Special Message to the Congress on Drought and Other Natural Disasters.

To the Congress of the United States:

The prolonged drought in a number of the Great Plains and Southwestern States has long since reached disaster proportions. The Federal government has, for several years, carried forward an active and varied program of emergency aid in those states under provisions of Public Law 875 and other disaster relief authorities vested in the Executive Branch.

The Federal government should insure that appropriate and effective measures are taken to assist state and local governments in alleviating emergency conditions brought about by prolonged drought and other severe natural disasters.

It is also a responsibility of the Federal government to review such programs from time to time, to insure that they are being conducted efficiently and economically. Furthermore, it is an obligation of all levels of government, and of all our people, to plan whatever steps may be helpful in preventing or mitigating the effects of future disasters.

It was for such purposes that I inspected conditions in droughtstricken states in January of this year. It was for those same purposes that the Secretary of Agriculture called a special meeting on Drought and Other Natural Disasters in Wichita, Kansas, at that same time. I reviewed with those who participated the preliminary results of their deliberations.

It was of tremendous encouragement to me to find, on my trip and in the report of the Wichita meeting, such a positive approach to these problems and an absence of defeatism. This demonstrates that our people in the drought disaster area, even in the face of serious physical problems, have the courage and resourcefulness to face hardships and carry forward in spite of them and that they are talking seriously about the long-range solutions that will help keep future droughts from being future disasters.

There has been consolidated in the attached Report on Drought and Other Natural Disasters the most representative recommendations of the Wichita meeting with many of the suggestions and observations I received in the course of my trip. The result is a comprehensive review of the many aspects of the current drought problem together with the views and recommendations of many different individuals and groups.

Not all the recommendations summarized in the Report, of course, may be feasible. The Secretary of Agriculture has developed from them a list of proposals which he outlines in the letter transmitting the Report. Some of them can and are being met by adjustments in existing programs. Certain others require legislative action. Such legislative proposals, together with necessary appropriation requests, will be presented to the Congress directly. I strongly urge their prompt consideration and adoption.

Although the Report deals to a considerable degree with agricultural aspects of the drought, it also contains suggestions and recommendations dealing with responsibilities of other departments and agencies of the Federal government. The recommendations relating to the drought disaster loan program for business administered by the Small Business Administration have been implemented by executive action, except one in which legislation is required, and this legislation will be presented for study by appropriate committees of the Congress. The other recommendations will be considered fully in connection with continuing programs and possible new developments. Certainly, many governmental activities can help in preventing disasters and in alleviating the effects when disaster comes to an area. In this connection, the Report focuses attention on such matters as:

Job opportunities through industrial development.

Adjustment of credit programs for business to better meet needs of disaster areas.

Role of public works in the disaster areas in times of disaster to provide employment and income.

Added attention to water use and development, including further investigation of ground water supplies, water storage in multiple purpose reservoirs and pollution abatement as it bears on drought problems.

Research relating to weather.

Research relating to economic development.

Provision for vocational training for commerce and industry.

Facilities that aid farm and ranch people to find supplementary nonfarm employment.

Adjustments in income tax laws to recognize problems of sales due to disaster.

Many of the proposals in the Report bear directly upon the current drought situation. I feel strongly, however, that in this appraisal of the Federal government's participation in emergency drought disaster programs we have found some important guide lines to more effective and appropriate Federal government participation in relief aspects of other types of natural disasters that will occur from time to time.

I draw, in particular, two general conclusions which I want to call to the attention of the Congress:

The first is that administration of emergency disaster programs must be kept close to the local people.

The second is that state and local governments should assume a greater part in alleviating human distress and hardships and in meeting other local needs in times of disaster, calling on the Federal government only to supplement their own resources.

No single legislative or action program is sufficient to stabilize rural areas subject to natural disasters. It will require advance work on a broad front. There must be full cooperation and sharing of responsibility by individuals, local counties and areas, and local, state and Federal governments. This fact was stressed in the many recommendations I received and by the leaders who participated in the Wichita meeting.

Emergency funds and programs must be kept constantly available for use when disasters occur, but we must continue to emphasize long-range programs as well. The long-range stabilization of the economy of areas subject to severe drought is of course intimately tied to water, its needs, supply, use, and control.

Through the most efficient and optimum use of its water resources a broader economy could be established which would enable it better to endure a recurrence of such a drought. Appropriate attention can be given to this enormous problem only through coordinated water study, leading to courses of action for present and future water resource development and management.

As the several Departments and Agencies further develop their consideration of the many complex problems encountered on the drought tour and at the Wichita meeting any additional recommendations will be transmitted to the Congress.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER