For the first time in a decade. as we learned in detail during our hearings. the number of poor in Americawhich had been declining by an average of. 4.9 percent each year from 1959 to 1969has been on the increase. with the result that over 25 million Americans. representing 13 percent of the population. are now classified as poor by the Census Bureau. Since this sudden reversal of a decade of progress in reducing poverty has been occasioned by a period of economic decline during which the number of unemployed has doubled. strong measures to restore and expand our ailing economy are obviously essential. At the same time. there is as much need as ever for the kind of programsjob training. child development. comprehensive health services. emergency food and medical services. migrant and seasonal farmworker assistance. legal services. community action programs. senior citizen opportunitieswhich are designed to deal with the problems of the poor and to enable them to join the mainstream of American life. The effectiveness of OEO in developing and fostering such programs was strongly attested to in a joint statement submitted by a coalition of 90 major national organizations testifying in behalf of extending the act: The Office of Economic Opportunity is the only Federal agency whose primary mission is "to strengthen. supplement and coordinate efforts in the furtherance" of a policy to "eliminate the paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty." Its continued. strengthened existence is crucial to antipoverty efforts. both as a symbol of the Federal governments lasting commitment to the war on poverty and as a Federal rallying point around which poor and disadvantaged people can command attention and assistance. At the local level. through community action and other related programs.