Message to the Congress Transmitting Annual Report of the Railroad Retirement Board.

To the Congress of the United States:

I am pleased to transmit the Annual Report of the Railroad Retirement Board for Fiscal Year 1966.

For three decades the insurance system administered by the Board has been protecting railroad workers and their families against the economic hazards which accompany unemployment, sickness, old age and death.

During the period covered by this report, more than 1 million individuals received $1.2 billion in retirement and survivor benefits-an increase of $82 million over the preceding year. These payments brought to $14.5 billion the total amount paid to retired employees, wives, and survivors of deceased employees since the program began in 1936.

In fiscal 1966 payments for unemployment and sickness dropped below the $100 million mark--to $88.1 million--for the first time in 13 years. This reduction reflects the unprecedented economic expansion which this country has enjoyed during the last six years. In each, unemployment among railroad workers showed a significant decline.

The increases in retirement and survivor benefits reported here represent increased comfort and security in the retirement years of many worthy citizens. But even greater comfort and protection would come with Congressional enactment of the Social Security amendments which I have proposed this year. The proposed 20 percent increase would in the first year alone bring $65 million in added benefits to some 385,000 railroad workers and their families.

I again urge the Congress to take this vital step toward our goal of providing every elderly citizen an adequate income and a meaningful retirement.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON

The White House

May 31, 1967