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In addition, the Department of Agriculture, working with the Departments of Health, Education, and Welfare and of the Interior, is reviewing and revising procedures to make certain that the benefits and hazards of pesticides to human health, domestic animals, and wildlife are considered fully before their registration and sale are approved.

Finally, the Federal Government's own use and application of pesticides are being reviewed to assure that all safeguards are applied.

Foods, Drugs, and Cosmetics

The 1962 amendments to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act will enhance the safety, the effectiveness, the reliability of drugs and cosmetics.

To give this Act the vigorous enforcement it contemplates, I am requesting increased appropriations to the Food and Drug Administration, largely for scientific and regulatory personnel.

In addition, I renew the recommendations contained in my Consumer Message for new legislation to extend and clarify the Food, Drug and Cosmetic laws.

VI. RESEARCH AND SPECIAL HEALTH NEEDS

Over the past decade, our Nation has developed an unparalleled program of medical research.

This investment has already paid rich dividends, and more dividends are within reach.

The budget that I have proposed for fiscal 1965 assures the rate of growth needed to meet current opportunities and to provide a sound base for future progress.

In addition, the Office of Science and Technology has assembled a group of eminent citizens to study thoroughly the medical research and training programs of the National Institutes of Health.

This study should point to new ways to improve our medical research.

Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Strokes

Cancer, heart disease, and strokes stubbornly remain the leading causes of death in the United States. They now afflict 15 million Americans--two-thirds of all Americans now living will ultimately suffer or die from one of them.

These diseases are not confined to older people.

-- Approximately half of the cases of cancer are found among persons under 65.
-- Cancer causes more deaths among children under age 15 than any other disease.
-- More than half the persons suffering from heart disease are in their most productive years.
-- Fully a third of all persons with recent strokes or with paralysis due to strokes are under 65.

The Public Health Service is now spending well over a quarter of a billion dollars annually finding ways to combat these diseases. Other organizations, both public and private, also are investing considerable amounts in these efforts.

The flow of new discoveries, new drugs and new techniques is impressive and hopeful.

Much remains to be learned. But the American people are not receiving the full benefits of what medical research has already accomplished. In part, this is because of shortages of professional health workers and medical facilities. It is also partly due to the public's lack of awareness of recent developments and techniques of prevention and treatment.

I am establishing a Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Strokes to recommend steps to reduce the incidence of these diseases through new knowledge and more complete utilization of the medical knowledge we already have.

The Commission will be made up of persons prominent in medicine and public affairs. I expect it to complete its study by the end of this year and submit recommendations for action.

Narcotics and Drug Abuse

Abuse of drugs and traffic in narcotics are a tragic menace to public health.

To deal promptly and intelligently with this situation we must take effective measures of education, regulation, law enforcement, rehabilitation.

We must strengthen the cooperative efforts of Federal, State and local authorities and public services.

The recent report of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Narcotics and Drug Abuse has rendered signal contributions:

-- It places the problem in its proper perspective.
-- It proposes policies and actions which deserve full consideration.

The appropriate Federal departments and agencies will review this report, and I shall at a later time send my recommendations to the Congress.

Vocational Rehabilitation

Disability -- always a cruel burden -- has partly succumbed to medical progress. Our Federal-State program of vocational rehabilitation has been demonstrating this fact for more than 40 years. Rehabilitation can help restore productivity and independence to millions of Americans who have been victims of serious illness and injury. Over 110,000 disabled men and women were returned to activity and jobs last year alone.

If more fully developed and supported by the States and the Federal Government, this program can be a powerful tool in combating poverty and unemployment among the millions of our citizens who face vocational handicaps which they cannot surmount without specialized help.

I have already recommended appropriation of increased Federal funds for vocational rehabilitation.

I now recommend enactment of legislation to facilitate the restoration of greater numbers of our mentally retarded and severely disabled to gainful employment, by permitting them up to eighteen months of rehabilitative services prior to the determination of their vocational feasibility.