White House Press Release, Message from President Harry S. Truman to the United States Congress

221 #666 HOLD FOR RELEASE HOLD FOR RELEASE HOLD FOR RELEASE May 16, 1946 CONFIDENTIAL: To be held in STRICT CONFID NCE and no portion, synopsis or intimation to be given out or published until the REALING of the President's Message has begun in either the Senate or House of Representatives. Extreme care must therefore be exercised to avoid premature publication. CHARLES G. ROSS Secretary to the President TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES: The fundamental strength of a nation lies within its people. Military and industrial power are evidences, not the real source of strength. Over the years the prosperity of America and its place in the world will depend on the health, the education, the ingenuity, and the integrity of its people and on their ability to work together NARA and with other nations. The most basic and at the same time the most difficult task of any country is the conservation and development of its human resources. Under our system of government this is a joint responsibility of the Federal, State, and local governments, but in it the Federal Government has a large and vital role to play. Through its research, advice, stimu- lation, and financial aid, it contributes greatly to progress and to the equalization of standards in the fields of education, health, and welfare; and in the field of social insurance it also directly adminis- ters a major segment of the program. To meet its full responsibilities in those fields, the Federal Government requires efficient machinery for the administration of its social programs. Until 1939, the agencies in charge of those activi- ties were scattered in many parts of the Government. In that year President Roosevelt took the first great step toward effective organ- ization in this area when he submitted Reorganization Plan I estab- lishing the Federal Security Agency "to promote social and economic security, educational opportunity, and the health of the citizens of the nation." The time has now come for further steps to strengthen the ma- chinery of the Federal Government for leadership and service in deal- ing with the social problems of the country. Several programs closely bound up with the objectives of the Federal Security Agency are still scattered in other parts of the Government. As the next step, I con- sider it essential to transfer these programs to the Federal Security Agency and to strengthen its internal organization and management. Broadly stated, the basic purpose of the Federal Security Agency is the conservation and development of the human resources of the nation. Within that broad objective come the following principal functions: child care and development, education, health, social insurance, welfare (in the sense of care of the needy and the defec- tive), and recreation (apart from the operation of parks in the public domain). (OVER)