Message to the Congress Transmitting Reports on Incentive Awards to Members of the Armed Forces.

To the Congress of the United States:

I am happy to transmit to the Congress reports of the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Transportation on cash awards to members of our Armed Forces for noteworthy suggestions, inventions, or scientific achievements.

The cash awards program, first authorized by Congress in September 1965, has proved an excellent incentive for reducing costs and increasing efficiency in the Armed Forces.

The largest percentage of awards--89 percent--continues to be in the $50 and under range. Of the 34,527 awards, however, 1,094 awards were over $250. The total amount paid in awards for suggestions in 1967 was $1,307,832.

In the Department of Defense, over $63,000,000 in first-year benefits have resulted from suggestions submitted by military personnel during 1967. In the Coast Guard, since the inception of the program, benefits have amounted to over $391,000. This raises the total amount of tangible benefits received during the relatively short life of the program to over $119,000,000. Many additional benefits not measurable in dollar amounts have resulted from suggestions concerning safety and other matters.

Few investments of public funds have ever returned such prompt results in economy and efficiency. Few forms of recognition have so widely benefitted the morale or encouraged the initiative of our men and women in uniform.

I urge every Member to examine the truly remarkable and encouraging achievements described in these reports of the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Transportation.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON

The White House

May 15, 1968