Message to the Congress Transmitting Reports on the Cash Awards Program for Military Personnel.

To the Congress of the United States:

In accordance with the provisions of 10 U.S.C. 1124, I am forwarding for the information of the Congress reports of the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Transportation on awards made during Calendar Year 1968 to members of the Armed Forces for suggestions, inventions, and scientific achievements.

Participation by military personnel in the cash awards program was authorized by Congress in September 1965. The program has proven successful in motivating military personnel to seek ways of reducing costs and improving efficiency. Tangible benefits from suggestions submitted by the Department of Defense and Coast Guard military personnel and adopted during 1968 totalled over $95,000,000, an increase of nearly 50% over the 1967 figures.

In the relatively short period since the program went into effect, tangible first-year benefits derived from the suggestions of military personnel have reached a total of over $214,000,000.

Of 241,090 suggestions submitted by military personnel during 1968, 37,995 were adopted. Cash awards totalled $1,601,265, of which approximately three-fourths were paid to enlisted personnel at Grade E-6 and below.

The cash awards program for military personnel could be justified solely by the net savings which have accrued to the government since the program was initiated. But the benefits of this program are greater than dollars saved. An incentive and a vehicle have been provided for suggestions which effect economies and increase efficiency. Moreover, military personnel now have the assurance that their ideas will not go unheeded in drab suggestion boxes, but will be carefully screened and considered at the highest policy levels of the government. Under the program, every man has an opportunity to forward his ideas and be rewarded for his effort. It is a good program, a sound and wise investment.

RICHARD NIXON

The White House

March 4, 1969