990 ADDRESSES AND STATE PAPERS

been largely corrected. Today, state governments are well prepared
and eager to participate in urban programs. They realize that the
problem of America is the problem of the cities — that one percent
of American land where 70 percent of Americans live. They recognize
that almost every state's prosperity is ultimately linked to its one or
several mercantile centers. If these are allowed to decay or implode,
the wealth of the entire state is adversely affected.

Our problems are compounded by the tremendous financial bur-
dens placed on the state by such rapidly changing Federal programs
as Welfare, Medicare-Medicaid; and by the fluctuations in our antici-
pated tax revenues caused by national monetary policies. In addition,
the Federal government's own fiscal problems have resulted in inde-
cision over Federal appropriations, causing state uncertainty as to
whether we can proceed in such diverse fields as employment oppor-
tunities and urban interstate highway construction.

Consistency, in Federal policy and in Federal aid commitments, is
imperative if the states are to plan properly and the cities are to keep
their proper commitments to the poor. I share Richard Nixon's views
that the only thing worse than failing to fulfill a promise is making a
promise, fully cognizant that it cannot be fulfilled.

Presently, most significant Federal aid is by way of categorical
grant. In many cases, the incompatibility of such restrictive assistance
with existing state programs prohibits full utilization of the aid.
There seems to be an approach toward block grants — for example,
the recently enacted Safe Street Law. Every Governor I have talked
to, regardless of party, is enthusiastic about the flexibility of block
grants. It is suggested that the Congress consider grants in such broad
areas as transportation, rather than roads or mass transit. A metro-
politan transit system doesn't really excite a state like Alaska or
Wyoming, and I am sure that Governors Hickel and Hathaway would
appreciate the ability to convert that assistance to their roads pro-
grams.

The Nixon Administration looks with favor on the consolidation
of the approximately 400 grants-in-aid programs now in existence.
Everything is to be gained by reforming the present system, substitut-
ing the broad for the narrow, the general for the specific, and coor-
dination for competition. Flexibility in major functional areas is
the primary objective but at no time should block grants be inter-
preted to mean the abrogation of Congressional intent or handing
the states blank checks. Our goal should be balance.