Memorandum for Information of Press and Radio on the President's Message on the State of the Union and Transmitting the Budget to the Congress

11 473 Memorandum for Information of Press and Radio on the President's Message on the State of the Union and Transmitting the Budget to the Congress. CONFIDENTIAL: This memorandum must be held in strict confidence and no portion, synopsis or intimation is to be given out or published until reading of the Message has begun in either the Senate or the House of Representatives, probably at 12:00 'clock NOON, January 21, 1946. Some contingency may arise to prevent its delivery to the Houses of Congress on that date, and extreme care must therefore be exercised to avoid premature publication. The same release applies to radio commentators and news broadcasters. CHARLES G. ROSS Secretary to the President The President this year has combined the customary message on the State of the Union with the annual Budget Message. The consolidated document differs substantially from both the messages of the past. The following comments are designed only to facilitate newspaper and radio analysis of the document and are not to be quoted. The President stresses the necessity of the general programs of Government and affirms our ability to finance them. He explains the reasons for combining the two messages. "It is clear that the budgetary program and the general program of the Government are actually inseparable." He also transmits with his own Message the Fifth Quarterly Report of the Director of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion. This report which is transmitted to Congress, as required by law, supplements the President's Message largely with respect to reconversion policies. Part I. Pages 6-11 are the President's general statement. "From War to Peace--the Year of Decision". This section reviews the great historical events of the past year and outlines the task before the Congress and the people for the coming year. The President emphasizes the new responsibilities, international and domestic, which the nation faces. "Our basic objective--toward which all others lead--is to improve the welfare of the American people." Part II. The second part of the message presents the Federal Program. The first section deals with international affairs, pages 11-21, discussing in order foreign relations, foreign economic policy, occupied countries and the demobilization of our armed forces. The domestic policies section begins on page 21 with a survey of the economic outlook. General policies, immediate and long-range, are stated on pages 22-26. This section emphasizes particularly the need for increasing production and maintaining stabilization, and the difficulties in finding a fair wage structure. It tells of the general success of the . S. Conciliation Service. In conclusion, it states that the policies of the Government must be geared to the objective of sustained full production and full employment. "If we manage our economy properly, the future will see us on a level of production half as high again as anything we have ever accomplished in peacetime." The next section of Part II, pages 26-28, enumerates important items of legislation which the President has recommended, but which have not yet been enacted by the Congress. The survey of domestic policies, pages 28-47, discusses specific fields which the President recommends for prompt consideration by the Congress. (OVER)