CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE

 

HEALTH AND MEDICAL CARE—MES-
SAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO.
347)

The SPEAKER laid before the House
the following message from the Presi-
dent of the United States; which was
read, referred to the Committee of
the Whole House on the State of the
Union, and ordered to be printed:

To the Congress of the United States:

The basic resource of a nation is its
people. Its strength can be no greater
than the health and vitality of its popu-
lation. Preventable sickness, disability,
and physical or mental incapacity are
matters of both individual and national
concern.

We can take justifiable pride in our
achievements in the field of medicine.
We stand among the select company of
nations for whom fear of the great epi-
demic plagues is long past; our life ex-
pectancy has already reached the bibli-
cal three score and ten; and, unlike so
many less fortunate peoples of the
world, we need not struggle for mere
survival. But measured against our
capacity and capability in the fields of
health and medical care, measured
against the scope of the problems that
remain and the opportunities to be
seized, this Nation still falls far short of
its responsibility.

Many thousands needlessly suffer from
infectious diseases for which preventive
measures are available. We are still
10th among the nations of the world
in our infant mortality rate. Prolonged
and costly illness in later years robs too
many of our older citizens of pride, pur-
pose, and savings. In many communi-
ties the treatment of the mentally ill and
the mentally retarded is totally inade-
‘quate. And there are increasingly severe
shortages of skilled personnel in all the
vital health professions.

aged

2723

Basically, health care is a responsi-
bility of individuals. and families, of
communities and voluntary agencies, of
local and State governments. But the
Federal Government shares this respon-
sibility by providing jeadership, guid-
ance, and support in areas of national
concern. And the Congress last year
recognized this responsibility in impor-
tant ways.

PROGRESS DURING 1961

Our States and communities have re-
sponded quickly and with impressive
vigor to the invitation to cooperative
action extended by the Community
Health Services and Facilities Act
passed by the Congress and signed into
law only 4 months ago. AS a result,
petter care for the chronically jll and
the aged will scon be available in many
parts of the Nation, both inside and
outside the hospitals and other institu-
tions in this program.

There is also visible progress in the

effort to control water pollution, result-

ing from the expanded legislation passed
by the Congress in 1961. Last year con-
struction was begun on more waste
treatment plants than ever before in
our history—30 percent above the calen-
dar year 1960 level.

There were, in’ addition, other im-
portant forward thrusts taken, with
Federal help, in the protection of our
Nation’s health. Medical research ad-
vanced at an accelerated pace. We are
now better equipped than ever before to
evaluate and deal with radiation perils.
The incidence of polio has been reduced
to the lowest levels ever recorded. We
have engaged our most talented doctors
and scientists in an intensified search
for the cause and cure of cancer, heart
disease, mental illness, mental retarda-
tion, environmental health problems and
other serious health hazards.

But, of the four basic improvements
in the Federal health program I recom-
mended to the Congress last year, two
urgent needs—health insurance for the
and assistance to education for
the health professions—have not yet
been met. The passage of time has only
served to increase their urgency; and I
repeat those requests today; along with
other needed improvements.

I. HEALTH INSURANCE FOR THE AGED |

Our social insurance system today
guards against nearly every major finan-
cial setback: retirement, death, disabil-
ity; and unemployment. But it does not
protect our older citizens against the
hardships of prolonged and expensive
illness. Under our social security sys-
tem, a retired person receives casn bene-
fits-to help meet the basic cost of food,
shelter, and clothing—benefits to which
he is entitled by reason of the contri-
putions he made during his working
years. They permit him to live in dig-
nity and with independence—but only
if a serious illness does not overtake him.

For, compared to the rest of us, ‘our
older citizens go to the hospital more
often—they have more days of illness—
and their stays in the hospital are thus
more costly. But both their income and
the proportion of their hospital bill cov-
ered by private insurance are, in most
at24

cases, substantially lower than those of
younger persons. — .

Private health insuranee. has made
notable advances in recent years. . But
older people, who need it most but can
afford it least, are sti!l unable to pay the
high premiums made necessary by their
disproportionately heavy use of health
care services and facilities, if eligibility
requirements are to be low and the scope
of benefits. broad. Today, only about
half of cur aged population has any
health insurance of any kind—and most
cf these have insufficient coverage.

To be sure, welfare assistance, and
Federal legislation to help the needy or
“medically indigent,” will provide health
services in some instances. But this
kind of help is not only less appealing,
coupled as it is with a means test, it
reaches very few of those who are: not
eligible for public assistance but.are still
not able to afford the care they need.

I therefore recommend again the en-
actment of a health insurance program
for the elderly under the social security
system. By this means the cost of health
services in later years can be spread over
the working years—and every worker can
face the future with pride and confi-
dence.. This program, of course, would
not interfere in any way with the free-
dom of choice of doctor, hospital, or
nurse. It would not specify in any way
the kind of medical or health care or
treatment to be provided. But it would
establish a means to pay for the follow-
ing minimum levels of protection:

First. Inpatient hospital expenses for
up to 90 days, in excess of $10 per day
for the first 9 days (with a minimum
payment by each person of $20), and full
costs for the remaining 81 days.

Second. The cost of nursing home serv=
ices up to 180 days immediately after
discharge from a hospital. By providing
nursing home care for twice as long as
that in the hospital, the patient is en-
couraged to use the less expensive facili-
ties when these will satisfy his require-
ments.

Third. The cost. of hospital outpatient
clinic diagnostic services in excess of $20.
These benefits will reduce the need for
hospital admissions and encourage early
diagnosis.

Fourth. The cost of community visit-
ing nurse services, and related home
health services, for a limited number of
visits. These will enable many older
people to receive proper health care in

- their own homes.

It should be emphasized that we are
discussing a gap in our self-financed,
contributory social insurance system.
These are all insurance benefits which
will be available tc everyone over 65 who
is eligible for social security or railroad
retirement benefits. They would be en-
tirely self-financed by an increase in
social security contributions of one-
quarter of 1 percent each on employers
and employees, and by an increase in the
maximum earnings base from $4,800 a
year to $5,200 a year, Io burden on the
general revenues is involved. I am not
unrmindful of the fact, however, that
none of cur social insurance systems is

‘ universal in its coverage—-and that direct

payments may. be necessary to provide

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE

help to those not covered for health in-
surance by social security. But the two
problems. should not be confused—and
those who have never made any contri-
bution toward the system should not be
regarded as in the same category as
those whe have—and because a minority
lacks the. protection of social security is
no reason to deny additional self-fi-
nanced benefits to the great majority
which _it covers.
“In. HEALTH PROFESSIONS PERSONNEL

The Nation’s health depends on the
availability and efficient use of highly
trained and skilled professional people.
These people are in very short supply.
Unless we take steps to train more
physicians and more dentists, the prom-
ise of modern medicine cannot be fully
realized. .

In an earlier message this year, I re-
peated my recommendation for Federal
aid for the construction and expansion
of schools of medicine, osteopathy, den-
tistry and public health, and for helping
talented but needy students pursue their
professional education. TI recommended:
(1) A 10-year program of grants to plan
and construct such professional: schools
in order to increase the Nation’s training
capacity; and (2) a program of Federal
scholarship aid for talented students in
need of financial assistance, plus cost-
of-education payments to the schools.

The urgency of this proposal cannot
be repeated too often. It takes time to
construct new facilities and many years
for doctors to be trained. A young man
entering college this fall will not be ready
to start his practice until 1972—and even
later if he plans to enter a speciality.
The costs of construction and operation
are mounting. Only six schools of medi-
cine have been opened in the last dec-
ade; and the number of. graduates has
risen only 15 percent. Over the same
period, student applications to medical
schools have declined sharply. Our ratio
of active physicians to population is less
today than it was 10 years ago, and grow-
ing worse, and in the next 10 years we
shall need to expand existing medical
and dental school facilities, and to con-
struct 20 new medical and 20 new dental
schools. :

We must also provide financial help-to
talented but needy students. I have pre-
viously expressed concern over the fact
that medicine is increasingly attracting
only the sons and daughters of high in-
eome families—43 percent of the stu-
dents in our Nation’s. medical schools in
1959 came from the 12 percent of the U.S.
families with an annual income of $10,-
000 or more.

A survey has shown that 4 years in
medical school cost each student of the
1959 graduating class an average of $11,-
600. More than half of them had to bor-
row substantial sums to complete their
education, and one-third of the group
had an average debt. of $5,000. Many of
these students. still have from 1 to 7
years of additional professional training,
at low stipends, still facing them. Ob-
viously further loans and further debts
are not the answer.

Also: modern health care is extremely
complex. It demands the services of a

February 27

skilled. and diversified team of special-
ists and technical personnel.

But there are shortages in almost
every category—and the shortages are
particularly severe in nursing. Last year
I authorized the Surgeon General of the
Public Health Service to set up a con-
sultant group on nursing, and a compre-
hensive study of this field is well under-
way. I expect to receive their report in
the near future.

TI. IMMUNIZATION

There is no longer any reason why
American children should suffer from
polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, or
tetanus—diseases which can cause death
or serious consequences throughout a
lifetime, which can be prevented, but
which still prevail in too many cases.

I am asking the American people to
join in a nationwide vaccination pro-
gram to stamp out these four diseases,
encouraging all communities to immu-
nize both children and adults, keep them
immunized, and plan for the routine im-
munization of children yet to be born. To
assist the States and local communities
in this effort over the next 3 years, I am
proposing legislation authorizing a pro-
gram of Federal assistance. This pro-
gram would cover the full cost of vac~-
cines for all children under 5 years of
age. It would also assist in meeting the
cost of organizing the vaccination drives
begun during this period, and the cost of
extra personnel needed for certain spe-
cial tasks. ,

In addition, the legislation provides
continuing authority to permit a similar
attack on other infectious diseases which
may become susceptible of practical
eradication as a result of new vaccines or
other preventive agents. Success in this
effort will require the wholehearted as-
sistance of the medical and public health
professions, and a sustained nationwide
health education effort.

IV. HEALTH RESEARCH

The development of these immuniza-
tion techniques was made possible by
medical research, just as it has made
possible the new drugs, surgical tech-
niques and other treatments which have
virtually conquered many of the lead-
ing killers of a generation ago-—tuber-
culosis, pneumonia, rheumatic fever and
many others.

But conquest of the infectious diseases,
by increasing our lifespan, has made
us more vulnerable to cancer, heart
disease and other long-term illnesses.
Today, two persons die from heart
disease and cancer in the United States
every minute. Last year, more than 1
million Americans fell victim to these
merciless diseases.

They are not merely diseases of old
age. Cancer leads all other diseases as
the cause of death in children under
age 15. Of the 10 million Americans who
suffer from heart disease, more than half

_of them are in their most productive

years, between 25 and 64.
Fortunately, medical research, sup-

ported to an increasing degree over the

past 15 years by the Federal Govern-
ment, is achieving exciting break-
throughs against both cancer and heart
disease as well as on many other fronts.
We can now save one out of every three
1962

victims of cancer, compared to only one
out of four saved less than a decade ago.
Our nationwide cancer chemotherapy
program is saving many children and
adults who would have been considered
hopeless cases only a few years ago.
And advances in heart surgery have re-
stored to productive lives many thou-
sands, while full prevention of many
forms of heart disease seems increas-
ingly within our reach.

We must, therefore, continue to stimu-
late this flow of inventive ideas by sup-
porting medical research along a very
broad front. I have proposed substan-
tially increased funds for the National
Institutes of Health for 1963, particularly
for research project grants, and the
training of specialists in mental health.
Expenditures by the Institutes in 1963
are estimated to exceed $740 million, an
increase of more than $100 million from
the current year and a fourfold increase
in the last 5. years.
my recommendation that the current
limitation on payment of indirect costs
by the National Institutes of Health in
connection with research grants to uni-
versities and. other institutions be -re-
moved. :

In keeping with the broadening hori-

zons of medical research, I again recom-
mend the establishment of a new Insti-
tute for Child Health and Human De-
velopment within the National Institutes
of Health. Legislation to create this
new Institute was introduced in the last
session of Congress. —

We look to such an Institute for a
full-scale attack on the unsolved afflic-
tions of childhood. It would explore
prenatal influences, mental retardation,
the effect of nutrition on growth, and
other basic facts needed to equip a child
for a healthy, happy life. It would, in
addition, stimulate imaginative research
into the health problems of the whole
person throughout his entire lifespan—
from infancy to the health problems of
aging.

As a parallel action I am requesting
authorization for contracts and coopera-
tive arrangements for research related

to maternal’ and child health and crip--

pled children’s services. ‘This legisla-
tion, introduced in the last session of
Congress, would strengthen the pro-
grams of the Children’s Bureau in these
areas, and foster effective coordination
between the research activities of this
Bureau and those of the proposed new
Institute.

T also recommend that the present
Division of General Medical Sciences at
the National Institutes of Health. be
given the status and title of an Institute.
This program supports fundamental re-
search in biology and other sciences, and
strengthens the research capabilities of
universities and other institutions.

Last year, Congress enacted legisla-
tion temporarily extending and expand-
ing the program of Federal matching
grants for the construction of health re-
search facilities. This program has

been very successful, and it should be

further extended. ~

In these and other endeavors, inelud-
ing our new National Library of Medi-
cine, we must take steps to accelerate the

I am also renewing ~

~more than 1,500.

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE

flow of scientific communication. The
accumulation of knowledge is of: little
avail if it is not brought within reach of
those who can use it. Faster and more
complete communication from scientist
to scientist is needed, so that their re=-
search efforts reinforce and complement
each other; from researcher to practicing
physician, so that new knowledge can
save lives as swiftly as possible; and from
the health professions to the public, so
that people may act to protect, their
own health.
V. MENTAL HEALTH

While we have treated the physically
ill with sympathy, our society has all
too often rejected the mentally ill, con-
signing them to huge custodial institu-
tions away from the heart of the medical
community. But more recently, the
sigsns of progress toward enlightened
treatment have been increasing. The
discovery and widespread use of tran-
quilizing.drugs over the past 6 years has
resulted in an unprecedented reduction
of 32,000 patients in the census of our
State mental hospitals. But one-half of
our hospital beds are still occupied by
the mentally ill; and hundreds of thou-
sands of sufferers and their families are
still virtually without hope for progress.

I want to take this opportunity to ex~
press my approval, and offer Federal co-
operation, for the action of the Gover=
nors of the 59 States at a special na-
tional Governors’ conference ealled last
November. In accepting the challenge
of the report of the Joint Commission on
Mental IlIness and Health, they pledged
a greater State effort—both to transfer
treatment of the majority of mental pa-
tients from isolated institutions to mod-
ern psychiatric facilities in the heart of
the community, and to provide more in-
tensive treatment for hospitalized pa-
tierits in State institutions.

But this problem cuts across State
lines. Since the enactment in 1946 of
the National Mental Health Act, the Fed~-
eral Government. has provided sub-
stantial assistance for the support. of
psychiatric research, training of per-
sonnel and community mental health
programs. The Government is current-
ly spending over $1 billion annually for
mental health activities and benefits.
The National Institute of Mental Heaith
alone will use approximately $100 mil-
lion this year. Approximately $350 mil-
lion is budgeted by Federal agencies for
the care of the mentally ill; over $500
million is spent annually in the form
of pensions and compensation for vet-
erans with neuropsychiatric disorders;
and additional sums for similar benefits
are paid by the social security and other
Federal disability programs.

But far more needs to be done. Ade-
quate care requires a supply of well
trained personnel, working both in and
out of mental hospitals. In 1946, there
were only 500 psychiatric outpatient clin-
ies in the Nation. Today, there are
More than 500,000
people received treatment in these clinics
last year. Weare making progress—but
the total effort is still far short of the
need. Tt will require still further Ped-
eral, State, and local cooperation and

ssistance.

2725

I have directed the Secretary of
Health, Education, and Welfare, the Sec-
retary of Labor, and the Administrator
of Veterans’ Affairs, with the assistance
of the Council of Economic Advisers and
the Bureau of the Budget, to review the
recommendations of the Joint Commis-
sion on Mental Iliness and Health and
to develop appropriate courses of action
for the Federal Government. They have
peen instructed to consider such ques-~
tions as the desirable alinement of re-
sponsibility among Federal, State, and
local agencies and private groups; the
channels through which Federal activi~
ties should be directed; the rate of ex-
pansion possible in the light of trained
manpower availabilities; and the balance
which should be maintained between in-
stitutional and noninstitutional. pro-
grams. .

Meanwhile, we must continue our vig-
orous support of research to lJearn more
about the causes and treatment of —
mental illness.. We must train many
more mental health personnel. We must
continue to strengthen treatment pro-
grams for Federal beneficiaries through
our many existing Federal institutions,
including St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. And
T have recommended added funds for the
National Institute of Mental Health to
increase its program for the training of
professional mental health workers and
physicians.

VI, MENTAL RETARDATION

The nature and extent of mental re-
tardation is often misunderstood. It is
frequently confused with mental illness.
While mental illness disables after a
period of normal development, mental
retardation is usually either present at

‘birth or underway during childhood. It

is not a disease but a symptom of a dis-
ease, an injury, or some obscure failure
of development. It refers to a lack of
intellectual ability, resulting from ar-
rested mental development, and mani-
festing itself in poor learning, inadequate
social adjustment, and delayed achieve-
ment. Its causes are many and obscure.
We are encouraged with each new dis-
covery—but present knowledge of this
condition is still so fragmentary that its
prevention and cure will require con-
tinued and persistent research over an
extended period of time. The present
limitations of knowledge make diagnosis .
extremely difficult, particularly since it.
qnvolves the very young. And a major
obstacle to progress is the jack of per-
sonnel trained in the special skills re-
quired to work effectively with the
mentally retarded.

Thus, in spite of the progress made in
recent years, mental retardation re-
mains one of our most serious health and
education problems. Approximately 5
million people in the. United States are
mentally retarded; and each year more
than 126,000 more babies are born who
will suffer from this tragic affliction.

T have asked the Panel on Mental Re-
tardation which I appointed last year
to appraise the adequacies of existing
programs and the possibilities for
greater utilization of current knowledge.
It will review and make recommenda-
tions with regard to- (1) the personnel
necessary to develop and apply new
2726

‘knowledge; (2) promising avenues of
investigation, and the means to support
and encourage research along these
lines; and (3) improvement and exten-
sion of present. programs of treatment,
education, and rehabilitation.

I expect the Panel’s report. before the
end of this year; and we should then be
ready for the next phase of the attack
upon this problem. I am confident that
the work of this Panel will help us chart
the path toward our ultimate goal of
preventing this tragic condition.

Vit. TOWARD A MORE HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

There is an increasing gap in our
knowledge of the impact upon our health
of the many new chemical compounds
and physical and biological factors in-
troduced daily into our environment.
Every year 400 to 500 new chemicais
come into use. Many of them. will im-
prove the public health. Others, regard-
less of every safeguard, present poten-
tial hazards. Each year there are 2
million new cases of intestinal disease.
Hepatitis is at an alltime high. We
need to apply additional protection
against every new hazard resulting from
contamination of the air we breathe or
the water we drink.

As I already mentioned, the water pol-
lution control legislation passed by the
Congress last year has permitted us to
step up our efforts to purify our water.
We should make a similarly accelerated
effort in parallel fields. I am therefore
recommending—.

1. Legislation to strengthen the Fed<
eral effort to prevent air pollution, a
growing and serious problem in many
areas. Fresh air cannot be piped into
the cities, nor can it be stored for future
use. Our only protection is to prevent
pollution,

Under the existing Air Pollution Act,
the Federal Government is conducting
badly needed research on the biological
effects of air poliution; developing im-
proved methods for identifying, measur-
ing, analyzing, and controlling pollu-
tion; and working with State and local
officials to accelerate necessary control
programs.

I recommend that the Congress enact
legislation to provide: .-

(a) authority for an adequate re-
search program on the causes, effects,

- and control of air pollution,

(b) project grants and technical as-
sistance to State and local air pollution
control agencies to assist in the develop-
ment and initiation or improvenient of
programs to safeguard the quality of air,
and

(c) authority to conduct studies and
hold public conferences concerning any
air pollution problem of interstate na-
ture or of significance to communities
in different parts of the Nation.

Legisiation along these lines has al-
ready passed the Senate, and I urge
‘final favorable action in this Congress.

2. In order to provide a central focal
point for nationwide activities in the
control] of air pollution, water pollution,
radiation hazards, and occupational
hazards, I recommend the establishment
of a National Environmental Health
Center. This center will serve as the
base laboratory for research and train-

lie Health Service.

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE

ing activities, and as headquarters for
Public Health Service persennel con-
cerned with health hazards in the en-
vironment. It will facilitate regular and
frequent collaboration between Public
Health Service scientists and those
with whom they should consult in other
Federal agencies. The center will serve
also. to encourage closer cooperation
with industrial research and control
groups, with universities and private
foundations, and with State and local
agencies.

3. Finally, I have recommended an in-
crease in the appropriations for the
study and control of water and air pollu-
tion and for research into protection
against radiation peril.

VIII. ENCOURAGEMENT OF GROUP PRACTICE

Akin to the problem of increasing our
overall supply of professional and tech-

nical health personnel is the problem

of making more effective use of the per-
sonnel we already have. Experience in
many communities has proven the value
of group medical and denial practice,
where general practitioners and medical
specialists voluntarily join to pool their
professional skills, to use common facil-
ities and personnel, and to offer compre-
hensive health services to their patients.

. Group practice offers great. promise of

improving the quality of medical care,
of achieving significant economies and
conveniences to physician and patient
alike, and of facilitating.a wider and
better distribution of the available sup-
ply of scarce personnel.

A major obstacle to the development
of group practice, however, particularly
in our smaller communities, is a lack of
the specialized facilities needed. I there-
fore recommend legislation which will
authorize a 5-year program of Federal
loans for construction and equipment of
group practice medical and dental facil-
ities, with priority being given to facil-

ities in smaller communities and to those.

sponsored by nonprofit or cooperative
organizations. /

1X. HEALTH OF DOMESTIC AGRICULTURAL

MIGRANT WORKERS

Domestic agricultural migrants and
their families—numbering almost 1
million persons—have unmet health
needs far greater than those of the gen-
eral population. Their pocr Lealth not
only affects their own lives and oppor-
tunities, but it is a threat to the members
of the permanent communities through
which they migrate. The poverty of
these. migrants, their lack of health
knowledge, and their physical isolation
and mobility, all tend to limit their ac-
cess to community health services. To
help improve their health conditions, I
recommend—in addition to expanding
the special Public Health Service activi-
ties directed to them—the enactment of
legislation to encourage the States to
provide facilities and services for mi-
grant workers,
&, PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE REORGANIZATION

Changes in recent years have greatly
increased the responsibilities of the Pub~
Some major or-
ganizational changes are necessary in or-
der to help this agency carry out its
vital tasks more effectively. I will

February 27

shortly forward to the Congress a pro-
posal which will make these reorganiza-
tional changes possible. It will permit
more effective administration of com-
munity health programs and those deal-
ing with the health hazards of the en-
vironment.
OTHER HEALTH GOALS

The struggle for improved health is
never ending. While we are pressing
new attacks in sectors of past neglect
and present urgency, we must continue
to advance along the entire front.

Health facilities construction: I have
asked the Secretary of Health, Educa-
tion, and Welfare to review the pro-
gram of federally aided medical facility
construction, to evaluate its accomplish-
ments and future course. Through the
Federal support. provided by this very
successful program, general medical
care facilities have been constructed in
most of the areas of greatest. need.
There are, however, large and urgent un-
met requirements for facilities to pro-
vide long-term care, especially for the
elderly, and short-term mental care at
the community level. In addition, a
growing number of existing urban hospi-
tals require modernization so that they
may continue to serve the needs of the
people dependent upon them.

Health of merchant seamen: Over the
past several years funds for the opera-
tion of the Public Health Service hospi-
tals have been substantially increased to
improve the quality of medical care for
merchant seamen and other benefici-
aries. A start has also been made on
enabling these hospitals to conduct
medical research. I have directed the
Secretary of Health, Education, and
Welfare to develop a plan for providing
more readily accessible hospital care for
seamen and for improving the physical
facilities of those Public Health Service
hospitals which are needed to provide
such care.

Physical fitness: The foundation of
good health is laid in early life. Yet
large numbers do not receive necessary
health care as infants and schoolchil-
dren. The alarming rate of correctible
health defects among selective service
registrants highlights the problem. In
all 50 States there has been a gratifying
response to my call of last year for vig-
orous programs for the physical develop-
ment of our youth. Pilot projects stim-
ulated by the President’s Council on
Youth Fitness proved that basic pro-
grams, within the reach of every school,
can produce dramatic results. Our chil-
dren must have an cpportunity for phys-
ical development as well as for intellec~-
tual growth. Our increased national
emphasis on physical fitness, based on
daily vigorous activity and sound nu-
tritional and health practices, should
and will be continued.

International health: Finally, it is im-
perative that we help fulfill the health
heeds and expectations of less developed
nations, who look to us as a source of
hope and strength in fighting their stag-
gering problems of disease and hunger.
Mutual efforts toward attaining. better
health will help create mutual under-
standing. Our foreign assistance pro-
1962 — . CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE 2727

gram must make maximum use of the
medical and other health resources,
skills and experience of our Nation in
helping these nations advance their own
knowledge and skill. We should, in ad-~
dition, explore every possibility for
scientific exchange and collaboration be-
tween our medical scientists and those of
other nations—programs which are of
benefit to all who participate and to all
mankind.
- CONCLUSION

Good health is a prerequisite to the
enjoyment of pursuit of happiness.
Whenever the miracles of modern medi-
cine are beyond the reach of any group
of Americans, for whatever reason-—eco-
nomic, geographic, occupational, or
other—we must find a way to meet their
needs and fulfill their hopes. For one
true measure of a nation is its success in
fulfilling the promise of a better life for
each of its members. Let this be the
measure of our Nation.

JouNn F, KENNEDY.
Tur WuHitt House, February 27,1962.

 

No. 28-——2