Statement by the President on Reviewing California's Plans Under the Economic Opportunity Act.
I AM PLEASED that the State of California has been so alert to the benefits of this act.
The people of this State and every State can be certain that the Federal Government will do all in its power to erase all blots of poverty from our land.
Note: The President's statement was made public as part of a White House release issued at Sacramento following a meeting in Governor Edmund G. Brown's office at which the President was briefed on actions taken by California since the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act.
The release stated that the Governor told the President that the response to the program had been overwhelming. "We have received 100 requests for assistance in qualifying for aid, particularly in community action programs," Governor Brown stated. "Each of these represents a firm intention to follow through. We have received over 1,000 letters and telephone calls from people wanting to volunteer to help in one project or another. We already have more applications than the program will be able to support in its first year. This response has gone far beyond what we expected. It is proof that this program was necessary."
The release further stated that Dr. Paul O'Rourke, coordinator of the State antipoverty task force, reported that interest had not been confined to urban centers, and that many small rural communities in remote parts of the State had also started processing applications.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Statement by the President on Reviewing California's Plans Under the Economic Opportunity Act. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/241469