Economic Opportunity Act
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| Long title | An Act to mobilize the human and financial resources of the Nation to combat poverty in the United States. |
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| Enacted by | the 88th United States Congress |
| Effective | August 20, 1964 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | 88-452 |
| Statutes at Large | 78 Stat. 508 |
| Legislative history | |
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United States Public Law 88-452, the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, authorized the formation of local Community Action Agencies as part of the War on Poverty. These agencies are directly regulated by the federal government. "It is the purpose of The Economic Opportunity Act to strengthen, supplement, and coordinate efforts in furtherance of that policy".
The War on Poverty was declared by President Lyndon B. Johnson in his State of the Union Address on January 8, 1964:
W. Willard Wirtz, Secretary of Labor during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, was a major proponent of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. During a June 17, 1967, hearing before the Select Committee on Poverty of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare of the United States Senate, Secretary Wirtz stated, "It has become clear that America is not going to put up with poverty amidst prosperity. We realize that by itself prosperity is not going to get rid of poverty." He emphasized that the War on Poverty had two central objectives:
The War on Poverty attacked the roots and consequences of poverty by creating job opportunities, increasing productivity, and enhancing the quality of life. The aim was not to end poverty but to eradicate the principal causes of it.
On March 16, 1964, President Johnson called for the act in his Special Message to Congress that presented his proposal for a nationwide war on the sources of poverty. The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 was passed as a part of LBJ’s War on Poverty. Encompassing John F. Kennedy’s purpose of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 was created “to eliminate the paradox of poverty on the midst of plenty in this nation by opening…. To everyone… the opportunity for education and training, the opportunity to work, and the opportunity to live in decency and dignity.”
In his 1964 Special Message to Congress, President Johnson declared “The Act does not merely expand on old programs or improve what was already being done. It charts a new course. It strikes at the causes of poverty…Not just the consequences of poverty. It can be a milestone in our 180-year search for a better life for your people.”
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