Office joined in a new effort on "Innovation in Urban Management" including the feasibility study of an international information system within the OECD. A total of 1285 foreign visitors and teams visited HUD to observe and study US housing, building and planning policies, techniques and institutions. Technical data and advice were provided to more than 50 countries in all parts of the world. The Office undertook several activities at the request of AID looking toward Viet Nam's rehabilitation needs. A special workshop was held at Fresno State College, Cal. for 57 Vietnamese graduate and undergraduate students on the concept of aided self help housing. A two-week progran was conducted for an official team of 7 Germans. It featured anti pollution programs, city planning, mass transit and urban renewal. A nine man delegation to the UK was led by the Secretary for a comprehensive review of British problems in land planning, new towns and industrialized housing. 1970 HUD became the lead agency, with the Department of Interior, Commerce, HEW, and Transportation, in US-French cooperation on the French experimental new city of Le Vaudreuil to be built in Normandy about 20 miles southeast of Rouen, France. According to plans announced by the French Government, Vaudreuil will be the world's first urban center designed to control noise and pollution. HUD's Secretary announced the appointment of a HUD official as Urban Affairs Officer to the US Embassy in Paris. The Urban Affairs Officer, the only one at any US Embassy abroad, will coordinate the US-French cooperative effort on Le Vandreuil. The Program is to be conducted under the guidance of HUD's Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, and administered by the Director of International Affairs. On July 17, 1970, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Japan covering a program of cooperation in areas of building technology and urban affairs. A team of US experts visited Japan in December as a follow-on to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding. The visit, headed by the FHA Assistant Commissioner focused on housing production and mortgage finance, and governmental programs. The Office continued to serve as HUD's principal liaison with the Department of State in implementing the exchange of information 1971 Memorandums of Understandings were signed with Sweden, the UK and Spain on cooperation and information exchange in the field of housing, urban development, and the environment. The Secretary visited Spain, the UK, France and West Germany for high level discussions in the field of housing technology and best use of both US and European expertise in many fields. The Spanish Minister of Housing visited HUD Headquarters, new towns in the US and BREAKTHROUGH sites in October. During the visit, the Memorandum of Understanding was signed, and the Minister was briefed on HUD's domestic programs. During the week's visit, discussions were held on implementation of information exchange in many fields of housing technology, to be amplified later by correspondence and visits. HUD staff sat on the COSATI Panel for International Information Activities, which has broad representation from both government and non-government agencies. The Panel makes recommendations to the Administration on the exchange and dissemination of information on both the national and international scale. The year saw initiation of HUD International BRIEF, a new series summarizing technical studies and longer reports on important subjects; HUD International Supplements, a quarterly reprinting long articles by foreign experts on timely subjects, HUD International Information Sources Series, a bibliographic series; the Basic Technology Series; and new country program studies on Peru, Israel, Panama and the UK. Four new Ideas and Methods Exchange studies were done on: Industrialized Housing in Less Developed Countries; Strengthening Urban Administration in Developing Countries with Emphasis on Latin America; Planning Sites and Service Programs; Cooperative Housing. Slide presentations for use in visitor briefings and HUD interface uses were made on the following subjects: HUD Programs and Activities; Operation BREAKTHROUGH; and Urban Renewal. Prints were made and distributed to HUD Area and Regional Offices. Information on International Housing was prepared for the Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Affairs, and the Office of International Affairs section was published separately for use as an information source to office visitors, both American and overseas. For the months of October and November alone the following visits were programmed by OIA staff: 55 German cooperative housing specialists; 50 Japanese members of a housing study mission; 10 French housing specialists for discussions on Le Vaudreuil; an ECE study mission on industrialized housing; 125 Dutch architects in the US to study urban renewal, metropolitan planning and public housing programs; 26 AID leadership seminars for several hundred overseas participants studying in American universities and colleges. By the end of 1971 OIA had made arrangements for 2,000 visiting experts from 60 countries. The Undersecretary of HUD headed a team visit to Sweden, Finland, and Russia as part of the arrangements made under the HUD-Swedish Memorandum of Understanding for the exchange of expert teams in selected areas of housing technology. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D.C., April 12, 1972. DEAR SENATOR ERVIN: Thank you for giving us the opportunity to participate in your Subcommittee's examination of executive-legislative relations in foreign affairs. I am attaching a copy of a statement listing the executive agreements relating to our activities abroad with copies of the agreements and related materials. You will note these agreements are between this Department and counterpart agencies abroad; therefore, they would not come within the scope of your study if it is restricted to agreements between Government agencies "with foreign states." In the event you are interested in our agency-to-agency agreements, I might point out such agreements were entered into with the concurrence of the Department of State; funds required in implementing provisions of the agreements are appropriated by the Congress. A statment giving statutory authorities for implementing these agreements is also attached. Please let me know if we can provide you with any additional information. Sincerely yours, W. T. PECORA, Under Secretary of the Interior. AGREEMENTS RELATING TO INTERIOR DEPARTMENT'S FOREIGN ACTIVITIES 1. Memorandum of Agreement between the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development of Canada, and the Department of the Interior of the United States for the protection from forest fires of land within the Yukon territory in Canada and the State of Alaska in the United States. Purposes: To cooperate in detecting and suppressing forest fires by designating an area along the boundary separating the Yukon territory and the State of Alaska within which such cooperation may be achieved and thereby exercise more effective control over any fire in the territory of one of the Parties which may escape to the territory of the other Party. 2. Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Ministry for Education and Science of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Department of the Interior of the United States of America on Cooperation in the Field of Magnetohydrodynamic Energy Conversion. Purposes: To exchange information and scientific technical, personnel, to hold periodic meetings of scientific and technical personnel and to execute cooperative scientific and technical projects to the mutual benefit of domestic MHD research and development programs. Participants in such activities from either side may be government agencies, universities, industries, and other institutions involved in MHD research and development. 3. During FY 1972 the Department is initiating agreements with research organizations in Poland and Yugoslavia to use $500,000 in counterpart funds for earth science and related research projects in those two countries. Work on twelve projects will begin before June 30, 1972-in mine safety research, minerals exploration techniques, utilization of earth resources, and water desalination. Research projects are designed to complement work being done in the Department; this can speed up results. Excess foreign currencies also support work that can be done more easily overseas because of unique resource relationships or because institutions and individuals have exceptional ability and experience in fields of interest to us. Several research avenues are usually required to obtain the best answer to a research problem. The availability of excess foreign currencies allows an additional number of the options to be explored simultaneously and thus shortens the lead time needed to achieve the most meaningful results. The use of additional scientists and institutional facilities with different perspectives from our own may lead to new insights into the resolution of technical problems. Foreign field locations often offer an exceptional opportunity for work comparing research results and techniques that have been tested only at domestic sites. Contacts stemming from cooperative research tap a repository of past and future research data and expertise that would not otherwise become available to us. The availability of excess foreign currencies allow us to use a financial source now to serve our domestic research needs and, at the same time, to benefit U. S. foreign policy. 4. Agreement between the United States of America and Saudi Arabia, Effected by Exchange of Noted Signed at Jidda November 11 and 19, 1965. Purpose: To develop data and information which may be of significance in further research and development in the field of saline water conversion. STATUTORY AUTHORITIES USED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR IN 1. Reciprocal Fire Protection Agreement Act, 1955, 69 Stat 66 42 USC 1856A, P.L. 84-46, which provides : "Each agency head charged with the duty of providing fire protection for any property of the United States is authorized to enter into a reciprocal agreement, with any fire organization maintaining fire protection facilities in the vicinity of such property, for mutual aid in furnishing fire protection for such property and for other property for which such organization normally provides fire protection." 2. Public Law 91-190, 91st Congress, S. 1975, January 1, 1970 (83 Stat. 852), cited as the "National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, "which provides, in part:" Sec. 102. The Congress authorizes and directs that, to the fullest extent possible: (1) the policies, regulations, and public laws of the United States shall be interpreted and administered in accordance with the policies set forth in this Act, and (2) all agencies of the Federal Government shall *** (E) recognize the worldwide and long-range character of environmental problems and, where consistent with the foreign policy of the United States, lend appropriate support to initiatives, resolutions, and programs designed to maximize international cooperation in anticipating and preventing a decline in the quality of mankind's world environment. ***” 3. Public Law 89-554, September 6, 1966 (80 Stat. 436) which provides, in part: "Sec. 4110. Expenses of attendance at meetings. Appropriations available to an agency for travel expenses are available for expenses of attendance at meetings which are concerned with the functions or activities for which the appropriation is made or which will contribute to improved conduct, supervision, or management of the functions or activities." |