Report of the National Commission on Unemployment Compensation.

Unemployment insurance is one of the Nation’s basic Social Security programs. When Congress established the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance program in 1935, it also created the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program in titles III and IX of the Social Security Act. Although it has been subject to review and study over the years, the UI system received its first comprehensive examination through congressional mandate in the Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1976 (Public Law 94-566). The law established a National Commission on Unemployment Compensation, whose members were appointed by the President, the President pro tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House. The Commission was headed by Wilbur J. Cohen, former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Other members were chosen to create a balance of interested groups, including labor, industry, small business, and Federal, State, and local governments. The Commission held its first meeting in March 1978 and released its final report of findings and recommendations in early 1981 .I