Transcription of Letter
[Letterhead]
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
[End of Letterhead]
March 19, 1948
Miss Helen Keller
Arcan Ridge
Westport, Connecticut
Dear Miss Keller:
I appreciate having your letter of February 12 expressing opposition to the tentative (sic) proposal for an Executive order transferring certain responsibilities with respect to the Federal program for service to the handicapped to the Department of Labor.
The existing Federal-State program for the handicapped has made gratifying progress during the last few years, and it would be most unfortunate if anything were done seriously to disrupt the present relationships.
May I assure you that I have no intention of transferring the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation for the Federal Security Agency to the Department of Labor, nor to allocate to that Department any coordinating authority over the rehabilitation programs now being so satisfactorily performed by the Federal Security Agency and the Veterans Administration.
I hope sincerely that the present cooperative relationships between the public and private agencies in this country may continue. It is only through such joint effort in behalf of the handicapped that we have any assurance of a more productive and satisfying life for these people.
Sincerely yours,
Harry Truman
