272 a short history of the united states
The Housing and Urban Development Act provided federal assis-
tance for the construction of low-rent public housing and urban
renewal that aided cities in removing blight and making their com-
munities more attractive. The Department of Housing and Develop-
ment was established to speed this initiative. The Food Stamp Act
allowed the federal government, in cooperation with state govern-
ments, to provide stamps with which the poor could purchase food.
And the Economic Opportunity Act created an office to administer
ten programs to address the many causes of poverty and hunger in
the country, leaving the states free to veto all community action proj-
ects that it felt inappropriate. Moreover, the Water and Air Quality
Acts required all states to establish and enforce water quality stan-
dards for all interstate water routes within their boundaries, and de-
velop air pollution prevention programs, including emission standards
for automobiles.
Of par tic ular importance was the enactment of the Immigration
Act of 1965 , which fundamentally changed the immigration policy of
the country by eliminating quotas, placing all nations on an equal foot-
ing, and limiting admission to 170 , 000 annually with a maximum of
20 , 000 from any one nation.
Much of the credit for this extraordinary program of reform be-
longed to the President himself. “Lyndon Johnson,” wrote the Speaker
of the House, Tip O’Neill, “worked closely with the Congress and fol-
lowed the details of legislation more carefully than any other president
I’ve seen. He left nothing to chance.... When it came to politics, that
man knew all the tricks.... When it came to dealing with Congress,
he was the best I’ve ever seen.... And what a talker! That man could
talk a bone away from a dog.”
But in the area of civil rights much more needed to be done. Voter
registration of African-Americans had not improved signifi cantly. So
the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. launched an offensive in
Selma, Alabama, on January 18 , 1965. That city claimed a population
that was 57. 6 percent black, but only 2. 1 percent of that number were
registered to vote. “We plan to triple the number of registered Negro
voters in Alabama for the 1966 Congressional elections,” declared King;
“then we plan to purge Alabama of all Congressmen who have stood in