Transmittal to Congress of National Resources Planning Board Reports.

To the Congress:

To assist the Congress in the development and consideration of appropriate legislation to achieve normal employment, to give assurance for all our people against common economic hazards, and to provide for the development of our national resources, I am transmitting herewith two reports of the National Resources Planning Board.

The first, "National Resources Development—Report for 1943" presents the results to date of the Board's work on postwar plans and a record of wartime planning activities. The Board proposes measures to meet the problems of the transition period from war to peace and for the longer-range development of an expanding economy. It is appropriate that each year the immediate programs contained in the Budget of the United States should be considered by the Congress in the light of much longer-range plans and programs. To facilitate such use of this report, I recommend that the report be printed, in accordance with past custom.

We can all agree on our objectives and in our common determination that work, fair pay, and social security after the war is won must be firmly established for the people of the United States of America.

Men in the armed forces and all those engaged in the war effort rightly expect us to be considering their future welfare.

We fight today for security for our Nation and at the same time we can endeavor to give our citizens and their families security against attacks from without, and against fear of economic distress in old age, in poverty, sickness, involuntary unemployment, and accidental injuries. We need to look forward to the accomplishment of these objectives- world peace, democratic society, and a dynamic economy.

The second report transmitted herewith, on "Security, Work, and Relief Policies," has been developed over the last three years by the National Resources Planning Board, at my request, with the cooperation of the Federal agencies concerned and with the help of citizens with special knowledge and competence in this field. It reviews the accomplishments and experience of the last ten years, pointing out some of the weaknesses of our security system, and suggesting ways of improving and strengthening the whole program.

Because of their basic importance to our national welfare during the war and after the war, it is my earnest hope that the Congress will give these matters full consideration during this session. We must not return to the inequities, insecurity, and fears of the past, but ought to move forward toward the promise of the future. When the Congress has agreed on procedures for the consideration of these problems, the executive agencies responsible for the administration of programs in these fields are prepared to provide the Congress with all assistance within their power in devising appropriate ways and means to accomplish these high purposes.