When President Roosevelt submitted his Social Security proposal to Congress in January 1935, he also transmitted draft legislation, entitled the Economic Security Bill. The Administration's bill was introduced in the House by Congressmen Doughton and Lewis and in the Senate by Senator Wagner. This draft bill was the starting point for the legislative consideration of Social Security in 1935.
The draft bill submitted by FDR differed in many interesting respects from the final Social Security Act which emerged from Congress in August 1935. For example, FDR had proposed a three-part program of old-age security consisting of: old-age welfare pensions; compulsory contributory social insurance (what we now think of as Social Security); and a third-tier which would consist of optional annuity certificates sold by the government to workers who, upon retirement, could convert the certificates to monthly annuities which would be used as supplements to their basic Social Security retirement benefit. This third program was among the features of the President's proposals which the Congress did not accept. Many other changes were made in the Administration's proposal, which is reproduced in full below. |
www.socialsecurity.gov
