Message to the Congress Transmitting Second Annual Report of the Appalachian Regional Commission.

To the Congress of the United States:

I am pleased to transmit to the Congress the Second Annual Report of the Appalachian Regional Commission, for fiscal year 1967.

This report marks the end of the second year of the Federal-State effort to lift the 18 million people in Appalachia up to economic parity with the rest of America.

The Congress has already expressed its confidence in the program by revising and extending it for another two years. More than $300 million have been obligated for programs which will help the people of Appalachia on their way to self-sufficiency.

The framework of the program is commendable in itself. Federal, State, and local authorities have been working together, recognizing that need does not respect State lines, and poverty does not stop at the boundaries which separate communities.

This report shows proof, I believe, that such a partnership--seeking common solutions to common problems--can work to rebuild a segment of America, to provide its citizens with a chance to share in America's plenty.

Our ultimate goal is to assist Appalachia to attract and hold public and private investments--the cornerstones on which economic well-being is built.

We have not yet achieved that goal, but in two years we have made a strong beginning.

One of our first aims was to unify Appalachia internally--and to make it accessible to the affluent nation outside. Had it remained an enclave of poverty, it would have withered and died.

As the report testifies, we made substantial progress in Fiscal 1967 on the Appalachian Development Highway System.

Highways that today are lines on the planner's map will tomorrow be asphalt bonds to the rest of America. We are providing access to opportunity.

For a region to survive, its people must be healthy, its children educated, and its land productive.

Among the programs approved for construction in Fiscal 1967 were:

--100 facilities for vocational and higher education

--75 for health care

--27 libraries

--37 facilities to combat water pollution

--And 20 projects to restore ravaged mine areas.

On December 28, I signed an executive order which will increase the strength and efficiency of our partnership for regional economic development.

Under this order, the Secretary of Commerce will provide effective liaison between the Federal Government and our six regional commissions.

He will also become the chairman of a Federal Advisory Council on Regional Economic Development. This council will help him coordinate the activities of the Federal Government in the six regions.

By placing this authority in the hands of the Secretary of Commerce, I intend to encourage the private and business resources of our country to take a hand in these regional ventures.

Our work has just begun. I am confident that future reports will justify the faith we have placed in this program.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON

The White House

April 2, 1968