Pre-Presidential Speeches
December 6, 1973
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. President pro tempore, distinguished guests and friends:
Together we have made history here today. For the first time we have carried out the command of the 25th Amendment. In exactly 8 weeks, we have demonstrated to the world that our great Republic stands solid, stands strong upon the bedrock of the Constitution.
I am a Ford, not a Lincoln. My addresses will never be as eloquent as Mr. Lincoln's. But I will do my very best to equal his brevity and his plain speaking.
I am deeply grateful to you, Mr. President, for the trust and the confidence your nomination implies.
As I have throughout my public service under six administrations I will try to set a fine example of respect for the crushing and lonely burdens which the Nation lays upon the President of the United States. Mr. President, you have my support and my loyalty.
To the Congress assembled, my former colleagues who have elected me on behalf of our fellow countrymen I express my heartfelt thanks.
As a man of the Congress, let me reaffirm my conviction that the collective wisdom of our two great legislative bodies, while not infallible, will in the end serve the people faithfully and very, very well. I will not forget the people of Michigan who sent me to this Chamber or the friends that I have found here.
Mr. Speaker, I understand that the United States Senate intends in a very few minutes to bind me by its rules. For their Presiding Officer, this amounts practically to a vow of silence. Mr. Speaker, you know how difficult this is going to be for me.
Before I go from this House, which has been my home for a quarter century, I must say I am forever in its debt.
And particularly, Mr. Speaker, thank you for your friendship which I certainly am not leaving. To you, Mr. Speaker, and to all of my friends here, however you voted an hour ago, I say a very fond goodbye. May God bless the House of Representatives and guide all of you in the days ahead.
Mr. Chief Justice, may I thank you personally for administering the oath, and thank each of the Honorable Justices for honoring me with you attendance. I pledge to you, as I did the day I was first admitted to the bar, my dedication to the rule of law and equal justice for all Americans.
For standing by my side as she always has, there are no words to tell you, my dear wife and mother of our four wonderful- children, how much their being here means to me.
As I look into the faces that fill this familiar room, and as I imagine those faces in other rooms across the land, I do not see members of the legislative branch or the executive branch or the judicial branch, though I am very much aware of the importance of keeping the separate but coequal branches of our Federal Government in balance. I do not see Senators or Representatives, nor do I see Republicans or Democrats, vital as the two-party system is to sustain freedom and responsible government.
At this moment of visible and living unity, I see only Americans. I see Americans who love their country, Americans who work and sacrifice for their country and their children. I see Americans who pray without ceasing for peace among all nations and for harmony at home. I see new generations of concerned and courageous Americans -- but the same kind of Americans -- the children and grandchildren of those Americans who met the challenge of December 7, just 32 years ago.
Mr. Speaker, I like what I see.
Mr. Speaker, I am not discouraged. I am indeed humble to be the 40th Vice President of the United States, but I am proud -- very proud -- to be one of 200 million Americans. I promise my fellow citizens only this: To uphold the Constitution, to do what is right as God gives me to see the right, and within the limited powers and duties of the Vice Presidency to do the very best that I can for America.
I will do these things with all the strength and good sense that I have, with your help, and through your prayers.
Thank you.
Address delivered before a Joint Session of the Congress on December 6, 1973, immediately after taking the Oath of Office as the 40th Vice President of the United States. This text is from the folder "Inauguration Remarks, December 6, 1973" in box 127 of the Gerald R. Ford Vice Presidential Papers.
Presidential Speeches
Gerald R. Ford's Remarks Upon Taking the Oath of Office as President
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Mr. Chief Justice, my dear friends, my fellow Americans:
The oath that I have taken is the same oath that was taken by George Washington and by every President under the Constitution. But I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances never before experienced by Americans. This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts.
Therefore, I feel it is my first duty to make an unprecedented compact with my countrymen. Not an inaugural address, not a fireside chat, not a campaign speech--just a little straight talk among friends. And I intend it to be the first of many.
I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers. And I hope that such prayers will also be the first of many.
If you have not chosen me by secret ballot, neither have I gained office by any secret promises. I have not campaigned either for the Presidency or the Vice Presidency. I have not subscribed to any partisan platform. I am indebted to no man, and only to one woman--my dear wife--as I begin this very difficult job.
I have not sought this enormous responsibility, but I will not shirk it. Those who nominated and confirmed me as Vice President were my friends and are my friends. They were of both parties, elected by all the people and acting under the Constitution in their name. It is only fitting then that I should pledge to them and to you that I will be the President of all the people.
Thomas Jefferson said the people are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty. And down the years, Abraham Lincoln renewed this American article of faith asking, "Is there any better way or equal hope in the world?"
I intend, on Monday next, to request of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate the privilege of appearing before the Congress to share with my former colleagues and with you, the American people, my views on the priority business of the Nation and to solicit your views and their views. And may I say to the Speaker and the others, if I could meet with you right after these remarks, I would appreciate it.
Even though this is late in an election year, there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent needs. We cannot stand still or slip backwards. We must go forward now together.
To the peoples and the governments of all friendly nations, and I hope that could encompass the whole world, I pledge an uninterrupted and sincere search for peace. America will remain strong and united, but its strength will remain dedicated to the safety and sanity of the entire family of man, as well as to our own precious freedom.
I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our Government but civilization itself. That bond, though strained, is unbroken at home and abroad.
In all my public and private acts as your President, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end.
My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.
Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule. But there is a higher Power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice but mercy.
As we bind up the internal wounds of Watergate, more painful and more poisonous than those of foreign wars, let us restore the golden rule to our political process, and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and of hate.
In the beginning, I asked you to pray for me. Before closing, I ask again your prayers, for Richard Nixon and for his family. May our former President, who brought peace to millions, find it for himself. May God bless and comfort his wonderful wife and daughters, whose love and loyalty will forever be a shining legacy to all who bear the lonely burdens of the White House.
I can only guess at those burdens, although I have witnessed at close hand the tragedies that befell three Presidents and the lesser trials of others.
With all the strength and all the good sense I have gained from life, with all the confidence my family, my friends, and my dedicated staff impart to me, and with the good will of countless Americans I have encountered in recent visits to 40 States, I now solemnly reaffirm my promise I made to you last December 6: to uphold the Constitution, to do what is right as God gives me to see the right, and to do the very best I can f or America.
God helping me, I will not let you down.
Thank you.
NOTE: The President spoke at 12:05 p.m. in the East Room at the White House following administration of the oath of office by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger. The oath of office and the President's remarks were broadcast live on radio and television. The White House announced that Richard Nixon's letter of resignation as 37th President of the United States was tendered to Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger in his White House office by Assistant to the President Alexander M. Haig, Jr., at 11:35 a.m.
President Gerald R. Ford's Remarks on Signing a Proclamation Granting Pardon to Richard Nixon
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Ladies and gentlemen:
I have come to a decision which I felt I should tell you and all of my fellow American citizens, as soon as I was certain in my own mind and in my own conscience that it is the right thing to do.
I have learned already in this office that the difficult decisions always come to this desk. I must admit that many of them do not look at all the same as the hypothetical questions that I have answered freely and perhaps too fast on previous occasions.
My customary policy is to try and get all the facts and to consider the opinions of my countrymen and to take counsel with my most valued friends. But these seldom agree, and in the end, the decision is mine. To procrastinate, to agonize, and to wait for a more favorable turn of events that may never come or more compelling external pressures that may as well be wrong as right, is itself a decision of sorts and a weak and potentially dangerous course for a President to follow.
I have promised to uphold the Constitution, to do what is right as God gives me to see the right, and to do the very best that I can for America.
I have asked your help and your prayers, not only when I became President but many times since. The Constitution is the supreme law of our land and it governs our actions as citizens. Only the laws of God, which govern our consciences, are superior to it.
As we are a nation under God, so I am sworn to uphold our laws with the help of God. And I have sought such guidance and searched my own conscience with special diligence to determine the right thing for me to do with respect to my predecessor in this place, Richard Nixon, and his loyal wife and family.
Theirs is an American tragedy in which we all have played a part. It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it. I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must.
There are no historic or legal precedents to which I can turn in this matter, none that precisely fit the circumstances of a private citizen who has resigned the Presidency of the United States. But it is common knowledge that serious allegations and accusations hang like a sword over our former President's head, threatening his health as he tries to reshape his life, a great part of which was spent in the service of this country and by the mandate of its people.
After years of bitter controversy and divisive national debate, I have been advised, and I am compelled to conclude that many months and perhaps more years will have to pass before Richard Nixon could obtain a fair trial by jury in any jurisdiction of the United States under governing decisions of the Supreme Court.
I deeply believe in equal justice for all Americans, whatever their station or former station. The law, whether human or divine, is no respecter of persons; but the law is a respecter of reality.
The facts, as I see them, are that a former President of the United States, instead of enjoying equal treatment with any other citizen accused of violating the law, would be cruelly and excessively penalized either in preserving the presumption of his innocence or in obtaining a speedy determination of his guilt in order to repay a legal debt to society.
During this long period of delay and potential litigation, ugly passions would again be aroused. And our people would again be polarized in their opinions. And the credibility of our free institutions of government would again be challenged at home and abroad.
In the end, the courts might well hold that Richard Nixon had been denied due process, and the verdict of history would even more be inconclusive with respect to those charges arising out of the period of his Presidency, of which I am presently aware.
But it is not the ultimate fate of Richard Nixon that most concerns me, though surely it deeply troubles every decent and every compassionate person. My concern is the immediate future of this great country.
In this, I dare not depend upon my personal sympathy as a long-time friend of the former President, nor my professional judgment as a lawyer, and I do not.
As President, my primary concern must always be the greatest good of all the people of the United States whose servant I am. As a man, my first consideration is to be true to my own convictions and my own conscience.
My conscience tells me clearly and certainly that I cannot prolong the bad dreams that continue to reopen a chapter that is closed. My conscience tells me that only I, as President, have the constitutional power to firmly shut and seal this book. My conscience tells me it is my duty, not merely to proclaim domestic tranquility but to use every means that I have to insure it.
I do believe that the buck stops here, that I cannot rely upon public opinion polls to tell me what is right.
I do believe that right makes might and that if I am wrong, 10 angels swearing I was right would make no difference.
I do believe, with all my heart and mind and spirit, that I, not as President but as a humble servant of God, will receive justice without mercy if I fail to show mercy.
Finally, I feel that Richard Nixon and his loved ones have suffered enough and will continue to suffer, no matter what I do, no matter what we, as a great and good nation, can do together to make his goal of peace come true.
[At this point, the President began reading from the proclamation granting the pardon.]
"Now, therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from July (January) 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974."
[The President signed the proclamation and then resumed reading.]
"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and seventy-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-ninth."
NOTE: The President spoke at 11:05 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White House, where he signed Proclamation 4311 granting the pardon.
President Gerald R. Ford's Proclamation 4311, Granting a Pardon to Richard Nixon
September 8, 1974
By the President of the United States of America a Proclamation
Richard Nixon became the thirty-seventh President of the United States on January 20, 1969 and was reelected in 1972 for a second term by the electors of forty-nine of the fifty states. His term in office continued until his resignation on August 9, 1974.
Pursuant to resolutions of the House of Representatives, its Committee on the Judiciary conducted an inquiry and investigation on the impeachment of the President extending over more than eight months. The hearings of the Committee and its deliberations, which received wide national publicity over television, radio, and in printed media, resulted in votes adverse to Richard Nixon on recommended Articles of Impeachment.
As a result of certain acts or omissions occurring before his resignation from the Office of President, Richard Nixon has become liable to possible indictment and trial for offenses against the United States. Whether or not he shall be so prosecuted depends on findings of the appropriate grand jury and on the discretion of the authorized prosecutor. Should an indictment ensue, the accused shall then be entitled to a fair trial by an impartial jury, as guaranteed to every individual by the Constitution.
It is believed that a trial of Richard Nixon, if it became necessary, could not fairly begin until a year or more has elapsed. In the meantime, the tranquility to which this nation has been restored by the events of recent weeks could be irreparably lost by the prospects of bringing to trial a former President of the United States. The prospects of such trial will cause prolonged and divisive debate over the propriety of exposing to further punishment and degradation a man who has already paid the unprecedented penalty of relinquishing the highest elective office of the United States.
Now, THEREFORE, I, GERALD R. FORD, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9,1974.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and seventy-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-ninth.
GERALD R. FORD
President Gerald R. Ford's Address to the 29th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
September 18, 1974
Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, your Excellencies:
In 1946, President Harry Truman welcomed representatives of 55 nations to the first General Assembly of the United Nations. Since then, every American President has had the great honor of addressing this Assembly.
Today, with pleasure and humility, I take my turn in welcoming you, the distinguished representatives of 138 nations.
When I took office, I told the American people that my remarks would be "just a little straight talk among friends." Straight talk is what I propose here today in the first of my addresses to the representatives of the world.
Next week, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger will present in specifics the overall principles which I will outline in my remarks today. It should be emphatically understood that the Secretary of State has my full support and the unquestioned backing of the American people.
As a party leader in the Congress of the United States, as Vice President, and now as President of the United States of America, I have had the closest working relationship with Secretary of State Kissinger. I have supported and will continue to endorse his many efforts as Secretary of State and in our National Security Council system to build a world of peace.
Since the United Nations was founded, the world has experienced conflicts and threats to peace, but we have avoided the greatest danger -- another world war. Today, we have the opportunity to make the remainder of this century an era of peace and cooperation and economic well-being.
The harsh hostilities which once held great powers in their rigid grasp have now begun to moderate. Many of the crises which dominated past General Assemblies are fortunately behind us. And technological progress holds out the hope that one day all men can achieve a decent life.
Nations too often have had no choice but to be either hammer or anvil, to strike or to be struck. Now we have a new opportunity-to forge, in concert with others, a framework of international cooperation. That is the course the United States has chosen for itself.
On behalf of the American people, I renew these basic pledges to you today:
--We are committed to a pursuit of a more peaceful, stable, and cooperative world. While we are determined never to be bested in a test of strength, we will devote our strength to what is best. And in the nuclear era, there is no rational alternative to accords of mutual restraint between the United States and the Soviet Union, two nations which have the power to destroy mankind.
--We will bolster our partnerships with traditional friends in Europe, Asia, and Latin America to meet new challenges in a rapidly changing world. The maintenance of such relationships underpins rather than undercuts the search for peace.
--We will seek out, we will expand our relations with old adversaries. For example, our new rapport with the People's Republic of China best serves the purposes of each nation and the interests of the entire world.
--We will strive to heal old wounds, reopened in recent conflicts in Cyprus, the Middle East, and in Indochina. Peace cannot be imposed from without, but we will do whatever is within our capacity to help achieve it.
--We rededicate ourselves to the search for justice, equality, and freedom. Recent developments in Africa signal the welcome end of colonialism. Behavior appropriate to an era of dependence must give way to the new responsibilities of an era of interdependence.
No single nation, no single group of nations, no single organization can meet all of the challenges before the community of nations. We must act in concert. Progress toward a better world must come through cooperative efforts across the whole range of bilateral and multilateral relations.
America's revolutionary birth and centuries of experience in adjusting democratic government to changing conditions have made Americans practical as well as idealistic. As idealists, we are proud of our role in the founding of the United Nations and in supporting its many accomplishments. As practical people, we are sometimes impatient at what we see as shortcomings.
In my 25 years as a Member of the Congress of the United States, I learned two basic, practical lessons:
First, men of differing political persuasions can find common ground for cooperation. We need not agree on all issues in order to agree on most. Differences of principle, of purpose, of perspective, will not disappear. But neither will our mutual problems disappear unless we are determined to find mutually helpful solutions.
Second, a majority must take into account the proper interest of a minority if the decisions of the majority are to be accepted. We who believe in and live by majority rule must always be alert to the danger of the "tyranny of the majority." Majority rule thrives on the habits of accommodation, moderation, and consideration of the interests of others.
A very stark reality has tempered America's actions for decades and must now temper the actions of all nations. Prevention of full-scale warfare in the nuclear age has become everybody's responsibility. Today's regional conflict must not become tomorrow's world disaster. We must assure by every means at our disposal that local crises are quickly contained and resolved.
The challenge before the United States [Nations] is very clear. This organization can place the weight of the world community on the side of world peace. And this organization can provide impartial forces to maintain the peace.
And at this point I wish to pay tribute on behalf of the American people to the 37 members of the United Nations peacekeeping forces who have given their lives in the Middle East and in Cyprus in the past 10 months, and I convey our deepest sympathies to their loved ones.
Let the quality of our response measure up to the magnitude of the challenge that we face. I pledge to you that America will continue to be constructive, innovative, and responsive to the work of this great body.
The nations in this hall are united by a deep concern for peace. We are united as well by our desire to ensure a better life for all people.
Today, the economy of the world is under unprecedented stress. We need new approaches to international cooperation to respond effectively to the problems that we face. Developing and developed countries, market and nonmarket countries -- we are all a part of one interdependent economic system.
The food and oil crises demonstrate the extent of our interdependence. Many developing nations need the food surplus of a few developed nations. And many industrialized nations need the oil production of a few developing nations.
Energy is required to produce food and food to produce energy -- and both to provide a decent life for everyone. The problems of food and energy can be resolved on the basis of cooperation, or can, I should say, be made unmanageable on the basis of confrontation. Runaway inflation, propelled by food and oil price increases, is an early warning signal to all of us.
Let us not delude ourselves. Failure to cooperate on oil and food and inflation could spell disaster for every nation represented in this room. The United Nations must not and need not allow this to occur. A global strategy for food and energy is urgently required.
The United States believes four principles should guide a global approach:
First, all nations must substantially increase production. Just to maintain the present standards of living the world must almost double its output of food and energy to match the expected increase in the world's population by the end of this century. To meet aspirations for a better life, production will have to expand at a significantly faster rate than population growth.
Second, all nations must seek to achieve a level of prices which not only provides an incentive to producers but which consumers can afford. It should now be clear that the developed nations are not the only countries which demand and receive an adequate return for their goods. But it should also be clear that by confronting consumers with production restrictions, artificial pricing, and the prospect of ultimate bankruptcy, producers will eventually become the victims of their own actions.
Third, all nations must avoid the abuse of man's fundamental needs for the sake of narrow national or bloc advantage. The attempt by any nation to use one commodity for political purposes will inevitably tempt other countries to use their commodities for their own purposes.
Fourth, the nations of the world must assure that the poorest among us are not overwhelmed by rising prices of the imports necessary for their survival. The traditional aid donors and the increasingly wealthy oil producers must join in this effort.
The United States recognizes the special responsibility we bear as the world's largest producer of food. That is why Secretary of State Kissinger proposed from this very podium last year a world food conference to define a global food policy. And that is one reason why we have removed domestic restrictions on food production in the United States.
It has not been our policy to use food as a political weapon, despite the oil embargo and recent oil prices and production decisions.
It would be tempting for the United States -- beset by inflation and soaring energy prices -- to turn a deaf ear to external appeals for food assistance, or to respond with internal appeals for export controls. But however difficult our own economic situation, we recognize that the plight of others is worse.
Americans have always responded to human emergencies in the past, and we respond again here today. In response to Secretary General Waldheim's appeal and to help meet the long-term challenge in food, I reiterate: To help developing nations realize their aspirations to grow more of their own food, the United States will substantially increase its assistance to agricultural production programs in other countries.
Next, to ensure that the survival of millions of our fellow men does not depend upon the vagaries of weather, the United States is prepared to join in a worldwide effort to negotiate, establish, and maintain an international system of food reserves. This system will work best if each nation is made responsible for managing the reserves that it will have available.
Finally, to make certain that the more immediate needs for food are met this year, the United States will not only maintain the amount it spends for food shipments to nations in need but it will increase this amount this year.
Thus, the United States is striving to help define and help contribute to a cooperative global policy to meet man's immediate and long-term need for food. We will set forth our comprehensive proposals at the World Food Conference in November.
Now is the time for oil producers to define their conception of a global policy on energy to meet the growing need and to do this without imposing unacceptable burdens on the international monetary and trade system. A world of economic confrontation cannot be a world of political cooperation.
If we fail to satisfy man's fundamental needs for energy and food, we face a threat not just to our aspirations for a better life for all our peoples but to our hopes for a more stable and a more peaceful world. By working together to overcome our common problems, mankind can turn from fear towards hope.
From the time of the founding of the United Nations, America volunteered to help nations in need, frequently as the main benefactor. We were able to do it. We were glad to do it. But as new economic forces alter and reshape today's complex world, no nation can be expected to feed all the world's hungry peoples.
Fortunately, however, many nations are increasingly able to help. And I call on them to join with us as truly united nations in the struggle to produce, to provide more food at lower prices for the hungry and, in general, a better life for the needy of this world.
America will continue to do more than its share. But there are realistic limits to our capacities. There is no limit, however, to our determination to act in concert with other nations to fulfill the vision of the United Nations Charter, to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, and to promote social progress and better standards, better standards of life in a larger freedom.
Thank you very, very much.
Note: The President spoke at 12:15 p.m. at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The address was broadcast live on radio and television.
In his opening remarks, the President referred to Abelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria, President of the 29th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, and Kurt Waldheim of Austria, Secretary General of the United Nations.
President Gerald R. Ford's Remarks Announcing a Program for the Return of Vietnam Era Draft Evaders and Military Deserters
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September 16, 1974
Good morning:
In my first week as President, I asked the Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense to report to me, after consultation with other Governmental officials and private citizens concerned, on the status of those young Americans who have been convicted, charged, investigated, or are still being sought as draft evaders or military deserters.
On August 19, at the national convention of Veterans of Foreign Wars in the city of Chicago, I announced my intention to give these young people a chance to earn their return to the mainstream of American society so that they can, if they choose, contribute, even though belatedly, to the building and the betterment of our country and the world.
I did this for the simple reason that for American fighting men, the long and divisive war in Vietnam has been over for more than a year, and I was determined then, as now, to do everything in my power to bind up the Nation's wounds.
I promised to throw the weight of my Presidency into the scales of justice on the side of leniency and mercy, but I promised also to work within the existing system of military and civilian law and the precedents set by my predecessors who faced similar postwar situations, among them Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Harry S. Truman.
My objective of making future penalties fit the seriousness of each individual's offense and of mitigating punishment already meted out in a spirit of equity has proved an immensely hard and very complicated matter, even more difficult than I knew it would be.
But the agencies of Government concerned and my own staff have worked with me literally night and day in order to develop fair and orderly procedures and completed their work for my final approval over this last weekend.
I do not want to delay another day in resolving the dilemmas of the past, so that we may all get going on the pressing problems of the present. Therefore, I am today signing the necessary Presidential proclamation and Executive orders that will put this plan into effect.
The program provides for administrative disposition of cases involving draft evaders and military deserters not yet convicted or punished. In such cases, 24 months of alternate service will be required, which may be reduced for mitigating circumstances.
The program also deals with cases of those already convicted by a civilian or military court. For the latter purpose, I am establishing a clemency review board of nine distinguished Americans whose duty it will be to assist me in assuring that the Government's forgiveness is extended to applicable cases of prior conviction as equitably and as impartially as is humanly possible.
The primary purpose of this program is the reconciliation of all our people and the restoration of the essential unity of Americans within which honest differences of opinion do not descend to angry discord and mutual problems are not polarized by excessive passion.
My sincere hope is that this is a constructive step toward a calmer and cooler appreciation of our individual rights and responsibilities and our common purpose as a nation whose future is always more important than its past.
At this point, I will sign the proclamation [4313] that I mentioned in my statement, followed by an Executive order [11803] for the establishment of the Clemency Board, followed by the signing of an Executive order [11804] for the Director of Selective Service, who will have a prime responsibility in the handling of the matters involving alternate service.
Thank you very much.
NOTE: The President spoke at 11:21 a.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White House.
President Gerald R. Ford's Address to a Joint Session of Congress on the Economy
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Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, distinguished guests, my very dear friends:
In his first inaugural address, President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, and I quote: The people of the United States have not failed .... They want direct, vigorous action, and they have asked for discipline and direction under our leadership.
Today, though our economic difficulties do not approach the emergency of 1933, the message from the American people is exactly the same. I trust that you are getting the very same message that I am receiving: Our constituents want leadership, our constituents want action.
All of us have heard much talk on this very floor about Congress recovering its rightful share of national leadership. I now intend to offer you that chance.
The 73rd Congress responded to FDR's appeal in 5 days. I am deeply grateful for the cooperation of the 93rd Congress and the Conference on Inflation, which ended 10 days ago.
Mr. Speaker, many--but not all--of your recommendations on behalf of your party's caucus are reflected in some of my proposals here today. The distinguished majority leader of the Senate offered a nine-point program. I seriously studied all of them and adopted some of his suggestions.
I might add, I have also listened very hard to many of our former colleagues in both bodies and of both the majority and the minority, and have been both persuaded and dissuaded. But in the end, I had to make the decision, I had to decide, as each of you do when the roll call is called.
I will not take your time today with the discussion of the origins of inflation and its bad effect on the United States, but I do know where we want to be in 1976--on the 200th birthday of a United States of America that has not lost its way, nor its will, nor its sense of national purpose.
During the meetings on inflation, I listened carefully to many valuable suggestions. Since the summit, I have evaluated literally hundreds of ideas, day and night.
My conclusions are very simply stated. There is only one point on which all advisers have agreed: We must whip inflation right now.
None of the remedies proposed, great or small, compulsory or voluntary, stands a chance unless they are combined in a considered package, in a concerted effort, in a grand design.
I have reviewed the past and the present efforts of our Federal Government to help the economy. They are simply not good enough, nor sufficiently broad, nor do they pack the punch that will turn America's economy on.
A stable American economy cannot be sustained if the world's economy is in chaos. International cooperation is absolutely essential and vital. But while we seek agreements with other nations, let us put our own economic house in order. Today, I have identified 10 areas for our joint action, the executive and the legislative branches of our Government.
Number one: food. America is the world's champion producer of food. Food prices and petroleum prices in the United States are primary inflationary factors. America today partially depends on foreign sources for petroleum, but we can grow more than enough food for ourselves.
To halt higher food prices, we must produce more food, and I call upon every farmer to produce to full capacity. And I say to you and to the farmers, they have done a magnificent job in the past, and we should be eternally grateful.
This Government, however, will do all in its power to assure him--that farmer--he can sell his entire yield at reasonable prices. Accordingly, I ask the Congress to remove all remaining acreage limitations on rice, peanuts, and cotton.
I also assure America's farmers here and now that I will allocate all the fuel and ask authority to allocate all the fertilizer they need to do this essential job.
Agricultural marketing orders and other Federal regulations are being reviewed to eliminate or modify those responsible for inflated prices.
I have directed our new Council on Wage and Price Stability to find and to expose all restrictive practices, public or private, which raise food prices. The Administration will also monitor food production, margins, pricing, and exports. We can and we shall have an adequate supply at home, and through cooperation, meet the needs of our trading partners abroad.
Over this past weekend, we initiated a voluntary program to monitor grain exports. The Economic Policy Board will be responsible for determining the policy under this program.
In addition, in order to better allocate our supplies for export, I ask that a provision be added to Public Law 480 under which we ship food to the needy and friendly countries. The President needs authority to waive certain of the restrictions on shipments based on national interest or humanitarian grounds.
Number two: energy. America's future depends heavily on oil, gas, coal, electricity, and other resources called energy. Make no mistake, we do have a real energy problem.
One-third of our oil--17 percent of America's total energy--now comes from foreign sources that we cannot control, at high cartel prices costing you and me $16 billion--$16 billion more than just a year ago.
The primary solution has to be at home. If you have forgotten the shortages of last winter, most Americans have not. I have ordered today the reorganization of our national energy effort and the creation of a national energy board. [On October 11, 1974, the President signed Executive Order 11814 activating the Energy Resources Council.] It will be chaired with developing--or I should say charged with developing a single national energy policy and program. And I think most of you will be glad to know that our former colleague, Rog Morton, our Secretary of Interior, will be the overall boss of our national energy program.
Rog Morton's marching orders are to reduce imports of foreign oil by 1 million barrels per day by the end of 1975, whether by savings here at home, or by increasing our own sources.
Secretary Morton, along with his other responsibility, is also charged with increasing our domestic energy supply by promptly utilizing our coal resources and expanding recovery of domestic oil still in the grounds in old wells.
New legislation will be sought after your recess to require use of cleaner coal processes and nuclear fuel in new electric plants, and the quick conversion of existing oil plants. I propose that we, together, set a target date of 1980 for eliminating oil-fired plants from the Nation's base-loaded electrical capacity.
I will use the Defense Production Act to allocate scarce materials for energy development, and I will ask you, the House and Senate, for whatever amendments prove necessary.
I will meet with top management of the automobile industry to assure, either by agreement or by law, a firm program aimed at achieving a 40 percent increase in gasoline mileage within a 4-year development deadline.
Priority legislation--action, I should say--to increase energy supply here at home requires the following:
--One, long-sought deregulation of natural gas supplies,
--Number two, responsible use of our Naval petroleum reserves in California and Alaska,
--Number three, amendments to the Clean Air Act; and
--Four, passage of surface mining legislation to ensure an adequate supply with commonsense environmental protection.
Now, if all of these steps fail to meet our current energy-saving goals, I will not hesitate to ask for tougher measures. For the long range, we must work harder on coal gasification. We must push with renewed vigor and talent research in the use of non-fossil fuels. The power of the atom, the heat of the sun and the steam stored deep in the Earth, the force of the winds and water must be main sources of energy for our grandchildren, and we can do it.
Number three: restrictive practices. To increase productivity and contain prices, we must end restrictive and costly practices whether instituted by Government, industry, labor, or others. And I am determined to return to the vigorous enforcement of antitrust laws.
The Administration will zero in on more effective enforcement of laws against price fixing and bid rigging. For instance, non-competitive professional fee schedules and real estate settlement fees must be eliminated. Such violations will be prosecuted by the Department of Justice to the full extent of the law.
Now, I ask Congress for prompt authority to increase maximum penalties for antitrust violations from $50,000 to $1 million for corporations, and from $50,000 to $100,000 for individual violators.
At the Conference on Inflation we found, I would say, very broad agreement that the Federal Government imposes too many hidden and too many inflationary costs on our economy. As a result, I propose a four-point program aimed at a substantial purging process.
Number one, I have ordered the Council on Wage and Price Stability to be the watchdog over inflationary costs of all governmental actions.
Two, I ask the Congress to establish a National Commission on Regulatory Reform to undertake a long-overdue total reexamination of the independent regulatory agencies. It will be a joint effort by the Congress, the executive branch, and the private sector to identify and eliminate existing Federal rules and regulations that increase costs to the consumer without any good reason in today's economic climate.
Three: Hereafter, I will require that all major legislative proposals, regulations, and rules emanating from the executive branch of the Government will include an inflation impact statement that certifies we have carefully weighed the effect on the Nation. I respectfully request that the Congress require a similar advance inflation impact statement for its own legislative initiatives.
Finally, I urge State and local units of government to undertake similar programs to reduce inflationary effects of their regulatory activities.
At this point, I thank the Congress for recently revitalizing the National Commission on Productivity and Work Quality. It will initially concentrate on problems of productivity in Government--Federal, State, and local. Outside of Government, it will develop meaningful blueprints for labor-management cooperation at the plant level. It should look particularly at the construction and the health service industries.
The Council on Wage and Price Stability will, of course, monitor wage and price increases in the private sector. Monitoring will include public hearings to justify either price or wage increases. I emphasize, in fact reemphasize, that this is not a compulsory wage and price control agency.
Now, I know many Americans see Federal controls as the answer. But I believe from past experience controls show us that they never really stop inflation-not the last time, not even during and immediately after World War II when, as I recall, prices rose despite severe and enforceable wartime rationing.
Now, peacetime controls actually, we know from recent experience, create shortages, hamper production, stifle growth, and limit jobs. I do not ask for such powers, however politically tempting, as such a program could cause the fixer and the black marketeer to flourish while decent citizens face empty shelves and stand in long waiting lines.
Number four: We need more capital. We cannot "eat up our seed corn." Our free enterprise system depends on orderly capital markets through which the savings of our people become productively used. Today, our capital markets are in total disarray. We must restore their vitality. Prudent monetary restraint is essential.
You and the American people should know, however, that I have personally been assured by the Chairman of the independent Federal Reserve Board that the supply of money and credit will expand sufficiently to meet the needs of our economy and that in no event will a credit crunch occur.
The prime lending rate is going down. To help industry to buy more machines and create more jobs, I am recommending a liberalized 10 percent investment tax credit. This credit should be especially helpful to capital-intensive industries such as primary metals, public utilities, where capacity shortages have developed.
I am asking Congress to enact tax legislation to provide that all dividends on preferred stocks issued for cash be fully deductible by the issuing company. This should bring in more capital, especially for energy-producing utilities. It will also help other industries shift from debt to equity, providing a sounder capital structure.
Capital gains tax legislation must be liberalized as proposed by the tax reform bill currently before the Committee on Ways and Means. I endorse this approach and hope that it will pass promptly.
Number five: Helping the casualties. And this is a very important part of the overall speech. The Conference on Inflation made everybody even more aware of who is suffering most from inflation. Foremost are those who are jobless through no fault of their own.
Three weeks ago, I released funds which, with earlier actions, provide public service employment for some 170,000 who need work. I now propose to the Congress a two-step program to augment this action.
First, 13 weeks of special unemployment insurance benefits would be provided to those who have exhausted their regular and extended unemployment insurance benefits, and 26 weeks of special unemployment insurance benefits to those who qualify but are not now covered by regular unemployment insurance programs. Funding in this case would come from the general treasury, not from taxes on employers as is the case with the established unemployment programs.
Second, I ask the Congress to create a brand new Community Improvement Corps to provide work for the unemployed through short-term useful work projects to improve, beautify, and enhance the environment of our cities, our towns, and our countryside.
This standby program would come alive whenever unemployment exceeds 6 percent nationally. It would be stopped when unemployment drops below 6 percent. Local labor markets would each qualify for grants whenever their unemployment rate exceeds 6.5 percent.
State and local government contractors would supervise these projects and could hire only those who had exhausted their unemployment insurance benefits. The goal of this new program is to provide more constructive work for all Americans, young or old, who cannot find a job.
The purpose really follows this formula: Short-term problems require short-term remedies. I therefore request that these programs be for a 1-year period.
Now, I know that low- and middle-income Americans have been hardest hit by inflation. Their budgets are most vulnerable because a larger part of their income goes for the highly inflated costs of food, fuel, and medical care.
The tax reform bill now in the House Committee on Ways and Means, which I favor, already provides approximately $1.6 billion of tax relief to these groups. Compensating new revenues are provided in this prospective legislation by a windfall tax, profits tax on oil producers, and by closing other loopholes. If enacted, this will be a major contribution by the Congress in our common effort to make our tax system fairer to all.
Number six: stimulating housing. Without question, credit is the lifeblood of housing. The United States, unfortunately, is suffering the longest and the most severe housing recession since the end of World War II. Unemployment in the construction trades is twice the national average.
One of my first acts as President was to sign the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. I have since concluded that still more help is needed, help that can be delivered very quickly and with minimum inflationary impact.
I urge the Congress to enact before recess additional legislation to make most home mortgages eligible for purchase by an agency of the Federal Government. As the law stands now, only FHA or VA home mortgages, one-fifth of the total, are covered.
I am very glad that the Senate, thanks to the leadership of Senator Brooke and Senator Cranston, has already made substantial progress on this legislation. As soon as it comes to me, I will make at least $3 billion immediately available for mortgage purchases, enough to finance about 100,000 more American homes.
Number seven: thrift institutions. Savings and loan and similar institutions are hard hit by inflation and high interest rates. They no longer attract, unfortunately, adequate deposits. The executive branch, in my judgment, must join with the Congress in giving critically needed attention to the structure and the operation of our thrift institutions which now find themselves for the third time in 8 years in another period of serious mortgage credit scarcity.
Passage of the pending financial institution bill will help, but no single measure has yet appeared, as I see it, to solve feast or famine in mortgage credit. However, I promise to work with you individually and collectively to develop additional specific programs in this area in the future.
Number eight: international interdependency. The United States has a responsibility not only to maintain a healthy economy at home, but also to seek policies which complement rather than disrupt the constructive efforts of others.
Essential to U.S. initiatives is the early passage of an acceptable trade reform bill. My Special Representative for Trade Negotiations [William D. Eberle] departed earlier this afternoon to Canada, Europe, Japan, to brief foreign friends on my proposals.
We live in an interdependent world and, therefore, must work together to resolve common economic problems.
Number nine: Federal taxes and spending. To support programs, to increase production and share inflation-produced hardships, we need additional tax revenues.
I am aware that any proposal for new taxes just 4 weeks before a national election is, to put it mildly, considered politically unwise. And I am frank to say that I have been earnestly advised to wait and talk about taxes anytime after November 5. But I do say in sincerity that I will not play politics with America's future.
Our present inflation to a considerable degree comes from many years of enacting expensive programs without raising enough revenues to pay for them. The truth is that 19 out of the 25 years I had the honor and the privilege to serve in this Chamber, the Federal Government ended up with Federal deficits. That is not a very good batting average.
By now, almost everybody--almost everybody else, I should say--has stated my position on Federal gasoline taxes. This time I will do it myself. I am not-emphasizing not--asking you for any increase in gas taxes.
I am--I am asking you to approve a l-year temporary tax surcharge of 5 percent on corporate and upper-level individual incomes. This would generally exclude from the surcharge those families with gross incomes below $15,000 a year. The estimated $5 billion in extra revenue to be raised by this inflation-fighting tax should pay for the new programs I have recommended in this message.
I think, and I suspect each of you know, this is the acid test of our joint determination to whip inflation in America. I would not ask this if major loopholes were not now being closed by the Committee on Ways and Means' tax reform bill.
I urge you to join me before your recess, in addition to what I have said before, to join me by voting to set a target spending limit--let me emphasize it-a target spending limit of $300 billion for the Federal fiscal budget of 1975.
When Congress agrees to this spending target, I will submit a package of budget deferrals and rescissions to meet this goal. I will do the tough job of designating for Congressional action, on your return, those areas which I believe can and must be reduced. These will be hard choices and every one of you in this Chamber know it as well as I. They will be hard choices, but no Federal agency, including the Defense Department, will be untouchable.
It is my judgment that fiscal discipline is a necessary weapon in any fight against inflation. While this spending target is a small step, it is a step in the right direction, and we need to get on that course without any further delay. I do not think that any of us in this Chamber today can ask the American people to tighten their belts if Uncle Sam is unwilling to tighten his belt first.
And now, if I might, I would like to say a few words directly to your constituents and, incidentally, mine.
My fellow Americans, 10 days ago I asked you to get things started by making a list of 10 ways to fight inflation and save energy, to exchange your list with your neighbors, and to send me a copy.
I have personally read scores of the thousands of letters received at the White House, and incidentally, I have made my economic experts read some of them, too. We all benefited, at least I did, and I thank each and every one of you for this cooperation.
Some of the good ideas from your home to mine have been cranked into the recommendations I have just made to the Congress and the steps I am taking as President to whip inflation right now. There were also firm warnings on what Government must not do, and I appreciated those, too. Your best suggestions for voluntary restraint and self-discipline showed me that a great degree of patriotic determination and unanimity already exists in this great land.
I have asked Congress for urgent specific actions it alone can take. I advised Congress of the initial steps that I am taking as President. Here is what only you can do: Unless every able American pitches in, Congress and I cannot do the job. Winning our fight against inflation and waste involves total mobilization of America's greatest resources--the brains, the skills, and the willpower of the American people.
Here is what we must do, what each and every one of you can do: To help increase food and lower prices, grow more and waste less; to help save scarce fuel in the energy crisis, drive less, heat less. Every housewife knows almost exactly how much she spent for food last week. If you cannot spare a penny from your food budget--and I know there are many--surely you can cut the food that you waste by 5 percent.
Every American motorist knows exactly how many miles he or she drives to work or to school every day and about how much mileage she or he runs up each year. If we all drive at least 5 percent fewer miles, we can save, almost unbelievably, 250,000 barrels of foreign oil per day. By the end of 1975, most of us can do better than 5 percent by carpooling, taking the bus, riding bikes, or just plain walking. We can save enough gas by self-discipline to meet our 1 million barrels per day goal.
I think there is one final thing that all Americans can do, rich or poor, and that is share with others. We can share burdens as we can share blessings. Sharing is not easy, not easy to measure like mileage and family budgets, but I am sure that 5 percent more is not nearly enough to ask, so I ask you to share everything you can and a little bit more. And it will strengthen our spirits as well as our economy.
Today I will not take more of the time of this busy Congress, for I vividly remember the rush before every recess, and the clock is already running on my specific and urgent requests for legislative action. I also remember how much Congress can get done when it puts its shoulder to the wheel.
One week from tonight I have a long-standing invitation in Kansas City to address the Future Farmers of America, a fine organization of wonderful young people whose help, with millions of others, is vital in this battle. I will elaborate then how volunteer inflation fighters and energy savers can further mobilize their total efforts.
Since asking Miss Sylvia Porter, the well-known financial writer, to help me organize an all-out nationwide volunteer mobilization, I have named a White House coordinator and have enlisted the enthusiastic support and services of some 17 other distinguished Americans to help plan for citizen and private group participation.
There will be no big Federal bureaucracy set up for this crash program. Through the courtesy of such volunteers from the communication and media fields, a very simple enlistment form will appear in many of tomorrow's newspapers along with the symbol of this new mobilization, which I am wearing on my lapel. It bears the single word WIN. I think that tells it all. I will call upon every American to join in this massive mobilization and stick with it until we do win as a nation and as a people.
Mr. Speaker and Mr. President, I stand on a spot hallowed by history. Many Presidents have come here many times to solicit, to scold, to flatter, to exhort the Congress to support them in their leadership. Once in a great while, Presidents have stood here and truly inspired the most skeptical and the most sophisticated audience of their co-equal partners in Government. Perhaps once or twice in a generation is there such a joint session. I don't expect this one to be.
Only two of my predecessors have come in person to call upon Congress for a declaration of war, and I shall not do that. But I say to you with all sincerity that our inflation, our public enemy number one, will, unless whipped, destroy our country, our homes, our liberties, our property, and finally our national pride, as surely as any well-armed wartime enemy.
I concede there will be no sudden Pearl Harbor to shock us into unity and to sacrifice, but I think we have had enough early warnings. The time to intercept is right now. The time to intercept is almost gone.
My friends and former colleagues, will you enlist now? My friends and fellow Americans, will you enlist now? Together with discipline and determination, we will win.
I thank you very much.
NOTE: The President spoke at 4:02 p.m. in the House Chamber at the Capitol. The address was broadcast live on radio and television.
President Gerald R. Ford's Statement on Privacy Legislation
October 9, 1974
Legislation to protect personal privacy is making significant progress in the Congress. I am delighted about the prospect of House and Senate action at this session.
Renewed national efforts to strengthen protections for personal privacy should begin in Washington. We should start by enacting uniform fair information practices for the agencies of the Federal Government. This will give us invaluable operating experience as we continue to examine and recommend needed actions at the State and local level and in the private sector.
The immediate objective should be to give every citizen the right to inspect, challenge, and correct, if necessary, information about him contained in Federal agency records and to assure him a remedy for illegal invasions of privacy by Federal agencies accountable for safeguarding his records. In legislating, the right of privacy, of course, must be balanced against equally valid public interests in freedom of information, national defense, foreign policy, law enforcement, and in a high quality and trustworthy Federal work force.
Immediately after I assumed the Chairmanship, as Vice President, of the Cabinet-level Domestic Council Committee on the Right of Privacy, I asked the Office of Management and Budget to work jointly with the Committee staff, the executive agencies, and the Congress to work out realistic and effective legislation at the earliest possible time. Substantial progress has been made by both the Senate and the House on bills extending personal privacy protections to tens of millions of records containing personal information in hundreds of Federal data banks.
H.R. 16373, the Privacy Act of 1974, has my enthusiastic support, except for the provisions which allow unlimited individual access to records vital to determining eligibility and promotion in the Federal service and access to classified information. I strongly urge floor amendments permitting workable exemptions to accommodate these situations.
The Senate also has made substantial progress in writing privacy legislation. S. 3418 parallels the House bill in many respects, but I believe major technical and substantive amendments are needed to perfect the bill. I do not favor establishing a separate commission or board bureaucracy empowered to define privacy in its own terms and to second-guess citizens and agencies. I vastly prefer an approach which makes Federal agencies fully and publicly accountable for legally mandated privacy protections, and which gives the individual adequate legal remedies to enforce what he deems to be his own best privacy interests.
The adequate protection of personal privacy requires legislative and executive initiatives in areas not addressed by H.R. 16373 and S. 3418. 1 have asked executive branch officials to continue to work with the Congress to assure swift action on measures to strengthen privacy and confidentiality in income tax records, criminal justice records, and other areas identified as needed privacy initiatives by the Domestic Council
President Gerald R. Ford's Veto of Railroad Retirement Benefits Legislation
October 12, 1974
To the House of Representatives:
I am returning today without my approval, H.R. 15301, a bill which would finance a long-standing deficit in the Railroad Retirement System at the expense of the general taxpayer.
The Railroad Retirement System, under current law, is headed toward bankruptcy by the mid-1980s. This condition arises largely because benefits have been increased 68 percent since 1970 without requiring the beneficiaries of the system, railroad employees and employers, to pay the added costs.
This bill proposes to solve the financial problems of the Railroad Retirement System by placing a seven billion dollar burden on the general taxpayer, requiring him to contribute $285 million to the Railroad Retirement Trust Fund each year for the next twenty-five years. In return for his seven billion dollar contribution, the general taxpayer would earn no entitlement to benefits and would receive no return on his investment.
At a time when the taxpayer is already carrying the double burden of taxes and inflation, legislation such as this is most inappropriate.
Recognizing the financial straits of the Railroad Retirement System, the Executive Branch in 1970 proposed and the Congress authorized an independent study of the System. After eighteen months of careful work, the study group recommended that the benefits be financed ". . . on an assured, fully self-supporting basis by contributions from the railroad community through the crisis period of the next 20 to 30 years and then beyond."
Following receipt of the report, the Congress directed representatives of railroad employees and management to submit their combined recommendations for restoring financial soundness to the System, taking into account the report and the specific recommendations of the Commission.
The bill which is now before me is true neither to the recommendation of the Commission nor to the charge placed on the industry by the Congress.
Forcing the general taxpayer to carry an unfair burden is not the only defect in this bill. It would also establish a special investment procedure for the Railroad Retirement Trust Fund.
Under the bill, the interest paid by the Treasury on Railroad Retirement investments and Federal securities would rise when interest rates increase but would not fall when they decrease. This "heads I win; tails you lose" arrangement, with taxpayer being the loser, has been suggested before, but never adopted. It should not be a part of the solution to the Railroad Retirement System's financial problem.
Furthermore, the provisions of the benefit formula are so complex that they would be extremely difficult to administer and virtually impossible to explain to the persons who are supposed to benefit from it. Now is the time to simplify the benefit structure of the Railroad Retirement System, not make it more complex. Splitting administrative responsibility between the Railroad Retirement System and the Social Security System over benefits that depend on entitlement under the Social Security Act is bad law. Full responsibility for administering Social Security benefits should be vested in the Social Security Administration, not divided among agencies with resultant uncertainty as to who should be held accountable.
I believe it is our obligation to the general taxpayer to see that the problems of this system are overcome by the industry and people it serves -- those who have benefitted from it in the past and will continue to receive its benefits in the future. Other industries -- other parts of the transportation industry -- pay for their own pension systems. There is no justification for singling out the railroads for special treatment.
There are only two ways this obligation can be met -- by increasing revenues or by limiting benefits or by a combination of both. Administration spokesmen have proposed constructive ways to achieve this goal, but our proposals have not received serious consideration by the Congress.
We are in need of a better railroad retirement system and a financially sound one. This bill does not meet that need. I urge the Congress to reconsider that need and to develop a new bill which is fair to the taxpayers as well as to the beneficiaries of the Railroad Retirement System. This Administration stands ready to help in any way it can.
Gerald R. Ford
The White House,
October 12, 1974.
Note: H.R. 15301 was enacted over the President's veto on October 6, 1974 as Public Law 93-45 (88 Stat. 1305).
Gerald R. Ford's Statement on Signing the Safe Drinking Water Act
December 17, 1974
I am pleased to have signed the Safe Drinking Water Act (S. 433). Much effort has gone into the development of this legislation as much as for any enacted in this session of Congress.
This Administration proposed a Safe Drinking Water Act, and several others were introduced by Members of Congress. All of these bills had the same objectives: to increase protection of the public's health. Many compromises had to be made before this bill reached my desk. Yet it is a strong bill, reflecting the combined efforts of the Congress and the Administration.
This legislation will enhance the safety of public drinking water supplies in this country through the establishment and enforcement of national drinking water standards. The Environmental Protection Agency has the primary responsibility for establishing our national standards. The States have the primary responsibility of enforcing them and for otherwise ensuring the quality of drinking water. In some situations where States fail to enforce the standards, the Federal Government could. I believe this will seldom be necessary. During the extensive consideration of this legislation, spokesmen for the Administration opposed extensive Federal involvement in what has traditionally been State and local regulatory matters and unnecessary costs to the Federal Government. Even with the compromises that were made, I still have reservations about those two aspects of this bill, and I intend that it be administered so as to minimize both Federal involvement and costs.
The bill enhances the ability of the Federal Government to conduct research into the health effects of contaminants 'in drinking water. Recent news stories have highlighted several potential drinking water problems that can only be resolved through research. I am pleased to say that we are already moving ahead on these problems.
Nothing is more essential to the life of every single American than clean air, pure food, and safe drinking water. There have been strong national programs to improve the quality of our air and the purity of our food. This bill will provide us with the protection we need for drinking water.
Note: As enacted, S. 433, approved December 16, 1974, is Public Law 93-523 (88 Stat. 1660).
President Gerald R. Ford's Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress Reporting on the State of the Union
January 15, 1975
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of the 94th Congress, and distinguished guests:
Twenty-six years ago, a freshman Congressman, a young fellow with lots of idealism who was out to change the world, stood before Sam Rayburn in the well of the House and solemnly swore to the same oath that all of you took yesterday--an unforgettable experience, and I congratulate you all.
Two days later, that same freshman stood at the back of this great Chamber--over there someplace--as President Truman, all charged up by his single-handed election victory, reported as the Constitution requires on the state of the Union.
When the bipartisan applause stopped, President Truman said, "I am happy to report to this 81st Congress that the state of the Union is good. Our Nation is better able than ever before to meet the needs of the American people, and to give them their fair chance in the pursuit of happiness. [It] is foremost among the nations of the world in the search for peace."
Today, that freshman Member from Michigan stands where Mr. Truman stood, and I must say to you that the state of the Union is not good: Millions of Americans are out of work. Recession and inflation are eroding the money of millions more. Prices are too high, and sales are too slow. This year's Federal deficit will be about $30 billion; next year's probably $45 billion. The national debt will rise to over $500 billion. Our plant capacity and productivity are not increasing fast enough. We depend on others for essential energy. Some people question their Government's ability to make hard decisions and stick with them; they expect Washington politics as usual.
Yet, what President Truman said on January 5, 1949, is even more true in 1975. We are better able to meet our people's needs. All Americans do have a fairer chance to pursue happiness. Not only are we still the foremost nation in the pursuit of peace but today's prospects of attaining it are infinitely brighter.
There were 59 million Americans employed at the start of 1949; now there are more than 85 million Americans who have jobs. In comparable dollars, the average income of the American family has doubled during the past 26 years.
Now, I want to speak very bluntly. I've got bad news, and I don't expect much, if any, applause. The American people want action, and it will take both the Congress and the President to give them what they want. Progress and solutions can be achieved, and they will be achieved.
My message today is not intended to address all of the complex needs of America. I will send separate messages making specific recommendations for domestic legislation, such as the extension of general revenue sharing and the Voting Rights Act.
The moment has come to move in a new direction. We can do this by fashioning a new partnership between the Congress on the one hand, the White House on the other, and the people we both represent.
Let us mobilize the most powerful and most creative industrial nation that ever existed on this Earth to put all our people to work. The emphasis on our economic efforts must now shift from inflation to jobs.
To bolster business and industry and to create new jobs, I propose a 1-year tax reduction of $16 billion. Three-quarters would go to individuals and one-quarter to promote business investment.
This cash rebate to individuals amounts to 12 percent of 1974 tax payments--a total cut of $12 billion, with a maximum of $1,000 per return.
I call on the Congress to act by April 1. If you do--and I hope you will--the Treasury can send the first check for half of the rebate in May and the second by September.
The other one-fourth of the cut, about $4 billion, will go to business, including farms, to promote expansion and to create more jobs.
The 1-year reduction for businesses would be in the form of a liberalized investment tax credit increasing the rate to 12 percent for all businesses.
This tax cut does not include the more fundamental reforms needed in our tax system. But it points us in the right direction--allowing taxpayers rather than the Government to spend their pay.
Cutting taxes now is essential if we are to turn the economy around. A tax cut offers the best hope of creating more jobs. Unfortunately, it will increase the size of the budget deficit. Therefore, it is more important than ever that we take steps to control the growth of Federal expenditures.
Part of our trouble is that we have been self-indulgent. For decades, we have been voting ever-increasing levels of Government benefits, and now the bill has come due. We have been adding so many new programs that the size and the growth of the Federal budget has taken on a life of its own.
One characteristic of these programs is that their cost increases automatically every year because the number of people eligible for most of the benefits increases every year. When these programs are enacted, there is no dollar amount set. No one knows what they will cost. All we know is that whatever they cost last year, they will cost more next year.
It is a question of simple arithmetic. Unless we check the excessive growth of Federal expenditures or impose on ourselves matching increases in taxes, we will continue to run huge inflationary deficits in the Federal budget.
If we project the current built-in momentum of Federal spending through the next 15 years, State, Federal, and local government expenditures could easily comprise half of our gross national product. This compares with less than a third in 1975.
I have just concluded the process of preparing the budget submissions for fiscal year 1976. In that budget, I will propose legislation to restrain the growth of a number of existing programs. I have also concluded that no new spending programs can be initiated this year, except for energy. Further, I will not hesitate to veto any new spending programs adopted by the Congress.
As an additional step toward putting the Federal Government's house in order, I recommend a 5-percent limit on Federal pay increases in 1975. In all Government programs tied to the Consumer Price Index--including social security, civil service and military retirement pay, and food stamps--I also propose a 1-year maximum increase of 5 percent.
None of these recommended ceiling limitations, over which Congress has final authority, are easy to propose, because in most cases they involve anticipated payments to many, many deserving people. Nonetheless, it must be done. I must emphasize that I am not asking to eliminate, to reduce, to freeze these payments. I am merely recommending that we slow down the rate at which these payments increase and these programs grow.
Only a reduction in the growth of spending can keep Federal borrowing down and reduce the damage to the private sector from high interest rates. Only a reduction in spending can make it possible for the Federal Reserve System to avoid an inflationary growth in the money supply and thus restore balance to our economy. A major reduction in the growth of Federal spending can help dispel the uncertainty that so many feel about our economy and put us on the way to curing our economic ills.
If we don't act to slow down the rate of increase in Federal spending, the United States Treasury will be legally obligated to spend more than $360 billion in fiscal year 1976, even if no new programs are enacted. These are not matters of conjecture or prediction, but again, a matter of simple arithmetic. The size of these numbers and their implications for our everyday life and the health of our economic system are shocking.
I submitted to the last Congress a list of budget deferrals and rescissions. There will be more cuts recommended in the budget that I will submit. Even so, the level of outlays for fiscal year 1976 is still much, much too high. Not only is it too high for this year but the decisions we make now will inevitably have a major and growing impact on expenditure levels in future years. I think this is a very fundamental issue that we, the Congress and I, must jointly solve.
Economic disruptions we and others are experiencing stem in part from the fact that the world price of petroleum has quadrupled in the last year. But in all honesty, we cannot put all of the blame on the oil-exporting nations. We, the United States, are not blameless. Our growing dependence upon foreign sources has been adding to our vulnerability for years and years, and we did nothing to prepare ourselves for such an event as the embargo of 1973.
During the 1960's, this country had a surplus capacity of crude oil which we were able to make available to our trading partners whenever there was a disruption of supply. This surplus capacity enabled us to influence both supplies and prices of crude oil throughout the world. Our excess capacity neutralized any effort at establishing an effective cartel, and thus the rest of the world was assured of adequate supplies of oil at reasonable prices.
By 1970, our surplus capacity had vanished, and as a consequence, the latent power of the oil cartel could emerge in full force. Europe and Japan, both heavily dependent on imported oil, now struggle to keep their economies in balance. Even the United States, our country, which is far more self-sufficient than most other industrial countries, has been put under serious pressure.
I am proposing a program which will begin to restore our country's surplus capacity in total energy. In this way, we will be able to assure ourselves reliable and adequate energy and help foster a new world energy stability for other major consuming nations.
But this Nation and, in fact, the world must face the prospect of energy difficulties between now and 1985. This program will impose burdens on all of us with the aim of reducing our consumption of energy and increasing our production. Great attention has been paid to the considerations of fairness, and I can assure you that the burdens will not fall more harshly on those less able to bear them.
I am recommending a plan to make us invulnerable to cutoffs of foreign oil. It will require sacrifices, but it--and this is most important--it will work.
I have set the following national energy goals to assure that our future is as secure and as productive as our past:
First, we must reduce oil imports by 1 million barrels per day by the end of this year and by 2 million barrels per day by the end of 1977.
Second, we must end vulnerability to economic disruption by foreign suppliers by 1985.
Third, we must develop our energy technology and resources so that the United States has the ability to supply a significant share of the energy needs of the free world by the end of this century.
To attain these objectives, we need immediate action to cut imports. Unfortunately, in the short term there are only a limited number of actions which can increase domestic supply. I will press for all of them.
I urge quick action on the necessary legislation to allow commercial production at the Elk Hills, California, Naval Petroleum Reserve. In order that we make greater use of domestic coal resources, I am submitting amendments to the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act which will greatly increase the number of power plants that can be promptly converted to coal.
Obviously, voluntary conservation continues to be essential, but tougher programs are needed--and needed now. Therefore, I am using Presidential powers to raise the fee on all imported crude oil and petroleum products. The crude oil fee level will be increased $1 per barrel on February 1, by $2 per barrel on March 1, and by $3 per barrel on April 1. I will take actions to reduce undue hardships on any geographical region. The foregoing are interim administrative actions. They will be rescinded when broader but necessary legislation is enacted.
To that end, I am requesting the Congress to act within 90 days on a more comprehensive energy tax program. It includes: excise taxes and import fees totaling $2 per barrel on product imports and on all crude oil; deregulation of new natural gas and enactment of a natural gas excise tax.
I plan to take Presidential initiative to decontrol the price of domestic crude oil on April 1. I urge the Congress to enact a windfall profits tax by that date to ensure that oil producers do not profit unduly.
The sooner Congress acts, the more effective the oil conservation program will be and the quicker the Federal revenues can be returned to our people.
I am prepared to use Presidential authority to limit imports, as necessary, to guarantee success.
I want you to know that before deciding on my energy conservation program, I considered rationing and higher gasoline taxes as alternatives. In my judgment, neither would achieve the desired results and both would produce unacceptable inequities.
A massive program must be initiated to increase energy supply to cut demand, and provide new standby emergency programs to achieve the independence we want by 1985. The largest part of increased oil production must come from new frontier areas on the Outer Continental Shelf and from the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4 in Alaska. It is the intent of this Administration to move ahead with exploration, leasing, and production on those frontier areas of the Outer Continental Shelf where the environmental risks are acceptable.
Use of our most abundant domestic resource--coal--is severely limited. We must strike a reasonable compromise on environmental concerns with coal. I am submitting Clean Air [Act] amendments which will allow greater coal use without sacrificing clean air goals.
I vetoed the strip mining legislation passed by the last Congress. With appropriate changes, I will sign a revised version when it comes to the White House.
I am proposing a number of actions to energize our nuclear power program. I will submit legislation to expedite nuclear leasing [licensing] and the rapid selection of sites.
In recent months, utilities have canceled or postponed over 60 percent of planned nuclear expansion and 30 percent of planned additions to non-nuclear capacity. Financing problems for that industry are worsening. I am therefore recommending that the 1-year investment tax credit of 12 percent be extended an additional 2 years to specifically speed the construction of powerplants that do not use natural gas or oil. I am also submitting proposals for selective reform of State utility commission regulations.
To provide the critical stability for our domestic energy production in the face of world price uncertainty, I will request legislation to authorize and require tariffs, import quotas, or price floors to protect our energy prices at levels which will achieve energy independence.
Increasing energy supplies is not enough. We must take additional steps to cut long-term consumption. I therefore propose to the Congress: legislation to make thermal efficiency standards mandatory for all new buildings in the United States; a new tax credit of up to $150 for those homeowners who install insulation equipment; the establishment of an energy conservation program to help low-income families purchase insulation supplies; legislation to modify and defer automotive pollution standards for 5 years, which will enable us to improve automobile gas mileage by 40 percent by 1980.
These proposals and actions, cumulatively, can reduce our dependence on foreign energy supplies from 3 to 5 million barrels per day by 1985. To make the United States invulnerable to foreign disruption, I propose standby emergency legislation and a strategic storage program of 1 billion barrels of oil for domestic needs and 300 million barrels for national defense purposes.
I will ask for the funds needed for energy research and development activities. I have established a goal of 1 million barrels of synthetic fuels and shale oil production per day by 1985 together with an incentive program to achieve it.
I have a very deep belief in America's capabilities. Within the next 10 years, my program envisions: 200 major nuclear power plants; 250 major new coal mines; 150 major coal-fired power plants; 30 major new [oil] refineries; 20 major new synthetic fuel plants; the drilling of many thousands of new oil wells; the insulation of 18 million homes; and the manufacturing and the sale of millions of new automobiles, trucks, and buses that use much less fuel.
I happen to believe that we can do it. In another crisis--the one in 1942--President Franklin D. Roosevelt said this country would build 60,000 [50,000] military aircraft. By 1943, production in that program had reached 125,000 aircraft annually. They did it then. We can do it now.
If the Congress and the American people will work with me to attain these targets, they will be achieved and will be surpassed.
From adversity, let us seize opportunity. Revenues of some $30 billion from higher energy taxes designed to encourage conservation must be refunded to the American people in a manner which corrects distortions in our tax system wrought by inflation.
People have been pushed into higher tax brackets by inflation, with consequent reduction in their actual spending power. Business taxes are similarly distorted because inflation exaggerates reported profits, resulting in excessive taxes.
Accordingly, I propose that future individual income taxes be reduced by $16.5 billion. This will be done by raising the low-income allowance and reducing tax rates. This continuing tax cut will primarily benefit lower- and middle-income taxpayers.
For example, a typical family of four with a gross income of $5,600 now pays $185 in Federal income taxes. Under this tax cut plan, they would pay nothing. A family of four with a gross income of $12,500 now pays $1,260 in Federal taxes. My proposal reduces that total by $300. Families grossing $20,000 would receive a reduction of $210.
Those with the very lowest incomes, who can least afford higher costs, must also be compensated. I propose a payment of $80 to every person 18 years of age and older in that very limited category.
State and local governments will receive $2 billion in additional revenue sharing to offset their increased energy costs.
To offset inflationary distortions and to generate more economic activity, the corporate tax rate will be reduced from 48 percent to 42 percent.
Now let me turn, if I might, to the international dimension of the present crisis. At no time in our peacetime history has the state of the Nation depended more heavily on the state of the world. And seldom, if ever, has the state of the world depended more heavily on the state of our Nation.
The economic distress is global. We will not solve it at home unless we help to remedy the profound economic dislocation abroad. World trade and monetary structure provides markets, energy, food, and vital raw materials--for all nations. This international system is now in jeopardy.
This Nation can be proud of significant achievements in recent years in solving problems and crises. The Berlin agreement, the SALT agreements, our new relationship with China, the unprecedented efforts in the Middle East are immensely encouraging. But the world is not free from crisis. In a world of 150 nations, where nuclear technology is proliferating and regional conflicts continue, international security cannot be taken for granted.
So, let there be no mistake about it: International cooperation is a vital factor of our lives today. This is not a moment for the American people to turn inward. More than ever before, our own well-being depends on America's determination and America's leadership in the whole wide world.
We are a great Nation--spiritually, politically, militarily, diplomatically, and economically. America's commitment to international security has sustained the safety of allies and friends in many areas-- in the Middle East, in Europe, and in Asia. Our turning away would unleash new instabilities, new dangers around the globe, which, in turn, would threaten our own security.
At the end of World War II, we turned a similar challenge into an historic opportunity and, I might add, an historic achievement. An old order was in disarray; political and economic institutions were shattered. In that period, this Nation and its partners built new institutions, new mechanisms of mutual support and cooperation. Today, as then, we face an historic opportunity. If we act imaginatively and boldly, as we acted then, this period will in retrospect be seen as one of the great creative moments of our Nation's history.
The whole world is watching to see how we respond.
A resurgent American economy would do more to restore the confidence of the world in its own future than anything else we can do. The program that this Congress passes can demonstrate to the world that we have started to put our own house in order. If we can show that this Nation is able and willing to help other nations meet the common challenge, it can demonstrate that the United States will fulfill its responsibilities as a leader among nations.
Quite frankly, at stake is the future of industrialized democracies, which have perceived their destiny in common and sustained it in common for 30 years.
The developing nations are also at a turning point. The poorest nations see their hopes of feeding their hungry and developing their societies shattered by the economic crisis. The long-term economic future for the producers of raw materials also depends on cooperative solutions.
Our relations with the Communist countries are a basic factor of the world environment. We must seek to build a long-term basis for coexistence. We will stand by our principles. We will stand by our interests. We will act firmly when challenged. The kind of a world we want depends on a broad policy of creating mutual incentives for restraint and for cooperation.
As we move forward to meet our global challenges and opportunities, we must have the tools to do the job.
Our military forces are strong and ready. This military strength deters aggression against our allies, stabilizes our relations with former adversaries, and protects our homeland. Fully adequate conventional and strategic forces cost many, many billions, but these dollars are sound insurance for our safety and for a more peaceful world.
Military strength alone is not sufficient. Effective diplomacy is also essential in preventing conflict, in building world understanding. The Vladivostok negotiations with the Soviet Union represent a major step in moderating strategic arms competition. My recent discussions with the leaders of the Atlantic community, Japan, and South Korea have contributed to meeting the common challenge.
But we have serious problems before us that require cooperation between the President and the Congress. By the Constitution and tradition, the execution of foreign policy is the responsibility of the President.
In recent years, under the stress of the Vietnam war, legislative restrictions on the President's ability to execute foreign policy and military decisions have proliferated. As a Member of the Congress, I opposed some and I approved others. As President, I welcome the advice and cooperation of the House and the Senate.
But if our foreign policy is to be successful, we cannot rigidly restrict in legislation the ability of the President to act. The conduct of negotiations is ill-suited to such limitations. Legislative restrictions, intended for the best motives and purposes, can have the opposite result, as we have seen most recently in our trade relations with the Soviet Union.
For my part, I pledge this Administration will act in the closest consultation with the Congress as we face delicate situations and troubled times throughout the globe.
When I became President only 5 months ago, I promised the last Congress a policy of communication, conciliation, compromise, and cooperation. I renew that pledge to the new Members of this Congress.
Let me sum it up. America needs a new direction, which I have sought to chart here today--a change of course which will: put the unemployed back to work; increase real income and production; restrain the growth of Federal Government spending; achieve energy independence; and advance the cause of world understanding.
We have the ability. We have the know-how. In partnership with the American people, we will achieve these objectives.
As our 200th anniversary approaches, we owe it to ourselves and to posterity to rebuild our political and economic strength. Let us make America once again and for centuries more to come what it has so long been--a stronghold and a beacon-light of liberty for the whole world.
Thank you.
Note: The President delivered his address at 1:06 p.m. in the House Chamber at the Capitol. He was introduced by Carl Albert, Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on radio and television.
President Gerald R. Ford's Message on the Observance of Black History Week
February 3, 1975
IT IS most appropriate that Americans set aside a week to recognize the important contribution made to our nation's life and culture by our black citizens.
With the growth of the civil rights movement has come a healthy awareness on the part of all of us of achievements that have too long been obscured and unsung. Emphasis on these achievements in our schools and colleges and in daily community life places in timely perspective the benefits of working together as brothers and sisters regardless of race, religion or national origin for the general well-being of all our society.
In this spirit, I urge my fellow citizens to be mindful of the valuable message conveyed to us during the celebration of this week.
GERALD R. FORD
NOTE: Black History Week, sponsored by the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, was observed February 9-15,1975.
Proclamation by Gerald R. Ford Terminating Registration Procedures Under Military Selective Service Act, As Amended
Proclamation 4360
March 29, 1975
By the President of the United States of America a Proclamation
Under authority vested in the President by the Military Selective Service Act (62 Stat. 604), as amended, procedures have been established for the registration of male citizens of the United States and of other male persons who are subject to registration under section 3 of sai act, as amended (85 Stat. 348).
In order to evaluate an annual registration system existing procedures are being terminated and will be replaced by new procedures which will provide for periodic registration.
Now, therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the statutes of the United States, including the Military Selective Service Act, as amended, do hereby revoke Proclamations No. 2799 of July 20, 1948, No. 293 7 of August 16, 1951, No. 2938 of August 16, 1951, No. 2942 of August 30, 1951, No. 2972 of April 17, 1952, No. 3314 of September 14, 1959, and No. 4101 of January 13, 1972; thereby terminating the present procedures for registration under the Military Selective Service Act, as amended.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of March in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-ninth.
Gerald R. Ford
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:55 a.m., March 31, 1975]
Address by President Gerald R. Ford Before a Joint Session of the Congress Reporting on United States Foreign Policy
April 10, 1975
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, distinguished guests, my very good friends in the Congress, and fellow Americans:
I stand before you tonight after many agonizing hours in very solemn prayers for guidance by the Almighty. In my report on the state of the Union in January, I concentrated on two subjects which were uppermost in the minds of the American people-urgent actions for the recovery of our economy and a comprehensive program to make the United States independent of foreign sources of energy.
I thank the Congress for the action that it has taken thus far in my response for economic recommendations. I look forward to early approval of a national energy program to meet our country's long-range and emergency needs in the field of energy.
Tonight it is my purpose to review our relations with the rest of the world in the spirit of candor and consultation which I have sought to maintain with my former colleagues and with our countrymen from the time that I took office. It is the first priority of my Presidency to sustain and strengthen the mutual trust and respect which must exist among Americans and their Government if we are to deal successfully with the challenges confronting us both at home and abroad.
The leadership of the United States of America since the end of World War II has sustained and advanced the security, well-being, and freedom of millions of human beings besides ourselves. Despite some setbacks, despite some mistakes, the United States has made peace a real prospect for us and for all nations. I know firsthand that the Congress has been a partner in the development and in the support of American foreign policy, which five Presidents before me have carried forward with changes of course but not of destination.
The course which our country chooses in the world today has never been of greater significance for ourselves as a nation and for all mankind. We build from a solid foundation. Our alliances with great industrial democracies in Europe, North America, and Japan remain strong with a greater degree of consultation and equity than ever before.
With the Soviet Union we have moved across a broad front toward a more stable, if still competitive, relationship. We have begun to control the spiral of strategic nuclear armaments.
After two decades of mutual estrangement, we have achieved an historic opening with the People's Republic of China.
In the best American tradition, we have committed, often with striking success, our influence and good offices to help contain conflicts and settle disputes in many, many regions of the world. We have, for example, helped the parties of the Middle East take the first steps toward living with one another in peace.
We have opened a new dialog with Latin America, looking toward a healthier hemispheric partnership. We are developing closer relations with the nations of Africa. We have exercised international leadership on the great new issues of our interdependent world, such as energy, food, environment, and the law of the sea.
The American people can be proud of what their Nation has achieved and helped others to accomplish, but we have from time to time suffered setbacks and disappointments in foreign policy. Some were events over which we had no control; some were difficulties we imposed upon ourselves.
We live in a time of testing and of a time of change. Our world-a world of economic uncertainty, political unrest, and threats to the peace-does not allow us the luxury of abdication or domestic discord.
I recall quite vividly the words of President Truman to the Congress when the United States faced a far greater challenge at the end of the Second World War. If I might quote: "If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the world, and we shall surely endanger the welfare of this Nation."
President Truman's resolution must guide us today. Our purpose is not to point the finger of blame, but to build upon our many successes, to repair damage where we find it, to recover our balance, to move ahead as a united people. Tonight is a time for straight talk among friends, about where we stand and where we are going.
A vast human tragedy has befallen our friends in Vietnam and Cambodia. Tonight I shall not talk only of obligations arising from legal documents. Who can forget the enormous sacrifices of blood, dedication, and treasure that we made in Vietnam?
Under five Presidents and 12 Congresses, the United States was engaged in Indochina. Millions of Americans served, thousands died, and many more were wounded, imprisoned, or lost. Over $150 billion have been appropriated for that war by the Congress of the United States. And after years of effort, we negotiated, under the most difficult circumstances, a settlement which made it possible for us to remove our military forces and bring home with pride our American prisoners. This settlement, if its terms had been adhered to, would have permitted our South Vietnamese ally, with our material and moral support, to maintain its security and rebuild after two decades of war.
The chances for an enduring peace after the last American fighting man left Vietnam in 1973 rested on two publicly stated premises: first, that if necessary, the United States would help sustain the terms of the Paris accords it signed 2 years ago, and second, that the United States would provide adequate economic and military assistance to South Vietnam.
Let us refresh our memories for just a moment. The universal consensus in the United States at that time, late 1972, was that if we could end our own involvement and obtain the release of our prisoners, we would provide adequate material support to South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese, from the moment they signed the Paris accords, systematically violated the cease-fire and other provisions of that agreement. Flagrantly disregarding the ban on the infiltration of troops, the North Vietnamese illegally introduced over 350,000 men into the South. In direct violation of the agreement, they sent in the most modern equipment in massive amounts. Meanwhile, they continued to receive large quantities of supplies and arms from their friends.
In the face of this situation, the United States-torn as it was by the emotions of a decade of war-was unable to respond. We deprived ourselves by law of the ability to enforce the agreement, thus giving North Vietnam assurance. that it could violate that agreement with impunity. Next, we reduced our economic and arms aid to South Vietnam. Finally, we signaled our increasing reluctance to give any support to that nation struggling for its survival.
Encouraged by these developments, the North Vietnamese, in recent months, began sending even their reserve divisions into South Vietnam. Some 20 divisions, virtually their entire army, are now in South Vietnam.
The Government of South Vietnam, uncertain of further American assistance, hastily ordered a strategic withdrawal to more defensible positions. This extremely difficult maneuver, decided upon without consultations, was poorly executed, hampered by floods of refugees, and thus led to panic. The results are painfully obvious and profoundly moving.
In my first public comment on this tragic development, I called for a new sense of national unity and purpose. I said I would not engage in recriminations or attempts to assess the blame. I reiterate that tonight.
In the same spirit, I welcome the statement of the distinguished majority leader of the United States Senate earlier this week, and I quote: "It is time for the Congress and the President to work together in the area of foreign as well as domestic policy."
So, let us start afresh.
I am here to work with the Congress. In the conduct of foreign affairs, Presidential initiative and ability to act swiftly in emergencies are essential to our national interest.
With respect to North Vietnam, I call upon Hanoi-and ask the Congress to join with me in this call-to cease military operations immediately and to honor the terms of the Paris agreement.
The United States is urgently requesting the signatories of the Paris conference to meet their obligations to use their influence to halt the fighting and to enforce the 1973 accords. Diplomatic notes to this effect have been sent to all members of the Paris conference, including the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.
The situation in South Vietnam and Cambodia has reached a critical phase requiring immediate and positive decisions by this Government. The options before us are few and the time is very short.
On the one hand, the United States could do nothing more; let the Government of South Vietnam save itself and what is left of its territory, if it can; let those South Vietnamese civilians who have worked with us for a decade or more save their lives and their families, if they can; in short, shut our eyes and wash our hands of the whole affair-if we can.
Or, on the other hand, I could ask the Congress for authority to enforce the Paris accords with our troops and our tanks and our aircraft and our artillery and carry the war to the enemy.
There are two narrower options:
First, stick with my January request that Congress appropriate $300 million for military assistance for South Vietnam and seek additional funds for economic and humanitarian purposes.
Or, increase my requests for both emergency military and humanitarian assistance to levels which, by best estimates, might enable the South Vietnamese to stem the onrushing aggression, to stabilize the military situation, permit the chance of a negotiated political settlement between the North and South Vietnamese, and if the very worst were to happen, at least allow the orderly evacuation of Americans and endangered South Vietnamese to places of safety.
Let me now state my considerations and my conclusions.
I have received a full report from General Weyand [General Frederick C. Weyand, U.S. Army Chief of Staff], whom l sent to Vietnam to assess the situation. He advises that the current military situation is very critical, but that South Vietnam is continuing to defend itself with the resources available. However, he feels that if there is to be any chance of success for their defense plan, South Vietnam needs urgently an additional $722 million in very specific military supplies from the-United States. In my judgment, a stabilization of the military situation offers the best opportunity for a political solution.
I must, of course, as I think each of you would, consider the safety of nearly 6,000 Americans who remain in South Vietnam and tens of thousands of South Vietnamese employees of the United States Government, of news agencies, of contractors and businesses for many years whose lives, with their dependents, are in very grave peril. There are tens of thousands of other South Vietnamese intellectuals, professors, teachers, editors, and opinion leaders who have supported the South Vietnamese cause and the alliance with the United States to whom we have a profound moral obligation.
I am also mindful of our posture toward the rest of the world and, particularly, of our future relations with the free nations of Asia. These nations must not think for a minute that the United States is pulling out on them or intends to abandon them to aggression.
I have therefore concluded that the national interests of the United States and the cause of world stability require that we continue to give both military and humanitarian assistance to the South Vietnamese.
Assistance to South Vietnam at this stage must be swift and adequate. Drift and indecision invite far deeper disaster. The sums I had requested before the major North Vietnamese offensive and the sudden South Vietnamese retreat are obviously inadequate. Half-hearted action would be worse than none. We must act together and act decisively.
I am therefore asking the Congress to appropriate without delay $722 million for emergency military assistance and an initial sum of $250 million for economic and humanitarian aid for South Vietnam.
The situation in South Vietnam is changing very rapidly, and the need for emergency food, medicine, and refugee relief is growing by the hour. I will work with the Congress in the days ahead to develop humanitarian assistance to meet these very pressing needs.
Fundamental decency requires that we do everything in our power to ease the misery and the pain of the monumental human crisis which has befallen the people of Vietnam. Millions have fled in the face of the Communist onslaught and are now homeless and are now destitute. I hereby pledge in the name of the American people that the United States will make a maximum humanitarian effort to help care for and feed these hopeless victims.
And now I ask the Congress to clarify immediately its restrictions on the use of U.S. military forces in Southeast Asia for the limited purposes of protecting American lives by ensuring their evacuation, if this should be necessary. And I also ask prompt revision of the law to cover those Vietnamese to whom we have a very special obligation and whose lives may be endangered should the worst come to pass.
I hope that this authority will never have to be used, but if it is needed, there will be no time for Congressional debate. Because of the gravity of the situation, I ask the Congress to complete action on all of these measures not later than April 19.
In Cambodia, the situation is tragic. The United States and the Cambodian Government have each made major efforts, over a long period and through many channels, to end that conflict. But because of their military successes, steady external support, and their awareness of American legal restrictions, the Communist side has shown no interest in negotiation, compromise, or a political solution. And yet, for the past 3 months, the beleaguered people of Phnom Penh have fought on, hoping against hope that the United States would not desert them, but instead provide the arms and ammunition they so badly needed.
I have received a moving letter from the new acting President of Cambodia, Saukham Khoy, and let me quote it for you:
"Dear Mr. President," he wrote, "As the American Congress reconvenes to reconsider your urgent request for supplemental assistance for the Khmer Republic, I appeal to you to convey to the American legislators our plea not to deny these vital resources to us, if a nonmilitary solution is to emerge from this tragic 5-year-old conflict.
"To find a peaceful end to the conflict we need time. I do not know how much time, but we all fully realize that the agony of the Khmer people cannot and must not go on much longer. However, for the-immediate future we need the rice to feed the hungry and the ammunition and the weapons to defend ourselves against those who want to impose their will by force [of arms]. A denial by the American people of the means for us to carry on will leave us no alternative but inevitably abandoning our search for a solution which will give our citizens some freedom of choice as to their future. For a number of years now the Cambodian people have placed their trust in America. I cannot believe that this confidence was misplaced and that suddenly America will deny us the means which might give us a chance to find an acceptable solution to our conflict."
This letter speaks for itself. In January, I requested food and ammunition for the brave Cambodians, and I regret to say that as of this evening, it may be soon too late.
Members of the Congress, my fellow Americans, this moment of tragedy for Indochina is a time of trial for us. It is a time for national resolve.
It has been said that the United States is over-extended, that we have too many commitments too far from home, that we must reexamine what our truly vital interests are and shape our strategy to conform to them. I find no fault with this as a theory, but in the real world such a course must be pursued carefully and in close coordination with solid progress toward overall reduction in worldwide tensions.
We cannot, in the meantime, abandon our friends while our adversaries support and encourage theirs. We cannot dismantle our defenses, our diplomacy, or our intelligence capability while others increase and strengthen theirs.
Let us put an end to self-inflicted wounds. Let us remember that our national unity is a most priceless asset. Let us deny our adversaries the satisfaction of using Vietnam to pit Americans against Americans. At this moment, the United States must present to the world a united front.
Above all, let's keep events in Southeast Asia in their proper perspective. The security and the progress of hundreds of millions of people everywhere depend importantly on us.
Let no potential adversary believe that our difficulties or our debates mean a slackening of our national will. We will stand by our friends, we will honor our commitments, and we will uphold our country's principles.
The American people know that our strength, our authority, and our leadership have helped prevent a third world war for more than a generation. We will not shrink from this duty in the decades ahead.
Let me now review with you the basic elements of our foreign policy, speaking candidly about our strengths and some of our difficulties.
We must, first of all, face the fact that what has happened in Indochina has disquieted many of our friends, especially in Asia. We must deal with this situation promptly and firmly. To this end, I have already scheduled meetings with the leaders of Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Indonesia, and I expect to meet with the leaders of other Asian countries as well.
A key country in this respect is Japan. The warm welcome I received in Japan last November vividly symbolized for both our peoples the friendship and the solidarity of this extraordinary partnership. I look forward, as I am sure all of you do, with very special pleasure to welcoming the Emperor when he visits the United States later this year.
We consider our security treaty with Japan the cornerstone of stability in the vast reaches of Asia and the Pacific. Our relations are crucial to our mutual well-being. Together, we are working energetically on the international multilateral agenda-in trade, energy, and food. We will continue the process of strengthening our friendship, mutual security, and prosperity.
Also, of course, of fundamental importance is our mutual security relationship with the Republic of Korea, which I reaffirmed on my recent visit.
Our relations with Europe have never been stronger. There are no peoples with whom America's destiny has been more closely linked. There are no peoples whose friendship and cooperation are more needed for the future. For none of the members of the Atlantic community can be secure, none can prosper, none can advance unless we all do so together. More than ever, these times demand our close collaboration in order to maintain the secure anchor of our common security in this time of international riptides, to work together on the promising negotiations with our potential adversaries, to pool our energies on the great new economic challenge that faces us.
In addition to this traditional agenda, there are new problems involving energy, raw materials, and the environment. The Atlantic nations face many and complex negotiations and decisions. It is time to take stock, to consult on our future, to affirm once again our cohesion and our common destiny. I therefore expect to join with the other leaders of the Atlantic Alliance at a Western summit in the very near future.
Before this NATO meeting, I earnestly ask the Congress to weigh the broader considerations and consequences of its past actions on the complex Greek-Turkish dispute over Cyprus. Our foreign policy cannot be simply a collection of special economic or ethnic or ideological interests. There must be a deep concern for the overall design of our international actions. To achieve this design for peace and to assure that our individual acts have some coherence, the Executive must have some flexibility in the conduct of foreign policy.
United States military assistance to an old and faithful ally, Turkey, has been cut off by action of the Congress. This has imposed an embargo on military purchases by Turkey, extending even to items already paid for-an unprecedented act against a friend.
These moves, I know, were sincerely intended to influence Turkey in the Cyprus negotiations. I deeply share the concern of many citizens for the immense human suffering on Cyprus. I sympathize with the new democratic government in Greece. We are continuing our earnest efforts to find equitable solutions to the problems which exist between Greece and Turkey. But the result of the Congressional action has been to block progress towards reconciliation, thereby prolonging the suffering on Cyprus, to complicate our ability to promote successful negotiations, to increase the danger of a broader conflict.
Our longstanding relationship with Turkey is not simply a favor to Turkey; it is a clear and essential mutual interest. Turkey lies on the rim of the Soviet Union and at the gates of the Middle East. It is vital to the security of the eastern Mediterranean, the southern flank of Western Europe, and the collective security of the Western alliance. Our U.S. military bases in Turkey are as critical to our own security as they are to the defense of NATO.
I therefore call upon the Congress to lift the American arms embargo against our Turkish ally by passing the bipartisan Mansfield-Scott bill now before the Senate. Only this will enable us to work with Greece and Turkey to resolve the differences between our allies. I accept and indeed welcome the bill's requirement for monthly reports to the Congress on progress toward a Cyprus settlement, but unless this is done with dispatch, forces may be set in motion within and between the two nations which could not be reversed.
At the same time, in order to strengthen the democratic government of Greece and to reaffirm our traditional ties with the people of Greece, we are actively discussing a program of economic and military assistance with them. We will shortly be submitting specific requests to the Congress in this regard.
A vital element of our foreign policy is our relationship with the developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. These countries must know that America is a true, that America is a concerned friend, reliable both in word and deed.
As evidence of this friendship, I urge the Congress to reconsider one provision of the 1974 trade act which has had an unfortunate and unintended impact on our relations with Latin America, where we have such a long tie of friendship and cooperation. Under this legislation, all members of OPEC were excluded from our generalized system of trade preferences. This, unfortunately, punished two South American friends, Ecuador and Venezuela, as well as other OPEC nations, such as Nigeria and Indonesia, none of which participated in last year's oil embargo. This exclusion has seriously complicated our new dialog with our friends in this hemisphere. I therefore endorse the amendments which have been introduced in the Congress to provide executive authority to waive those restrictions on the trade act that are incompatible with our national interest.
The interests of America as well as our allies are vitally affected by what happens in the Middle East. So long as the state of tension continues, it threatens military crisis, the weakening Of our alliances, the stability of the world economy, and confrontation with the nuclear superpowers. These are intolerable risks.
Because we are in the unique position of being able to deal with all the parties, we have, at their request, been engaged for the past year and a half in the peacemaking effort unparalleled in the history of the region. Our policy has brought remarkable successes on the road to peace. Last year, two major disengagement agreements were negotiated and implemented with our help. For the first time in 30 years, a process of negotiation on the basic political issues was begun and is continuing.
Unfortunately, the latest efforts to reach a further interim agreement between Israel and Egypt have been suspended. The issues dividing the parties are vital to them and not amenable to easy and to quick solutions. However, the United States will not be discouraged.
The momentum toward peace that has been achieved over the last 18 months must and will be maintained. The active role of the United States must and will be continued. The drift toward war must and will be prevented.
I pledge the United States to a major effort for peace in the Middle East, an effort which I know has the solid support of the American people and their Congress. We are now examining how best to proceed. We have agreed in principle to reconvene the Geneva conference. We are prepared as well to explore other forums. The United States will move ahead on whatever course looks most promising, either towards an overall settlement or interim agreements, should the parties themselves desire them. We will not accept stagnation or stalemate with all its attendant risks to peace and prosperity and to our relations in and outside of the region.
The national interest and national security require as well that we reduce the dangers of war. We shall strive to do so by continuing to improve our relations with potential adversaries.
The United States and the Soviet Union share an interest in lessening tensions and building a more stable relationship. During this process, we have never had any illusions. We know that we are dealing with a nation that reflects different principles and is our competitor in many parts of the globe. Through a combination of firmness and flexibility, the United States, in recent years, laid the basis of a more reliable relationship, founded on mutual interest and mutual restraint. But we cannot expect the Soviet Union to show restraint in the face of the United States' weakness or irresolution.
As long as I am President, America will maintain its strength, its alliances, and its principles as a prerequisite to a more peaceful planet. As long as I am President, we will not permit detente to become a license to fish in troubled waters. Detente must be--and, I trust, will be--a two-way relationship.
Central to U.S.-Soviet relations today is the critical negotiation to control strategic nuclear weapons. We hope to turn the Vladivostok agreements into a final agreement this year at the time of General Secretary Brezhnev's visit to the United States. Such an agreement would, for the first time, put a ceiling on the strategic arms race. It would mark a turning point in postwar history and would be a crucial step in lifting from mankind the threat of nuclear war.
Our use of trade and economic sanctions as weapons to alter the internal conduct of other nations must also be seriously reexamined. However well-intentioned the goals, the fact is that some of our recent actions in the economic field have been self-defeating, they are not achieving the objectives intended by the Congress, and they have damaged our foreign policy.
The Trade Act of 1974 prohibits most-favored-nation treatment, credit and investment guarantees and commercial agreements with the Soviet Union so long as their emigration policies fail to meet our criteria. The Soviet Union has therefore refused to put into effect the important 1972 trade agreement between our two countries.
As a result, Western Europe and Japan have stepped into the breach. Those countries have extended credits to the Soviet Union exceeding $8 billion in the last 6 months. These are economic opportunities, jobs, and business which could have gone to Americans.
There should be no illusions about the nature of the Soviet system, but there should be no illusions about how to deal with it. Our belief in the right of peoples of the world freely to emigrate has been well demonstrated. This legislation, however, not only harmed our relations with the Soviet Union but seriously complicated the prospects of those seeking to emigrate. The favorable trend, aided by quiet diplomacy, by which emigration increased from 400 in 1968 to over 33,000 in 1973 has been seriously set back. Remedial legislation is urgently needed in our national interest.
With the People's Republic of China, we are firmly fixed on the course set forth in the Shanghai communique. Stability in Asia and the world require our constructive relations with one-fourth of the human race. After two decades of mutual isolation and hostility, we have, in recent years, built a promising foundation. Deep differences in our philosophy and social systems will endure, but so should our mutual long-term interests and the goals to which our countries have jointly subscribed in Shanghai. I will visit China later this year to reaffirm these interests and to accelerate the improvement in our relations. And I was glad to welcome the distinguished Speaker and the distinguished minority leader of the House back today from their constructive visit to the People's Republic of China.
Let me talk about new challenges. The issues I have discussed are the most pressing of the traditional agenda on foreign policy, but ahead of us also is a vast new agenda of issues in an interdependent world. The United States, with its economic power, its technology, its zest for new horizons, is the acknowledged world leader in dealing with many of these challenges.
If this is a moment of uncertainty in the world, it is even more a moment of rare opportunity.
We are summoned to meet one of man's most basic challenges-hunger. At the World Food Conference last November in Rome, the United States outlined a comprehensive program to close the ominous gap between population growth and food production over the long term. Our technological skill and our enormous productive capacity are crucial to accomplishing this task.
The old order-in trade, finance, and raw materials-is changing and American leadership is needed in the creation of new institutions and practices for worldwide prosperity and progress.
The world's oceans, with their immense resources and strategic importance, must become areas of cooperation rather than conflict. American policy is directed to that end.
Technology must be harnessed to the service of mankind while protecting the environment. This, too, is an arena for American leadership.
The interests and the aspirations of the developed and developing nations must be reconciled in a manner that is both realistic and humane. This is our goal in this new era.
One of the finest success stories in our foreign policy is our cooperative effort with other major energy-consuming nations. In little more than a year, together with our partners, we have created the International Energy Agency; we have negotiated an emergency sharing arrangement which helps to reduce the dangers of an embargo; we have launched major international conservation efforts; we have developed a massive program for the development of alternative sources of energy.
But the fate of all of these programs depends crucially on what we do at home. Every month that passes brings us closer to the day when we will be dependent on imported energy for 50 percent of our requirements. A new embargo under these conditions could have a devastating impact on jobs, industrial expansion, and inflation at home. Our economy cannot be left to the mercy of decisions over which we have no control. And I call upon the Congress to act affirmatively.
In a world where information is power, a vital element of our national security lies in our intelligence services. They are essential to our Nation's security in peace as in war. Americans can be grateful for the important but largely unsung contributions and achievements of the intelligence services of this Nation.
It is entirely proper that this system be subject to Congressional review. But a sensationalized public debate over legitimate intelligence activities is a disservice to this Nation and a threat to our intelligence system. It ties our hands while our potential enemies operate with secrecy, with skill, and with vast resources. Any investigation must be conducted with maximum discretion and dispatch to avoid crippling a vital national institution.
Let me speak quite frankly to some in this Chamber and perhaps to some not in this Chamber. The Central Intelligence Agency has been of maximum importance to Presidents before me. The Central Intelligence Agency has been of maximum importance to me. The Central Intelligence Agency and its associated intelligence organizations could be of maximum importance to some of you in this audience who might be President at some later date. I think it would be catastrophic for the Congress or anyone else to destroy the usefulness by dismantling, in effect, our intelligence systems upon which we rest so heavily.
Now, as Congress oversees intelligence activities, it must, of course, organize itself to do so in a responsible way. It has been traditional for the Executive to consult with the Congress through specially protected procedures that safeguard essential secrets. But recently, some of those procedures have altered in a way that makes the protection of vital information very, very difficult. I will say to the leaders of the Congress, the House and the Senate, that I will work with them to devise procedures which will meet the needs of the Congress for review of intelligence agency activities and the needs of the Nation for an effective intelligence service.
Underlying any successful foreign policy is the strength and the credibility of our defense posture. We are strong and we are ready and we intend to remain so. Improvement of relations with adversaries does not mean any relaxation of our national vigilance. On the contrary, it is the firm maintenance of both strength and vigilance that makes possible steady progress toward a safer and a more peaceful world.
The national security budget that I have submitted is the minimum the United States needs in this critical hour. The Congress should review it carefully, and I know it will. But it is my considered judgment that any significant reduction, revision, would endanger our national security and thus jeopardize the peace.
Let no ally doubt our determination to maintain a defense second to none, and let no adversary be tempted to test our readiness or our resolve.
History is testing us today. We cannot afford indecision, disunity, or disarray in the conduct of our foreign affairs. You and I can resolve here and now that this Nation shall move ahead with wisdom, with assurance, and with national unity.
The world looks to us for the vigor and for the vision that we have demonstrated so often in the past in great moments of our national history. And as I look down the road, I see a confident America, secure in its strengths, secure in its values, and determined to maintain both. I see a conciliatory America, extending its hand to allies and adversaries alike, forming bonds of cooperation to deal with the vast problems facing us all. I see a compassionate America, its heart reaching out to orphans, to refugees, and to our fellow human beings afflicted by war, by tyranny, and by hunger.
As President, entrusted by the Constitution with primary responsibility for the conduct of our foreign affairs, I renew the pledge I made last August to work cooperatively with the Congress. I ask that the Congress help to keep America's word good throughout the world. We are one Nation, one government, and we must have one foreign policy.
In an hour far darker than this, Abraham Lincoln told his fellow citizens, and I quote: "We cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this Administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us."
We who are entrusted by the people with the great decisions that fashion their future can escape neither responsibilities nor our consciences. By what we do now, the world will know our courage, our constancy, and our compassion.
The spirit of America is good and the heart of America is strong. Let us be proud of what we have done and confident of what we can do.
And may God ever guide us to do what is right. Thank you.
NOTE: The President spoke at 9:04 p.m. in the House Chamber at the Capitol. The address was broadcast live on radio and television.
President Gerald R. Ford's Address at a Tulane University Convocation
Listen to the speech in .mp3 format (24.5 MB)
Mr. President, President Hurley, Senator Johnston, my good friends from the House of Representatives, Eddie Hebert, Dave Treen, Lindy Boggs, Lieutenant Governor Fitzmorris, students, faculty, alumni, and guests of Tulane University:
It is really a great privilege and a very high honor to have an opportunity of participating again in a student activity at Tulane University. And for this opportunity, I thank you very, very much.
Each time that I have been privileged to visit Tulane, I have come away newly impressed with the intense application of the student body to the great issues of our time, and I am pleased tonight to observe that your interest hasn't changed one bit.
As we came into the building tonight, I passed a student who looked up from his book and said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins but with a single step." To indicate my interest in him, I asked, "Are you trying to figure out how to get your goal in life?" He said, "No, I am trying to figure out how to get to the SuperDome in September." [Laughter] Well, I don't think there is any doubt in my mind that all of you will get to the SuperDome. Of course, I hope it is to see the Green Wave [Tulane University] have their very best season on the gridiron. I have sort of a feeling that you wouldn't mind making this another year in which you put the Tigers [Louisiana State University] in your tank.
When I had the privilege of speaking here in 1968 at your "Directions '68" forum, I had no idea that my own career and our entire Nation would move so soon in another direction. And I say again, I am extremely proud to be invited back.
I am impressed, as I undoubtedly said before -- but I would reiterate it tonight -- by Tulane's unique distinction as the only American university to be converted from State sponsorship to private status. And I am also impressed by the Tulane graduates who serve in the United States Congress: Bennett Johnston, Lindy Boggs, Dave Treen.
Eddie Hebert, when I asked him the question whether he was or not, and he said he got a special degree: Dropout '28. [Laughter]
But I think the fact that you have these three outstanding graduates testifies to the academic excellence and the inspiration of this historic university, rooted in the past with its eyes on the future.
Just as Tulane has made a great transition from the past to the future, so has New Orleans, the legendary city that has made such a unique contribution to our great America. New Orleans is more, as I see it, than weathered bricks and cast-iron balconies. It is a state of mind, a melting pot that represents the very, very best of America's evolution, an example of retention of a very special culture in a progressive environment of modern change.
On January 8, 1815, a monumental American victory was achieved here -- the Battle of New Orleans. Louisiana had been a State for less than 3 years, but outnumbered Americans innovated, outnumbered Americans used the tactics of the frontier to defeat a veteran British force trained in the strategy of the Napoleonic wars.
We as a nation had suffered humiliation and a measure of defeat in the War of 1812. Our National Capital in Washington had been captured and burned. So, the illustrious victory in the Battle of New Orleans was a powerful restorative to our national pride.
Yet, the victory at New Orleans actually took place 2 weeks after the signing of the armistice in Europe. Thousands died although a peace had been negotiated. The combatants had not gotten the word. Yet, the epic struggle nevertheless restored America's pride.
Today, America can regain the sense of pride that existed before Vietnam. But it cannot be achieved by refighting a war that is finished as far as America is concerned. As I see it, the time has come to look forward to an agenda for the future, to unify, to bind up the Nation's wounds, and to restore its health and its optimistic self-confidence.
In New Orleans, a great battle was fought after a war was over. In New Orleans tonight, we can begin a great national reconciliation. The first engagement must be with the problems of today, but just as importantly, the problems of the future. That is why I think it is so appropriate that I find myself tonight at a university which addresses itself to preparing young people for the challenge of tomorrow.
I ask that we stop refighting the battles and the recriminations of the past. I ask that we look now at what is right with America, at our possibilities and our potentialities for change and growth and achievement and sharing. I ask that we accept the responsibilities of leadership as a good neighbor to all peoples and the enemy of none. I ask that we strive to become, in the finest American tradition, something more tomorrow than we are today.
Instead of my addressing the image of America, I prefer to consider the reality of America. It is true that we have launched our Bicentennial celebration without having achieved human perfection, but we have attained a very remarkable self-governed society that possesses the flexibility and the dynamism to grow and undertake an entirely new agenda, an agenda for America's third century.
So, I ask you to join me in helping to write that agenda. I am as determined as a President can be to seek national rediscovery of the belief in ourselves that characterized the most creative periods in our Nation's history. The greatest challenge of creativity, as I see it, lies ahead.
We, of course, are saddened indeed by the events in Indochina. But these events, tragic as they are, portend neither the end of the world nor of America's leadership in the world.
Let me put it this way, if I might. Some tend to feel that if we do not succeed in everything everywhere, then we have succeeded in nothing anywhere. I reject categorically such polarized thinking. We can and we should help others to help themselves. But the fate of responsible men and women everywhere, in the final decision, rests in their own hands, not in ours.
America's future depends upon Americans -- especially your generation, which is now equipping itself to assume the challenges of the future, to help write the agenda for America.
Earlier today, in this great community, I spoke about the need to maintain our defenses. Tonight, I would like to talk about another kind of strength, the true source of American power that transcends all of the deterrent powers for peace of our Armed Forces. I am speaking here of our belief in ourselves and our belief in our Nation.
Abraham Lincoln asked, in his own words, and I quote, "What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence?" And he answered, "It is not our frowning battlements or bristling seacoasts, our Army or our Navy. Our defense is in the spirit which prized liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands everywhere."
It is in this spirit that we must now move beyond the discords of the past decade. It is in this spirit that I ask you to join me in writing an agenda for the future.
I welcome your invitation particularly tonight, because I know it is at Tulane and other centers of thought throughout our great country that much consideration is being given to the kind of future Americans want and, just as importantly, will work for. Each of you are preparing yourselves for the future, and I am deeply interested in your preparations and your opinions and your goals. However, tonight, with your indulgence, let me share with you my own views.
I envision a creative program that goes as far as our courage and our capacities can take us, both at home and abroad. My goal is for a cooperative world at peace, using its resources to build, not to destroy.
As President, I am determined to offer leadership to overcome our current economic problems. My goal is for jobs for all who want to work and economic opportunity for all who want to achieve.
I am determined to seek self-sufficiency in energy as an urgent national priority. My goal is to make America independent of foreign energy sources by 1985.
Of course, I will pursue interdependence with other nations and a reformed international economic system. My goal is for a world in which consuming and producing nations achieve a working balance.
I will address the humanitarian issues of hunger and famine, of health and of healing. My goal is to achieve -- or to assure basic needs and an effective system to achieve this result.
I recognize the need for technology that enriches life while preserving our natural environment. My goal is to stimulate productivity, but use technology to redeem, not to destroy our environment.
I will strive for new cooperation rather than conflict in the peaceful exploration of our oceans and our space. My goal is to use resources for peaceful progress rather than war and destruction.
Let America symbolize humanity's struggle to conquer nature and master technology. The time has now come for our Government to facilitate the individual's control over his or her future -- and of the future of America.
But the future requires more than Americans congratulating themselves on how much we know and how many products that we can produce. It requires new knowledge to meet new problems. We must not only be motivated to build a better America, we must know how to do it.
If we really want a humane America that will, for instance, contribute to the alleviation of the world's hunger, we must realize that good intentions do not feed people. Some problems, as anyone who served in the Congress knows, are complex. There are no easy answers. Willpower alone does not grow food.
We thought, in a well-intentioned past, that we could export our technology lock, stock, and barrel to developing nations. We did it with the best of intentions. But we are now learning that a strain of rice that grows in one place will not grow in another; that factories that produce at 100 percent in one nation produce less than half as much in a society where temperaments and work habits are somewhat different.
Yet, the world economy has become interdependent. Not only food technology but money management, natural resources and energy, research and development -- all kinds of this group require an organized world society that makes the maximum effective use of the world's resources.
I want to tell the world: Let's grow food together, but let's also learn more about nutrition, about weather forecasting, about irrigation, about the many other specialties involved in helping people to help themselves.
We must learn more about people, about the development of communities, architecture, engineering, education, motivation, productivity, public health and medicine, arts and sciences, political, legal, and social organization. All of these specialities and many, many more are required if young people like you are to help this Nation develop an agenda for our future -- your future, our country's future.
I challenge, for example, the medical students in this audience to put on their agenda the achievement of a cure for cancer. I challenge the engineers in this audience to devise new techniques for developing cheap, clean, and plentiful energy, and as a byproduct, to control floods. I challenge the law students in this audience to find ways to speed the administration of equal justice and make good citizens out of convicted criminals. I challenge education, those of you as education majors, to do real teaching for real life. I challenge the arts majors in this audience to compose the great American symphony, to write the great American novel, and to enrich and inspire our daily lives.
America's leadership is essential. America's resources are vast. America's opportunities are unprecedented.
As we strive together to perfect a new agenda, I put high on the list of important points the maintenance of alliances and partnerships with other people and other nations. These do provide a basis of shared values, even as we stand up with determination for what we believe. This, of course, requires a continuing commitment to peace and a determination to use our good offices wherever possible to promote better relations between nations of this world.
The new agenda, that which is developed by you and by us, must place a high priority on the need to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and to work for the mutual reduction in strategic arms and control of other weapons. And I must say, parenthetically, the successful negotiations at Vladivostok, in my opinion, are just a beginning.
Your generation of Americans is uniquely endowed by history to give new meaning to the pride and spirit of America. The magnetism of an American society, confident of its own strength, will attract the good will and the esteem of all people wherever they might be in this globe in which we live. It will enhance our own perception of ourselves and our pride in being an American. We can, we -- andI say it with emphasis -- write a new agenda for our future.
I am glad that Tulane University and other great American educational institutions are reaching out to others in programs to work with developing nations, and I look forward with confidence to your participation in every aspect of America's future.
And I urge Americans of all ages to unite in this Bicentennial year, to take responsibility for themselves as our ancestors did. Let us resolve tonight to rediscover the old virtues of confidence and self-reliance and capability that characterized our forefathers two centuries ago. I pledge, as I know you do, each one of us, to do our part.
Let the beacon light of the past shine forth from historic New Orleans and from Tulane University and from every other corner of this land to illuminate a boundless future for all Americans and a peace for all mankind.
Thank you very much.
Note: The President spoke at 8:07 p.m. at the Tulane University Fieldhouse. In his opening remarks, he referred to Herbert E. Longnecker, president of Tulane University, and Grady Hurley, student body president.
Telephone Conversation of President Gerald R. Ford With Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Crews Following Rendezvous and Docking of the Spacecraft
July 17, 1975
Gentlemen, let me call to express my very great admiration for your hard work, your total dedication in preparing for this first joint flight.
All of us here in Washington, in the United States send to you our very warmest congratulations for your successful rendezvous and for your docking, and we wish you the very best for a successful completion of the remainder of your mission.
Your flight is a momentous event and a very great achievement, not only for the five of you but also for the thousands of American and Soviet scientists and technicians who have worked together for three years to ensure the success of this very historic and very successful experiment in international cooperation.
It has taken us many years to open this door to useful cooperation in space between our two countries, and I am confident that the day is not far off when space missions made possible by this first joint effort will be more or less commonplace.
We all look forward to your safe return, and we follow with great interest the success so far, and we look forward to talking with you on Earth again when you do end your flight.
General Stafford, Tom, now that you have had an opportunity to test the new docking system, do you think it will be suitable for future international manned space flight?
BRIG. GEN. THOMAS P. STAFFORD. Yes, sir, Mr. President, I sure do. Out of the three docking systems I have used, this was the smoothest one so far. It worked beautifully.
THE PRESIDENT. About 3 1/2 hours ago I sat here in the Oval Office and watched the docking procedure. It looked awfully simple from here. I am sure it wasn't that simple for the five of you.
Let me say a word or two, if I might, to Colonel Leonov. The docking was a critical phase of the joint mission. Colonel, could you describe it, and would you describe the reaction of the crews on meeting in space after such a long preparation.
COL. ALEKSEI LEONOV. Mr. President, I am sure that our joint flight is the beginning for future explorations in space between our countries. Thank you very much for very nice words to us. We will do our best.
THE PRESIDENT. Colonel, I think you and the other four have done very, very well so far, and may I congratulate you and your associates on this great achievement.
Now, Mr. Slayton, Deke, you have had a very, very long record of distinguished service preparing other astronaut crews for various space missions, and we are extremely pleased to see you on the crew of the first international manned space flight. As the world's oldest space rookie, do you have any advice for young people who hope to fly on future space missions?
Deke, did you have a chance to hear my question?
DONALD K. SLAYTON. No, Sir, Mr. President, unfortunately.
THE PRESIDENT. Can I repeat it?
MR. SLAYTON. Tom just repeated it for me, Sir.
Well, yes, I have a lot of advice for young people, but I guess probably one of the most important bits is to, number one, decide what you really want to do and then, secondly, never give up until you have done it.
THE PRESIDENT. Well, you are a darn good example, Deke, of never giving up and continuing, and I know it is a great feeling of success from your point of view to have made this flight and to be on board with your four associates.
MR. SLAYTON. Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT. Vance Brand, I know that you are still in the Apollo and holding the fort there. It has been my observation that the crews on both sides have worked very hard to learn either Russian on the one hand or English on the other. Has this training period, which is so important, stood the test in the complicated procedures that all of you must execute in this very delicate mission?
VANCE BRAND. Mr. President, I believe it really has. I think in a way our project and, in particular, the training that we have undergone has been sort of a model for future similar projects.
I think it has been a real pleasant experience to work on learning Russian and to be able to work with the cosmonauts, and I think we will have some ideas that would probably help people in the future on similar paths.
THE PRESIDENT. Thank you very much, Vance.
I might like to say a word or two to Valery Kubasov, the other member of the cosmonaut crew. I might say to him, as well as Colonel Leonov, I remember both of you on that enjoyable Saturday last September when both crews visited the White House and joined me in a picnic over in Virginia. We flew from the White House over to this picnic just across the river. We had some crab specialties that I enjoyed, and I think you did.
I am sure you are having a little different menu, somewhat different food on this occasion. What are you having over there out in space?
VALERY KUBASOV. We get good space food. There is some Russian food, some Russian music, some juice, some coffee, and a lot of water--no beer, no crab.
THE PRESIDENT. Well, let me say in conclusion we look forward to your safe return. It has been a tremendous demonstration of cooperation between our scientists, our technicians, and of course, our astronauts and their counterparts, the cosmonauts from the Soviet Union.
I congratulate everybody connected with the flight, and particularly the five of you who are setting this outstanding example of what we have to do in the future to make it a better world.
And may I say in signing off, here is to a soft landing.
MR. KUBASOV. Thank you very much.
GENERAL STAFFORD. Thank you, Mr. President. It certainly has been an honor to serve the country and work here.
THE PRESIDENT. We will see you when you get back.
GENERAL STAFFORD. Yes, Sir.
NOTE: The President spoke at 3:37 p.m. from the Oval Office at the White House. The conversation was broadcast live on radio and television.
President Gerald R. Ford's Address in Helsinki Before the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Listen to an excerpt from the speech in .wav format(1.4 MB)
Listen to the speech in .mp3 format (26 MB)
Mr. Chairman, my distinguished colleagues: May I begin by expressing to the Governments of Finland and Switzerland, which have been superb hosts for the several phases of this Conference, my gratitude and that of my associates for their efficiency and hospitality.
Particularly to you, President Kekkonen, I must convey to the people of the Republic of Finland, on behalf of the 214 million people of the United States of America, a reaffirmation of the longstanding affection and admiration which all my countrymen hold for your brave and beautiful land.
We are bound together by the most powerful of all ties, our fervent love for freedom and independence, which knows no homeland but the human heart. It is a sentiment as enduring as the granite rock on which this city stands and as moving as the music of Sibelius.
Our visit here, though short, has brought us a deeper appreciation of the pride, industry and friendliness which Americans always associate with the Finnish nation.
The nations assembled here have kept the general peace in Europe for 30 years. Yet there have been too many narrow escapes from major conflict. There remains, to this day, the urgent issue of how to construct a just and lasting peace for all peoples.
I have not come across the Atlantic to say what all of us already know -- that nations now have the capacity to destroy civilization and, therefore, all our foreign policies must have as their one supreme objective the prevention of a thermonuclear war. Nor have I come to dwell upon the hard realities of continuing ideological differences, political rivalries, and military competition that persist among us.
I have come to Helsinki as a spokesman for a nation whose vision has always been forward, whose people have always demanded that the future be brighter than the past, and whose united will and purpose at this hour is to work diligently to promote peace and progress not only for ourselves but for all mankind.
I am simply here to say to my colleagues: We owe it to our children, to the children of all continents, not to miss any opportunity, not to malinger for one minute, not to spare ourselves or allow others to shirk in the monumental task of building a better and a safer world.
The American people, like the people of Europe, know well that mere assertions of good will, passing changes in the political mood of governments, laudable declarations of principles are not enough. But if we proceed with care, with commitment to real progress, there is now an opportunity to turn our peoples' hopes into realities.
In recent years, nations represented here have sought to ease potential conflicts. But much more remains to be done before we prematurely congratulate ourselves.
Military competition must be controlled. Political competition must be restrained. Crises must not be manipulated or exploited for unilateral advantages that could lead us again to the brink of war. The process of negotiation must be sustained, not at a snail's pace, but with demonstrated enthusiasm and visible progress.
Nowhere are the challenges and the opportunities greater and more evident than in Europe. That is why this Conference brings us all together. Conflict in Europe shakes the world. Twice in this century we have paid dearly for this lesson; at other times, we have come perilously close to calamity. We dare not forget the tragedy and the terror of those times.
Peace is not a piece of paper.
But lasting peace is at least possible today because we have learned from the experiences of the last 30 years that peace is a process requiring mutual restraint and practical arrangements.
This Conference is a part of that process -- a challenge, not a conclusion. We face unresolved problems of military security in Europe; we face them with very real differences in values and in aims. But if we deal with them with careful preparation, if we focus on concrete issues, if we maintain forward movement, we have the right to expect real progress.
The era of confrontation that has divided Europe since the end of the Second World War may now be ending. There is a new perception and a shared perception of a change for the better, away from confrontation and toward new possibilities for secure and mutually beneficial cooperation. That is what we all have been saying here. I welcome and I share these hopes for the future.
The postwar policy of the United States has been consistently directed toward the rebuilding of Europe and the rebirth of Europe's historic identity. The nations of the West have worked together for peace and progress throughout Europe. From the very start, we have taken the initiative by stating clear goals and areas for negotiation.
We have sought a structure of European relations, tempering rivalry with restraint, power with moderation, building upon the traditional bonds that link us with old friends and reaching out to forge new ties with former and potential adversaries.
In recent years, there have been some substantial achievements.
We see the Four-Power Agreement on Berlin of 1971 as the end of a perennial crisis that on at least three occasions brought the world to the brink of doom.
The agreements between the Federal Republic of Germany and the states of Eastern Europe and the related intra-German accords enable Central Europe and the world to breathe easier.
The start of East-West talks on mutual and balanced force reductions demonstrate a determination to deal with military security problems of the continent.
The 1972 treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union to limit anti-ballistic missiles and the interim agreement limiting strategic offensive arms were the first solid breakthroughs in what must be a continuing, long-term process of limiting strategic, nuclear arsenals.
I profoundly hope that this Conference will spur further practical and concrete results. It affords a welcome opportunity to widen the circle of those countries involved in easing tensions between East and West.
Participation in the work of detente and participation in the benefits of detente must be everybody's business -- in Europe and elsewhere. But detente can succeed only if everybody understands what detente actually is.
First, detente is an evolutionary process, not a static condition. Many formidable challenges yet remain.
Second, the success of detente, of the process of detente, depends on new behavior patterns that give life to all our solemn declarations. The goals we are stating today are the yardstick by which our performance will be measured.
The people of all Europe and, I assure you, the people of North America are thoroughly tired of having their hopes raised and then shattered by empty words and unfulfilled pledges. We had better say what we mean and mean what we say, or we will have the anger of our citizens to answer.
While we must not expect miracles, we can and we do expect steady progress that comes in steps -- steps that are related to each other that link our actions with words in various areas of our relations.
Finally, there must be an acceptance of mutual obligation. Detente, as I have often said, must be a two-way street. Tensions cannot be eased by one side alone. Both sides must want detente and work to achieve it. Both sides must benefit from it.
Mr. Chairman, my colleagues, this extraordinary gathering in Helsinki proves that all our peoples share a concern for Europe's future and for a better and more peaceful world. But what else does it prove? How shall we assess the results?
Our delegations have worked long and hard to produce documents which restate noble and praiseworthy political principles. They spell out guidelines for national behavior and international cooperation.
But every signatory should know that if these are to be more than the latest chapter in a long and sorry volume of unfulfilled declarations, every party must be dedicated to making them come true.
These documents which we will sign represent another step -- how long or short a step only time will tell -- in the process of detente and reconciliation in Europe. Our peoples will be watching and measuring our progress. They will ask how these noble sentiments are being translated into actions that bring about a more secure and just order in the daily lives of each of our nations and its citizens.
The documents produced here represent compromises, like all international negotiations, but these principles we have agreed upon are more than the lowest common denominator of governmental positions.
They affirm the most fundamental human rights: liberty of thought, conscience, and faith; the exercise of civil and political rights; the rights of minorities.
They call for a freer flow of information, ideas, and people; greater scope for the press, cultural and educational exchange, family reunification, the right to travel and to marriage between nationals of different states; and for the protection of the priceless heritage of our diverse cultures.
They offer wide areas for greater cooperation: trade, industrial production, science and technology, the environment, transportation, health, space, and the oceans.
They reaffirm the basic principles of relations between states: nonintervention, sovereign equality, self-determination, territorial integrity, inviolability of frontiers, and the possibility of change by peaceful means.
The United States gladly subscribes to this document because we subscribe to every one of these principles.
Almost 200 years ago, the United States of America was born as a free and independent nation. The descendants of Europeans who proclaimed their independence in America expressed in that declaration a decent respect for the opinions of mankind and asserted not only that all men are created equal but they are endowed with inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The founders of my country did not merely say that all Americans should have these rights but all men everywhere should have these rights. And these principles have guided the United States of America throughout its two centuries of nationhood. They have given hopes to millions in Europe and on every continent.
I have been asked why I am here today.
I am here because I believe, and my countrymen believe, in the interdependence of Europe and North America -- indeed in the interdependence of the entire family of man.
I am here because the leaders of 34 other governments are here -- the states of Europe and of our good neighbor, Canada, with whom we share an open border of 5,526 miles, along which there stands not a single armed soldier and across which our two peoples have moved in friendship and mutual respect for 160 years.
I can say without fear of contradiction that there is not a single people represented here whose blood does not flow in the veins of Americans and whose culture and traditions have not enriched the heritage which we Americans prize so highly.
When two centuries ago the United States of America issued a declaration of high principles, the cynics and doubters of that day jeered and scoffed. Yet 11 long years later, our independence was won and the stability of our Republic was really achieved through the incorporation of the same principles in our Constitution.
But those principles, though they are still being perfected, remain the guiding lights of an American policy. And the American people are still dedicated, as they were then, to a decent respect for the opinions of mankind and to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all peoples everywhere.
To our fellow participants in this Conference: My presence here symbolizes my country's vital interest in Europe's future. Our future is bound with yours. Our economic well-being, as well as our security, is linked increasingly with yours. The distance of geography is bridged by our common heritage and our common destiny. The United States, therefore, intends to participate fully in the affairs of Europe and in turning the results of this Conference into a living reality.
To America's allies: We in the West must vigorously pursue the course upon which we have embarked together, reinforced by one another's strength and mutual confidence. Stability in Europe requires equilibrium in Europe. Therefore, I assure you that my country will continue to be a concerned and reliable partner. Our partnership is far more than a matter of formal agreements. It is a reflection of beliefs, traditions, and ties that are of deep significance to the American people. We are proud that these values are expressed in this document.
To the countries of the East: The United States considers that the principles on which this Conference has agreed are a part of the great heritage of European civilization, which we all hold in trust for all mankind. To my country, they are not cliches or empty phrases. We take this work and these words very seriously. We will spare no effort to ease tensions and to solve problems between us. But it is important that you recognize the deep devotion of the American people and their Government to human rights and fundamental freedoms and thus to the pledges that this Conference has made regarding the freer movement of people, ideas, information.
In building a political relationship between East and West, we face many challenges.
Berlin has a special significance. It has been a flashpoint of confrontation in the past; it can provide an example of peaceful settlement in the future. The United States regards it as a test of detente and of the principles of this Conference. We welcome the fact that, subject to Four-Power rights and responsibilities, the results of CSCE apply to Berlin as they do throughout Europe.
Military stability in Europe has kept the peace. While maintaining that stability, it is now time to reduce substantially the high levels of military forces on both sides. Negotiations now underway in Vienna on mutual and balanced force reductions so far have not produced the results for which I had hoped. The United States stands ready to demonstrate flexibility in moving these negotiations forward, if others will do the same. An agreement that enhances mutual security is feasible -- and essential.
The United States also intends to pursue vigorously a further agreement on strategic arms limitations with the Soviet Union. This remains a priority of American policy. General Secretary Brezhnev and I agreed last November in Vladivostok on the essentials of a new accord limiting strategic offensive weapons for the next 10 years. We are moving forward in our bilateral discussions here in Helsinki.
The world faces an unprecedented danger in the spread of nuclear weapons technology. The nations of Europe share a great responsibility for an international solution to this problem. The benefits of peaceful nuclear energy are becoming more and more important. We must find ways to spread these benefits while safeguarding the world against the menace of weapons proliferation.
To the other nations of Europe represented at this Conference: We value the work you have done here to help bring all of Europe together. Your right to live in peace and independence is one of the major goals of our effort. Your continuing contribution will be indispensable.
To those nations not participating and to all the peoples of the world: The solemn obligation undertaken in these documents to promote fundamental rights, economic and social progress, and well-being applies ultimately to all peoples.
Can we truly speak of peace and security without addressing the spread of nuclear weapons in the world or the creation of more sophisticated forms of warfare?
Can peace be divisible between areas of tranquility and regions of conflict?
Can Europe truly flourish if we do not all address ourselves to the evil of hunger in countries less fortunate than we? To the new dimensions of economic and energy issues that underlie our own progress? To the dialog between producers and consumers, between exporters and importers, between industrial countries and less developed ones?
And can there be stability and progress in the absence of justice and fundamental freedoms?
Our people want a better future. Their expectations have been raised by the very real steps that have already been taken -- in arms control, political negotiations, and expansion of contacts and economic relations. Our presence here offers them further hope. We must not let them down.
If the Soviet Union and the United States can reach agreement so that our astronauts can fit together the most intricate scientific equipment, work together, and shake hands 137 miles out in space, we as statesmen have an obligation to do as well on Earth.
History will judge this Conference not by what we say here today, but by what we do tomorrow -- not by the promises we make, but by the promises we keep.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Note: The President spoke at 10:30 a.m. in Finlandia Hall. He was introduced by Walter Kieber, Foreign Minister of Liechtenstein and chairman of the plenary session of the Conference. The final act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe was signed by the representatives of 35 nations participating in the Conference in a ceremony in Finlandia Hall at 5 p.m. on August 1, 1975. The text of the document is printed in the Bulletin of the Department of ate (vol. LXXIII, p. 323). Earlier in the day, the President met with Prime Minister Aldo Moro of Italy at the U.S. Embassy. Following his address before the Conference, the President held a luncheon meeting with President Valery Giscard d'Estaing of France. He then attended the afternoon session of the Conference and later met with Carlos Arias Navarro, President of the Government of Spain. In the evening the President attended a dinner with President Kekkonen on board the Finnish icebreaker Urho.
Address by President Gerald R. Ford at the University of Hawaii
Thank you very much, Dr. Kleinjans. Governor Ariyoshi, Senator Fong, Congressman Matsunaga, Dr. Matsuda, students, faculty, and members of the community here in Hawaii:
It was nice to see you, Doctor. I had the honor for a good many years of representing an area, a wonderful community, from which the Doctor came. I know more of his relatives perhaps than he does -- [Iaughter] -- and they were always very kind to me, for which I was deeply grateful.
But it is good to be home again in the United States. I have just completed, as many of you know, a 7-day trip to the State of Alaska, to the People's Republic of China, to our good friends Indonesia and the Philippines, and now I am obviously happy to be home in our 50th State, Hawaii.
This morning I reflected on the past at the shrine of Americans who died on Sunday morning 34 years ago. I came away with a new spirit of dedication to the ideals that emerged from Pearl Harbor in World War II -- dedication to America's bipartisan policy of pursuing peace through strength and dedication to a new future of interdependence and cooperation with all peoples of the Pacific.
I subscribe to a Pacific doctrine of peace with all and hostility toward none. The way I would like to remember or recollect Pearl Harbor is by preserving the power of the past to build the future. Let us join with new and old countries of that great Pacific area in creating the greatest civilization on the shores of the greatest of our oceans.
My visit here to the East-West Center holds another kind of meaning. Your center is a catalyst of America's positive concern for Asia, its people and its rich diversity of cultures. You advance our hope that Asia will gain a better understanding of the United States.
Last year we were pleased to receive and to welcome nearly 54,000 Asian students to the United States, while thousands upon thousands of American students went to Asian countries. I applaud your contribution to partnership in education. Your efforts represent America's vision of an open world of understanding, freedom, and peace.
In Hawaii, the crossroads of the Pacific, our past and our future join.
I was deeply moved when I visited Japan last year and when I recently had the honor of welcoming the Emperor and the Empress of Japan to America. The gracious welcome that I received and the warmth of the welcome the American people bestowed upon the Emperor and the Empress testify to a growing friendship and partnership between our two great countries. This is a tribute to what is best in man -- his capacity to grow from fear to trust and from a tragedy of the past to a hopeful future. It is a superb example of what can be achieved in human progress. It inspires our new efforts in Asia to improve relations.
America, a nation of the Pacific Basin, has a very vital stake in Asia and a responsibility to take a leading part in lessening tensions, preventing hostilities, and preserving peace. World stability and our own security depend upon our Asian commitments.
In 1941, 34 years ago today, we were militarily unprepared. Our trade in the Pacific was very limited. We exercised jurisdiction over the Philippines. We were preoccupied with Western Europe. Our instincts were isolationist.
We have transcended that age. We are now the world's strongest nation. Our great commercial involvement in Asia is expanding. We led the way in conferring independence upon the Philippines. Now we are working out new associations and arrangements with the trust territories of the Pacific.
The center of political power in the United States has shifted westward. Our Pacific interests and concerns have increased. We have exchanged the freedom of action of an isolationist state for the responsibilities of a great global power. As I return from this trip to three major Asian countries, I am even more aware of our interests in this part of the world.
The security concerns of great world powers intersect in Asia. The United States, the Soviet Union, China, and Japan are all Pacific powers. Western Europe has historic and economic ties with Asia. Equilibrium in the Pacific is absolutely essential to the United States and to the other countries in the Pacific.
The first premise of a new Pacific Doctrine is that American strength is basic to any stable balance of power in the Pacific. We must reach beyond our concern for security. But without security, there can be neither peace nor progress. The preservation of the sovereignty and the independence of our Asian friends and allies remain a paramount objective of American policy.
We recognize that force alone is insufficient to assure security. Popular legitimacy and social justice are vital prerequisites of resistance against subversion or aggression. Nevertheless, we owe it to ourselves and to those whose independence depends upon our continued support to preserve a flexible and balanced position of strength throughout the Pacific.
The second basic premise of a new Pacific Doctrine is that partnership with Japan is a pillar of our strategy. There is no relationship to which I have devoted more attention, nor is there any greater success story in the history of American efforts to relate to distant cultures and to people. The Japanese-American relationship can be a source of great, great pride to every American and to every Japanese. Our bilateral relations have never been better. The recent exchange of visits symbolized a basic political partnership. We have begun to develop with the Japanese and other advanced industrial democracies better means of harmonizing our economic policy. We are joining with Japan, our European friends, and representatives of the developing nations this month to begin shaping a more efficient and more equitable pattern of North-South economic relations.
The third premise of a new Pacific Doctrine is the normalization of relations with the People's Republic of China, the strengthening of our new ties with this great nation representing nearly one-quarter of mankind. This is another recent achievement of American foreign policy. It transcends 25 years of hostility.
I visited China to build on the dialog started nearly 4 years ago. My wide-ranging exchanges with the leaders of the People's Republic of China -- with Chairman Mao Tse-tung and Vice Premier Teng Hsiao-ping -- enhanced our understanding of each other's views and each other's policies.
There were, as expected, differences of perspective. Our societies, our philosophies, our varying positions in the world give us differing perceptions of our respective national interests. But we did find a common ground. We reaffirmed that we share very important areas of concern and agreement. They say and we say that the countries of Asia should be free to develop in a world where there is mutual respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states; where people are free from the threat of foreign aggression; where there is noninterference in the internal affairs of others; and where the principles of equality, mutual benefit, and coexistence shape the development of peaceful international order. We share opposition to any form of hegemony in Asia or in any other part of the world.
I reaffirmed the determination of the United States to complete the normalization of relations with the People's Republic of China on the basis of the Shanghai communique. Both sides regarded our discussions as significant, useful, and constructive. Our relationship is becoming a permanent feature of the international political landscape. It benefits not only our two peoples but all peoples of the region and the entire world.
A fourth principle of our Pacific policy is our continuing stake in stability and security in Southeast Asia.
After leaving China, I visited Indonesia and the Philippines. Indonesia is a nation of 140 million people, the fifth largest population in the world today. It is one of our important new friends and a major country in that area of the world. The Republic of the Philippines is one of our oldest and dearest allies. Our friendship demonstrates America's longstanding interest in Asia.
I spent 3 days in Jakarta and Manila. I would have liked to have had time to visit our friends in Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. We share important political and economic concerns with these five nations who make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
I can assure you that Americans will be hearing much more about the ASEAN organization. All of its members are friends of the United States. Their total population equals our own. While they are developing countries, they possess many, many assets -- vital peoples, abundant natural resources, and well-managed agricultures. They have skilled leaders and the determination to develop themselves and to solve their own problems. Each of these countries protects its independence by relying on its own national resilience and diplomacy. We must continue to assist them. I learned during my visit that our friends want us to remain actively engaged in the affairs of the region. We intend to do so.
We retain close and valuable ties with our old friends and allies in the Southwest Pacific -- Australia on the one hand and New Zealand on the other.
A fifth tenet of our new Pacific policy is our belief that peace in Asia depends upon a resolution of outstanding political conflicts.
In Korea, tension persists. We have close ties with the Republic of Korea. And we remain committed to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, as the presence of our forces there attests. Responding to the heightened tension last spring, we reaffirmed our support of the Republic of Korea. Today, the United States is ready to consider constructive ways of easing tensions on the peninsula. But we will continue to resist any moves which attempt to exclude the Republic of Korea from discussion of its own future.
In Indochina, the healing effects of time are required. Our policies toward the new regimes of the peninsula will be determined by their conduct toward us. We are prepared to reciprocate gestures of good will -- particularly the return of remains of Americans killed or missing in action or information about them. If they exhibit restraint toward their neighbors and constructive approaches to international problems, we will look to the future rather than to the past.
The sixth point of our new policy in the Pacific is that peace in Asia requires a structure of economic cooperation reflecting the aspiration of all the peoples in the region.
The Asian-Pacific economy has recently achieved more rapid growth than any other region in the world. Our trade with East Asia now exceeds our transactions with the European Community. America's jobs, currency, and raw materials depend upon economic ties with the Pacific Basin. Our trade with the region is now increasing by more than 30 percent annually, reaching some $46 billion last year. Our economies are increasingly interdependent as cooperation grows between developed and developing nations.
Our relations with the five ASEAN countries are marked by growing maturity and by more modest and more realistic expectations on both sides. We no longer approach them as donor to dependent. These proud people look to us less for outright aid than for new trading opportunities and more equitable arrangements for the transfer of science and technology.
There is one common theme which was expressed to me by the leaders of every Asian country that I visited. They all advocate the continuity of steady and responsible American leadership. They seek self-reliance in their own future and in their own relations with us.
Our military assistance to allies and friends is a modest responsibility, but its political significance far surpasses the small cost involved. We serve our highest national interests by strengthening their self-reliance, their relations with us, their solidarity with each other, and their regional security.
I emphasized to every leader I met that the United States is a Pacific nation. I pledged, as President, I will continue America's active concern for Asia and our presence in the Asian-Pacific region.
Asia is entering a new era. We can contribute to a new structure of stability founded on a balance among the major powers, strong ties to our allies in the region, an easing of tension between adversaries, the self-reliance and regional solidarity of smaller nations, and expanding economic ties and cultural exchanges. These components of peace are already evident. Our foreign policy in recent years and in recent days encourages their growth.
If we can remain steadfast, historians will look back and view the 1970's as the beginning of a period of peaceful cooperation and progress, a time of growing community for all the nations touched by this great ocean.
Here in the Pacific crossroads of Hawaii, we envision hope for a wider community of man. We see the promise of a unique republic which includes all the world's races. No other country has been so truly a free, multiracial society. Hawaii is a splendid example, a splendid showcase of America and exemplifies our destiny as a Pacific nation.
America's Pacific heritage emerged from this remarkable State. I am proud to visit Hawaii -- the island star in the American firmament which radiates the universal magic of aloha.
Let there flow from Hawaii -- and from all of the States in our Union -- to all peoples, East and West, a new spirit of interchange to build human brotherhood.
Thank you very much.
NOTE: The President spoke at 11:05 a.m. at the East-West Center. In his opening remarks, he referred to Everett Kleinjans, president of the center, and Fujio Matsuda, president of the University of Hawaii.
President Gerald R. Ford's Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress Reporting on the State of the Union
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of the 94th Congress, and distinguished guests:
As we begin our Bicentennial, America is still one of the youngest nations in recorded history. Long before our forefathers came to these shores, men and women had been struggling on this planet to forge a better life for themselves and their families.
In man's long, upward march from savagery and slavery--throughout the nearly 2,000 years of the Christian calendar, the nearly 6,000 years of Jewish reckoning--there have been many deep, terrifying valleys, but also many bright and towering peaks.
One peak stands highest in the ranges of human history. One example shines forth of a people uniting to produce abundance and to share the good life fairly and with freedom. One union holds out the promise of justice and opportunity for every citizen: That union is the United States of America.
We have not remade paradise on Earth. We know perfection will not be found here. But think for a minute how far we have come in 200 years.
We came from many roots, and we have many branches. Yet all Americans across the eight generations that separate us from the stirring deeds of 1776, those who know no other homeland and those who just found refuge among our shores, say in unison:
I am proud of America, and I am proud to be an American. Life will be a little better here for my children than for me. I believe this not because I am told to believe it, but because life has been better for me than it was for my father and my mother. I know it will be better for my children because my hands, my brains, my voice, and my vote can help make it happen.
It has happened here in America. It has happened to you and to me.
Government exists to create and preserve conditions in which people can translate their ideas into practical reality. In the best of times, much is lost in translation. But we try. Sometimes we have tried and failed. Always we have had the best of intentions.
But in the recent past, we sometimes forgot the sound principles that guided us through most of our history. We wanted to accomplish great things and solve age-old problems. And we became overconfident of our abilities. We tried to be a policeman abroad and the indulgent parent here at home.
We thought we could transform the country through massive national programs, but often the programs did not work. Too often they only made things worse. In our rush to accomplish great deeds quickly, we trampled on sound principles of restraint and endangered the rights of individuals. We unbalanced our economic system by the huge and unprecedented growth of Federal expenditures and borrowing. And we were not totally honest with ourselves about how much these programs would cost and how we would pay for them. Finally, we shifted our emphasis from defense to domestic problems while our adversaries continued a massive buildup of arms.
The time has now come for a fundamentally different approach--for a new realism that is true to the great principles upon which this Nation was founded.
We must introduce a new balance to our economy--a balance that favors not only sound, active government but also a much more vigorous, healthy economy that can create new jobs and hold down prices.
We must introduce a new balance in the relationship between the individual and the government--a balance that favors greater individual freedom and self-reliance.
We must strike a new balance in our system of federalism--a balance that favors greater responsibility and freedom for the leaders of our State and local governments.
We must introduce a new balance between the spending on domestic programs and spending on defense--a balance that ensures we will fully meet our obligation to the needy while also protecting our security in a world that is still hostile to freedom.
And in all that we do, we must be more honest with the American people, promising them no more than we can deliver and delivering all that we promise.
The genius of America has been its incredible ability to improve the lives of its citizens through a unique combination of governmental and free citizen activity.
History and experience tells us that moral progress cannot come in comfortable and in complacent times, but out of trial and out of confusion. Tom Paine aroused the troubled Americans of 1776 to stand up to the times that try men's souls because the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
Just a year ago I reported that the state of the Union was not good. Tonight, I report that the state of our Union is better--in many ways a lot better--but still not good enough.
To paraphrase Tom Paine, 1975 was not a year for summer soldiers and sunshine patriots. It was a year of fears and alarms and of dire forecasts-- most of which never happened and won't happen.
As you recall, the year 1975 opened with rancor and with bitterness. Political misdeeds of the past had neither been forgotten nor forgiven. The longest, most divisive war in our history was winding toward an unhappy conclusion. Many feared that the end of that foreign war of men and machines meant the beginning of a domestic war of recrimination and reprisal. Friends and adversaries abroad were asking whether America had lost its nerve. Finally, our economy was ravaged by inflation--inflation that was plunging us into the worse recession in four decades. At the same time, Americans became increasingly alienated from big institutions. They were steadily losing confidence, not just in big government but in big business, big labor, and big education, among others. Ours was a troubled land.
And so, 1975 was a year of hard decisions, difficult compromises, and a new realism that taught us something important about America. It brought back a needed measure of common sense, steadfastness, and self-discipline.
Americans did not panic or demand instant but useless cures. In all sectors, people met their difficult problems with the restraint and with responsibility worthy of their great heritage.
Add up the separate pieces of progress in 1975, subtract the setbacks, and the sum total shows that we are not only headed in a new direction, a direction which I proposed 12 months ago, but it turned out to be the right direction.
It is the right direction because it follows the truly revolutionary American concept of 1776, which holds that in a free society the making of public policy and successful problem solving involves much more than government. It involves a full partnership among all branches and all levels of government, private institutions, and individual citizens.
Common sense tells me to stick to that steady course.
Take the state of our economy. Last January, most things were rapidly getting worse. This January, most things are slowly but surely getting better.
The worst recession since World War II turned around in April. The best cost-of-living news of the past year is that double-digit inflation of 12 percent or higher was cut almost in half. The worst--unemployment remains far too high.
Today, nearly 1,700,000 more Americans are working than at the bottom of the recession. At year's end, people were again being hired much faster than they were being laid off.
Yet, let's be honest. Many Americans have not yet felt these changes in their daily lives. They still see prices going up far too fast, and they still know the fear of unemployment.
We are also a growing nation. We need more and more jobs every year. Today's economy has produced over 85 million jobs for Americans, but we need a lot more jobs, especially for the young.
My first objective is to have sound economic growth without inflation.
We all know from recent experience what runaway inflation does to ruin every other worthy purpose. We are slowing it. We must stop it cold.
For many Americans, the way to a healthy, noninflationary economy has become increasingly apparent. The Government must stop spending so much and stop borrowing so much of our money. More money must remain in private hands where it will do the most good. To hold down the cost of living, we must hold down the cost of government.
In the past decade, the Federal budget has been growing at an average rate of over 10 percent a year. The budget I am submitting Wednesday cuts this rate of growth in half. I have kept my promise to submit a budget for the next fiscal year of $395 billion. In fact, it is $394.2 billion.
By holding down the growth of Federal spending, we can afford additional tax cuts and return to the people who pay taxes more decision making power over their own lives.
Last month I signed legislation to extend the 1975 tax reductions for the first 6 months of this year. I now propose that effective July 1, 1976, we give our taxpayers a tax cut of approximately $10 billion more than Congress agreed to in December.
My broader tax reduction would mean that for a family of four making $15,000 a year, there will be $227 more in take-home pay annually. Hard working Americans caught in the middle can really use that kind of extra cash.
My recommendations for a firm restraint on the growth of Federal spending and for greater tax reduction are simple and straightforward. For every dollar saved in cutting the growth in the Federal budget, we can have an added dollar of Federal tax reduction.
We can achieve a balanced budget by 1979 if we have the courage and the wisdom to continue to reduce the growth of Federal spending.
One test of a healthy economy is a job for every American who wants to work. Government--our kind of government--cannot create that many jobs. But the Federal Government can create conditions and incentives for private business and industry to make more and more jobs.
Five out of six jobs in this country are in private business and in industry. Common sense tells us this is the place to look for more jobs and to find them faster. I mean real, rewarding, permanent jobs.
To achieve this we must offer the American people greater incentives to invest in the future. My tax proposals are a major step in that direction. To supplement these proposals, I ask that Congress enact changes in Federal tax laws that will speed up plant expansion and the purchase of new equipment. My recommendations will concentrate this job-creation tax incentive in areas where the unemployment rate now runs over 7 percent. Legislation to get this started must be approved at the earliest possible date.
Within the strict budget total that I will recommend for the coming year, I will ask for additional housing assistance for 500,000 families. These programs will expand housing opportunities, spur construction, and help to house moderate- and low-income families.
We had a disappointing year in the housing industry in 1975. But with lower interest rates and available mortgage money, we can have a healthy recovery in 1976.
A necessary condition of a healthy economy is freedom from the petty tyranny of massive government regulation. We are wasting literally millions of working hours costing billions of taxpayers' and consumers' dollars because of bureaucratic red tape. The American farmer, who now feeds 215 million Americans, but also millions worldwide, has shown how much more he can produce without the shackles of government control.
Now, we badly need reforms in other key areas in our economy: the airlines, trucking, railroads, and financial institutions. I have submitted concrete plans in each of these areas, not to help this or that industry, but to foster competition and to bring prices down for the consumer.
This administration, in addition, will strictly enforce the Federal antitrust laws for the very same purposes.
Taking a longer look oil and gas is still declining. Our dependence on foreign oil at high prices is still too great, draining jobs and dollars away from our own economy at the rate of $125 per year for every American.
Last month, I signed a compromise national energy bill which enacts a part of my comprehensive energy independence program. This legislation was late, not the complete answer to energy independence, but still a start in the right direction.
I again urge the Congress to move ahead immediately on the remainder of my energy proposals to make America invulnerable to the foreign oil cartel.
My proposals, as all of you know, would reduce domestic natural gas shortages; allow production from Federal petroleum reserves; stimulate effective conservation, including revitalization of our railroads and the expansion of our urban transportation systems; develop more and cleaner energy from our vast coal resources; expedite clean and safe nuclear power production; create a new national energy independence authority to stimulate vital energy investment; and accelerate development of technology to capture energy from the Sun and the Earth for this and future generations.
Also, I ask, for the sake of future generations, that we preserve the family farm and family-owned small business. Both strengthen America and give stability to our economy. I will propose estate tax changes so that family businesses and family farms can be handed down from generation to generation without having to be sold to pay taxes.
I propose tax changes to encourage people to invest in America's future, and their own, through a plan that gives moderate-income families income tax benefits if they make long-term investments in common stock in American companies.
The Federal Government must and will respond to clear-cut national needs--for this and future generations.
Hospital and medical services in America are among the best in the world, but the cost of a serious and extended illness can quickly wipe out a family's lifetime savings. Increasing health costs are of deep concern to all and a powerful force pushing up the cost of living. The burden of catastrophic illness can be borne by very few in our society. We must eliminate this fear from every family.
I propose catastrophic health insurance for everybody covered by Medicare. To finance this added protection, fees for short-term care will go up somewhat, but nobody after reaching age 65 will have to pay more than $500 a year for covered hospital or nursing home care, nor more than $250 for 1 year's doctor bills.
We cannot realistically afford federally dictated national health insurance providing full coverage for all 215 million Americans. The experience of other countries raises questions about the quality as well as the cost of such plans. But I do envision the day when we may use the private health insurance system to offer more middle-income families high quality health services at prices they can afford and shield them also from their catastrophic illnesses.
Using resources now available, I propose improving the Medicare and other Federal health programs to help those who really need protection-- older people and the poor. To help States and local governments give better health care to the poor, I propose that we combine 16 existing Federal programs, including Medicaid, into a single $10 billion Federal grant.
Funds would be divided among States under a new formula which provides a larger share of Federal money to those States that have a larger share of low-income families.
I will take further steps to improve the quality of medical and hospital care for those who have served in our Armed Forces.
Now let me speak about social security. Our Federal social security system for people who have worked and contributed to it for all their lives is a vital part of our economic system. Its value is no longer debatable. In my budget for fiscal year 1977, I am recommending that the full cost-of-living increases in the social security benefits be paid during the coming year.
But I am concerned about the integrity of our Social Security Trust Fund that enables people--those retired and those still working who will retire--to count on this source of retirement income. Younger workers watch their deductions rise and wonder if they will be adequately protected in the future. We must meet this challenge head on. Simple arithmetic warns all of us that the Social Security Trust Fund is headed for trouble. Unless we act soon to make sure the fund takes in as much as it pays out, there will be no security for old or for young.
I must, therefore, recommend a three-tenths of 1 percent increase in both employer and employee social security taxes effective January 1, 1977. This will cost each covered employee less than 1 extra dollar a week and will ensure the integrity of the trust fund.
As we rebuild our economy, we have a continuing responsibility to provide a temporary cushion to the unemployed. At my request, the Congress enacted two extensions and two expansions in unemployment insurance which helped those who were jobless during 1975. These programs will continue in 1976.
In my fiscal year 1977 budget, I am also requesting funds to continue proven job training and employment opportunity programs for millions of other Americans.
Compassion and a sense of community--two of America's greatest strengths throughout our history--tell us we must take care of our neighbors who cannot take care of themselves. The host of Federal programs in this field reflect our generosity as a people.
But everyone realizes that when it comes to welfare, government at all levels is not doing the job well. Too many of our welfare programs are inequitable and invite abuse. Too many of our welfare programs have problems from beginning to end. Worse, we are wasting badly needed resources without reaching many of the truly needy.
Complex welfare programs cannot be reformed overnight. Surely we cannot simply dump welfare into the laps of the 50 States, their local taxpayers, or their private charities, and just walk away from it. Nor is it the right time for massive and sweeping changes while we are still recovering from the recession.
Nevertheless, there are still plenty of improvements that we can make. I will ask Congress for Presidential authority to tighten up the rules for eligibility and benefits.
Last year I twice sought long overdue reform of the scandal-riddled food stamp program. This year I say again: Let's give food stamps to those most in need. Let's not give any to those who don't need them.
Protecting the life and property of the citizen at home is the responsibility of all public officials, but is primarily the job of local and State law enforcement authorities.
Americans have always found the very thought of a Federal police force repugnant, and so do I. But there are proper ways in which we can help to insure domestic tranquility as the Constitution charges us.
My recommendations on how to control violent crime were submitted to the Congress last June with strong emphasis on protecting the innocent victims of crime. To keep a convicted criminal from committing more crimes, we must put him in prison so he cannot harm more law-abiding citizens. To be effective, this punishment must be swift and it must be certain.
Too often, criminals are not sent to prison after conviction but are allowed to return to the streets. Some judges are reluctant to send convicted criminals to prison because of inadequate facilities. To alleviate this problem at the Federal level, my new budget proposes the construction of four new Federal facilities.
To speed Federal justice, I propose an increase this year in the United States attorneys prosecuting Federal crimes and the reinforcement of the number of United States marshals. Additional Federal judges are needed, as recommended by me and the Judicial Conference.
Another major threat to every American's person and property is the criminal carrying a handgun. The way to cut down on the criminal use of guns is not to take guns away from the law-abiding citizen, but to impose mandatory sentences for crimes in which a gun is used, make it harder to obtain cheap guns for criminal purposes, and concentrate gun control enforcement in high-crime areas.
My budget recommends 500 additional Federal agents in the 11 largest metropolitan high-crime areas to help local authorities stop criminals from selling and using handguns.
The sale of hard drugs is tragically on the increase again. I have directed all agencies of the Federal Government to step up law enforcement efforts against those who deal in drugs. In 1975, I am glad to report, Federal agents seized substantially more heroin coming into our country than in 1974.
As President, I have talked personally with the leaders of Mexico, Colombia, and Turkey to urge greater efforts by their Governments to control effectively the production and shipment of hard drugs.
I recommended months ago that the Congress enact mandatory fixed sentences for persons convicted of Federal crimes involving the sale of hard drugs. Hard drugs, we all know, degrade the spirit as they destroy the body of their users.
It is unrealistic and misleading to hold out the hope that the Federal Government can move into every neighborhood and clean up crime. Under the Constitution, the greatest responsibility for curbing crime lies with State and local authorities. They are the frontline fighters in the war against crime.
There are definite ways in which the Federal Government can help them. I will propose in the new budget that Congress authorize almost $7 billion over the next 5 years to assist State and local governments to protect the safety and property of all their citizens.
As President, I pledge the strict enforcement of Federal laws and--by example, support, and leadership--to help State and local authorities enforce their laws. Together, we must protect the victims of crime and ensure domestic tranquility.
Last year I strongly recommended a 5-year extension of the existing revenue sharing legislation, which thus far has provided $23 1/2 billion to help State and local units of government solve problems at home. This program has been effective with decisionmaking transferred from the Federal Government to locally elected officials. Congress must act this year, or State and local units of government will have to drop programs or raise local taxes.
Including my health care program reforms, I propose to consolidate some 59 separate Federal programs and provide flexible Federal dollar grants to help States, cities, and local agencies in such important areas as education, child nutrition, and social services. This flexible system will do the job better and do it closer to home.
The protection of the lives and property of Americans from foreign enemies is one of my primary responsibilities as President.
In a world of instant communications and intercontinental ballistic missiles, in a world economy that is global and interdependent, our relations with other nations become more, not less, important to the lives of Americans.
America has had a unique role in the world since the day of our independence 200 years ago. And ever since the end of World War II, we have borne--successfully--a heavy responsibility for ensuring a stable world order and hope for human progress.
Today, the state of our foreign policy is sound and strong. We are at peace, and I will do all in my power to keep it that way.
Our military forces are capable and ready. Our military power is without equal, and I intend to keep it that way.
Our principal alliances with the industrial democracies of the Atlantic community and Japan have never been more solid.
A further agreement to limit the strategic arms race may be achieved.
We have an improving relationship with China, the world's most populous nation.
The key elements for peace among the nations of the Middle East now exist.
Our traditional friendships in Latin America, Africa, and Asia continue.
We have taken the role of leadership in launching a serious and hopeful dialog between the industrial world and the developing world.
We have helped to achieve significant reform of the international monetary system.
We should be proud of what America, what our country, has accomplished in these areas, and I believe the American people are.
The American people have heard too much about how terrible our mistakes, how evil our deeds, and how misguided our purposes. The American people know better.
The truth is we are the world's greatest democracy. We remain the symbol of man's aspiration for liberty and well-being. We are the embodiment of hope for progress.
I say it is time we quit downgrading ourselves as a nation. Of course, it is our responsibility to learn the right lesson from past mistakes. It is our duty to see that they never happen again. But our greater duty is to look to the future. The world's troubles will not go away.
The American people want strong and effective international and defense policies. In our constitutional system, these policies should reflect consultation and accommodation between the President and the Congress. But in the final analysis, as the framers of our Constitution knew from hard experience, the foreign relations of the United States can be conducted effectively only if there is strong central direction that allows flexibility of action. That responsibility clearly rests with the President.
I pledge to the American people policies which seek a secure, just, and peaceful world. I pledge to the Congress to work with you to that end.
We must not face a future in which we can no longer help our friends, such as Angola, even in limited and carefully controlled ways. We must not lose all capacity to respond short of military intervention.
Some hasty actions of the Congress during the past year--most recently in respect to Angola--were, in my view, very shortsighted. Unfortunately, they are still very much on the minds of our allies and our adversaries.
A strong defense posture gives weight to our values and our views in international negotiations. It assures the vigor of our alliances. And it sustains our efforts to promote settlements of international conflicts. Only from a position of strength can we negotiate a balanced agreement to limit the growth of nuclear arms. Only a balanced agreement will serve our interests and minimize the threat of nuclear confrontation.
The defense budget I will submit to the Congress for fiscal year 1977 will show an essential increase over the current year. It provides for real growth in purchasing power over this year's defense budget, which includes the cost of the all-volunteer force.
We are continuing to make economies to enhance the efficiency of our military forces. But the budget I will submit represents the necessity of American strength for the real world in which we live.
As conflict and rivalry persist in the world, our United States intelligence capabilities must be the best in the world.
The crippling of our foreign intelligence services increases the danger of American involvement in direct armed conflict. Our adversaries are encouraged to attempt new adventures while our own ability to monitor events and to influence events short of military action is undermined. Without effective intelligence capability, the United States stands blindfolded and hobbled.
In the near future, I will take actions to reform and strengthen our intelligence community. I ask for your positive cooperation. It is time to go beyond sensationalism and ensure an effective, responsible, and responsive intelligence capability.
Tonight I have spoken about our problems at home and abroad. I have recommended policies that will meet the challenge of our third century. I have no doubt that our Union will endure, better, stronger, and with more individual freedom. We can see forward only dimly--1 year, 5 years, a generation perhaps. Like our forefathers, we know that if we meet the challenges of our own time with a common sense of purpose and conviction, if we remain true to our Constitution and to our ideals, then we can know that the future will be better than the past.
I see America today crossing a threshold, not just because it is our Bicentennial but because we have been tested in adversity. We have taken a new look at what we want to be and what we want our Nation to become.
I see America resurgent, certain once again that life will be better for our children than it is for us, seeking strength that cannot be counted in megatons and riches that cannot be eroded by inflation.
I see these United States of America moving forward as before toward a more perfect Union where the government serves and the people rule.
We will not make this happen simply by making speeches, good or bad, yours or mine, but by hard work and hard decisions made with courage and with common sense.
I have heard many inspiring Presidential speeches, but the words I remember best were spoken by Dwight D. Eisenhower. "America is not good because it is great," the President said. "America is great because it is good."
President Eisenhower was raised in a poor but religious home in the heart of America. His simple words echoed President Lincoln's eloquent testament that "right makes might." And Lincoln in turn evoked the silent image of George Washington kneeling in prayer at Valley Forge.
So, all these magic memories which link eight generations of Americans are summed up in the inscription just above me. How many times have we seen it? "In God We Trust."
Let us engrave it now in each of our hearts as we begin our Bicentennial.
NOTE: The President delivered his address at 9 p.m. in the House Chamber at the Capitol. He was introduced by Carl Albert, Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on radio and television.
President Gerald R. Ford's Message on the Observance of Black History Month
In the Bicentennial year of our Independence, we can review with admiration the impressive contributions of black Americans to our national life and culture.
One hundred years ago, to help highlight these achievements, Dr. Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History. We are grateful to him today for his initiative, and we are richer for the work of his organization.
Freedom and the recognition of individual rights are what our Revolution was all about. They were ideals that inspired our fight for Independence: ideals that we have been striving to live up to ever since. Yet it took many years before ideals became a reality for black citizens.
The last quarter-century has finally witnessed significant strides in the full integration of black people into every area of national life. In celebrating Black History Month, we can take satisfaction from this recent progress in the realization of the ideals envisioned by our Founding Fathers. But, even more than this, we can seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.
I urge my fellow citizens to join me in tribute to Black History Month and the message of courage and perseverance it brings to all of us.
GERALD R. FORD
President Gerald R. Ford's Remarks Upon Signing a Proclamation Concerning Japanese-American Internment During World War II
February 19 is the anniversary of a very, very sad day in American history. It was on that date in 1942 that Executive Order 9066 was issued resulting in the uprooting of many, many loyal Americans. Over 100,000 persons of Japanese ancestry were removed from their homes, detained in special camps, and eventually relocated.
We now know what we should have known then -- not only was that evacuation wrong but Japanese-Americans were and are loyal Americans. On the battlefield and at home the names of Japanese-Americans have been and continue to be written in history for the sacrifices and the contributions they have made to the well-being and to the security of this, our common Nation.
Executive Order 9066 ceased to be effective at the end of World War II. Because there was no formal statement of its termination, there remains some concern among Japanese-Americans that there yet may be some life in that obsolete document. The proclamation [4417] that I am signing here today should remove all doubt on that matter.
I call upon the American people to affirm with me the unhyphenated American promise that we have learned from the tragedy of that long ago experience -- forever to treasure liberty and justice for each individual American and resolve that this kind of error shall never be made again.
Note: The President spoke at 11:54 a.m. at a ceremony in the Cabinet Room at the White House.
President Gerald R. Ford's Proclamation 4417, Confirming the Termination of the Executive Order Authorizing Japanese-American Internment During World War II
By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation
In this Bicentennial Year, we are commemorating the anniversary dates of many great events in American history. An honest reckoning, however, must include a recognition of our national mistakes as well as our national achievements. Learning from our mistakes is not pleasant, but as a great philosopher once admonished, we must do so if we want to avoid repeating them.
February 19th is the anniversary of a sad day in American history. It was on that date in 1942, in the midst of the response to the hostilities that began on December 7, 1941, that Executive Order 9066 was issued, subsequently enforced by the criminal penalties of a statute enacted March 21, 1942, resulting in the uprooting of loyal Americans. Over one hundred thousand persons of Japanese ancestry were removed from their homes, detained in special camps, and eventually relocated.
The tremendous effort by the War Relocation Authority and concerned Americans for the welfare of these Japanese-Americans may add perspective to that story, but it does not erase the setback to fundamental American principles. Fortunately, the Japanese-American community in Hawaii was spared the indignities suffered by those on our mainland.
We now know what we should have known then--not only was that evacuation wrong, but Japanese-Americans were and are loyal Americans. On the battlefield and at home, Japanese-Americans -- names like Hamada, Mitsumori, Marimoto, Noguchi, Yamasaki, Kido, Munemori and Miyamura -- have been and continue to be written in our history for the sacrifices and the contributions they have made to the well-being and security of this, our common Nation.
The Executive Order that was issued on February 19, 1942, was for the sole purpose of prosecuting the war with the Axis Powers, and ceased to be effective with the end of those hostilities. Because there was no formal statement of its termination, however, there is concern among many Japanese-Americans that there may yet be some life in that obsolete document. I think it appropriate, in this our Bicentennial Year, to remove all doubts on that matter, and to make clear our commitment in the future.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GERALD R. FORD, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim that all authority conferred by Executive Order 9066 terminated upon the issuance of Proclamation 2714, which formally proclaimed the cessation of hostilities of World War II on December 31, 1946.
I call upon the American people to affirm with me this American Promise -- that we have learned from the tragedy of that long-ago experience forever to treasure liberty and justice for each individual American, and resolve that this kind of action shall never again be repeated.
IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day of February in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundredth.
President Gerald R. Ford's Remarks Announcing the National Swine Flu Immunization Program
I have just concluded a meeting on a subject of vast importance to all Americans, and let me report to you the results of that meeting.
One month ago, a strain of influenza sometimes known as swine flu was discovered and isolated among Army recruits at Fort Dix, New Jersey. The appearance of this strain has caused concern within the medical community, because this virus is very similar to one that caused a widespread and very deadly flu epidemic late in the First World War. Some older Americans today will remember that 548,000 people died in this country during that tragic period.
During the last few days, I have consulted with members of my administration, Secretary Mathews and Dr. Cooper, and leading members of the health community and public officials about the implications of this new appearance of swine flu. I have been advised that there is a very real possibility that unless we take effective counteractions, there could be an epidemic of this dangerous disease next fall and winter here in the United States.
Let me state clearly at this time, no one knows exactly how serious this threat could be. Nevertheless, we cannot afford to take a chance with the health of our Nation. Accordingly, I am today announcing the following actions.
First, I am asking the Congress to appropriate $135 million, prior to their April recess, for the production of sufficient vaccine to inoculate every man, woman, and child in the United States.
Secondly, I am directing the Secretary of HEW David Mathews, and Assistant Secretary, Dr. Cooper, to develop plans that would make this vaccine available to all Americans during the 3-month period from September to November of this year.
Finally, I am asking each and every American to make certain he or she receives an inoculation this fall. Inoculations are to be available at schools, hospitals, physicians' offices, and public health facilities.
The reaction to the shot, I am told, may mean a few sore arms for a day or two -- a very small price to pay for this vital protection.
The facts that have been presented to me in the last few days have come from many of the best medical minds in this country. These facts do not suggest there is any cause for alarm. The scientific community essentially understands what we are dealing with, and they have developed a vaccine that will be effective in combatting it.
The facts do suggest, however, that there is a need for action now -- action by the Government, action by industry and the medical community, and most importantly, action by all of our citizens.
We are taking the first steps this afternoon, and before next winter I hope we will have put this threat behind us.
I would like to thank the very outstanding group of technicians who came in and met with me for an hour or so this afternoon -- Dr. Salk, Dr. Sabin, and others here who have convinced me beyond any doubt whatsoever, that this is the right course of action. And tomorrow, I will submit to the Congress a message and a budget supplement, so that this money will be available, and available as promptly as possible.
We discussed how the supplemental should be handled, whether it should be a part of the supplemental that is now going through the Congress or a separate supplemental that would be identified only for this purpose and passed by both the House and the Senate for this purpose and this purpose alone. It is my recommendation that the Congress take this item for $135 million, act promptly on it, and not tie it up with a broader supplemental appropriation bill.
And now, it is my pleasure to ask Dr. Mathews, Secretary of HEW, and Dr. Cooper and the other distinguished scientists who are here who can answer your technical questions.
Thank you very much. Note: The President spoke at 4:50 p.m. to reporters assembled in the Briefing Room at the White House.
Following the President's remarks, a news briefing on the subject was held by David Mathews, Secretary, Dr. Theodore Cooper, Assistant Secretary for Health, Dr. David J. Sencer, Director, Center for Disease Control, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; and Dr. Jonas Salk and Dr. Albert B. Sabin, pioneers in the development of the polio vaccine.
Remarks of Gerald R. Ford in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Bicentennial Celebration)
Charlton Heston, Mayor Rizzo, Governor Shapp, reverend clergy, distinguished Members of Congress, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
On Washington's birthday in 1861, a fortnight after six States had formed a confederacy of their own, Abraham Lincoln came here to Independence Hall knowing that in 10 days he would face the cruelest national crisis of our 85-year history.
"I am filled with deep emotion," he said, "at finding myself standing here in the place where collected together the wisdom, the patriotism, the devotion to principle, from which sprang the institutions under which we live."
Today, we can all share these simple, noble sentiments. Like Lincoln, I feel both pride and humility, rejoicing and reverence as I stand in the place where two centuries ago the United States of America was conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
From this small but beautiful building, then the most imposing structure in the Colonies, came the two great documents that continue to supply the moral and intellectual power for the American adventure in self-government.
Before me is the great bronze bell that joyously rang out the news of the birth of our Nation from the steeple of the State House. It was never intended to be a church bell. Yet a generation before the great events of 1776, the elected assembly of Pennsylvania ordered it to be inscribed with this Biblical verse: "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."
The American settlers had many, many hardships, but they had more liberty than any other people on Earth. That was what they came for and what they meant to keep. The verse from Leviticus on the Liberty Bell refers to the ancient Jewish year of Jubilee. In every 50th year, the Jubilee restored the land and the equality of persons that prevailed when the children of Israel entered the land of promise, and both gifts came from God, as the Jubilee regularly reminded them.
Our Founding Fathers knew their Bibles as well as their Blackstone. They boldly reversed the age-old political theory that kings derive their powers from God and asserted that both powers and unalienable rights belong to the people as direct endowments from their Creator. Furthermore, they declared that governments are instituted among men to secure their rights and to serve their purposes, and governments continue only so long as they have the consent of the governed.
With George Washington already commanding the American Continental Army in the field, the Second Continental Congress met here in 1776, not to demand new liberty, but to regain long-established rights which were being taken away from them without their consent.
The American Revolution was unique and remains unique in that it was fought in the name of the law as well as liberty. At the start, the Declaration of Independence proclaimed the divine source of individual rights and the purpose of human government as Americans understood it. That purpose is to secure the rights of the individuals against even government itself. But the Declaration did not tell us how to accomplish this purpose or what kind of government to set up.
First, our independence had to be won. It was not won easily, as the nearby encampment of Valley Forge, the rude bridge at Concord, and the crumbling battlements of Yorktown bear vivid interest.
We have heard much, though we cannot hear it too often, about 56 Americans who cast their votes and later signed their names to Thomas Jefferson's ringing declaration of equality and freedom so movingly read to us this morning by Miss Marian Anderson.
Do you know what price the signers of that parchment paid for their patriotism, the devotion to principle of which Lincoln spoke? John Hancock of Massachusetts was one of the wealthiest men who came to Philadelphia. Later, as he stood outside Boston and watched the enemy sweep by, he said, "Burn, Boston, though it makes John Hancock a beggar."
Altogether, of the 56 men who signed our great Declaration, 5 were taken prisoner, 12 had their homes sacked, 2 lost their sons, 9 died in the war itself. Those men knew what they were doing. In the final stirring words of the Declaration, they pledged to one another "our lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." And when liberty was at stake, they were willing to pay the price.
We owe a great debt to these founders and to the foot soldiers who followed General Washington into battle after battle, retreat after retreat. But it is important to remember that final success in that struggle for independence, as in the many struggles that have followed, was due to the strength and support of ordinary men and women who were motivated by three powerful impulses -- personal freedom, self-government, and national unity.
For all but the black slaves -- many of whom fought bravely beside their masters because they also heard the promise of the Declaration -- freedom was won in 1783, but the loose Articles of Confederation had proved inadequate in war and were even less effective in peace.
Again in 1787, representatives of the people and the States met in this place to form a more perfect union, a permanent legal mechanism that would translate the principles and purposes of Jefferson's Declaration into effective self-government.
Six signers of the Declaration came back to forge the Constitution, including the sage of Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin. Jefferson had replaced him as Ambassador in Paris. The young genius of the Constitutional Convention was another Virginian, James Madison. The hero of the Revolution, Washington, was called back from Mount Vernon to preside.
Seldom in history have the men who made a revolution seen it through, but the United States was fortunate. The result of their deliberations and compromises was our Constitution, which William Gladstone, a great British Prime Minister, called "the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man."
The Constitution was created to make the promise of the Declaration come true. The Declaration was not a protest against government but against the excesses of government. It prescribed the proper role of government to secure the rights of individuals and to effect their safety and their happiness. In modern society, no individual can do this all alone, so government is not necessarily evil but a necessary good.
The framers of the Constitution feared a central government that was too strong, as many Americans rightly do today. The framers of the Constitution, after their experience under the Articles, feared a central government that was too weak, as many Americans rightly do today. They spent days studying all of the contemporary governments of Europe and concluded with Dr. Franklin that all contained the seeds of their own destruction. So the framers built something new, drawing upon their English traditions, on the Roman Republic, on the uniquely American institution of the town meeting. To reassure those who felt the original Constitution did not sufficiently spell out the unalienable rights of the Declaration, the First United States Congress added -- and the States ratified -- the first 10 amendments, which we call the Bill of Rights.
Later, after a tragic, fraternal war, those guarantees were expanded to include all Americans. Later still, voting rights were assured for women and for younger citizens 18 to 21 years of age.
It is good to know that in our own lifetime we have taken part in the growth of freedom and in the expansion of equality which began here so long ago. This union of corrected wrongs and expanded rights has brought the blessings of liberty to the 215 million Americans, but the struggle for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is never truly won. Each generation of Americans, indeed of all humanity, must strive to achieve these aspirations anew. Liberty is a living flame to be fed, not dead ashes to be revered, even in a Bicentennial Year.
It is fitting that we ask ourselves hard questions even on a glorious day like today. Are the institutions under which we live working the way they should? Are the foundations laid in 1776 and 1789 still strong enough and sound enough to resist the tremors of our times? Are our God-given rights secure, our hard-won liberties protected?
The very fact that we can ask these questions, that we can freely examine and criticize our society, is cause for confidence itself. Many of the voices raised in doubt 200 years ago served to strengthen and improve the decisions finally made.
The American adventure is a continuing process. As one milestone is passed, another is sighted. As we achieve one goal -- a longer lifespan, a literate population, a leadership in world affairs -- we raise our sights.
As we begin our third century, there is still so much to be done. We must increase the independence of the individual and the opportunity of all Americans to attain their full potential. We must ensure each citizen's right to privacy. We must create a more beautiful America, making human works conform to the harmony of nature. We must develop a safer society, so ordered that happiness may be pursued without fear of crime or man-made hazards. We must build a more stable international order, politically, economically, and legally. We must match the great breakthroughs of the past century by improving health and conquering disease. We must continue to unlock the secrets of the universe beyond our planet as well as within ourselves. We must work to enrich the quality of American life at work, at play, and in our homes.
It is right that Americans are always improving. It is not only right, it is necessary. From need comes action, as it did here in Independence Hall. Those fierce political rivals -- John Adams and Thomas Jefferson -- in their later years carried out a warm correspondence. Both died on the Fourth of July of. 1826, having lived to see the handiwork of their finest hour endure a full 50 years.
They had seen the Declaration's clear call for human liberty and equality arouse the hopes of all mankind. Jefferson wrote to Adams that "even should the cloud of barbarism and despotism again obscure the science and libraries of Europe, this country remains to preserve and restore life [light] and liberty to them."
Over a century later, in 1936, Jefferson's dire prophecy seemed about to come true. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, speaking for a mighty nation, reinforced by millions and millions of immigrants who had joined the American adventure, was able to warn the new despotisms: "We too, born to freedom, and believing in freedom, are willing to fight to maintain freedom. We, and all others who believe as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live on our knees."
The world knows where we stand. The world is ever conscious of what Americans are doing for better or for worse, because the United States today remains the most successful realization of humanity's universal hope.
The world may or may not follow, but we lead because our whole history says we must. Liberty is for all men and women as a matter of equal and unalienable right. The establishment of justice and peace abroad will in large measure depend upon the peace and justice we create here in our own country, where we still show the way.
The American adventure began here with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence. It continues in a common conviction that the source of our blessings is a loving God, in whom we trust. Therefore, I ask all the members of the American family, our guests and friends, to join me now in a moment of silent prayer and meditation in gratitude for all that we have received and to ask continued safety and happiness for each of us and for the United States of America.
Thank you, and God bless you.
Note: The President spoke at 11:18 a.m. at Independence Hall. In his opening remarks, he referred to actor Charlton Heston, master of ceremonies, Mayor Frank L. Rizzo of Philadelphia, and Governor Milton J. Shapp of Pennsylvania.
Remarks of Gerald R. Ford at Naturalization Ceremonies at Monticello, Virginia
Thank you very, very much, Governor Godwin, Mr. Justice Powell, Senator Byrd, Ambassador Nolting, reverend clergy, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
It is a very great honor and a high privilege, Governor Godwin, to come to the Commonwealth of Virginia and to this beautiful and significant home and to participate in this wonderful ceremony. It is a great honor and privilege for me to be here today.
I am very proud to welcome all of you as fellow citizens of the United States of America. I invite you to join fully in the American adventure and to share our common goal and our common glory.
Our common goal is freedom -- the liberty of each individual to enjoy the equal rights and to pursue the happiness which in this life God gives and self-government secures.
Our common glory is the great heritage from the past which enriches the present and ensures our future.
In 1884 France, as a birthday gift, presented the United States with a statue -- the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. This year scores of friendly nations have sent us Bicentennial gifts which we deeply appreciate and will long cherish.
But you have given us a birthday present beyond price -- yourselves, your faith, your loyalty, and your love. We thank you with full and friendly hearts.
After two centuries there is still something wonderful about being an American. If we cannot quite express it, we know what it is. You know what it is, or you would not be here today. Why not just call it patriotism?
Thomas Jefferson was a Virginia planter, a politician, a philosopher, a practical problem solver, a Palladian architect, a poet in prose. With such genius he became a burgess, a delegate, a Governor, an ambassador, a Secretary of State, a Vice President, and President of the United States. But he was first a patriot.
The American patriots of 1776 who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to declare and defend our independence did more than dissolve their ties with another country to protest against abuses of their liberties. Jefferson and his colleagues very deliberately and very daringly set out to construct a new kind of nation. "Men may be trusted," he said, "to govern themselves without a master." This was the most revolutionary idea in the world at that time. It remains the most revolutionary idea in the world today.
Washington, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison and all patriots who laid the foundation for freedom in our Declaration and our Constitution carefully studied both contemporary and classic models of government to adapt them to the American climate and our circumstances. Just as Jefferson did in designing Monticello, they wanted to build in this beautiful land a home for equal freedom and opportunity, a haven of safety and happiness, not for themselves alone, but for all who would come to us through centuries.
How well they built is told by millions upon millions who came and are still coming. Our first national census in 1790 produced a recorded population just under 4 million. Three-fourths of them traced their ancestry to the British Isles, though most had considered themselves American for several generations. There was already talk about further immigration, proposing it should be selective and restrictive, but this was swept aside by the greatest mass movement of people in all human history.
Immigrants came from almost everywhere, singly and in waves. Throughout our first century they brought the restless drive for better lives and rugged strength that cleared the wilderness, plowed the prairie, tamed the western plains, pushing into the Pacific and to Alaska. Like the Mayflower Pilgrims and the early Spanish settlers, these new Americans brought with them precious relics of the worlds they left behind -- a song, a story, a dance, a tool, a seed, a recipe, the name of a place, the rules of a game, a trick of the trade.
Such transfusions of traditions and cultures, as well as of blood, have made America unique among nations and Americans a new kind of people. There is little the world has that is not native to the United States today. Unfettered by ancient hates, the people of the young United States really believed that all men are created equal. We admit they had stubborn blind spots in their lofty vision -- for blacks, whose forbearers had been Americans almost as long as theirs, and for women, whose political rights we took even longer to recognize.
This is not the day, however, to deplore our shortcomings or to regret that not all new citizens have been welcomed as you are here today. The essential fact is that the United States -- as a national policy and in the hearts of most Americans -- has been willing to absorb anyone from anywhere. We were confident that simply by sharing our American adventure these newcomers would be loyal, law-abiding, productive citizens, and they did. Older nations in the 18th and 19th centuries granted their nationality to foreign born only as a special privilege, if at all. We offered citizenship to all, and we have been richly rewarded.
The United States was able to do this because we are uniquely a community of values, as distinct from a religious community, a racial community, a geographic community, or an ethnic community. This Nation was founded 200 years ago, not on ancient legends or conquests or physical likeness or language, but on a certain political value which Jefferson's pen so eloquently expressed.
To be an American is to subscribe to those principles which the Declaration of Independence proclaims and the Constitution protects -- the political values of self-government, liberty and justice, equal rights, and equal opportunity. These beliefs are the secrets of America's unity from diversity -- in my judgment the most magnificent achievement of our 200 years as a nation.
"Black is beautiful" was a motto of genius which uplifted us far above its intention. Once Americans had thought about it and perceived its truth, we began to realize that so are brown, white, red, and yellow beautiful. When I was young, a Sunday school teacher told us that the beauty of Joseph's coat was its many colors. I believe Americans are beautiful -- individually, in communities, and freely joined together by dedication to the United States of America.
I see a growing danger in this country to conformity of thought and taste and behavior. We need more encouragement and protection for individuality. The wealth we have of culture, ethnic and religious and racial traditions are valuable counterbalances to the overpowering sameness and subordination of totalitarian societies. The sense of belonging to any group that stands for something decent and noble, so long as it does not confine free spirits or cultivate hostility to others, is part of the pride every American should have in the heritage of the past. That heritage is rooted now, not in England alone -- as indebted as we are for the Magna Carta and the common law -- not in Europe alone, or in Africa alone, or Asia, or on the islands of the sea. The American adventure draws from the best of all of mankind's long sojourn here on Earth and now reaches out into the solar system.
You came as strangers among us and you leave here as citizens, equal in fundamental rights, equal before the law, with an equal share in the promise of the future. Jefferson did not define what the pursuit of happiness means for you or for me. Our Constitution does not guarantee that any of us will find it. But we are free to try. Foreigners like Lafayette, Von Steuben, and Pulaski came to fight in our Revolution because they believed in its principles that they felt were universal. Immigrants like Andrew Carnegie came as a poor boy and created a great steel industry, then gave his fortune back to America for libraries, universities, and museums. Maria Francesca [Ste. Frances Xavier] Cabrini came as a missionary sister to serve the sick and the poor. Samuel Gompers worked in a sweatshop, spent his lunchtime helping other immigrant workers learn to read so they could become citizens. We have gained far, far more than we have given to the millions who made America their second homeland.
Remember that none of us are more than caretakers of this great country. Remember that the more freedom you give to others, the more you will have for yourself. Remember that without law there can be no liberty. And remember, as well, the rich treasures you brought from whence you came, and let us share your pride in them. This is the way that we keep our independence as exciting as the day it was declared and keep the United States of America even more beautiful than Joseph's coat.
Thank you very much.
NOTE: The President spoke at 11:25 a.m. at Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, in Charlottesville, Va. In his opening remarks, he referred to Governor Mills E. Godwin, Jr., of Virginia, Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Senator Harry F. Byrd, Jr., of Virginia, and Frederick E. Nolting, Jr., Ambassador to the Republic of Vietnam, 1961-63.
President Gerald R. Ford's Remarks in Kansas City Upon Accepting the 1976 Republican Presidential Nomination
Listen to the speech in .mp3 format (31 MB)
Mr. Chairman, delegates and alternates to this Republican Convention:
I am honored by your nomination, and I accept it with pride, with gratitude, and with a total will to win a great victory for the American people. We will wage a winning campaign in every region of this country, from the snowy banks of Minnesota to the sandy plains of Georgia. We concede not a single State. We concede not a single vote.
This evening I am proud to stand before this great convention as the first incumbent President since Dwight D. Eisenhower who can tell the American people America is at peace.
Tonight I can tell you straight away this Nation is sound, this Nation is secure, this Nation is on the march to full economic recovery and a better quality of life for all Americans.
And I will tell you one more thing: This year the issues are on our side. I am ready, I am eager to go before the American people and debate the real issues face to face with Jimmy Carter.
The American people have a right to know firsthand exactly where both of us stand.
I am deeply grateful to those who stood with me in winning the nomination of the party whose cause I have served all of my adult life. I respect the convictions of those who want a change in Washington. I want a change, too. After 22 long years of majority misrule, let's change the United States Congress.
My gratitude tonight reaches far beyond this arena to countless friends whose confidence, hard work, and unselfish support have brought me to this moment. It would be unfair to single out anyone, but may I make an exception for my wonderful family-Mike, Jack, Steve, and Susan and especially my dear wife, Betty.
We Republicans have had some tough competition. We not only preach the virtues of competition, we practice them. But to- night we come together not on a battlefield to conclude a cease- fire, but to join forces on a training field that has conditioned us all for the rugged contest ahead. Let me say this from the bottom of my heart: After the scrimmages of the past few months, it really feels good to have Ron Reagan on the same side of the line.
To strengthen our championship lineup, the convention has wisely chosen one of the ablest Americans as our next Vice President, Senator Bob Dole of Kansas. With his help, with your help, with the help of millions of Americans who cherish peace, who want freedom preserved, prosperity shared, and pride in America, we will win this election. I speak not of a Republican victory, but a victory for the American people.
You at home listening tonight, you are the people who pay the taxes and obey the laws. You are the people who make our system work. You are the people who make America what it is. It is from your ranks that I come and on your side that I stand.
Something wonderful happened to this country of ours the past two years. We all came to realize it on the Fourth of July. Together, out of years of turmoil and tragedy, wars and riots, assassinations and wrongdoing in high places, Americans recaptured the spirit of 1776. We saw again the pioneer vision of our revolutionary founders and our immigrant ancestors. Their vision was of free men and free women enjoying limited government and unlimited opportunity. The mandate I want in 1976 is to make this vision a reality, but it will take the voices and the votes of many more Americans who are not Republicans to make that mandate binding and my mission possible.
I have been called an unelected President, an accidental President. We may even hear that again from the other party, despite the fact that I was welcomed and endorsed by an overwhelming majority of their elected representatives in the Congress who certified my fitness to our highest office. Having become Vice President and President without expecting or seeking either, I have a special feeling toward these high offices. To me, the Presidency and the Vice-Presidency were not prizes to be won, but a duty to be done.
So, tonight it is not the power and the glamor of the Presidency that leads me to ask for another 4 years; it is something every hard-working American will understand-the challenge of a job well begun, but far from finished.
Two years ago, on August 9, 1974, I placed my hand on the Bible, which Betty held, and took the same constitutional oath that was administered to George Washington. I had faith in our people, in our institutions, and in myself. "My fellow Americans," I said, "our long national nightmare is over."
It was an hour in our history that troubled our minds and tore at our hearts. Anger and hatred had risen to dangerous levels, dividing friends and families. The polarization of our political order had aroused unworthy passions of reprisal and revenge. Our governmental system was closer to stalemate than at any time since Abraham Lincoln took the same oath of office. Our economy was in the throes of runaway inflation, taking us headlong into the worst recession since Franklin D. Roosevelt took the same oath.
On that dark day I told my fellow countrymen, "I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, so I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers."
On a marble fireplace in the White House is carved a prayer which John Adams wrote. It concludes, "May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof." Since I have resided in that historic house, I have tried to live by that prayer. I faced many tough problems. I probably made some mistakes, but on balance, America and Americans have made an incredible comeback since August 1974. Nobody can honestly say otherwise. And the plain truth is that the great progress we have made at home and abroad was in spite of the majority who run the Congress of the United States.
For two years I have stood for all the people against a vote hungry, free-spending congressional majority on Capitol Hill. Fifty-five times I vetoed extravagant and unwise legislation; 45 times I made those vetoes stick. Those vetoes have saved American taxpayers billions and billions of dollars. I am against the big tax spender and for the little taxpayer.
I called for a permanent tax cut, coupled with spending reductions, to stimulate the economy and relieve hard-pressed, middle-income taxpayers. Your personal exemption must be raised from $750 to $1,000. The other party's platform talks about tax reform, but there is one big problem - their own Congress won't act.
I called for reasonable constitutional restrictions on court-ordered busing of schoolchildren, but the other party's platform concedes that busing should be a last resort. But there is the same problem - their own Congress won't act.
I called for a major overhaul of criminal laws to crack down on crime and illegal drugs. The other party's platform deplores America's $90 billion cost of crime. There is the problem again - their own Congress won't act.
The other party's platform talks about a strong defense. Now, here is the other side of the problem - their own Congress did act. They slashed $50 billion from our national defense needs in the last 10 years.
My friends, Washington is not the problem; their Congress is the problem.
You know, the President of the United States is not a magician who can wave a wand or sign a paper that will instantly end a war, cure a recession, or make bureaucracy disappear. A President has immense powers under the Constitution, but all of them ultimately come from the American people and their mandate to him. That is why, tonight, I turn to the American people and ask not only for your prayers but also for your strength and your support, for your voice, and for your vote.
I come before you with a 2-year record of performance without your mandate. I offer you a 4-year pledge of greater performance with your mandate. As Governor Al Smith used to say, "Let's look at the record."
Two years ago inflation was 12 percent. Sales were off. Plants were shut down. Thousands were being laid off every week.
Fear of the future was throttling down our economy and threatening millions of families.
Let's look at the record since August 1974. Inflation has been cut in half. Payrolls are up. Profits are up. Production is up. Purchases are up. Since the recession was turned around, almost 4 million of our fellow Americans have found new jobs or got their old jobs back. This year more men and women have jobs than ever before in the history of the United States. Confidence has returned, and we are in the full surge of sound recovery to steady prosperity.
Two years ago America was mired in withdrawal from Southeast Asia. A decade of Congresses had shortchanged our global defenses and threatened our strategic posture. Mounting tension between Israel and the Arab nations made another war seem inevitable. The whole world watched and wondered where America was going. Did we in our domestic turmoil have the will, the stamina, and the unity to stand up for freedom?
Look at the record since August, two years ago. Today America is at peace and seeks peace for all nations. Not a single American is at war anywhere on the face of this Earth tonight.
Our ties with Western Europe and Japan, economic as well as military, were never stronger. Our relations with Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and mainland China are firm, vigilant, and forward looking. Policies I have initiated offer sound progress for the peoples of the Pacific, Africa, and Latin America. Israel and Egypt, both trusting the United States, have taken an historic step that promises an eventual just settlement for the whole Middle East.
The world now respects America's policy of peace through strength. The United States is again the confident leader of the free world. Nobody questions our dedication to peace, but nobody doubts our willingness to use our strength when our vital interests are at stake, and we will. I called for an up-to-date, powerful Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines that will keep America secure for decades. A strong military posture is always the best insurance for peace. But America's strength has never rested on arms alone. It is rooted in our mutual commitment of our citizens and leaders in the highest standards of ethics and morality and in the spiritual renewal which our Nation is undergoing right now.
Two years ago people's confidence in their highest officials, to whom they had overwhelmingly entrusted power, had twice been shattered. Losing faith in the word of their elected leaders, Americans lost some of their own faith in themselves.
Again, let's look at the record since August 1974. From the start my administration has been open, candid, forthright. While my entire public and private life was under searching examination for the Vice-Presidency, I reaffirmed my lifelong conviction that truth is the glue that holds government together - not only government but civilization itself. I have demanded honesty, decency, and personal integrity from everybody in the executive branch of the Government. The House and Senate have the same duty.
The American people will not accept a double standard in the United States Congress. Those who make our laws today must not debase the reputation of our great legislative bodies that have given us such giants as Daniel Webster Henry Clay, Sam Rayburn, and Robert A. Taft. Whether in the Nation's Capital, the State capital, or city hall, private morality and public trust must go together.
From August of 1974 to August of 1976, the record shows steady progress upward toward prosperity, peace, and public trust. My record is one of progress, not platitudes. My record is one of specifics, not smiles. My record is one of performance, not promises. It is a record I am proud to run on. It is a record the American people Democrats, Independents, and Republicans alike - will support on November 2.
For the next four years I pledge to you that I will hold to the steady course we have begun. But I have no intention of standing on the record alone.
We will continue winning the fight against inflation. We will go on reducing the dead weight and impudence of bureaucracy.
We will submit a balanced budget by 1978.
We will improve the quality of life at work, at play, and in our homes and in our neighborhoods. We will not abandon our cities. We will encourage urban programs which assure safety in the streets, create healthy environments, and restore neighborhood pride. We will return control of our children's education to parents and local school authorities.
We will make sure that the party of Lincoln remains the party of equal rights.
We will create a tax structure that is fair for all our citizens, one that preserves the continuity of the family home, the family farm, and the family business.
We will ensure the integrity of the social security system and improve Medicare so that our older citizens can enjoy the health and the happiness that they have earned. There is no reason they should have to go broke just to get well.
We will make sure that this rich Nation does not neglect citizens who are less fortunate, but provides for their needs with compassion and with dignity.
We will reduce the growth and the cost of government and allow individual breadwinners and businesses to keep more of the money that they earn.
We will create a climate in which our economy will provide a meaningful job for everyone who wants to work and a decent standard of life for all Americans. We will ensure that all of our young people have a better chance in life than we had, an education they can use, and a career they can be proud of.
We will carry out a farm policy that assures a fair market price for the farmer, encourages full production, leads to record exports, and eases the hunger within the human family. We will never use the bounty of America's farmers as a pawn in international diplomacy. There will be no embargoes.
We will continue our strong leadership to bring peace, justice, and economic progress where there is turmoil, especially in the Middle East. We will build a safer and saner world through patient negotiations and dependable arms agreements which reduce the danger of conflict and horror of thermonuclear war. While I am President, we will not return to a collision course that could reduce civilization to ashes.
We will build an America where people feel rich in spirit as well as in worldly goods. We will build an America where people feel proud about themselves and about their country.
We will build on performance, not promises; experience, not expediency; real progress instead of mysterious plans to be revealed in some dim and distant future. The American people are wise, wiser than our opponents think. They know who pays for every campaign promise. They are not afraid of the truth. We will tell them the truth.
From start to finish, our campaign will be credible; it will be responsible. We will come out fighting, and we will win. Yes, we have all seen the polls and the pundits who say our party is dead. I have heard that before. So did Harry Truman. I will tell you what I think. The only polls that count are the polls the American people go to on November 2. And right now, I predict that the American people are going to say that night, "Jerry, you have done a good job, keep right on doing it."
As I try in my imagination to look into the homes where families are watching the end of this great convention, I can't tell which faces are Republicans, which are Democrats, and which are Independents. I cannot see their color or their creed. I see only Americans.
I see Americans who love their husbands, their wives, and their children. I see Americans who love their country for what it has been and what it must become. I see Americans who work hard ' but who are willing to sacrifice all they have worked for to keep their children and their country free. I see Americans who in their own quiet way pray for peace among nations and peace among themselves. We do love our neighbors, and we do forgive those who have trespassed against us.
I see a new generation that knows what is right and knows itself, a generation determined to preserve its ideals, its environment, our Nation, and the world.
My fellow Americans, I like what I see. I have no fear for the future of this great country. And as we go forward together, I promise you once more what I promised before: to uphold the Constitution, to do what is right as God gives me to see the right, and to do the very best that I can for America.
God helping me, I won't let you down.
Thank you very much.
NOTE: The President spoke at 10:45 p.m. in Kemper Arena. His remarks were broadcast live on radio and television.
Presidential Campaign Debate Between Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter
THE MODERATOR. I am Edwin Newman, moderator of this first debate of the 1976 campaign between Gerald R. Ford of Michigan, Republican candidate for President, and Jimmy Carter of Georgia, Democratic candidate for President.
We thank you, President Ford, and we thank you, Governor Carter, for being with us tonight.
There are to be three debates between the Presidential candidates and one between the Vice-Presidential candidates. All are being arranged by the League of Women Voters Education Fund.
Tonight's debate, the first between Presidential candidates in 16 years and the first ever in which an incumbent President has participated, is taking place before an audience in the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, just 3 blocks from Independence Hall. The television audience may reach 100 million in the United States and many millions overseas.
Tonight's debate focuses on domestic and economic policy. Questions will be put by Frank Reynolds of ABC News, James Gannon of the Wall Street Journal, and Elizabeth Drew of the New Yorker magazine.
Under the agreed rules the first question will go to Governor Carter. That was decided by the toss of a coin. He will have up to 3 minutes to answer. One followup question will be permitted with up to 2 minutes to reply. President Ford will then have 2 minutes to respond.
The next question will go to President Ford, with the same time arrangements, and questions will continue to be alternated between the candidates. Each man will make a 3-minute statement at the end, Governor Carter to go first.
President Ford and Governor Carter do not have any notes or prepared remarks with them this evening.
Mr. Reynolds, your question for Governor Carter.
MR. REYNOLDS. Mr. President, Governor Carter.
Governor, in an interview with the Associated Press last week, you said you believed these debates would alleviate a lot of concern that some voters have about you. Well, one of those concerns--not an uncommon one about candidates in any year--is that many voters say they don't really know where you stand.
Now, you have made jobs your number one priority, and you have said you are committed to a drastic reduction in unemployment. Can you say now, Governor, in specific terms what your first step would be next January, if you are elected, to achieve that?
MR. CARTER. Yes. First of all it's to recognize the tremendous economic strength of this country and to set the putting back to work of our people as a top priority. This is an effort that ought to be done primarily by strong leadership in the White House, the inspiration of our people, the tapping of business, agriculture, industry, labor, and government at all levels to work on this project. We will never have an end to the inflationary spiral, and we will never have a balanced budget until we get our people back to work.
There are several things that can be done specifically that are not now being done: first of all, to channel research and development funds into areas that will provide large numbers of jobs; secondly, we need to have a commitment in the private sector to cooperate with government in matters like housing. Here, a very small investment of taxpayers' money in the housing field can bring large numbers of extra jobs, in the guarantee of mortgage loans, in the putting forward of 202 programs for housing for older people and so forth, to cut down the roughly 20-percent unemployment that now exists in the construction industry.
Another thing is to deal with our needs in the central cities where the unemployment rate is extremely high--sometimes among minority groups, those who don't speak English or who are black or young people--a 40-percent unemployment. Here, a CCC [Civilian Conservation Corps]-type program would be appropriate, to channel money into the sharing with private sector and also local and State governments to employ young people who are now out of work.
Another very important aspect of our economy would be to increase production in every way possible, to hold down taxes on individuals, and to shift the tax burdens on to those who have avoided paying taxes in the past.
These kinds of specific things, none of which are being done now, would be a great help in reducing unemployment.
There is an additional factor that needs to be done and covered very succinctly, and that is to make sure that we have a good relationship between management, business on the one hand and labor on the other.
In a lot of places where unemployment is very high, we might channel specific, targeted job opportunities by paying part of the salary of unemployed people and also sharing with local governments the payment of salaries, which would let us cut down the unemployment rate much lower before we hit the inflationary level.
But I believe that by the end of the first 4 years of the next term, we could have the unemployment rate down to 3 percent--adult unemployment--which is about 4 to 4 percent overall, a controlled inflation rate, and have a balanced growth of about 4 to 6 percent, around 5 percent, which would give us a balanced budget.
MR. REYNOLDS. Governor, in the event you are successful and you do achieve a drastic drop in unemployment, that is likely to create additional pressure on prices. How willing are you to consider an incomes policy; in other words, wage and price controls?
MR. CARTER. Well, we now have such a low utilization of our productive capacity, about 73 percent--I think it's about the lowest since the Great Depression years--and such a high unemployment rate now--7.9 percent--that we have a long way to go in getting people to work before we have the inflationary pressures. And I think this would be easy to accomplish, to get jobs now without having the strong inflationary pressures that would be necessary.
I would not favor the payment of a given fixed income to people unless they are not able to work. But with tax incentives for the low-income groups, we could build up their income levels above the poverty level and not make welfare more profitable than work.
THE MODERATOR. Mr. President, your response?
THE PRESIDENT. I don't believe that Mr. Carter has been any more specific in this case than he has been on many other instances. I notice particularly that he didn't endorse the Humprey-Hawkins bill, which he has on occasions and which is included as a part of the Democratic platform. That legislation allegedly would help our unemployment, but we all know that it would have controlled our economy. It would have added $10 to $30 billion each year in additional expenditures by the Federal Government. It would have called for export controls on agricultural products.
In my judgment the best way to get jobs is to expand the private sector, where five out of six jobs today exist in our economy. We can do that by reducing Federal taxes, as I proposed about a year ago when I called for a tax reduction of $28 billion, three-quarters of it to go to private taxpayers and one-quarter to the business sector. We could add to jobs in the major metropolitan areas by a proposal that I recommended that would give tax incentives to business to move into the inner city and to expand or to build new plants so that they would take a plant or expand a plant where people are and people are currently unemployed.
We could also help our youth with some of the proposals that would give to young people an opportunity to work and learn at the same time, just like we give money to young people who are going to college.
Those are the kind of specifics that I think we have to discuss on these debates, and these are the kind of programs that I will talk about on my time.
THE MODERATOR. Mr. Gannon, your question to President Ford.
MR. GANNON. Mr. President, I would like to continue for a moment on this question of taxes which you have just raised. You have said that you favor more tax cuts for middle-income Americans, even those earning up to $30,000 a year. That presumably would cost the Treasury quite a bit of money in lost revenue.
In view of the very large budget deficits that you have accumulated and that are still in prospect, how is it possible to promise further tax cuts and to reach your goal of balancing the budget?
THE PRESIDENT. At the time, Mr. Gannon, that I made the recommendation for a $28 billion tax cut--three-quarters of it to go to individual taxpayers and 25 percent to American business--I said at the same time that we had to hold the lid on Federal spending--that for every dollar of a tax reduction, we had to have an equal reduction in Federal expenditures--a one-for-one proposition. And I recommended that to the Congress with a budget ceiling of $395 billion, and that would have permitted us to have a $28 billion tax reduction.
In my tax reduction program for middle-income taxpayers, I recommended that the Congress increase personal exemptions from $750 per person to $1,000 per person. That would mean, of course, that for a family of four that that family would have $1,000 more personal exemption, money that they could spend for their own purposes, money that the Government wouldn't have to spend. But if we keep the lid on Federal spending, which I think we can with the help of the Congress, we can justify fully a $28 billion tax reduction.
In the budget that I submitted to the Congress in January of this year, I recommended a 50-percent cutback in the rate of growth of Federal spending. For the last 10 years the budget of the United States has grown from about 11 percent per year. We can't afford that kind of growth in Federal spending. And in the budget that I recommended, we cut it in half--a growth rate of 5 to 5 percent. With that kind of limitation on Federal spending, we can fully justify the tax reductions that I have proposed. And it seems to me, with the stimulant of more money in the hands of the taxpayer and with more money in the hands of business to expand, to modernize, to provide more jobs, our economy will be stimulated so that we will get more revenue, and we will have a more prosperous economy.
MR. GANNON. Mr. President, to follow up a moment, the Congress has passed a tax bill which is before you now which did not meet exactly the sort of outline that you requested. What is your intention on that bill since it doesn't meet your requirements? Do you plan to sign that bill?
THE PRESIDENT. That tax bill does not entirely meet the criteria that I established. I think the Congress should have added another $10 billion reduction in personal income taxes, including the increase of personal exemptions from $750 to $1,000. And Congress could have done that if the budget committees of the Congress and the Congress as a whole had not increased the spending that I recommended in the budget. I am sure you know that in the resolutions passed by the Congress, they have added about $17 billion in more spending by the Congress over the budget that I recommended. So, I would prefer in that tax bill to have an additional tax cut and a further limitation on Federal spending.
Now, this tax bill that hasn't reached the White House yet--but is expected in a day or two--it's about 1,500 pages. It has some good provisions in it; it has left out some that I have recommended, unfortunately. On the other hand, when you have a bill of that magnitude, with those many provisions, a President has to sit and decide if there is more good than bad. And from the analysis that I have made so far, it seems to me that that tax bill does justify my signature and my approval.
THE MODERATOR. Governor Carter, your response.
MR. CARTER. Well, Mr. Ford is changing considerably his previous philosophy. The present tax structure is a disgrace to this country. It's just a welfare program for the rich. As a matter of fact, 25 percent of the total tax deductions go for only 1 percent of the richest people in this country, and over 50 percent of the tax credits go for the 14 percent of the richest people in this country.
When Mr. Ford first became President in August of 1974, the first thing he did in October was to ask for a $4.7 billion increase in taxes on our people in the midst of the heaviest recession since the Great Depression of the 1940's. In January of 1975, he asked for a tax change, a $5.6 billion increase on low and middle-income private individuals, a $6 billion decrease on the corporations and the special interests. In December of 1975, he vetoed the roughly $18 to $20 billion tax reduction bill that had been passed by the Congress. And then he came back later on in January of this year, and he did advocate a $10 billion tax reduction, but it would be offset by a $6 billion increase this coming January in deductions for social security payments and for unemployment compensation.
The whole philosophy of the Republican Party, including my opponent, has been to pile on taxes on low-income people, to take them off on the corporations. As a matter of fact, since the late sixties when Mr. Nixon took office, we've had a reduction in the percentage of taxes paid by corporations from 30 percent down to about 20 percent. We've had an increase in taxes paid by individuals, payroll taxes, from 14 percent up to 20 percent. This is what the Republicans have done to us. This is why tax reform is so important.
THE MODERATOR. Mrs. Drew, your question to Governor Carter.
Ms. DREW. Governor Carter, you've proposed a number of new or enlarged programs, including jobs and health, welfare reform, child care, aid to education, aid to cities, changes in social security and housing subsidies. You've also said that you want to balance the budget by the end of your first term. Now, you haven't put a price tag on those programs, but even if we priced them conservatively, and we count for full employment by the end of your first term, and we count for the economic growth that would occur during that period, there still isn't enough money to pay for those programs and balance the budget by any estimates that I've been able to see.
So, in that case, what would give?
MR. CARTER. Well, as a matter of fact, there is. If we assume a rate of growth of our economy equivalent to what it was during President Johnson and President Kennedy, even before the Vietnamese war, and if we assume that, at the end of the 4-year period we can cut our unemployment rate down to 4 to 4 percent. Under those circumstances, even assuming no elimination of unnecessary programs and assuming an increase in the allotment of money to finance programs increasing as the inflation rate does, my economic projects, I think confirmed by the House and the Senate committees, have been, with a $60 billion extra amount of money that can be spent in fiscal year '81--which would be the last year of this next term--within that $60 billion increase, there would be fit the programs that I promised the American people. I might say, too, that if we see that these goals cannot be reached--and I believe they are reasonable goals--then I would cut back on the rate of implementation of new programs in order to accommodate a balanced budget by fiscal year '81, which is the last year of the next term.
I believe that we ought to have a balanced budget during normal economic circumstances. And these projections have been very carefully made. I stand behind them. And if they should be in error slightly on the down side, then I will phase in the programs that we've advocated more slowly.
Ms. DREW. Governor, according to the budget committees of the Congress that you referred to, if we get to full employment, what they project at a 4-percent unemployment and, as you say, even allowing for the inflation in the programs, there would not be anything more than a surplus of $5 billion by 1981. Conservative estimates of your programs would be that they'd be about $85 to $100 billion. So, how do you say that you are going to be able to do these things and balance the budget?
MR. CARTER. Well, the assumption that you have described that's different is in the rate of growth of our economy.
Ms. DREW. No, they took that into account in those figures.
MR. CARTER. I believe that it's accurate to say that the committees to whom you refer, with the employment rate that you state and with the 5 to 5 percent growth rate in our economy, that the projections would be a S60 billion increase in the amount of money that we have to spend in 1981 compared to now.
And in that framework would be fit any improvements in the programs. Now, this does not include any extra control over unnecessary spending, the weeding out of obsolete or obsolescent programs. We will have a safety version built in with complete reorganization of the executive branch of Government, which I am pledged to do.
The present bureaucratic structure of the Federal Government is a mess. And if I am elected President, that's going to be a top priority of mine--to completely revise the structure of the Federal Government to make it economical, efficient, purposeful, and manageable for a change. And also, I am going to institute zero-base budgeting, which I used 4 years in Georgia, which assesses every program every year and eliminates those programs that are obsolete or obsolescent.
But with these projections we will have a balanced budget by fiscal year 1981 if I am elected President, keep my promises to the American people. And it's just predicated on very modest, but I think accurate, projections of employment increases and a growth in our national economy equal to what was experienced under Kennedy, Johnson, before the Vietnam war.
THE MODERATOR. President Ford.
THE PRESIDENT. If it is true that there will be a $60 billion surplus by fiscal year 1981, rather than spend that money for all the new programs that Governor Carter recommends and endorses and which are included in the Democratic platform, I think the American taxpayer ought to get an additional tax break, a tax reduction of that magnitude. I feel that the taxpayers are the ones that need the relief. I don't think we should add additional programs of the magnitude that Governor Carter talks about.
It seems to me that our tax structure today has rates that are too high. But I am very glad to point out has since 1969, during a Republican administration, we have had 10 million people taken off of the tax rolls at the lower end of the taxpayer area. And at the same time, assuming that I sign the tax bill that was mentioned by Mr. Gannon, we will, in the last two tax bills, have increased the minimum tax on all wealthy taxpayers.
And I believe that by eliminating 10 million taxpayers in the last 8 years and by putting a heavier tax burden on those in the higher tax brackets, plus the other actions that have been taken, we can give taxpayers adequate tax relief.
Now, it seems to me that as we look at the recommendations of the budget committees and our own projections, there isn't going to be any S60 billion dividend. I've heard of those dividends in the past. It always happens. We expected one at the time of the Vietnam war, but it was used up before we ever ended the war, and taxpayers never got the adequate relief they deserved.
THE MODERATOR. Mr. Reynolds.
MR. REYNOLDS. Mr. President, when you came into office, you spoke very eloquently of the need for a time for healing. And very early in your administration you went out to Chicago and you announced, you proposed a program of case-by-case pardons for draft resisters to restore them to full citizenship. Some 14,000 young men took advantage of your offer, but another 90,000 did not. In granting the pardon to former President Nixon, sir, part of your rationale was to put Watergate behind us, to, if I may quote you again, truly end "our long national nightmare."
Why does not the same rationale apply now, today, in our Bicentennial Year to the young men who resisted in Vietnam and many of them still in exile abroad?
THE PRESIDENT. The amnesty program that I recommended in Chicago in September of 1974 would give to all draft evaders and military deserters the opportunity to earn their good record back. About 14 to 15,000 did take advantage of that program. We gave them ample time. I am against an across-the-board pardon of draft evaders or military deserters.
Now, in the case of Mr. Nixon, the reason the pardon was given was that when I took office this country was in a very, very divided condition. There was hatred; there was divisiveness; people had lost faith in their government in many, many respects. Mr. Nixon resigned, and I became President. It seemed to me that if I was to adequately and effectively handle the problems of high inflation, a growing recession, the involvement of the United States still in Vietnam, that I had to give 100 percent of my time to those two major problems.
Mr. Nixon resigned; that is disgrace--the first President out of 38 that ever resigned from public office under pressure. So, when you look at the penalty that he paid, and when you analyze the requirements that I had to spend all of my time working on the economy, which was in trouble, that I inherited, working on our problems in Southeast Asia, which were still plaguing us, it seemed to me that Mr. Nixon had been penalized enough by his resignation in disgrace. And the need and necessity for me to concentrate on the problems of the country fully justified the action that I took.
MR. REYNOLDS. I take it, then, sir, that you do not believe that you are going to reconsider and think about those 90,000 who are still abroad? Have they not been penalized enough? Many of them have been there for years.
THE PRESIDENT. Well, Mr. Carter has indicated that he would give a blanket pardon to all draft evaders. I do not agree with that point of view. I gave in September of 1974 an opportunity for all draft evaders, all deserters, to come in voluntarily, clear their records by earning an opportunity to restore their good citizenship. I think we gave them a good opportunity. I don't think we should go any further.
THE MODERATOR. Governor Carter.
MR. CARTER. Well, I think it's very difficult for President Ford to explain the difference between the pardon of President Nixon and his attitude toward those who violated the draft laws. As a matter of fact now, I don't advocate amnesty; I advocate pardon. There is a difference, in my opinion, and in accordance with the ruling of the Supreme Court and in accordance with the definition in the dictionary.
Amnesty means that what you did was right. Pardon means that what you did, whether it's right or wrong, you are forgiven for it. And I do advocate a pardon for draft evaders. I think it's accurate to say that 2 years ago, when Mr. Ford put in this amnesty, that three times as many deserters were excused as were the ones who evaded the draft.
But I think that now is the time to heal our country after the Vietnam war. And I think that what the people are concerned about is not the pardon or the amnesty of those who evaded the draft, but whether or not our crime system is fair.
We have got a sharp distinction drawn between white collar crime. The bigshots who are rich, who are influential, very seldom go to jail. Those who are poor and who have no influence quite often are the ones who are punished. And the whole subject of crime is one that concerns our people very much. And I believe that the fairness of it is what is the major problem that addresses our leader, and this is something that hasn't been addressed adequately by this administration.
But I hope to have a complete responsibility on my shoulders to help bring about a fair criminal justice system and also to bring about an end to the divisiveness that has occurred in our country as a result of the Vietnam war.
THE MODERATOR. Mr. Gannon.
MR. GANNON. Governor Carter, you have promised a sweeping overhaul of the Federal Government including a reduction in the number of Government agencies you say would go down to about 200 from some 1,900. That sounds indeed like a very deep cut in the Federal Government. But isn't it a fact that you are not really talking about fewer Federal employees or less Government spending, but rather that you are talking about reshaping the Federal Government, not making it smaller.
MR. CARTER. Well, I've been through this before, Mr. Gannon, as the Governor of Georgia. When I took over we had a bureaucratic mess like we have in Washington now. And we had 300 agencies, departments, bureaus, commissions--some fully budgeted, some not--but all having responsibility to carry out that was in conflict. And we cut those 300 agencies and so forth down substantially; we eliminated 278 of them. We set up a simple structure of government that could be administered fairly, and it was a tremendous success. It hasn't been undone since I was there.
It resulted also in an ability to reshape our court system, our prison system, our education system, our mental health programs, and a clear assignment of responsibility and authority, and also to have our people once again understand and control our Government.
I intend to do the same thing if I am elected President. When I get to Washington, coming in as an outsider, one of the major responsibilities that I will have on my shoulder is a complete reorganization of the executive branch of Government.
We now have a greatly expanded White House staff. When Mr. Nixon went in office, for instance, we had S3 million spent on the White House and its staff. That has escalated now to $16 million in the last Republican administration. This needs to be changed. We need to put the responsibilities back on the Cabinet members. We also need to have a great reduction in agencies and programs. For instance, we now have in the health area 302 different programs administered by 11 major departments and agencies. Sixty other advisory commissions are responsible for this. Medicaid is in one agency; Medicare is in a different one; the check on the quality of healthcare is in a different one. None of them are responsible for health care itself. This makes it almost impossible for us to have a good health program.
We have just advocated this past week a consolidation of the responsibilities for energy. Our country now has no comprehensive energy program or policy. We have 20 different agencies in the Federal Government responsible for the production, the regulation, the information about energy, the conservation energy spread all over Government. This is a gross waste of money. So, tough, competent management of Government, giving us a simple, efficient, purposeful, and manageable Government will be a great step forward. And if I am elected--and I intend to be--then it's going to be done.
MR. GANNON. Well, I'd like to press my question on the number of Federal employees--whether you would really plan to reduce the overall number or merely put them in different departments and relabel them? In your energy plan, you consolidate a number of agencies into one, or you would, but does that really change the overall?
MR. CARTER. I can't say for sure that we would have fewer Federal employees when I go out of office than when I come in. It took me about 3 years to completely reorganize the Georgia government. The last year I was in office our budget was actually less than it was a year before, which showed a great improvement.
Also, we had a 2-percent increase in the number of employees the last year, but it was a tremendous shift from administrative jobs into the delivery of services. For instance, we completely revised our prison system. We established 84 new mental health treatment centers, and we shifted people out of administrative jobs into the field to deliver better services. The same thing will be done at the Federal Government level.
I accomplished this with substantial reductions in employees in some departments. For instance, in the Transportation Department we cut back about 25 percent of the total number of employees. In giving our people better mental health care, we increased the number of employees. But the efficiency of it, the simplicity of it, the ability of people to understand their own government and control it was a substantial benefit derived from complete reorganization.
We have got to do this at the Federal Government level. If we don't, the bureaucratic mess is going to continue. There is no way for our people now to
understand what their Government is, there is no way to get the answer to a question. When you come to Washington to try to--as a Governor--to try to begin a new program for your people, like the treatment of drug addicts, I found there were 13 different Federal agencies that I had to go to to manage the drug treatment program. In the Georgia government we only had one agency responsible for drug treatment.
This is the kind of change that would be made. And it would be of tremendous benefit in long-range planning, in tight budgeting, saving the taxpayers' money, making the Government more efficient, cutting down on bureaucratic waste, having a clear delineation of authority and responsibility of employees, and giving our people a better chance to understand and control their Government.
THE MODERATOR. President Ford.
THE PRESIDENT. I think the record should show, Mr. Newman, that the Bureau of Census--we checked it just yesterday--indicates that in the 4 years that Governor Carter was Governor of the State of Georgia, expenditures by the government went up over 50 percent. Employees of the government in Georgia during his term of office went up over 25 percent. And the figures also show that the bonded indebtedness of the State of Georgia during his Governorship went up over 20 percent.
And there was some very interesting testimony given by Governor Carter's successor, Governor Busbee, before a Senate committee a few months ago, on how he found the Medicaid program when he came into office following Governor Carter. He testified, and these are his words, the present Governor of Georgia, he says he found the Medicaid program in Georgia in shambles.
Now, let me talk about what we've done in the White House as far as Federal employees are concerned. The first order that I issued after I became President was to cut or eliminate the prospective 40,000 increase in Federal employees that had been scheduled by my predecessor. And in the term that I have been President--some 2 years--we have reduced Federal employment by 11,000.
In the White House staff itself, when I became President we had roughly 540 employees. We now have about 485 employees. So, we've made a rather significant reduction in the number of employees on the White House staff working for the President.
So, I think our record of cutting back employees, plus the failure on the part of the Governor's program to actually save employment in Georgia, shows which is the better plan.
THE MODERATOR. Mrs. Drew.
Ms. DREW. Mr. President, at Vail, after the Republican convention, you announced that you would now emphasize five new areas. Among those were jobs and housing and health, improved recreational facilities for Americans, and you also added crime. You also mentioned education.
For two years you've been telling us that we couldn't do very much in these areas because we couldn't afford it, and in fact, we do have a $50 billion deficit now. In rebuttal to Governor Carter a little bit earlier, you said that if there were to be any surplus in the next few years, you thought it should be turned back to the people in the form of tax relief. So, how are you going to pay for any new initiatives in these areas you announced at Vail you were going to now stress?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, in the last 2 years, as I indicated before, we had a very tough time. We were faced with heavy inflation--over 12 percent; we were faced with substantial unemployment. But in the last 24 months we've turned the economy around, and we've brought inflation down to under 6 percent. And we have added employment of about 4 million in the last 17 months to the point where we have 88 million people working in America today, the most in the history of the country. The net result is we are going to have some improvement in our receipts, and I think we will have some decrease in our disbursements. We expect to have a lower deficit in fiscal year 1978.
We feel that with this improvement in the economy, we feel with more receipts and fewer disbursements, we can, in a moderate increase, as recommended, over the next 10 years a new parks program that would cost a billion and a half dollars, doubling our national park system.
We have recommended that in the housing program we can reduce down payments and moderate monthly payments. But that doesn't cost any more as far as the Federal Treasury is concerned.
We believe that we can do a better Job in the area of crime, but that requires tougher sentencing--mandatory, certain prison sentences for those who violate our criminal laws. We believe that you can revise the Federal Criminal Code, which has not been revised in a good many years. That doesn't cost any more money. We believe that you can do something more effectively with a moderate increase in money in the drug abuse program.
We feel that in education we can have a slight increase, not a major increase. It's my understanding that Governor Carter has indicated that he approves of a $30 billion expenditure by the Federal Government, as far as education is concerned. At the present time we are spending roughly $3,500 million. I don't know where that money would come from.
But, as we look at the quality of life programs--jobs, health, education, crime, recreation--we feel that as we move forward with a healthier economy, we can absorb the small, necessary costs that will be required.
Ms. DREW. But, sir, in the next few years would you try to reduce the deficit, would you spend money for these programs that you have just outlined, or would you, as you said earlier, return whatever surplus you got to the people in the form of tax relief?
THE PRESIDENT. We feel that with the programs that I have recommended, the additional $10 billion tax cut, with the moderate increases in the quality of life area, we can still have a balanced budget, which I will submit to the Congress in January of 1978. We won't wait 1 year or 2 years longer, as Governor Carter indicates.
As the economy improves, and it is improving--our gross national product this year will average about 6-percent increase over last year--we will have a lower rate of inflation for the calendar year this year, something slightly under 6 percent; employment will be up; revenues will be up. We will keep the lid on some of these programs that we can hold down, as we have a little extra money to spend for those quality of life programs, which I think are needed and necessary.
Now, I cannot and would not endorse the kind of programs that Governor Carter recommends. He endorses the Democratic platform which, as I read it, calls for approximately 60 additional programs. We estimate that those programs would add $100 billion minimum and probably $200 billion maximum each year to the Federal budget. Those programs you cannot afford and give tax relief.
We feel that you can hold the line and restrain Federal spending, give a tax reduction, and still have a balanced budget by 1978.
THE MODERATOR. Governor Carter.
MR. CARTER. Well, Mr. Ford takes the same attitude that the Republicans always take. In the last 3 months before an election, they are always for the programs that they fight the other 3 years. I remember when Herbert Hoover was against jobs for people. I remember when Alf Landon was against social security. And later President Nixon--16 years ago--was telling the public that John Kennedy's proposals would bankrupt the country and would double the cost.
The best thing to do is to look at the record of Mr. Ford's administration and Mr. Nixon's before his.
We had last year a $65 billion deficit, the largest deficit in the history of our country, more of a deficit spending than we had in the entire 8-year period under President Johnson and President Kennedy. We've got 500,000 more Americans out of jobs today than were out of work 3 months ago. And since Mr. Ford has been in office, in 2 years we've had a 50-percent increase in unemployment, from 5 million people out of work to 2 million more people out of work, or a total of 7 million. We've also got a comparison between himself and Mr. Nixon. He's got four times the size of the deficits that Mr. Nixon even had himself.
This talking about more people at work is distorted because with the 14-percent increase in the cost of living in the last 2 years, it means that women and young people have had to go to work when they didn't want to because their fathers couldn't make enough to pay the increased cost of food and housing and clothing.
We have, in this last 2 years alone, $120 billion total deficits under President Ford, and at the same time we've had in the last 8 years a doubling in the number of bankruptcies for small business. We've had a negative growth in our national economy, measured in real dollars. The take-home pay of a worker in this country is actually less now than it was in 1968, measured in real dollars. This is the kind of record that is there, and talk about the future and a drastic change or conversion on the part of Mr. Ford at the last minute is one that just doesn't go.
THE MODERATOR. Mr. Reynolds.
MR. REYNOLDS. Governor Carter, I'd like to turn to what we used to call the energy crisis.
Yesterday a British Government commission on air pollution, but one headed by a nuclear physicist, recommended that any further expansion of nuclear energy be delayed in Britain as long as possible. Now, this is a subject that is quite controversial among our own people, and there seems to be a clear difference between you and the President on the use of nuclear power plants, which you say you would use as a last priority. Why, sir? Are they unsafe?
MR. CARTER. Well, among my other experiences in the past I've been a nuclear engineer, and I did graduate work in this field. I think I know the capabilities and limitations of atomic power.
But the energy policy of our Nation is one that has not yet been established under this administration. I think almost every other developed nation in the world has an energy policy except us.
We have seen the Federal Energy Agency [Administration] established, for instance, in the crisis of 1973. It was supposed to be a temporary agency; now it's permanent. It's enormous; it's growing every day. And I think the Wall Street Journal reported not too long ago they have 112 public relations experts working for the Federal Energy Agency [Administration] to try to justify to the American people its own existence.
We've got to have a firm way to handle the energy question. The reorganization proposal that I've put forward is one first step. In addition to that, we need to have a realization that we've got about 35 years worth of oil left in the whole world. We are going to run out of oil. When Mr. Nixon made his famous speech on operation independence, we were importing about 35 percent of our oil. Now we've increased that amount 25 percent. We now import about 44 percent of our oil.
We need a shift from oil to coal. We need to concentrate our research and development effort on coal burning and extraction that's safe for miners, that also is clean burning. We need to shift very strongly toward solar energy and have strict conservation measures and then, as a last resort only, continue to use atomic power.
I would certainly not cut out atomic power altogether. We can't afford to give up that opportunity until later. But to the extent that we continue to use atomic power, I would be responsible as President to make sure that the safety precautions were initiated and maintained. For instance, some that have been forgotten: We need to have the reactor core below ground level, the entire power plant that uses atomic power tightly sealed, and a heavy vacuum maintained. There ought to be a standardized design. There ought to be a full-time atomic energy specialist, independent of the power company, in the control room full-time, 24 hours a day, to shut down a plant if an abnormality develops. These kinds of procedures, along with evacuation procedures, adequate insurance, ought to be initiated.
So, shift from oil to coal; emphasize research and development on coal use and also on solar power; strict conservation measures--not yield every time the special interest groups put pressure on the President, like this administration has done; and use atomic energy only as a last resort with the strictest possible safety precautions. That's the best overall energy policy in the brief time we have to discuss it.
MR. REYNOLDS. Well, Governor, on the same subject, would you require mandatory conservation efforts to try to conserve fuel?
MR. CARTER. Yes, I would. Some of the things that can be done about this is a change in the rate structure of electric power companies. We now encourage people to waste electricity by giving the lowest rates to the biggest users. We don't do anything to cut down on peak load requirements. We don't have an adequate requirement for the insulation of homes, for the efficiency of automobiles. And whenever the automobile manufacturers come forward and say they can't meet the limits that the Congress has put forward, this Republican administration has delayed the implementation dates.
In addition to that, we ought to have a shift to the use of coal, particularly in the Appalachian regions where the coal is located--a lot of very high-quality, low-carbon coal--I mean low-sulfur coal is there--it's where our employment is needed. This would help a great deal.
So, mandatory conservation measures, yes. Encouragement by the President for people to voluntarily conserve, yes. And also the private sector ought to be encouraged to bring forward to the public the benefits from efficiency. One bank in Washington, for instance, gives lower interest loans for people who adequately insulate their homes or who buy efficient automobiles. And some major manufacturing companies, like Dow Chemical, have, through very effective efficiency mechanisms, cut down the use of energy by as much as 40 percent with the same out-product.
These kind of things ought to be done; they ought to be encouraged and supported and even required by the Government, yes.
THE MODERATOR. President Ford.
THE PRESIDENT. Governor Carter skims over a very serious and a very broad subject. In January of 1975, I submitted to the Congress and to the American people the first comprehensive energy program recommended by any President. It called for an increase in the production of energy in the United States. It called for conservation measures so that we would save the energy that we have.
If you are going to increase domestic oil and gas production--and we have to--you have to give to those producers an opportunity to develop their land or their wells. I recommended to the Congress that we should increase coal production in this country from 600 million tons a year to 1,200 million tons by 1985. In order to do that, we have to improve our extraction of coal from the ground; we have to improve our utilization of coal, make it more efficient, make it cleaner.
In addition, we have to expand our research and development. In my program for energy independence, we have increased, for example, solar energy research from about $84 million a year to about $120 million a year. We are going as fast as the experts say we should. In nuclear power we have increased the research and development under the Energy Research and Development Agency [Administration] very substantially to ensure that our nuclear power plants are safer, that they are more efficient, and that we have adequate safeguards.
I think you have to have greater oil and gas production, more coal production, more nuclear production, and in addition, you have to have energy conservation.
THE MODERATOR. Mr. Gannon.
MR. GANNON. Mr. President, I'd like to return for a moment to this problem of unemployment. You have vetoed or threatened to veto a number of jobs bills passed or in development in the Democratic-controlled Congress. Yet, at the same time, the Government is paying out, I think it is, $17 billion, perhaps $2O billion, a year in unemployment compensation caused by the high unemployment. Why do you think it is better to pay out unemployment compensation to idle people than to put them to work in public service jobs?
THE PRESIDENT. The bills that I've vetoed, the one for an additional $6 billion was not a bill that would have solved our unemployment problems. Even the proponents of it admitted that no more than 400,000 jobs would be made available. Our analysis indicates that something in the magnitude of about 150 to 200,000 jobs would be made available. Each one of those jobs would have cost the taxpayer $25,000. In addition, the jobs would not be available right now; they would not have materialized for about 9 to 18 months.
The immediate problem we have is to stimulate our economy now so that we can get rid of unemployment. What we have done is to hold the lid on spending in an effort to reduce the rate of inflation. And we have proven, I think very conclusively, that you can reduce the rate of inflation and increase jobs.
For example, as I have said, we have added some 4 million jobs in the last 17 months. We have now employed 88 million people in America--the largest number in the history of the United States. We've added 500,000 jobs in the last 2 months.
Inflation is the quickest way to destroy jobs. And by holding the lid on Federal spending, we have been able to do a good job, an affirmative job in inflation and, as a result, have added to the jobs in this country.
I think it's also appropriate to point out that through our tax policies we have stimulated added employment throughout the country--the investment tax credit, the tax incentives for expansion and modernization of our industrial capacity. It's my opinion that the private sector, where five out of the six jobs are, where you have permanent jobs with the opportunity for advancement, is a better place than make-work jobs under the program recommended by the Congress.
MR. GANNON. Just to follow up, Mr. President, the Congress has just passed a $3.7 billion appropriation bill which would provide money for the public works jobs program that you earlier tried to kill by your veto of the authorization legislation.
In light of the fact that unemployment again is rising or has in the past 3 months, I wonder if you have rethought that question at all, whether you would consider allowing this program to be funded, or will you veto that money bill?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, that bill has not yet come down to the Oval Office so I am not in a position to make any judgment on it tonight. But that is an extra $4 billion that would add to the deficit, which would add to the inflationary I pressures, which would help to destroy jobs in the private sector, not make jobs where the jobs really are. These make-work, temporary jobs, dead end as they are, are not the kind of jobs that we want for our people.
I think it's interesting to point out that in the 2 years that I've been President, I've vetoed 56 bills. Congress has sustained 42 vetoes. As a result we have saved over $9 billion in Federal expenditures. And the Congress--by overriding the bills that I did veto--the Congress has added some $13 billion to the Federal expenditures and to the Federal deficit.
Now, Governor Carter complains about the deficits that this administration has had, and yet he condemns the vetoes that I have made that have saved the taxpayer $9 billion and could have saved an additional $13 billion. Now, he can't have it both ways. And, therefore, it seems to me that we should hold the lid as we have to the best of our ability so we can stimulate the private economy and get the jobs where the jobs are--five out of six--in this economy.
THE MODERATOR. Governor Carter.
MR. CARTER. Well, Mr. Ford doesn't seem to put into perspective the fact that when 500,000 more people are out of work then there were 3 months ago, where we have 2 million more people out of work than were when he took office, that this touches human beings.
I was in a city in Pennsylvania not too long ago near here, and there were about 4,000 or 5,000 people in the audience--it was on a train trip--and I said, "How many adults here are out of work?" About a thousand raised their hands.
Mr. Ford actually has fewer people now in the private sector in nonfarm jobs than when he took office, and still he talks about a success; 7.9 percent unemployment is a terrible tragedy in this country.
He says he has learned how to match unemployment with inflation. That's right. We've got the highest inflation we've had in 25 years right now--except under this administration--and that was 50 years ago-and we've got the highest unemployment we've had under Mr. Ford's administration since the Great Depression. This affects human beings. And his insensitivity in providing those people a chance to work has made this a welfare administration and not a work administration.
He hasn't saved $9 billion with his vetoes. It has only been a net saving of $4 billion. And the cost in unemployment compensation, welfare compensation, and lost revenues has increased $23 billion in the last 2 years. This is a typical attitude that really causes havoc in people's lives. And then it's covered over by saying that our country has naturally got a 6-percent unemployment rate or 7-percent unemployment rate and a 6-percent inflation. It's a travesty. It shows a lack of leadership. And we've never had a President since the War Between the States that vetoed more bills. Mr. Ford has vetoed four times as many bills as Mr. Nixon, per year, and 11 of them have been overridden. One of his bills that was overridden--he only got one vote in the Senate and seven votes in the House from Republicans. So, this shows a breakdown in leadership.
THE MODERATOR. Governor Carter, under the rules I must stop you. Mrs. Drew.
Ms. DREW. Governor Carter, I'd like to come back to the subject of taxes. You have said that you want to cut taxes for the middle- and lower-income groups.
MR. CARTER. Right.
Ms. DREW. But unless you are Willing to do such things as reduce the itemized deductions for charitable contributions or home mortgage payments or interest or taxes or capital gains, you can't really raise sufficient revenue to provide an overall tax cut of any size. So, how are you going to provide that tax relief that you are talking about?
MR. CARTER. Now we have such a grossly unbalanced tax system, as I said earlier, that it is a disgrace. Of all the tax benefits now, 25 percent of them go to the 1 percent of the richest people in this country. Over 50 percent--53 to be exact--percent of the tax benefits go to the 14 percent richest people in this country.
We've had a 50-percent increase in payroll deductions since Mr. Nixon went in office 8 years ago. Mr. Ford has advocated, since he has been in office, over $5 billion in reductions for corporations, special interest groups, and the very, very wealthy, who derive their income not from labor, but from investments.
That has got to be changed. A few things that can be done: We have now a deferral system so that the multinational corporations, who invest overseas, if they make $1 million in profits overseas, they don't have to pay any of their taxes unless they bring their money back into this country. Where they don't pay their taxes, the average American pays their taxes for them. Not only that but it robs this country of jobs because instead of coming back with that million dollars and creating a shoe factory, say, in New Hampshire or Vermont, if the company takes the money down to Italy and builds a shoe factory, they don't have to pay any taxes on the money.
Another thing is a system called DISC [Domestic International Sales Corporation], which was originally designed and proposed by Mr. Nixon, to encourage exports. This permits a company to create a dummy corporation to export their products and then not to pay the full amount of taxes on them. This costs our Government about $1.4 billion a year, and when those rich corporations don't pay that tax, the average American taxpayer pays it for them.
Another one that is very important is the business deductions. Jet airplanes, first-class travel, the $50 martini lunch--the average working person can't take advantage of that, but the wealthier people can.
Another system is where a dentist can invest money in, say, raising cattle and can put in $100,000 of his own money, borrow $900,000--$900,000, that makes a million--and mark off a great amount of loss through that procedure. There was one example, for instance, where somebody produced pornographic movies. They put in $30,000 of their own money and got $120,000 in tax savings.
These special kinds of programs have robbed the average taxpayer and have benefited those who are powerful and who can employ lobbyists and who can have their C.P.A.'s and their lawyers to help them benefit from the roughly 8,000 pages of the tax code. The average American person can't do it. You can't hire a lobbyist out of unemployment compensation checks.
Ms. DREW. Governor, to follow up on your answer, in order for any kind of tax relief to really be felt by the middle- and lower-income people, according to congressional committees on this, you need about $10 billion. Now, you listed some things. The deferral on foreign income is estimated it would save about $500 million. DISC, you said, was $1.4 billion. The estimate of the outside, if you eliminated all tax shelters, is $5 billion.
So, where else would you raise the revenue to provide this tax relief? Would you, in fact, do away with all business deductions, and what other kinds of preferences would you do away with?
MR. CARTER. No, I wouldn't do away with all business deductions. I think that would be a very serious mistake. But if you could just do away with the
ones that are unfair, you could lower taxes for everyone. I would never do anything that would increase the taxes for those who work for a living or who are presently required to list all their income.
What I want to do is not to raise taxes, but to eliminate loopholes. And this is the point of my first statistic that I gave you, that the present tax benefits that have been carved out over a long period of years--50 years--by sharp tax lawyers and by lobbyists, have benefited just the rich. These programs that I described to you earlier--the tax deferrals for overseas, the DISC, and the tax shelters--they only apply to people in the $50,000-a-year bracket or up. And I think this is the best way to approach it, is to make sure that everybody pays taxes on the income that they earn and make sure that you take whatever savings there is from the higher income levels and give it to the lower- and middle-income families.
THE MODERATOR. President Ford.
THE PRESIDENT. Governor Carter's answer tonight does not coincide with the answer that he gave in an interview to the Associated Press a week or so ago. In that interview Governor Carter indicated that he would raise the taxes on those in the medium- or middle-income brackets or higher. Now, if you take the medium- or middle-income taxpayer--that's about $14,000 per person--Governor Carter has indicated, publicly, in an interview, that he would increase the taxes on about 50 percent of the working people of this country.
I think the way to get tax equity in this country is to give tax relief to the middle-income people who have an income from roughly $8,000 up to $25 or $30,000. They have been short changed as we have taken 10 million taxpayers off the tax rolls in the last 8 years and as we have added to the minimum tax provision to make all people pay more taxes.
I believe in tax equity for the middle-income taxpayer--increasing the personal exemption. Mr. Carter wants to increase taxes for roughly half of the taxpayers of this country.
Now, the Governor has also played a little fast and loose with the facts about vetoes. The records show that President Roosevelt vetoed on an average of 55 bills a year. President Truman vetoed on the average, while he was President, about 38 bills a year. I understand that Governor Carter, when he was Governor of Georgia, vetoed between 35 and 40 bills a year. My average in 2 years is 26, but in the process of that, we have saved $9 billion.
And one final comment. Governor Carter talks about the tax bills and all of the inequities that exist in the present law. I must remind him the Democrats have controlled the Congress for the last 22 years, and they wrote all the tax bills.
THE MODERATOR. Mr. Reynolds.
MR. REYNOLDS. I suspect that we could continue on this tax argument for some time, but I'd like to move on to another area.
Mr. President, everybody seems to be running against Washington this year, and I'd like to raise two coincidental events, then ask you whether you think perhaps this may have a bearing on the attitude throughout the country.
The House Ethics Committee has just now ended its investigation of Daniel Schorr, after several months and many thousands of dollars, trying to find out
how he obtained and caused to be published a report of the Congress that probably is the property of the American people. At the same time the Senate Select Committee on Standards and Conduct has voted not really to begin an investigation of a United States Senator because of allegations against him that he may have been receiving corporate funds illegally over a period of years.
Do you suppose, Sir, that events like this contribute to the feeling in the country that maybe there is something wrong in Washington, and I don't mean just in the executive branch, but throughout the whole Government?
THE PRESIDENT. There is a considerable anti-Washington feeling throughout the country but I think the feeling is misplaced. In the 2 years we have restored integrity in the White House and we have set high standards in the executive branch of the Government.
The anti-Washington feeling, in my opinion, ought to be focused on the Congress of the United States. For example, this Congress very shortly will spend a billion dollars a year for its housekeeping, its salaries, its expenses, and the like. The next Congress will probably be the first billion dollar Congress in the history of the United States. I don't think the American people are getting their money's worth from the majority party that runs this Congress.
We, in addition, see that in the last 4 years the number of employees hired by the Congress has gone up substantially, much more than the gross national product, much more than any other increase throughout our society. Congress is hiring people by the droves, and the cost, as a result, has gone up.
And I don't see any improvement in the performance of the Congress under the present leadership. So, it seems to me, instead of the anti-Washington feeling being aimed at everybody in Washington, it seems to me that the focus should be where the problem is, which is the Congress of the United States, and particularly the majority in the Congress.
They spend too much money on themselves. They have too many employees. There is some question about their morality. It seems to me that in this election the focus should not be on the executive branch, but the correction should come as the voters for their Members of the House of Representatives or for their United States Senator. That's where the problem is. And I hope there will be some corrective action taken, so we can get some new leadership in the Congress of the United States.
MR. REYNOLDS. Mr. President, if I may follow up, I think you have made it plain that you take a dim view of the majority in the Congress. Isn't it quite likely, sir, that you will have a Democratic Congress in the next session if you are elected President, and hasn't the country a right to ask whether you can get along with that Congress or whether we will have continued confrontation?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, it seems to me that we have a chance, the Republicans, to get a majority in the House of Representatives. We will make some gains in the United States Senate. So there will be different ratios in the House as well as in the Senate, and as President I will be able to work with that Congress.
But let me take the other side of the coin, if I might. Supposing we had had a Democratic Congress for the last 2 years and we had had Governor Carter as President. He has, in effect, said that he would agree with all of--he would disapprove of the vetoes that I have made and would have added significantly to expenditures and the deficit in the Federal Government. I think it would be contrary to one of the basic concepts in our system of government, a system of checks and balances.
We have a Democratic Congress today, and fortunately, we've had a Republican President to check their excesses with my vetoes. If we have a Democratic Congress next year and a President who wants to spend an additional $100 billion a year or maybe $200 billion a year, with more programs, we will have, in my judgment, greater deficits with more spending, more dangers of inflation.
I think the American people want a Republican President to check on any excesses that come out of the next Congress if it is a Democratic Congress.
THE MODERATOR. Governor Carter.
MR. CARTER. Well, it's not a matter of Republican and Democrat; it's a matter of leadership or no leadership. President Elsenhower worked with a Democratic Congress very well. Even President Nixon, because he was a strong leader, at least, worked with a Democratic Congress very well.
Mr. Ford has vetoed, as I said earlier, four times as many bills per year as Mr. Nixon. Mr. Ford quite often puts forward a program just as a public relations stunt and never tries to put it through the Congress by working with the Congress. I think under President Nixon and Eisenhower--they passed about 60 to 75 percent of their legislation. This year Mr. Ford will not pass more than 26 percent of all the legislative proposals he puts forward.
This is government by stalemate. And we've seen almost a complete breakdown in the proper relationship between the President, who represents this country, and the Congress, who, collectively, also represent this country.
We've had Republican Presidents before who have tried to run against a Democratic Congress. And I don't think it's--the Congress is Mr. Ford's opponent. But if he insists that I be responsible for the Democratic Congress, of which I have not been a part, then I think it's only fair that he be responsible for the Nixon administration in its entirety, of which he was a part. That, I think, is a good balance.
But the point is that a President ought to lead this country. Mr. Ford, so far as I know, except for avoiding another Watergate, has not accomplished one single major program for his country. And there has been a constant squabbling between the President and the Congress, and that's not the way this country ought to be run.
I might go back to one other thing. Mr. Ford has misquoted an AP news story that was in error to begin with. That story reported several times that I would lower taxes for lower- and middle-income families, and that correction was delivered to the White House. And I am sure that the President knows about this correction, but he still insists on repeating an erroneous statement.
THE MODERATOR. President Ford, Governor Carter, we no longer have enough time for two complete sequences of questions. We have only about 6 minutes left for questions and answers. For that reason we will drop the follow-up questions at this point, but each candidate will still be able to respond to the other's answers.
To the extent that you can, gentlemen, please keep your remarks brief.
MR. GANNON. Governor Carter, one important part of the Government's economic policy apparatus we haven't talked about is the Federal Reserve Board. I would like to ask you something about what you have said, and that is that you believe that a President ought to have a Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board whose views arc compatible with his own.
Based on the record of the last few years, would you say that your views are compatible with those of Chairman Arthur Burns, and if not, would you seek his resignation if you are elected?
MR. CARTER. What I have said is that the President ought to have a chance to appoint the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board to have a coterminus term; in other words, both of them serve the same 4 years.
The Congress can modify the supply of money by modifying the income tax laws. The President can modify the economic structure of the country by public statements and general attitudes and the budget that he proposes. The Federal Reserve has an independent status that ought to be preserved.
I think that Mr. Burns did take a typical erroneous Republican attitude in the 1973 year when inflation was so high. He assumed that the inflation rate was because of excessive demand and, therefore, put into effect tight constraint on the economy, very high interest rates--which is typical, also, of a Republican administration--tried to increase the tax payments by individuals, cut the tax payments by corporations. I would have done it opposite. I think the problem should have been addressed by increasing productivity, by having put people back to work so they could purchase more goods, lower income taxes on individuals, perhaps raise them if necessary on corporations in comparison. But Mr. Burns in that respect made a very serious mistake.
I would not want to destroy the independence of the Federal Reserve Board. But I do think we ought to have a cohesive economic policy with at least the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and the President's terms being the same and letting the Congress of course be the third entity with independence, subject only to the President's veto.
THE MODERATOR. President Ford, your response.
THE PRESIDENT. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board should be independent. Fortunately, he has been during Democratic as well as Republican administrations. As a result, in the last 2 years we have had a responsible monetary policy.
The Federal Reserve Board indicated that the supply of money would be held between 4 to 4 1/2, and 7 and 7 1/2. They have done a good Job in integrating the money supply with the fiscal policy of the executive and legislative branches of the Government.
It would be catastrophic if the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board became the tool of the political party that was in power. It's important for our future economic security that that job be nonpolitical and separate from the executive and the legislative branches.
THE MODERATOR. Mrs. Drew.
Ms. DREW. Mr. President, the real problem with the FBI--in fact, all of the intelligence agencies--is there are no real laws governing them. Such laws as there are tend to be vague and open-ended. Now, you have issued some Executive orders, but we have learned that leaving these agencies to executive discretion and direction can get them and in fact the country in a great deal of trouble. One President may be a decent man, the next one might not be.
So, what do you think about trying to write in some more protection by getting some laws governing these agencies?
THE PRESIDENT. You are familiar, of course, with the fact that I am the first President in 30 years who has reorganized the intelligence agencies in the Federal Government--the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and the others. We've done that by Executive order. And I think we've tightened it up; we've straightened out their problems that developed over the last few years. It doesn't seem to me that it's needed or necessary to have legislation in this particular regard.
I have recommended to the Congress, however--I'm sure you are familiar with this--legislation that would make it very proper and in the right way that the Attorney General could go in and get the right for wiretapping under security cases. This was an effort that was made by the Attorney General and myself working with the Congress. But even in this area where I think new legislation would be justified, the Congress has not responded.
So, I feel in that case as well as in the reorganization of the intelligence agencies--as I've done--we have to do it by Executive order. And I'm glad that we have a good Director in George Bush; we have good Executive orders.
And the CIA and the DIA and NSA are now doing a good job under proper supervision.
THE MODERATOR. Governor Carter.
MR. CARTER. Well, one of the very serious things that's happened in our Government in recent years and has continued up until now is a breakdown in the trust among our people in the . . .
[At this point, there was an audio failure which caused a delay in the debate until 11:18 p.m.]
THE MODERATOR. Ladies and gentlemen, probably it is not necessary for me to say that we had a technical failure during the debates. It was not a failure in the debate; it was a failure in the broadcasting of the debate. It occurred 27 minutes ago. The fault has been dealt with, and we want to thank President Ford and Governor Carter for being so patient and understanding while this delay went on.
We very much regret the technical failure that lost the sound as it was leaving the theater. It occurred during Governor Carter's response to what would have been and what was the last question put to the candidates. That question went to President Ford. It dealt with the control of Government intelligence agencies. Governor Carter was making his response and had very nearly finished it. He will conclude that response now, after which President Ford and Governor Carter will make their closing statements.
MR. CARTER. There has been too much Government secrecy and not enough respect for the personal privacy of American citizens.
THE MODERATOR. It is now time for the closing statements which are to be up to 4 minutes long.
Governor Carter, by the same toss of the coin that directed the first question to you, you are to go first now.
MR. CARTER. Well, tonight, we've had a chance to talk a lot about the past, but I think it is time to talk about the future. Our Nation in the last 8 years has been divided as never before. It's a time for unity. It is time to draw ourselves together, to have a President and a Congress that can work together with mutual respect for a change, cooperating for a change, in the open for a change, so the people can understand their own Government. It is time for Government, industry and labor, manufacturing, agriculture, education, other entities in our society to cooperate. And it's a time for Government to understand and to cooperate with our people.
For a long time our American citizens have been excluded, sometimes misled, sometimes have been lied to. This is not compatible with the purpose of our Nation. I believe in our country. It needs to be competent, the Government needs to be well managed, efficient, economical. We need to have a Government that's sensitive to our people's needs, to those who are poor, who don't have adequate health care, who have been cheated too long by our tax programs, who've been out of jobs, whose families have been torn apart. We need to restore the faith and the trust of the American people in their own Government.
In addition to that, we've suffered because we haven't bad leadership in this administration. We have got a Government of stalemate. We've lost the vision of what our country can and ought to be. This is not the America that we've known in the past. It's not the America that we have to have in the future.
I don't claim to know all the answers, but I've got confidence in my country. Our economic strength is still there. Our system of government, in spite of Vietnam, Cambodia, CIA, Watergate, is still the best system of government on Earth. And the greatest resource of all are the 215 million Americans who still have within us the strength, the character, the intelligence, the experience, the patriotism, the idealism, the compassion, the sense of brotherhood on which we can rely in the future to restore the greatness to our country.
We ought not to be excluded from our Government anymore. We need a President that can go in who derives his strength from the people. I owe the special interests nothing. I owe everything to you, the people of this country. And I believe that we can bind our wounds. I believe that we can work together. And I believe that if we can tap the tremendous untapped reservoir of innate strength in this country, that we can once again have a Government as good as our people and let the world know what we still know and hope for--that we still 1ive in the greatest and the strongest and the best country on Earth.
THE MODERATOR. President Ford.
THE PRESIDENT. On November 2 all of you will make a very, very important decision. One of the major issues in this campaign is trust. A President should never promise more than he can deliver, and a President should always deliver everything that he has promised. A President can't be all things to all people. A President should be the same thing to all people.
Another issue in this campaign: Governor Carter has endorsed the Democratic platform, which calls for more spending, bigger deficits, more inflation, or more taxes. Governor Carter has embraced the record of the present Congress, dominated by his political party. It calls for more of the same. Governor Carter in his acceptance speech called for more and more programs, which means more and more Government. I think the real issue in this campaign--and that which you must decide on November 2--is whether you should vote for his promises or my performance in 2 years in the White House.
On the Fourth of July, we had a wonderful 200th birthday for our great country. It was a superb occasion. It was a glorious day.
In the first century of our Nation's history, our forefathers gave us the finest form of government in the history of mankind. In the second century of our Nation's history, our forefathers developed the most productive industrial nation in the history of the globe. Our third century should be the century of individual freedom for all our 215 million Americans today and all that join us.
In the last few years government has gotten bigger and bigger; industry has gotten larger and larger; labor unions have gotten bigger and bigger; and our children have been the victims of mass education.
We must make this next century, the century of the individual. We should never forget that a government big enough to give us everything we want is a government big enough to take from us everything we have.
The individual worker in the plants throughout the United States should not be a small cog in a big machine. The member of a labor union must have his rights strengthened and broadened, and our children in their education should have an opportunity to improve themselves based on their talents and their abilities.
My mother and father, during the Depression, worked very hard to give me an opportunity to do better in our great country. Your mothers and fathers did the same thing for you and others. Betty and I have worked very hard to give our children a brighter future in the United States, our beloved country. You and others in this great country have worked hard and done a great deal to give your children and your grandchildren the blessings of a better America.
I believe we can all work together to make the individuals in the future have more, and all of us working together can build a better America.
THE MODERATOR. Thank you, President Ford. Thank you, Governor Carter. Our thanks also to the questioners and to the audience in this theater. We much regret the technical failure that caused a 28-minute delay in the broadcast of the debate. We believe, however, that everyone will agree that it did not detract from the effectiveness of the debate or from its fairness.
The next Presidential debate is to take place on Wednesday, October 6, in San Francisco, at 9:30 p.m., eastern daylight time. The topics are to be foreign and defense issues. As with all three debates between the Presidential candidates and the one between the Vice-Presidential candidates, it is being arranged by the League of Women Voters Education Fund in the hope of promoting a wider and better informed participation by the American people in the election in November.
Now, from the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, good night.
Note: The debate began at 9:31 p.m. at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Pa. It was broadcast live on radio and television.
Presidential Campaign Debate Between Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter
THE MODERATOR: Good evening. I'm Pauline Frederick of NPR [National Public Radio], moderator of this second of the historic debates of the 1976 campaign between Gerald R. Ford of Michigan, Republican candidate for President, and Jimmy Carter of Georgia, Democratic candidate for President.
Thank you, President Ford and thank you, Governor Carter, for being with us tonight.
This debate takes place before an audience in the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in San Francisco. An estimated 100 million Americans are watching on television as well. San Francisco was the site of the signing of the United Nations Charter 31 years ago. Thus, it is an appropriate place to hold this debate, the subject of which is foreign and defense issues.
The questioners tonight are Max Frankel, associate editor of the New York Times, Henry L. Trewhitt, diplomatic correspondent of the Baltimore Sun, and Richard Valeriani, diplomatic correspondent of NBC News.
The ground rules are basically the same as they were for the first debate 2 weeks ago. The questions will be alternated between candidates. By the toss of a coin, Governor Carter will take the first question.
Each question sequence will be as follows: The question will be asked and the candidate will have up to 3 minutes to answer. His opponent will have up to 2 minutes to respond. And prior to the response, the questioner may ask a follow-up question to clarify the candidate's answer when necessary with up to 2 minutes to reply. Each candidate will have 3 minutes for a closing statement at the end.
President Ford and Governor Carter do not have notes or prepared remarks with them this evening, but they may take notes during the debate and refer to them.
Mr. Frankel, you have the first question for Governor Carter.
MR. FRANKEL: Governor, since the Democrats last ran our foreign policy, including many of the men who are advising you, the country has been relieved of the Vietnam agony and the military draft; we've started arms control negotiations with the Russians; we've opened relations with China; we've arranged the disengagement in the Middle East; we've regained influence with the Arabs without deserting Israel; now, maybe we've even begun a process of peaceful change in Africa.
Now you've objected in this campaign to the style with which much of this was done, and you've mentioned some other things that you think ought to have been done. But do you really have a quarrel with this Republican record? Would you not have done any of those things?
MR. CARTER: Well I think this Republican administration has been almost all style and spectacular, and not substance. We've got a chance tonight to talk about, first of all, leadership, the character of our country, and a vision of the future. In every one of these instances, the Ford administration has failed, and I hope tonight that I and Mr. Ford will have a chance to discuss the reasons for those failures.
Our country is not strong anymore; we're not respected anymore. We can only be strong overseas if we're strong at home; and when I became President we'll not only be strong in those areas but also in defense -- a defense capability second to none.
We've lost, in our foreign policy, the character of the American people. We've ignored or excluded the American people and the Congress from participation in the shaping of our foreign policy. It's been one of secrecy and exclusion.
In addition to that, we've had a chance to become now, contrary to our long-standing beliefs and principles, the arms merchant of the whole world. We've tried to buy success from our enemies, and at the same time we've excluded from the process the normal friendship of our allies.
In addition to that, we've become fearful to compete with the Soviet Union on an equal basis. We talk about detente. The Soviet Union knows what they want in detente, and they've been getting it. We have not known what we've wanted, and we've been out-traded in almost every instance.
The other point I want to make is about our defense. We've got to be a nation blessed with a defense capability that's efficient, tough, capable, well organized, narrowly focused fighting capability. The ability to fight if necessary is the best way to avoid the chance for or the requirement to fight.
And the last point I want to make is this: Mr. Ford, Mr. Kissinger have continued on with the policies and failures of Richard Nixon. Even the Republican platform has criticized the lack of leadership in Mr. Ford, and they've criticized the foreign policy of this administration. This is one instance where I agree with the Republican platform.
I might say this in closing, and that is, that as far as foreign policy goes, Mr. Kissinger has been the President of this country. Mr. Ford has shown an absence of leadership and an absence of a grasp of what this country is and what it ought to be. That's got to be changed, and that is one of the major issues in this campaign of 1976.
THE MODERATOR: President Ford, would you like to respond?
THE PRESIDENT: Governor Carter again is talking in broad generalities. Let me take just one question that he raises -- the military strength and capability of the United States. Governor Carter, in November of 1975, indicated that he wanted to cut the defense budget by $15 billion. A few months later he said he wanted to cut the defense budget by $8 billion or $9 billion. And more recently he talks about cutting the defense budget by $5 billion to $7 billion. There is no way you can be strong militarily and have those kinds of reductions in our military appropriations.
Now let me just tell you a little story. About late October of 1975, I asked the then Secretary of Defense, Mr. Schlesinger, to tell me what had to be done if we were going to reduce the defense budget by $3 to $5 billion. A few days later, Mr. Schlesinger came back and said if we cut the defense budget by $3 to $5 billion, we will have to cut military personnel by 250,000, civilian personnel by 100,000, jobs in America by 100,000. We would have to stretch out our aircraft procurement, we would have to reduce our naval construction program. We would have to reduce the research and development for the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and Marines by 8 percent. We would have to close twenty military bases in the United States immediately. That's the kind of defense program that Mr. Carter wants.
Let me tell you this straight from the shoulder. You don't negotiate with Mr. Brezhnev from weakness. And the kind of defense program that Mr. Carter wants will mean a weaker defense and a poorer negotiating position.
THE MODERATOR: Mr. Trewhitt, a question for President Ford.
MR. TREWHITT: Mr. President, my question really is the other side of the coin from Mr. Frankel's. For a generation the United States has had a foreign policy based on containment of Communism; yet we have lost the first war in Vietnam; we lost a shoving match in Angola, Communists threaten to come to power by peaceful means in Italy and relations generally have cooled with the Soviet Union in the last few months. So, let me ask you first, what do you do about such cases as Italy, and, secondly, does this general drift mean that we're moving back toward something like an old cold - cold-war relationship with the Soviet Union?
THE PRESIDENT: I don't believe we should move to a cold war relationship. I think it's in the best interest of the United States and the world as a whole that the United States negotiate rather than go back to the cold war relationship with the Soviet Union.
I don't look at the picture as bleakly as you have indicated in your question, Mr. Trewhitt. I believe that the United States has had many successes in recent years, in recent months, as far as the Communist movement is concerned. We have been successful in Portugal where, a year ago, it looked like there was a very great possibility that the Communists would take over in Portugal. It didn't happen. We have a democracy in Portugal today.
A few months ago -- or I should say maybe two years ago -- the Soviet Union looked like they had continued strength in the Middle East. Today, according to Prime Minister Rabin, the Soviet Union is weaker in the Middle East than they have been in many, many years. The facts are the Soviet Union relationship with Egypt is at a low level; the Soviet Union relationship with Syria is at a very low point. The United States today, according to Prime Minister Rabin of Israel, is at a peak in its influence and power in the Middle East.
But let's turn for a minute to the southern African operations that are now going on. The United States of America took the initiative in southern Africa. We wanted to end the bloodshed in southern Africa. We wanted to have the right of self-determination in southern Africa. We wanted to have majority rule with the full protection of the rights of the minority. We wanted to preserve human dignity in southern Africa. We have taken initiative, and in southern Africa today the United States is trusted by the black frontline nations and black Africa. The United States is trusted by other elements in southern Africa.
The United States foreign policy under this administration has been one of progress and success. And I believe that instead of talking about Soviet progress, we can talk about American successes.
And may I make an observation -- part of the question you asked, Mr. Trewhitt -- I don't believe that it's in the best interest of the United States and the NATO nations to have a Communist government in NATO. Mr. Carter has indicated he would look with sympathy to a Communist government in NATO. I think that would destroy the integrity and the strength of NATO, and I am totally opposed to it.
MR. CARTER: Well, Mr. Ford, unfortunately, has just made a statement that's not true. I have never advocated a Communist government for Italy. That would, obviously, be a ridiculous thing for anyone to do who wanted to be President of the country. I think that this is an instance of deliberate distortion, and this has occurred also in the question about defense. As a matter of fact, I've never advocated any cut of $15 billion in our defense budget. As a matter of fact, Mr. Ford has made a political football out of the defense budget.
About a year ago he cut the Pentagon budget $6.8 billion. After he fired James Schlesinger the political heat got so great that he added back about $3 billion. When Ronald Reagan won the Texas primary election, Mr. Ford added back another $1 billion. Immediately before the Kansas City convention, he added back another $1.8 billion in the defense budget. And his own Office of Management and Budget testified that he had a $3 billion cut insurance added to the defense budget under the pressure from the Pentagon. Obviously, this is another indication of trying to use the defense budget for political purposes, which he's trying to do tonight.
Now, we went into South Africa late, after Great Britain, Rhodesia, the black nations had been trying to solve this problem for many, many years. We didn't go in until right before the election, similar to what was taking place in 1972, when Mr. Kissinger announced peace is at hand just before the election at that time.
And we have weakened our position in NATO, because the other countries in Europe supported the democratic forces in Portugal long before we did. We stuck to the Portugal dictatorships much longer than other democracies did in this world.
THE MODERATOR: Mr. Valeriani, a question for Governor Carter.
MR. VALERIANI: Governor Carter, much of what the United States does abroad is done in the name of the national interest. What is your concept of the national interest? What should the role of the United States in the world be? And in that connection, considering your limited experience in foreign affairs and the fact that you take same pride in being a Washington outsider, don't you think it would be appropriate for you to tell the American voters before the election, the people that you would like to have in key positions, such as Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, national security affairs advisor at the White House?
MR. CARTER: Well, I'm not going to name my cabinet before I get elected; I've got a little ways to go before I start doing that. But I have an adequate background, I believe. I am a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, the first military graduate since Eisenhower. I've served as Governor of Georgia and have traveled extensively in foreign countries -- in South America, Central America, Europe, the Middle East and in Japan.
I've traveled the last 21 months among the people of this country. I've talked to them, and I've listened. And I've seen at first hand, in a very vivid way, the deep hurt that's come to this country in the aftermath of Vietnam and Cambodia and Chile and Pakistan, and Angola and Watergate, CIA revelations.
What we were formerly so proud of -- the strength of our country, its moral integrity, the representation in foreign affairs of what our people are, what our Constitution stands for -- has been gone. And in the secrecy that has surrounded our foreign policy in the last few years, the American people and the Congress have been excluded.
I believe I know what this country ought to be. I've been one who's loved my Nation as many Americans do. And I believe that there's no limit placed on what we can be in the future if we can harness the tremendous resources -- militarily, economically -- and the stature of our people, the meaning of the Constitution, in the future.
Every time we've made a serious mistake in foreign affairs, it's been because the American people have been excluded from the process. If we can just tap the intelligence and ability, the sound common sense, and the good judgment of the American people, we can once again have a foreign policy to make us proud instead of ashamed. And I'm not going to exclude the American people from that process in the future, as Mr. Ford and Kissinger have done.
This is what it takes to have a sound foreign policy: strong at home, strong defense, permanent commitments, not betray the principles of our country, and involve the American people and the Congress in the shaping of our foreign policy.
Every time Mr. Ford speaks from a position of secrecy -- in negotiations and secret treaties that have been pursued and achieved, in supporting dictatorships, in ignoring human rights -- we are weak and the rest of the world knows it.
So these are the ways that we can restore the strength of our country. And they don't require long experience in foreign policy -- nobody has that except a President who has served a long time or a Secretary of State. But my background, my experience, my knowledge of the people of this country, my commitment to our principles that don't change -- those are the best bases to correct the horrible mistakes of this administration and restore our own country to a position of leadership in the world.
MR. VALERIANI: How specifically, Governor, are you going to bring the American people into the decision-making process in foreign policy? What does that mean?
MR. CARTER: First of all, I would quit conducting the decision-making process in secret, as has been a characteristic of Mr. Kissinger and Mr. Ford. In many instances we've made agreements, like in Vietnam, that have been revealed later on to our embarrassment.
Recently Ian Smith, the President of Rhodesia, announced that he had unequivocal commitments from Mr. Kissinger that he could not reveal. The American people don't know what those commitments are. We've seen in the past the destruction of elected governments, like in Chile, and the strong support of military dictatorship there. These kinds of things have hurt us very much.
I would restore the concept of the fireside chat, which was an integral part of the administration of Franklin Roosevelt. And I would also restore the involvement of the Congress. When Harry Truman was President he was not afraid to have a strong Secretary of Defense -- Dean Acheson, George Marshall were strong Secretaries of State. But he also made sure that there was a bipartisan support. The members of Congress, Arthur Vandenberg, Walter George, were part of the process. And before our nation made a secret agreement, or before we made a bluffing statement, we were sure that we had the backing not only of the President and the Secretary of State, but also of the Congress and the people. This is a responsibility of the President. And I think it's very damaging to our country for Mr. Ford to have turned over this responsibility to the Secretary of State.
THE MODERATOR: President Ford, do you have a response?
THE PRESIDENT: Governor Carter again contradicts himself. He complains about secrecy, and yet he is quoted as saying that in the attempt to find a solution in the Middle East that he would hold unpublicized meetings with the Soviet Union -- I presume for the purpose of imposing a settlement on Israel and the Arab nations.
But let me talk just a minute about what we've done to avoid secrecy in the Ford administration. After the United States took the initiative in working with Israel and with Egypt and achieving the Sinai II agreement -- and I'm proud to say that not a single Egyptian or Israeli soldier has lost his life since the signing of the Sinai agreement -- but at the time that I submitted the Sinai agreement to the Congress of the United States, I submitted every single document that was applicable to the Sinai II agreement. It was the most complete documentation by any President of any agreement signed by a President on behalf of the United States.
Now as far as meeting with the Congress is concerned, during the 24 months that I've been the President of the United States, I have averaged better than one meeting a month with responsible groups or committees of the Congress - both House and Senate.
The Secretary of State has appeared, in the several years that he's been the Secretary, before 80 different committee hearings in the House and in the Senate. The Secretary of State has made better than 50 speeches all over the United States explaining American foreign policy. I have made myself at least 10 speeches in various parts of the country where I have discussed with the American people defense and foreign policy.
THE MODERATOR: Mr. Frankel, a question for President Ford.
MR. FRANKEL: Mr. President, I'd like to explore a little more deeply our relationship with the Russians. They used to brag, back in Khrushchev's day, that because of their greater patience and because of our greed for business deals, that they would sooner or later get the better of us. Is it possible that despite some setbacks in the Middle East, they've proved their point? Our allies in France and Italy are now flirting with communism. We've recognized the permanent Communist regime in East Germany. We've virtually signed, in Helsinki, an agreement that the Russians have dominance in Eastern Europe; we've bailed out Soviet agriculture with our huge grain sales, we've given them large loans, access to our best technology, and if the Senate hadn't interfered with the Jackson Amendment, maybe you would've given them even larger loans. Is that what you call a two-way street of traffic in Europe?
THE PRESIDENT: I believe that we have negotiated with the Soviet Union since I've been President from a position of strength. And let me cite several examples. Shortly after I became President in December of 1974, I met with General Secretary Brezhnev in Vladivostok. And we agreed to a mutual cap on the ballistic missile launchers at a ceiling of 2,400, which means that the Soviet Union, if that becomes a permanent agreement, will have to make a reduction in their launchers that they now have or plan to have. I've negotiated at Vladivostok with Mr. Brezhnev a limitation on the MIRVing of their ballistic missiles at a figure of 1,320, which is the first time that any President has achieved a cap either on launchers or on MIRVs.
It seems to me that we can go from there to the grain sales. The grain sales have been a benefit to American agriculture. We have achieved a 5 3/4-year sale of a minimum 6 million metric tons, which means that they have already bought about 4 million metric tons this year and are bound to buy another 2 million metric tons to take the grain and corn and wheat that the American farmers have produced in order to have full production. And these grain sales to the Soviet Union have helped us tremendously in meeting the costs of the additional oil and the oil that we have bought from overseas.
If we turn to Helsinki -- I'm glad you raised it, Mr. Frankel -- in the case of Helsinki, 35 nations signed an agreement, including the Secretary of State for the Vatican - I can't under any circumstances believe that His Holiness, the Pope would agree by signing that agreement that the thirty-five nations have turned over to the Warsaw Pact nations the domination of Eastern Europe. It just isn't true. And if Mr. Carter alleges that His Holiness by signing that, has done it, he is totally inaccurate.
Now, what has been accomplished by the Helsinki agreement? Number one, we have an agreement where they notify us and we notify them of any military maneuvers that are to be undertaken. They have done it in both cases where they've done so. There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration.
MR. FRANKEL: I'm sorry, could I just follow -- did I understand you to say, sir, that the Russians are not using Eastern Europe as their own sphere of influence in occupying most of the countries there and making sure with their troops that it's a Communist zone, whereas on our side of the line the Italians and the French are still flirting with the possibility of Communism?
THE PRESIDENT: I don't believe, Mr. Frankel that the Yugoslavians consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union. I don't believe that the Rumanians consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union. I don't believe that the Poles consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union. Each of those countries is independent, autonomous; it has its own territorial integrity. And the United States does not concede that those countries are under the domination of the Soviet Union. As a matter of fact, I visited Poland, Yugoslavia and Romania to make certain that the people of those countries understood that the President of the United States and the people of the United States are dedicated to their independence, their autonomy and their freedom.
THE MODERATOR: Governor Carter, have you a response?
MR. CARTER: Well, in the first place, I'm not criticizing His Holiness the Pope. I was talking about Mr. Ford.
The fact is that secrecy has surrounded the decisions made by the Ford administration. In the case of the Helsinki agreement, it may have been a good agreement at the beginning, but we have failed to enforce the so-called Basket 3 part, which insures the right of people to migrate, to join their families, to be free to speak out. The Soviet Union is still jamming Radio Free Europe - Radio Free Europe is being jammed.
We've also seen a very serious problem with the so-called Sonnenfeldt document which, apparently, Mr. Ford has just endorsed, which said that there's an organic linkage between the Eastern European countries and the Soviet Union. And I would like to see Mr. Ford convince the Polish-Americans and the Czech-Americans and the Hungarian-Americans in this country that those countries don't live under the domination and supervision of the Soviet Union behind the Iron Curtain.
We also have seen Mr. Ford exclude himself from access to the public. He hasn't had a tough cross-examination-type press conference in over 30 days. One press conference he had without sound.
He's also shown a weakness in yielding to pressure. The Soviet Union, for instance, put pressure on Mr. Ford, and he refused to see a symbol of human freedom recognized around the world -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
The Arabs have put pressure on Mr. Ford, and he's yielded, and has permitted a boycott by the Arab countries of American businesses who trade with Israel, who have American Jews owning or taking part in the management of American companies. His own Secretary of Commerce had to be subpoenaed by the Congress to reveal the names of businesses who were subject to this boycott. They didn't volunteer the information; he had to be subpoenaed.
And the last thing I'd like to say is this: This grain deal with the Soviet Union in '72 was terrible, and Mr. Ford made up for it with three embargoes -- one against our own ally in Japan. That's not the way to run our foreign policy, including international trade.
THE MODERATOR: Mr. Trewhitt, a question for Governor Carter.
MR. TREWHITT: Governor, I'd like to pick up on that point, actually, and on your appeal for a greater measure of American idealism in foreign affairs. Foreign affairs come home to the American public pretty much in such issues as oil embargoes and grain sales, that sort of thing. Would you be willing to risk an oil embargo in order to promote human rights in Iran and Saudi Arabia -- withhold arms from Saudi Arabia for the same purpose? As a matter of fact, I think you have perhaps answered this final part, but would you withhold grain from the Soviet Union in order to promote civil rights in the Soviet Union?
MR. CARTER: I would never single out food as a trade embargo item. If I ever decided to impose an embargo because of a crisis in international relationships, it would include all shipments of all equipment. For instance, if the Arab countries ever again declare an embargo against our nation on oil I would consider that not a military but an economic declaration of war. And I would respond instantly and in kind. I would not ship that Arab country anything -- no weapons, no spare parts for weapons, no oil-drilling rigs, no oil pipe, no nothing. I wouldn't single out just food.
Another thing that I'd like to say is this: In our international trade, as I said in my opening statement, we have become the arms merchant of the world. When this Republican administration came into office we were shipping about $1 billion worth of arms overseas, now $10 to $12 billion worth of arms overseas to countries that quite often use these weapons to fight each other.
The shift in emphasis has been very disturbing to me, speaking about the Middle East. Under the last Democratic administration 60 percent of all weapons that went into the Middle East were for Israel. Nowadays -- 75 percent were for Israel before -- now 60 percent go to the Arab countries, and this does not include Iran. If you include Iran, our present shipment of weapons to the Middle East -- only 20 percent goes to Israel. This is a deviation from idealism; it's a deviation from a commitment to our major ally in the Middle East, which is Israel; it's a yielding to economic pressure on the part of the Arabs on the oil issue; and it's also a tremendous indication that under the Ford administration we have not addressed the energy policy adequately.
We still have no comprehensive energy policy in this country. And it's an overall sign of weakness. When we are weak at home economically -- high unemployment, high inflation, a confused government, a wasteful defense establishment -- this encourages the kind of pressure that's been put on us successfully. It would've been inconceivable 10, 15 years ago, for us to be brought to our knees with an Arab oil embargo. But it was done three years ago and they're still putting pressure on us from the Arab countries to our discredit around the world.
These are the weaknesses that I see, and I believe it's not just a matter of idealism. It's a matter of being tough. It's a matter of being strong. It's a matter of being consistent. Our priorities ought to be, first of all, to meet our own military needs; secondly, to meet the needs of our allies and friends, and only then should we ship military equipment to foreign countries. As a matter of fact, Iran is going to get 80 F-14s before we even meet our own Air Force orders for F-l4s, and the shipment of Spruance-Class Destroyers to Iran are much more highly sophisticated than the Spruance-Class Destroyers that are presently being delivered to our own Navy. This is ridiculous and it ought to be changed.
MR. TREWHITT: Governor, let me pursue that if I may. If I understand you correctly you would, in fact, to use my examples, withhold arms from Iran and Saudi Arabia even if the risk was an oil embargo and if they should be securing those arms from somewhere else. And then if the embargo came, then you'd respond in kind. Do I have it correctly?
MR. CARTER: If -- Iran is not an Arab country, as you know, it is a Moslem country. But if Saudi Arabia should declare an oil embargo against us, then I would consider that an economic declaration of war. And I would make sure that the Saudis understood this ahead of time, so there would be no doubt in their mind. I think under those circumstances, they would refrain from pushing us to our knees as they did in 1973 with the previous oil embargo.
THE MODERATOR: President Ford?
THE PRESIDENT: Governor Carter apparently doesn't realize that since I've been President we have sold to the Israelis over $4 billion in military hardware. We have made available to the Israelis over 45 percent of the total economic and military aid since the establishment of Israel twenty-seven years ago. So the Ford administration has done a good job in helping our good ally, Israel, and we're dedicated to the survival and security of Israel.
I believe that Governor Carter doesn't realize the need and necessity for arms sales to Iran. He indicates he would not make those. Iran is bordered very extensively by the Soviet Union. Iran has Iraq as one of its neighbors. The Soviet Union and the Communist-dominated government of Iraq are neighbors of Iran, and Iran is an ally of the United States. It's my strong feeling that we ought to sell arms to Iran for its own national security, and as an ally, a strong ally of the United States.
The history of our relationship with Iran goes back to the days of President Truman when he decided that it was vitally necessary for our own security, as well as that of Iran, that we should help that country. And Iran has been a good ally. In 1973 when there was an oil embargo, Iran did not participate; Iran continued to sell oil to the United States. I believe that it's in our interest and in the interest of Israel and Iran, and Saudi Arabia, for the United States to sell arms to those countries. It's for their security as well as ours.
THE MODERATOR: Mr. Valeriani, a question for President Ford.
MR. VALERIANI: Mr. President, the policy of your administration is to normalize relations with mainland China. And that means establishing at some point full diplomatic relations and, obviously, doing something about the mutual defense treaty with Taiwan. If you are elected, will you move to establish full diplomatic relations with Peking, and will you abrogate the mutual defense treaty with Taiwan? And, as a corollary, would you provide mainland China with military equipment if the Chinese were to ask for it?
THE PRESIDENT: Our relationship with the People's Republic of China is based upon the Shanghai Communique of 1972, and that communique calls for the normalization of relations between the United States and the People's Republic. It doesn't set a time schedule. It doesn't make a determination as to how that relationship should be achieved in relationship to our current diplomatic recognition and obligations to the Taiwanese Government. The Shanghai Communique does say that the differences between the People's Republic on the one hand and Taiwan on the other shall be settled by peaceful means.
The net result is this administration -- and during my time as the President for the next 4 years -- we will continue to move for normalization of relations in the traditional sense. And we will insist that the disputes between Taiwan and the People's Republic be settled peacefully, as was agreed in the Shanghai Communique of 1972.
The Ford administration will not let down, will not eliminate or forget our obligation to the people of Taiwan. We feel that there must be a continued obligation to the people, the some 19 or 20 million people in Taiwan. And as we move during the next 4 years, those will be the policies of this administration.
MR. VALERIANI: Sir, the military equipment for the mainland Chinese?
THE PRESIDENT: There is no policy of this government to give to the People's Republic, or to sell to the People's Republic of China, military equipment. I do not believe that we, the United States, should sell, give, or otherwise transfer military hardware to the People's Republic of China or any other Communist nations, such as the Soviet Union and the like.
THE MODERATOR: Governor Carter.
MR. CARTER: Well, I'd like to go back just one moment to the previous question, where Mr. Ford, I think, confused the issue by trying to say that we are shipping Israel 40 percent of our aid. As a matter of fact, during this current year we are shipping Iran -- or have contracted to ship to Iran -- about $7 billion worth of arms and also to Saudi Arabia about $7 billion worth of arms.
Also, in 1975 we almost brought Israel to their knees after the Yom Kippur War by the so-called reassessment of our relationship to Israel. We in effect tried to make Israel the scapegoat for the problems in the Middle East. And this weakened our relationship with Israel a great deal and put a cloud on the total commitment that our people feel toward the Israelis. There ought to be a clear, unequivocal commitment without change to Israel.
In the Far East I think we need to continue to be strong and I would certainly pursue the normalization of relationships with the People's Republic of China. We opened a great opportunity in 1972 -- which has pretty well been frittered away under Mr. Ford--that ought to be a constant inclination toward friendship. But I would never let that friendship with the People's Republic of China stand in the way of the preservation of the independence and freedom of the people on Taiwan.
THE MODERATOR: Mr. Frankel, a question for Governor Carter.
MR. FRANKEL: Governor, we always seem, in our elections, and maybe in between, too, to argue about who can be tougher in the world. Give or take a few billion dollars, give or take one weapons systems, our leading politicians, and I think you two gentlemen, seem to settle roughly on the same strategy in the world at roughly the same Pentagon budget cost.
How bad do things have to get in our own economy, or how much backwardness and hunger would it take in the world to persuade you that our national security and our survival required very drastic cutbacks in arms spending and dramatic new efforts in other directions?
MR. CARTER: Well, always in the past we've had an ability to have a strong defense and also to have a strong domestic economy and also to be strong in our reputation and influence within the community of nations. These characteristics of our country have been endangered under Mr. Ford. We're no longer respected in a showdown vote in the United Nations or in any other international council; we're lucky to get 20 percent of the other nations to vote with us. Our allies feel that we've neglected them. The so-called Nixon shocks against Japan have weakened our relationships there. Under this administration we've also had an inclination to keep separate the European countries, thinking that if they are separate, then we can dominate them and proceed with our secret Lone Ranger-type diplomatic efforts.
I would also like to point out that we in this country have let our economy go down the drain -- the worst inflation since the Great Depression, the highest unemployment of any developed nation of the world. We have a higher unemployment rate in this country than Great Britain, than West Germany; our unemployment rate is twice as high as it is in Italy; it's three or four times as high as it is in Japan. And that terrible circumstance in this country is exported overseas. We comprise about 30 percent of the world's economic trade power influence. And when we're weak at home, weaker than all our allies, that weakness weakens the whole free world. So strong economy is very important.
Another thing that we need to do is to reestablish the good relationships that we ought to have between the United States and our natural allies and friends -- they have felt neglected. And using that base of strength, and using the idealism, the honesty, the predictability, the commitment, the integrity of our own country -- that's where our strength lies. And that would permit us to deal with the developing nations in a position of strength.
Under this administration we've had a continuation of the so-called "balance of power politics" where everything is looked on as a struggle between us on the one side and the Soviet Union on the other. Our allies, the smaller countries get trampled in the rush.
What we need is to try to seek individualized bilateral relationships with countries, regardless of their size and to establish world-order politics, which means that we want to preserve peace through strength. We also want to revert back to the stature and the respect that our country had in previous administrations. Now, I can't say when this can come, but I can guarantee it will not come if Gerald Ford is reelected and this present policy is continued. It will come if I'm elected.
MR. FRANKEL: If I hear you right, sir, you are saying guns and butter both, but President Johnson also had trouble keeping up both Vietnam and his domestic programs. I was really asking, when do the needs of the cities and our own needs and those of other backward and even more needy countries and societies around the world take precedence over some of our military spending? Ever?
MR. CARTER: Let me say very quickly that under President Johnson, in spite of the massive investment in the Vietnam War, he turned over a balanced budget to Mr. Nixon. The unemployment rate was less than 4 percent. The inflation rate under Kennedy and Johnson was about 2 percent - one-third what it is under this administration. So, we did have at that time, with good management, the ability to do both. I don't think that anybody can say that Johnson and Kennedy neglected the poor and the destitute people in this country or around the world.
But I can say this: The number one responsibility of any President, above all else, is to guarantee the security of our Nation, an ability to be free of the threat of attack, or blackmail and to carry out our obligations to our allies and friends and to carry out a legitimate foreign policy. They must go hand in hand. But the security of this nation has got to come first.
THE MODERATOR: President Ford.
THE PRESIDENT: Let me say very categorically, you cannot maintain the security of the United States with the kind of defense budget cuts that Governor Carter has indicated. In 1975 he wanted to cut the budget $15 billion. He is now down to a figure of $5 to $7 billion. Reductions of that kind will not permit the United States to be strong enough to deter aggression and maintain the peace.
Governor Carter apparently doesn't know the facts. As soon as I became President, I initiated a meeting with the NATO heads of state and met with them in Brussels to discuss how we could improve the defense relationship in Western Europe. In November of 1975, I met with the leaders of the five industrial nations in France for the purpose of seeing what we could do, acting together to meet the problems of the coming recession. In Puerto Rico this year, I met with six of the leading industrial nations' heads of state to meet the problem of inflation so we would be able to solve it before it got out of hand.
I have met with the heads of government bilaterally as well as multilaterally. Our relations with Japan have never been better. I was the first United States President to visit Japan. And we had the Emperor of Japan here this past year. And the net result is Japan and the United States are working more closely together now than at any time in the history of our relationship. You can go around the world - and let me take Israel for example. Just recently, President [Prime Minister] Rabin said that our relations were never better.
THE MODERATOR: Mr. Trewhitt, a question for President Ford.
MR. TREWHITT: Mr. President, you referred earlier to your meeting with Mr. Brezhnev at Vladivostok in 1974. At - you agreed on that occasion to try to achieve another strategic arms limitation -- SALT -- agreement within the year. Nothing happened in l975 or not very much publicly, at least, and those talks are still dragging, and things got quieter as the current season approached. Is there a bit of politics involved there, perhaps on both sides? Or perhaps more important are interim weapons developments -- and I'm thinking of such things as the cruise missile and the Soviet SS-20, an intermediate-range rocket -- making SALT irrelevant, bypassing the SALT negotiations?
THE PRESIDENT: First, we have to understand that SALT I expires October 3, 1977. Mr. Brezhnev and I met in Vladivostok in December of 1974 for the purpose of trying to take the initial step so we could have a SALT II agreement that would go to l985. As I indicated earlier, we did agree on a 2,400 limitation on launchers of ballistic missiles. That would mean a cutback in the Soviet program. It would not interfere with our own program. At the same time, we put a limitation of 1,320 on MIRVs.
Our technicians have been working since that time in Geneva, trying to put into technical language an agreement that can be verified by both parties. In the meantime, there has developed the problem of the Soviet Backfire, their high-performance aircraft, which they say is not a long-range aircraft and which some of our people say is an intercontinental aircraft. In the interim there has been the development on our part primarily, the cruise missiles -- cruise missiles that could be launched from land-based mobile installations; cruise missiles that could be launched from high-performance aircraft like the B-52s or the B-1s, which I hope we proceed with; cruise missiles which could be launched from either surface or submarine naval vessels. Those gray-area weapons systems are creating some problems in the agreement for a SALT II negotiation.
But I can say that I am dedicated to proceeding. And I met just last week with the Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union, and he indicated to me that the Soviet Union was interested in narrowing the differences and making a realistic and a sound compromise.
I hope and trust, in the best interest of both countries and in the best interests of all people throughout this globe that the Soviet Union and the United States can make a mutually beneficial agreement. Because if we do not and SALT I expires on October 3, 1977, you will unleash again an all-out nuclear arms race with the potential of a nuclear holocaust of unbelievable dimensions. So it's the obligation of the President to do just that, and I intend to do so.
MR. TREWHITT: Mr. President, let me follow that up. I'll submit that the cruise missile adds a whole new dimension to the arms competition, and then cite a statement by your office to the arms control association a few days ago in which you said the cruise missile might eventually be included in a comprehensive arms limitation agreement, but that in the meantime it was an essential part of the American strategic arsenal. Now, may I assume from that that you're tending to exclude the cruise missile from the next SALT agreement, or is it still negotiable in that context?
THE PRESIDENT: I believe that the cruise missiles which we are now developing in research and development across the spectrum -- from air, from the sea, or from the land -- can be included within a SALT II agreement. They are a new weapons system that has a great potential, both conventional and nuclear armed. At the same time, we have to make certain that the Soviet Union's Backfire, which they claim is not an intercontinental aircraft and which some of our people contend is, must also be included if we are to get the kind of agreement which is in the best interests of both countries.
And I really believe that it's far better for us and for the Soviet Union and, more importantly, for the people around the world that these two superpowers find an answer for a SALT II agreement before October 3, 1977. I think good will on both parts, hard bargaining by both parties, and a reasonable compromise will be in the best interests of all parties.
THE MODERATOR: Governor Carter.
MR. CARTER: Well, Mr. Ford acts like he is running for President for the first time. He has been in office 2 years, and there has been absolutely no progress made toward a new SALT agreement. He has learned the date of the expiration of SALT I, apparently.
We have seen, in this world, a development of a tremendous threat to us. As a nuclear engineer myself, I know the limitations and capabilities of atomic power. I also know that as far as the human beings on this Earth are concerned that the nonproliferation of atomic weapons is number one. Only in the last few days, with the election approaching, has Mr. Ford taken any interest in a nonproliferation movement.
I advocated last May, in a speech at the United Nations, that we move immediately as a nation to declare a complete moratorium on the testing of all nuclear devices, both weapons and peaceful devices; that we not ship any more atomic fuel to a country that refuses to comply with strict controls over the waste which can be reprocessed into explosives. I've also advocated that we stop the sale by Germany and France of reprocessing plants for Pakistan and Brazil. Mr. Ford hasn't moved on this. We also need to provide an adequate supply of enriched uranium. Mr. Ford again, under pressure from the atomic energy lobby, has insisted that this reprocessing or rather re-enrichment be done by private industry and not by the existing government plants.
This kind of confusion and absence of leadership has let us drift now for two years with a constantly increasing threat of atomic weapons throughout the world. We now have five nations that have atomic bombs that we know about. If we continue under Mr. Ford's policy by 1985 or '90 we'll have 20 nations that have the capability of exploding atomic weapons. This has got to be stopped. That is one of the major challenges and major undertakings that I will assume as the next President.
THE MODERATOR: Mr. Valeriani, a question for Governor Carter.
MR. VALERIANI: Governor Carter, earlier tonight you said America is not strong any more, America is not respected any more. And I feel that I must ask you, do you really believe that the United States is not the strongest country in the world? Do you really believe that the United States is not the most respected country in the world, or is that just campaign rhetoric?
MR. CARTER: No, it's not just campaign rhetoric. I think that militarily we are as strong as any nation on Earth. I think we've got to stay that way and continue to increase our capabilities to meet any potential threat. But as far as strength derived from commitment to principles; as far as strength derived from the unity within our country; as far as strength derived from the people, the Congress, the Secretary of state, the President -- sharing in the evolution and carrying out of a foreign policy; as far as strength derived from the respect of our own allies and friends, their assurance that we will be staunch in our commitment, that we will not deviate and that we'll give them adequate attention; as far as strength derived from doing what is right, caring for the poor, providing food, becoming the breadbasket of the world instead of the arms merchant of the world -- in those respects, we are not strong. Also, we will never be strong again overseas, unless we're strong at home. And with our economy in such terrible disarray and getting worse by the month -- we have got 500,000 more Americans unemployed today than we had 3 months ago. We've got 2 million more Americans out of work now than we had when Mr. Ford took office -- this kind of deterioration in our economic strength is bound to weaken us around the world.
And we not only have problems at home but we export those problems overseas. So, as far as the respect of our own people toward our own Government, as far as participating in the shaping of concepts and commitments, as far as the trust of our country among the nations of the world, as far as dependence of our country in meeting the needs and obligations that we've expressed to our allies, as far as the respect of our country, even among our potential adversaries, we are weak. Potentially, we are strong. Under this administration that strength has not been realized.
THE MODERATOR: President Ford.
THE PRESIDENT: Governor Carter brags about the unemployment during Democratic administrations and condemns the unemployment at the present time. I must remind him that we are at peace and during the period that he brags about unemployment being low, the United States was at war.
Now let me correct one other comment that Governor Carter has made. I have recommended to the Congress that we develop the uranium enrichment plant at Portsmouth, Ohio, which is a publicly owned U.S. Government facility and have indicated that the private program which would follow on in Alabama is one that may or may not be constructed, but I am committed to the one at Portsmouth, Ohio.
The governor also talks about morality in foreign policy. The foreign policy of the United States meets the highest standards of morality. What is more moral than peace? And the United States is at peace today. What is more moral in foreign policy than for the administration to take the lead in the World Food Conference in Rome in 1974, when the United States committed 6 million metric tons of food, over 60 percent of the food committed for the disadvantaged and underdeveloped nations of the world? The Ford administration wants to eradicate hunger and disease in our underdeveloped countries throughout the world. What is more moral than for the United States under the Ford administration to take the lead in southern Africa, in the Middle East? Those are initiatives in foreign policy which are of the highest moral standards. And that is indicative of the foreign policy of this country.
THE MODERATOR: Mr. Frankel, a question for President Ford.
MR. FRANKEL: Mr. President, can we stick with morality? For a lot of people it seems to cover a bunch of sins.
Mr. Nixon and Mr. Kissinger used to tell us that instead of morality we had to worry in the world about living and letting live all kinds of governments that we really didn't like -- North and South Korean dictators, Chilean fascists, Chinese Communists, Iranian emperors, and so on. They said the only way to get by in a wicked world was to treat others on the basis of how they treated us and not how they treated their own people.
But more recently we seemed to have taken a different tack. We seem to have decided that it is part of our business to tell the Rhodesians, for instance, that the way they are treating their own black people is wrong and they've got to change their government and we've put pressure on them. We were rather liberal in our advice to the Italians as to how to vote.
Is this a new Ford foreign policy in the making? Can we expect that you are now going to turn to South Africa and force them to change their government, to intervene in similar ways to end the bloodshed, as you called it, say, in Chile or Chilean prisons, and throw our weight around for the values that we hold dear in the world?
THE PRESIDENT: I believe that our foreign policy must express the highest standards of morality, and the initiatives that we took in southern Africa are the best examples of what this administration is doing and will continue to do in the next 4 years.
If the United States had not moved when we did in southern Africa, there is no doubt there would have been an acceleration of bloodshed in that tragic part of the world. If we had not taken our initiative, it's very, very possible that the government of Rhodesia would have been overrun and that the Soviet Union and the Cubans would have dominated southern Africa.
So the United States, seeking to preserve the principle of self-determination, to eliminate the possibility of bloodshed, to protect the rights of the minority as we insisted upon the rights of the majority, I believe followed the good conscience of the American people in foreign policy, and I believe that we have used our skill. Secretary of State Kissinger has done a superb job in working with the black African nations, the so-called front-line nations. He has done a superb job in getting the Prime Minister of South Africa, Mr. Vorster, to agree that the time had come for a solution to the problem of Rhodesia. Secretary Kissinger, in his meeting with Prime Minister Smith of Rhodesia, was able to convince him that it was in the best interests of whites as well as blacks in Rhodesia to find an answer for a transitional government and then a majority government.
This is a perfect example of the kind of leadership that the United States, under this administration, has taken. And I can assure you that this administration will follow that high moral principle in our future efforts in foreign policy, including our efforts in the Middle East, where it is vitally important because the Middle East is the crossroads of the world. There have been more disputes, and it's an area where there's more volatility than any other place in the world. But because Arab nations and the Israelis trust the United States, we were able to take the lead in the Sinai II Agreement.
And I can assure you that the United States will have the leadership role in moving toward a comprehensive settlement of the Middle Eastern problems -- I hope and trust as soon as possible -- And we will do it with the highest moral principles.
MR. FRANKEL: Mr. President, just clarify one point: There are lots of majorities in the world that feel they're being pushed around by minority governments. And are you saying they can now expect to look to us for not just good cheer but throwing our weight on their side in South Africa or on Taiwan or in Chile, to help change their governments, as in Rhodesia?
THE PRESIDENT: I would hope that as we move to one area of the world from another -- and the United States must not spread itself too thinly; that was one of the problems that helped to create the circumstances in Vietnam -- but as we as a nation find that we are asked by the various parties, either one nation against another or individuals within a nation, that the United States will take the leadership and try to resolve the differences.
Let me take South Korea as an example. I have personally told President Park that the United States does not condone the kind of repressive measures that he has taken in that country. But I think in all fairness and equity we have to recognize the problem that South Korea has. On the north they have North Korea with 500,000 well-trained, well-equipped troops. They are supported by the People's Republic of China. They are supported by the Soviet Union. South Korea faces a very delicate situation. Now, the United States in this case, this administration, has recommended a year ago -- and we have reiterated it again this year -- that the United States, South Korea, North Korea and the People's Republic of China sit down at a conference table to resolve the problems of the Korean peninsula. This is a leadership role that the United States, under this administration, is carrying out. And if we do it -- and I think the opportunities and the possibilities are getting better -- we will have solved many of the internal domestic problems that exist in South Korea at the present time.
THE MODERATOR: Governor Carter.
MR. CARTER: I notice that Mr. Ford didn't comment on the prisons in Chile. This is a typical example, maybe of many others, where this administration overthrew an elected government and helped to establish a military dictatorship. This has not been an ancient history story. Last year, under Mr. Ford, of all the Food for Peace that went to South America, 85 percent went to the military dictatorship in Chile.
Another point I want to make is this: He says we have to move from one area of the world to another. That's one of the problems with this administration's so-called shuttle diplomacy. While the Secretary of State is in one country, there are almost 150 others that are wondering what we are going to do next, what will be the next secret agreement. We don't have a comprehensive, understandable foreign policy that deals with world problems or even regional problems. Another thing that concerned me was what Mr. Ford said about unemployment, that insinuating that under Johnson and Kennedy that unemployment could only be held down when this country is at war. Karl Marx said that the free enterprise system in a democracy can only continue to exist when they are at war or preparing for war. Karl Marx was the grandfather of communism. I don't agree with that statement. I hope Mr. Ford doesn't, either.
He has put pressure on the Congress -- and I don't believe Mr. Ford would even deny this -- to hold up on nonproliferation legislation until the Congress agreed for an $8 billion program for private industry to start producing enriched uranium.
And the last thing I want to make is this: He talks about peace and I am thankful for peace. We were peaceful when Mr. Ford went into office, but he and Mr. Kissinger and others tried to start a new Vietnam in Angola. And it was only the outcry of the American people and the Congress when their secret deal was discovered that prevented our involvement in that conflagration which was taking place there.
THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, I am sorry to say we do not have time enough for two complete sequences of questions. We now have only 12 minutes left. Therefore, I would like to ask for shorter questions and shorter answers. And we also will drop the follow-up question. Each candidate may still respond, of course, to the other's answer.
Mr. Trewhitt, a question for Governor Carter.
MR. TREWHITT: Governor Carter, before this event the most communication I received concerned Panama. Would you, as President, be prepared to sign a treaty which at a fixed date yielded administrative and economic control of the Canal Zone and shared defense which, as I understand it, is the position the United States took in 1974?
MR. CARTER: Well, here again, the Panamanian question is one that's been confused by Mr. Ford. He had directed his diplomatic representative to yield to the Panamanians full sovereignty over the Panama Canal Zone at the end of a certain period of time. When Mr. Reagan raised this question in Florida, Mr. Ford not only disavowed his instructions, but he also even dropped, parenthetically, the use of the word "detente."
I would never give up complete control or practical control of the Panama Canal Zone, but I would continue to negotiate with the Panamanians. When the original treaty was signed back in the early 1900s, when Theodore Roosevelt was President, Panama retained sovereignty over the Panama Canal Zone. We retained control as though we had sovereignty.
Now I would be willing to go ahead with negotiations. I believe that we could share more fully responsibilities for the Panama Canal Zone with Panama. I would be willing to continue to raise the payment for shipment of goods through the Panama Canal Zone. I might even be willing to reduce to some degree our military emplacements in the Panama Canal Zane, but I would not relinquish practical control of the Panama Canal Zane any time in the foreseeable future.
THE MODERATOR: President Ford.
THE PRESIDENT: The United States must and will maintain complete access to the Panama Canal. The United States must maintain a defense capability of the Panama Canal, and the United States will maintain our national security interest in the Panama Canal.
The negotiations for the Panama Canal started under President Johnson and have continued up to the present time. I believe those negotiations should continue. But there are certain guidelines that must be followed, and I've just defined them.
Let me take just a minute to comment on something that Governor Carter said on nonproliferation. In May of 1975, I called for a conference of nuclear suppliers. That conference has met six times. In May of this year, Governor Carter took the first initiative, approximately twelve months after I had taken my initiative a year ago.
THE MODERATOR: Mr. Valeriani, a question for President Ford.
MR. VALERIANI: Mr. President, the Government [General] Accounting Office has just put out a report suggesting that you shot from the hip in the Mayaguez rescue mission and that you ignored diplomatic messages saying that a peaceful solution was in prospect. Why didn't you do more diplomatically at the time? And a related question: Did the White House try to prevent the release of that report?
THE PRESIDENT: The White House did not prevent the release of that report. On July twelfth of this year, we gave full permission for the release of that report. I was very disappointed in the fact that the GAO released that report because I think it interjected political, partisan politics at the present time.
But let me comment on the report. Somebody who sits in Washington, D.C., 18 months after the Mayaguez incident, can be a very good grandstand quarterback. And let me make another observation. This morning, I got a call from the skipper of the Mayaguez. He was furious because he told me that it was the action of me, President Ford, that saved the lives of the crew of the Mayaguez. And I can assure you that if we had not taken the strong and forceful action that we did, we would have been criticized very, very severely for sitting back and not moving.
Captain Miller is thankful. The crew is thankful. We did the right thing. It seems to me that those who sit in Washington 18 months after the incident are not the best judges of the decision-making process that had to be made by the National Security Council and by myself at the time the incident was developing in the Pacific.
Let me assure you that we made every possible overture to the People's Republic of China and through them to the Cambodian Government; we made diplomatic protests to the Cambodian government through the United Nations. Every possible diplomatic means was utilized. But at the same time I had a responsibility, and so did the National Security Council, to meet the problem at hand, and we handled it responsibly. And I think Captain Miller's testimony to that effect is the best evidence.
THE MODERATOR: Governor Carter.
MR. CARTER: Well, I'm reluctant to comment on the recent report - I haven't read it. I think the American people have only one requirement -- that the facts about Mayaguez be given to them accurately and completely.
Mr. Ford has been there for 18 months. He had the facts that were released today immediately after the Mayaguez incident. I understand that the report today is accurate. Mr. Ford has said, I believe, that it was accurate and that the White House made no attempt to block the issuing of that report. I don't know if that's exactly accurate or not.
I understand that both the Department of State and the Defense Department have approved the accuracy of today's report, or yesterday's report, and also the National Security Agency. I don't know what was right, or what was wrong, or what was done. The only thing I believe is that whatever the knowledge was that Mr. Ford had should have been given to the American people 18 months ago, immediately after the Mayaguez incident occurred.
This is what the American people want. When something happens that endangers our security, or when something happens that threatens our stature in the world, or when American people are endangered by the actions of a foreign country, just 40 sailors on the Mayaguez, we obviously have to move aggressively and quickly to rescue them. But then after the immediate action is taken, I believe the President has an obligation to tell the American people the truth and not wait 18 months later for the report to be issued.
THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, at this time we have time for only two very short questions. Mr. Frankel, a question for Governor Carter.
MR. FRANKEL: Governor Carter, if the price of gaining influence among the Arabs is closing our eyes a little bit to their boycott against Israel, how would you handle that?
MR. CARTER: I believe that the boycott of American businesses by the Arab countries, because those businesses trade with Israel or because they have American Jews who are owners or directors in the company is an absolute disgrace. This is the first time that I remember in the history of our country when we've let a foreign country circumvent or change our Bill of Rights. I'll do everything I can as President to stop the boycott of American businesses by the Arab countries.
It's not a matter of diplomacy or trade with me; it's a matter of morality. And I don't believe that Arab countries will pursue it when we have a strong President who will protect the integrity of our country, the commitment of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, and protect people in this country who happen to be Jews -- it may later be Catholics; it may later be Baptists -- who are threatened by some foreign country. But we ought to stand staunch. And I think it's a disgrace that so far Mr. Ford's administration has blocked the passage of legislation that would have revealed by law every instance of the boycott, and it would've prevented the boycott from continuing.
THE MODERATOR: President Ford.
THE PRESIDENT: Again, Governor Carter is inaccurate. The Arab boycott action was first taken in 1952. And in November of 1975, I was the first President to order the executive branch to take action -- affirmative action through the Department of Commerce and other Cabinet Departments, to make certain that no American businessman or business organization should discriminate against Jews because of an Arab boycott.
And I might add that my administration -- and I'm very proud of it -- is the first administration that has taken an antitrust action against companies in this country that have allegedly cooperated with the Arab boycott. Just on Monday of this week, I signed a tax bill that included an amendment that would prevent companies in the United States from taking a tax deduction if they have, in any way whatsoever, cooperated with the Arab boycott.
And last week when we were trying to get the Export Administration Act through the Congress -- necessary legislation -- my administration went to Capitol Hill and tried to convince the House and the Senate that we should have an amendment on that legislation which would take strong and effective action against those who participate or cooperate with the Arab boycott.
One other point. Because the Congress failed to act I am going to announce tomorrow that the Department of Commerce will disclose those companies that have participated in the Arab boycott. This is something that we can do. The Congress failed to do it, and we intend to do it.
THE MODERATOR: Mr. Trewhitt, a very brief question for President Ford.
MR. TREWHITT: Mr. President, if you get the accounting of missing in action you want from North Vietnam -- or from Vietnam, I'm sorry, now -- would you then be prepared to reopen negotiations for restoration of relations with that country?
THE PRESIDENT: Let me restate our policy. As long as Vietnam, North Vietnam, does not give us a full and complete accounting of our missing in action, I will never go along with the admission of Vietnam to the United Nations. If they do give us a bona fide, complete accounting of the 800 MIA's, then I believe that the United States should begin negotiations for the admission of Vietnam to the United Nations, but not until they have given us the full accounting of our MIA's.
THE MODERATOR: Governor Carter.
MR. CARTER: One of the most embarrassing failures of the Ford administration, and one that touches specifically on human rights, is his refusal to appoint a Presidential commission to go to Vietnam, to go to Laos, to go to Cambodia and try to trade for the release of information about those who are missing in action in those wars. This is what the families of MIA's want. So far, Mr. Ford has not done it. We've had several fragmentary efforts by members of the Congress and by private citizens.
Several months ago the Vietnam government said we are ready to sit down and negotiate for release of information on MIA's. So far, Mr. Ford has not responded.
I would never normalize relationships with Vietnam nor permit them to join the United Nations until they have taken this action. But that is not enough. We need to have an active and aggressive action on the part of the President, the leader of his country, to seek out every possible way to get that information which has kept the MIA families in despair and doubt, and Mr. Ford has just not done it.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you Governor Carter. That completes the questioning for this evening. Each candidate now has up to 3 minutes for a closing statement. It was determined by the toss of a coin that Governor Carter would take the first question, and he now goes first with his closing remarks.
Governor Carter.
MR. CARTER: The purpose of this debate and the outcome of the election will determine three basic things -- leadership, upholding the principles of our country, and proper priorities and commitments for the future.
This election will also determine what kind of world we leave our children. Will it be a nightmare world, threatened with the proliferation of atomic bombs, not just in five major countries, but dozens of smaller countries that have been permitted to develop atomic weapons because of a failure of our top leadership to stop proliferation? Will we have a world of hunger and hatred, and will we be living in an armed camp, stripped of our friendship and allies, hiding behind a tight defense that's been drawn in around us because we are fearful of the outside world? Will we have a government of secrecy that excludes the American people from participation in making basic decisions and therefore covers up mistakes and makes it possible for our Government -- our Government -- to depart from the principles of our Constitution and Bill of Rights? Or will we have a world of peace with the threat of atomic weapons eliminated, with full trade, with our people at work, inflation controlled, openness in government, our people proud once again; Congress, citizens, President, Secretary of State working in harmony and unity toward a common future, a world where people have enough to eat and a world where we care about those who don't? Can we become a breadbasket of the world instead of the arms merchant of the world? I believe we can and we ought to.
Now we have been hurt in recent years in this country, in the aftermath of Vietnam, Cambodia, Chile, Pakistan, Angola, Watergate, CIA. We have been hurt. Our people feel that we've lost something precious. That's not necessary. I want to see our nation return to a posture and an image and a standard to make us proud once again. I remember the world of NATO and the world of point four and the world of the Marshall Plan and the world of the Peace Corps. Why can't we have that once again?
We ought to be a beacon for nations who search for peace and who search for freedom, who search for individual liberty, who search for basic human rights. We haven't been lately. We can be once again.
We will never have that world leadership until we are strong at home, and we can have that strength if we return to the basic principles. It ought not to be a strength of bombast and threats. It ought to be a quiet strength based on the integrity of our people, the vision of the Constitution, and an innate strong will and purpose that God's given us in the greatest nation on Earth, the United States.
THE MODERATOR: President Ford.
THE PRESIDENT: As we have seen tonight, foreign policy and defense policy are difficult and complex issues. We can debate methods; we can debate one decision or another. But there are two things which cannot be debated -- experience and results.
In the last 2 years, I have made policy decisions involving long-range difficulties and policies and made day-to-day judgments not only as President of the United States but as the leader of the free world.
What is the result of that leadership? America is strong, America is free, America is respected. Not a single young American today is fighting or dying on any foreign battlefield. America is at peace and with freedom.
Thank you, and good night.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, President Ford. Thank you, Governor Carter. I also want to thank our questioners and the audience here this evening.
The third and final debate between President Ford and Governor Carter will take place on October the 22d at 9:30 p.m., eastern daylight time, on the campus of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. The subject matter will cover all issues.
These debates are sponsored by the League of Women Voters Education Fund to help voters become better informed on the issues and to generate greater voter turnout in the November election.
Now, from the Palace of Fine Arts Theater in San Francisco, good night.
Note: The debate began at 6:30 p.m. at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater in San Francisco, Calif. It was broadcast live on radio and television.
Presidential Campaign Debate Between Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter
THE MODERATOR. Good evening, I am Barbara Walters, moderator of the last of the debates of 1976 between Gerald R. Ford, Republican candidate for President, and Jimmy Carter, Democratic candidate for President.
Welcome, President Ford, welcome, Governor Carter, and thank you for joining us this evening.
This debate takes place before an audience in Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall on the campus of the College of William and Mary in historic Williamsburg, Virginia. It is particularly appropriate that in this Bicentennial year we meet on these grounds to hear this debate. Two hundred years ago, five William and Mary students met at nearby Raleigh Tavern to form Phi Beta Kappa, a fraternity designed, they wrote, "to search out and dispel the clouds of falsehood by debating without reserve the issues of the day."
In that spirit of debate -- "without reserve," "to dispel the clouds of falsehood" -- gentlemen, let us proceed.
The subject matter of this debate is open, covering all issues and topics. Our questioners tonight are Joseph Kraft, syndicated columnist; Robert Maynard, editorial writer for the Washington Post; and Jack Nelson, Washington bureau chief of the Los Angeles Times.
The ground rules tonight are as follows: Questioners will alternate questions between the candidates. The candidate has up to 2 1/2 minutes to answer the question. The other candidate has up to 2 minutes to respond. If necessary, a questioner may ask a follow-up question for further clarification, and in that case the candidate has up to 2 minutes to respond. As was initially agreed to by both candidates, the answers should be responsive to the particular questions. Finally, each candidate has up to 3 minutes for a closing statement.
President Ford and Governor Carter do not have prepared notes or comments with them this evening, but they may make notes and refer to them during the debate.
It has been determined that President Ford would take the first question in this last debate, and Mr. Kraft, you have that first question for President Ford.
MR. KRAFT. Mr. President, I assume that the Americans all know that these are difficult times and that there is no pie in the sky and that they don't expect something for nothing. So, I'd like to ask you, as a first question, as you look ahead in the next 4 years, what sacrifices are you going to call on the American people to make? What price are you going to ask them to pay to realize your objectives?
Let me add, Governor Carter, that if you felt that it was appropriate to answer that question in your comments, as to what price it would be appropriate for the American people to pay for a Carter administration, I think that would be proper too.
Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT. Mr. Kraft, I believe that the American people, in the next 4 years under a Ford administration, will be called upon to make those necessary sacrifices to preserve the peace -- which we have -- which means, of course, that we will have to maintain an adequate military capability; which means, of course, that we will have to add, I think, a few billion dollars to our defense appropriations to make certain that we have adequate strategic forces, adequate conventional forces.
I think the American people will be called upon to be in the forefront in giving leadership to the solution of those problems that must be solved in the Middle East, in southern Africa, and any problems that might arise in the Pacific.
The American people will be called upon to tighten their belts a bit in meeting some of the problems that we face domestically. I don't think that America can go on a big spending spree with a whole lot of new programs that would add significantly to the federal budget.
I believe that the American people, if given the leadership that I would expect to give, would be willing to give this thrust to preserve the peace and the necessary restraint at home to hold the lid on spending so that we could, I think, have a long overdue and totally justified tax decrease for the middle-income people. And then -- with the economy that would be generated from a restraint on spending and a tax reduction primarily for the middle-income people -- then I think the American people would be willing to make those sacrifices for peace and prosperity in the next 4 years.
MR. KRAFT. Could I be a little bit more specific, Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT. Sure, sure.
MR. KRAFT. Doesn't your policy really imply that we're going to have a pretty high rate of unemployment over a fairly long time, that growth is going to be fairly slow, and that we're not going to be able to do very much in the next 4 or 5 years to meet the basic agenda of our national needs in the cities, in health, in transit and a whole lot of things like that?
THE PRESIDENT. Not at all.
MR. KRAFT. Aren't those the real costs?
THE PRESIDENT. No, Mr. Kraft. We're spending very significant amounts of money now, some $200 billion a year, almost 50 percent of our total federal expenditure by the Federal government at the present time, for human needs. Now, we will probably have to increase that to some extent, but we don't have to have growth in spending that will blow the lid off and add to the problems of inflation.
I believe we can meet the problems within the cities of this country and still give a tax reduction. I proposed, as you know, a reduction to increase the personal exemption from $750 to $1,000, with the fiscal program that I have. And if you look at the projections, it shows that we will reduce unemployment, that we will continue to win the battle against inflation, and, at the same time, give the kind of quality of life that I believe is possible in America: a job, a home for all those that will work and save for it, safety in the streets, health care that is affordable. These things can be done if we have the right vision and the right restraint and the right leadership.
THE MODERATOR. Thank you. Governor Carter, your response, please.
MR. CARTER. Well, I might say first of all that I think in case of the Carter administration, the sacrifices would be much less. Mr. Ford's own environmental agency has projected a 10 percent unemployment rate by 1978 if he is President. The American people are ready to make sacrifices if they are part of the process, if they know that they will be helping to make decisions and won't be excluded from being an involved party to the national purpose.
The major effort we must put forward is to put our people back to work. And I think that this is one example where a lot of people have selfish, grasping ideas now. I remember 1973 in the depth of the energy crisis when President Nixon called on the American people to make a sacrifice to cut down on the waste of gasoline, to cut down on the speed of automobiles. It was a tremendous surge of patriotism. "I want to make a sacrifice for my country."
I think we could call together -- with strong leadership in the White House -- business, industry and labor, and say, let's have voluntary price restraints, let's lay down some guidelines so we don't have continuing inflation.
We can also have an end to the extremes. We now have one extreme, for instance, of some welfare recipients who, by taking advantage of the welfare laws, the housing laws, the Medicaid laws, and the food stamp laws, make over $10,000 a year, and they don't have to pay any taxes on it. At the other extreme, just 1 percent of the richest people in our country derive 25 percent of all the tax benefits. So both those extremes grasp for advantage and the person who has to pay that expense is the middle-income family who is still working for a living and they have to pay for the rich who have privilege and for the poor who are not working.
But I think that a balanced approach, with everybody being part of it and a striving for unselfishness could help, as it did in 1973, to let people sacrifice for their own country. I know I'm ready for it. I think the American people are, too.
THE MODERATOR. Thank you. Mr. Maynard, your question for Governor Carter.
MR. MAYNARD. Governor, by all indications, the voters are so turned off by this election campaign so far that only half intend to vote. One major reason for this apathetic electorate appears to be the low level at which this campaign has been conducted. It has digressed frequently from important issues into allegations of blunders and brainwashing and fixations on lust in Playboy. What responsibility do you accept for the low level of this campaign for the Nation's highest office?
MR. CARTER. I think the major reason for a decrease in participation that we have experienced ever since 1960 has been the deep discouragement of the American people about the performance of public officials. When you've got 7 1/2, 8 million people out of work, when you've got three times as much inflation as you had during the last 8-year Democratic administration, when you have the highest deficits in history; when you have it becoming increasingly difficult for a family to put a child through college or to own a home, there's a natural inclination to be turned off. Also, in the aftermath of Vietnam and Cambodia and Watergate and the CIA revelations, people have felt that they've been betrayed by public officials.
I have to admit that in the heat of the campaign -- I've been in thirty primaries during the springtime; I've been campaigning for 22 months -- I've made some mistakes. And I think this is part of just being a human being. I have to say that my campaign has been an open one. The Playboy thing has been of very great concern to me. I don't know how to deal with it exactly. I agreed to give the interview to Playboy. Other people have done it who are notable -- Governor Jerry Brown, Walter Cronkite, Albert Schweitzer, Mr. Ford's own Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Simon, William Buckley, many other people. But they weren't running for President. And in retrospect, from hindsight, I would not have given that interview had I to do it over again. If I should ever decide in the future to discuss my deep Christian beliefs and condemnation and sinfulness, I'll use another forum besides Playboy.
But I can say this: I'm doing the best I can to get away from that, and during the next 10 days, the American people will not see the Carter campaign running television advertisements and newspaper advertisements based on a personal attack on President Ford's character. I believe that the opposite is true with President Ford's campaign. And I hope that we can leave those issues, in this next 10 days, about personalities and mistakes of the past -- we've both made some mistakes -- and talk about unemployment, inflation, housing, education, taxation, government organization, stripping away of secrecy, and the things that are crucial to the American people.
I regret the things in my own long campaign that have been mistaken, but I'm trying to do away with those the last 10 days.
THE MODERATOR. Thank you, Governor Carter. President Ford, your response.
THE PRESIDENT. I believe that the American people have been turned off in this election, Mr. Maynard, for a variety of reasons. We have seen on Capitol Hill, in the Congress, a great many allegations of wrongdoing, of alleged immorality. Those are very disturbing to the American people. They wonder how an elected representative can serve them and participate in such activities, serving in the Congress of the United States. Yes, and I'm certain many, many Americans were turned off by the revelations of Watergate, a very, very bad period of time in American political history. Yes, and thousands, maybe millions of Americans were turned off because of the problems that came out of our involvement in Vietnam.
But on the other hand, I found on July 4 of this year a new spirit born in America. We were celebrating our Bicentennial. And I find that there is a movement -- as I travel around the country -- of greater interest in this campaign. Now, like any hardworking person seeking public office, in the campaign, inevitably, sometimes you will use rather graphic language. And I'm guilty of that just like, I think, most others in the political arena. But I do make a pledge that in the next 10 days when we are asking the American people to make one of the most important decisions in their lifetime, because I think this election is one of the most vital in the history of America, that we do together what we can to stimulate voter participation.
THE MODERATOR. Thank you, President Ford. Mr. Nelson, your question to President Ford.
MR. NELSON. Mr. President, you mentioned Watergate, and you became President because of Watergate, so don't you owe the American people a special obligation to explain in detail your role of limiting one of the original investigations of Watergate -- that was the one by the House Banking Committee? And I know you've answered questions on this before, but there are questions that still remain and I think people want to know what your role was.
Will you name the persons you talked to in connection with that investigation, and since you say you have no recollection of talking to anyone from the White House, would you be willing to open for examination the White House tapes of conversations during that period?
THE PRESIDENT. Mr. Nelson, I testified before two committees, House and Senate, on precisely the questions that you have asked. And the testimony under oath was to the effect that I did not talk to Mr. Nixon, to Mr. Haldeman, to Mr. Ehrlichman, or to any of the people at the White House. I said I had no recollection whatsoever of talking with any of the White House legislative liaison people.
I indicated under oath that the initiative that I took was at the request of the ranking members of the House Banking and Currency Committee on the Republican side, which was a legitimate request and a proper response by me.
Now that was gone into by two congressional committees, and following that investigation, both committees overwhelmingly approved me, and the House and the Senate did likewise.
Now, in the meantime the Special Prosecutor -- within the last few days after an investigation himself -- said there was no reason for him to get involved because he found nothing that would justify it. And then, just a day or two ago, the Attorney General of the United States made a further investigation and came to precisely the same conclusion.
Now, after all of those investigations by objective, responsible people, I think the matter is closed once and for all. But to add one other feature: I don't control any of the tapes. Those tapes are in the jurisdiction of the courts, and I have no right to say yes or no. But all the committees, the Attorney General, the Special Prosecutor, all of them have given me a clean bill of health. I think the matter is settled once and for all.
MR. NELSON. Well, Mr. President, if I do say so, though, the question is that I think that you still have not gone into details about what your role in it was. And I don't think there is any question about whether or not there was criminal prosecution, but whether you have told the American people your entire involvement in it and whether you would be willing -- even if you don't control the tapes -- whether you would be willing to ask that the tapes be released for examination?
THE PRESIDENT. That's for the proper authorities who have control over those tapes to make that decision. I have given every bit of evidence, answered every question that's been asked me by any Senator or any Member of the House. Plus the fact, that the Special Prosecutor, on his own initiation, and the Attorney General on his initiation -- the highest law enforcement official in this country -- all of them have given me a clean bill of health. And I've told everything I know about it. I think the matter is settled once and for all.
THE MODERATOR. Governor Carter, your response.
MR. CARTER. I don't have a response.
THE MODERATOR. Thank you.
Then we'll have the next question from Mr. Kraft to Governor Carter.
MR. KRAFT. Governor Carter, the next big crisis spot in the world may be Yugoslavia. President Tito is old and sick and there are divisions in his country. It's pretty certain that the Russians are going to do everything they possibly can after Tito dies to force Yugoslavia back into the Soviet camp.
But last Saturday you said -- and this is a quote -- "I would not go to war in Yugoslavia, even if the Soviet Union sent in troops." Doesn't that statement practically invite the Russians to intervene in Yugoslavia? Doesn't it discourage Yugoslavs who might be tempted to resist? And wouldn't it have been wiser on your part to say nothing and to keep the Russians in the dark as President Ford did, and as I think every President has done since President Truman?
MR. CARTER. In the last two weeks, I've had a chance to talk to two men who have visited the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and China. One is Governor Averell Harriman [Governor of New York 1954-58 and Ambassador at Large 1961, 1965-68], who visited the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, and the other is James Schlesinger [Secretary of Defense 1973-75], whom I think you accompanied to China. I got a complete report back from those countries from these two distinguished gentlemen.
Mr. Harriman talked to the leaders in Yugoslavia, and I think it's accurate to say that there is no prospect, in their opinion, of the Soviet Union invading Yugoslavia should Mr. Tito pass away. The present leadership there is fairly uniform in their purpose. I think it's a close-knit group, and I think it would be unwise for us to say that we will go to war in Yugoslavia if the Soviets should invade, which I think would be an extremely unlikely thing.
I have maintained from the very beginning of my campaign -- and this was a standard answer that I made in response to the Yugoslavian question -- that I would never go to war, become militarily involved in the internal affairs of another country unless our own security was directly threatened. And I don't believe that our security would be directly threatened if the Soviet Union went into Yugoslavia. I don't believe it will happen. I certainly hope it won't. I would take the strongest possible measures short of actual military action there by our own troops, but I doubt that that would be an eventuality.
MR. KRAFT. One quick follow-up. Did you clear the response you made with Secretary Schlesinger and Governor Harriman?
MR. CARTER. No, I did not.
THE MODERATOR. President Ford, your response.
THE PRESIDENT. Well, I firmly believe, Mr. Kraft, that it's unwise for a President to signal in advance what options he might exercise if any international problem arose.
I think we all recall with some sadness that at the period of the late 1940's, early 1950's, there were some indications that the United States would not include South Korea in an area of defense. There are some who allege -- I can't prove it true or untrue -- that such a statement, in effect, invited the North Koreans to invade South Korea. It's a fact they did.
But no President of the United States, in my opinion, should signal in advance to a prospective enemy what his decision might be or what option he might exercise. It's far better for a person sitting in the White House, who has a number of options, to make certain that the other side, so to speak, doesn't know precisely what you're going to do. And therefore, that was the reason that I would not identify any particular course of action when I responded to a question a week or so ago.
THE MODERATOR. Thank you.
Mr. Maynard, your question to President Ford, please.
MR. MAYNARD. Sir, this question concerns your administrative performance as President. The other day, General George Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered his views on several sensitive subjects, among them Great Britain, one of this country's oldest allies. He said, and I quote him now, "Great Britain, it's a pathetic thing. It just makes you cry. They are no longer a world power. All they have are generals, admirals, and bands." Since General Brown's comments have caused this country embarrassment in the past, why is he still this Nation's leading military officer?
THE PRESIDENT. I have indicated to General Brown that the words that he used in that interview, in that particular case, and in several others, were very ill-advised. And General Brown has indicated his apology, his regrets, and I think that will, in this situation, settle the matter.
It is tragic that the full transcript of that interview was not released, and that there were excerpts, some of the excerpts, taken out of context -- not this one, however, that you bring up.
General Brown has an exemplary record of military performance. He served this Nation with great, great skill and courage and bravery for 35 years. And I think it's the consensus of the people who are knowledgeable in the military field that he is probably the outstanding military leader and strategist that we have in America today.
Now he did use ill-advised words. But I think in the fact that he apologized, that he was reprimanded, does permit him to stay on and continue that kind of leadership that we so badly need as we enter into negotiations under the SALT II agreement or if we have operations that might be developing in the Middle East or southern Africa or in the Pacific -- we need a man with that experience, that knowledge, that know-how. And I think in light of the fact that he has apologized, would not have justified my asking for his resignation.
THE MODERATOR. Thank you.
Governor Carter, your response.
MR. CARTER. Well, just briefly, I think this is the second time that General Brown has made a statement for which he did have to apologize -- and I know that everybody makes mistakes. I think the first one was related to the unwarranted influence of American Jews on the media and in the Congress. This one concerned Great Britain. I think he said that Israel was a military burden on us and that Iran hoped to reestablish the Persian Empire.
I am not sure that I remembered earlier that President Ford had expressed his concern about the statement or apologized for it. This is something, though, that I think is indicative of the need among the American people to know how the commander-in-chief, the President, feels. And I think the only criticism that I would have of Mr. Ford is that immediately when the statement was revealed, perhaps a statement from the President would have been a clarifying and a very beneficial thing.
THE MODERATOR. Mr. Nelson, your question now to Governor Carter.
MR. NELSON. Governor, despite the fact that you've been running for President a long time now, many Americans still seem to be uneasy about you. They don't feel that they know you or the people around you. And one problem seems to be that you haven't reached out to bring people of broad background or national experience into your campaign or your Presidential plans. Most of the people around you on a day-to-day basis are the people you've known in Georgia. Many of them are young and relatively inexperienced in national affairs. Doesn't this raise a serious question as to whether you would bring into a Carter administration people with the necessary background to run the Federal Government?
MR. CARTER. I don't believe it does. I began campaigning 22 months ago. At that time, nobody thought I had a chance to win. Very few people knew who I was. I came from a tiny town, as you know -- Plains -- and didn't hold public office, didn't have very much money. And my first organization was just four or five people plus my wife and my children, my three sons and their wives.
And we won the nomination by going out into the streets, barbershops, beauty parlors, restaurants, stores, in factory shift lines, also in farmers' markets and livestock sale barns, and we talked a lot and we listened a lot and we learned from the American people. We built up an awareness among the voters of this country, particularly those in whose primaries I entered -- 30 of them, nobody's ever done that before -- about who I was and what I stood for.
Now we have a very, very wide-ranging group of advisers who help me prepare for these debates and who teach me about international economics and foreign affairs, defense matters, health, education, welfare, government reorganization -- I'd say, several hundred of them, and they're very fine and very highly qualified.
The one major decision that I have made since acquiring the nomination -- and I share this with President Ford -- is the choice of a Vice President. I think this should be indicative of the kind of leaders I would choose to help me if I am elected.
I chose Senator Walter Mondale. And the only criterion I ever put forward in my own mind was who among the several million people in this country would be the best person qualified to be President, if something should happen to me and to join me in being Vice President if I should serve out my term. And I'm convinced now, more than I was when I got the nomination, that Walter Mondale was the right choice. And I believe this is a good indication of the kind of people I would choose in the future.
Mr. Ford has had that same choice to make. I don't want to say anything critical of Senator Dole, but I've never heard Mr. Ford say that that was his primary consideration -- who is the best person I could choose in this country to be President of the United States?
I feel completely at ease knowing that someday Senator Mondale might very well be President. In the last five Vice-Presidential nominees, incumbents, three of them have become President. But I think this is indicative of what I would do.
THE MODERATOR. President Ford, your response please.
THE PRESIDENT. The Governor may not have heard my established criteria for the selection of a Vice President, but it was a well-established criteria that the person I selected would be fully qualified to be President of the United States. And Senator Bob Dole is so qualified -- 16 years in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, very high responsibilities on important committees.
I don't mean to be critical of Senator Mondale, but I was very, very surprised when I read that Senator Mondale made a very derogatory, very personal comment about General Brown after the news story that broke about General Brown. If my recollection is correct he indicated that General Brown was not qualified to be a sewer commissioner. I don't think that's a proper way to describe a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who has fought for his country for 35 years. And I'm sure the Governor would agree with me on that. I think Senator Dole would show more good judgment and discretion than to so describe a heroic and brave and very outstanding leader of the military.
So I think our selection of Bob Dole as Vice President is based on merit. And if he should ever become the President of the United States, with his vast experience as a of the Member the House and a Member of the Senate, as well as a Vice President, I think he would do an outstanding job as President of the United States.
THE MODERATOR. Mr. Kraft, your question to President Ford.
MR. KRAFT. Mr. President, let me assure you and maybe some of the viewing audience that being on this panel hasn't been, as it may seem, all torture and agony. One of the heartening things is that I and my colleagues have received literally hundreds and maybe even thousands of suggested questions from ordinary citizens all across the country who want answers.
THE PRESIDENT. That's a tribute to their interest in this election.
MR. KRAFT. I'll give you that. But let me go on, because one main subject on the minds of all of them has been the environment, particularly curious about your record. People really want to know why you vetoed the strip mining bill. They want to know why you worked against strong controls on auto emissions. They want to know why you aren't doing anything about pollution of the Atlantic Ocean. They want to know why a bipartisan organization such as the National League of Conservation Voters says that when it comes to environmental issues, you are -- and I'm quoting -- "hopeless."
THE PRESIDENT. First, let me set the record straight. I vetoed the strip mining bill, Mr. Kraft, because it was the overwhelming consensus of knowledgeable people that that strip mining bill would have meant the loss of literally thousands of jobs, something around 140,000 jobs. Number two, that strip mining bill would have severely set back our need for more coal, and Governor Carter has said repeatedly that coal is the resource that we need to use more in the effort to become independent of the Arab oil supplies. So, I vetoed it because of a loss of jobs and because it would have interfered with our energy independence program.
The auto emissions -- it was agreed by Leonard Woodcock, the head of the UAW, and by the heads of all of the automobile industry, we had labor and management together saying that those auto emission standards had to be modified.
But let's talk about what the Ford administration has done in the field of environment. I have increased, as President, by over 60 percent, the funding for water treatment plants in the United States, the Federal contribution. I have fully funded the land and water conservation program; in fact, have recommended, and the Congress approved, a substantially increased land and water conservation program.
I have added in the current year budget, the funds for the National Park Service. For example, we proposed about $12 million to add between 400 and 500 more employees for the National Park Service.
And a month or so ago, I did likewise say over the next ten years we should expand -- double -- the national parks, the wild wilderness areas, the scenic river areas. And then, of course, the final thing is that I have signed and approved of more scenic rivers, more wilderness areas since I've been President than any other President in the history of the United States.
THE MODERATOR. Governor Carter.
MR. CARTER. Well, I might say that I think the League of Conservation Voters is absolutely right. This administration's record on environment is very bad.
I think it's accurate to say that the strip mining law which was passed twice by the Congress and only lacked two votes, I believe, of being overridden, would have been good for the country. The claim that it would have put 140,000 miners out of work is hard to believe when at the time Mr. Ford vetoed it, the United Mine Workers was supporting the bill. And I don't think they would have supported the bill had they known that they would lose 140,000 jobs.
There's been a consistent policy on the part of this administration to lower or delay enforcement of air pollution standards and water pollution standards. And under both Presidents Nixon and Ford, monies have been impounded that would have gone to cities and others to control water pollution.
We have no energy policy. We, I think, are the only developed nation in the world that has no comprehensive energy policy, to permit us to plan in an orderly way how to shift from increasing the scarce energy forms -- oil -- and have research and development concentrated on the increased use of coal, which I strongly favor -- the research and development to be used primarily to make the coal burning be clean.
We need a heritage trust program, similar to the one we had in Georgia, to set aside additional lands that have geological and archeological importance, natural areas for enjoyment. The lands that Mr. Ford brags about having approved are in Alaska, and they are enormous in size, but as far as the accessibility of them by the American people, is very far in the future.
We have taken no strong position in the control of pollution of our oceans. And I would say the worst threat to the environment of all is nuclear proliferation. And this administration, having been in office now for 2 years or more, has still not taken strong and bold action to stop the proliferation of nuclear waste around the world, particularly plutonium.
Those are some brief remarks about the failures of this administration. I would do the opposite in every respect.
THE MODERATOR. Mr. Maynard to Governor Carter.
MR. MAYNARD. Governor, federal policy in this country since World War II has tended to favor the development of suburbs at the great expense of central cities. Does not the federal government now have an affirmative obligation to revitalize the American city? We have heard little in this campaign suggesting that you have an urban reconstruction program. Could you please outline your urban intentions for us tonight?
MR. CARTER. Yes, I'd be glad to. In the first place, as is the case with the environmental policy and the energy policy that I just described, and the policy for nonproliferation of nuclear waste, this administration has no urban policy. It's impossible for mayors or governors to cooperate with the President, because they can't anticipate what is going to happen next.
A mayor of a city like New York, for example, needs to know 18 months or 2 years ahead of time what responsibility the city will have in administration and in financing, in things like housing, pollution control, crime control, education, welfare and health. This has not been done, unfortunately. I remember the headline in the Daily News that said, "Ford to New York -- Drop Dead."
I think it's very important that our cities know that they have a partner in the Federal Government. Quite often, Congress has passed laws in the past designed to help people with the ownership of homes and with the control of crime and with adequate health care and better education programs and so forth. Those programs were designed to help those who need it most, and quite often this has been in the very poor people and neighborhoods in the downtown urban centers. Because of the greatly advantaged persons who live in the suburbs -- better education, better organization, more articulate, more aware of what the laws are -- quite often this money has been channeled out of the downtown centers where it's needed.
Also, I favor all revenue sharing money being used for local governments and also to remove prohibitions in the use of revenue sharing money, so that it can be used to improve education and health care. We have now, for instance, only 7 percent of the total education cost being financed by the Federal Government. When the Nixon-Ford Administration started, this was 10 percent. That's a 30-percent reduction in the portion that the federal government contributes to education in just 8 years and, as you know, the education costs have gone up tremendously.
The last point is that the major thrust has got to be to put people back to work. We've got an extraordinarily high unemployment rate among downtown urban ghetto areas; particularly among the very poor and particularly among minority groups, sometimes 50 or 60 percent.
And the concentration of employment opportunities in those areas would help greatly not only to reestablish the tax base, but also to help reduce the extraordinary welfare costs. One of the major responsibilities on the shoulders of New York City is to finance welfare. And I favor a shifting of the welfare cost away from the local governments altogether and, over a longer period of time, let the Federal Government begin to absorb part of it that's now paid by the State government. Those things would help a great deal with the cities, but we still have a very serious problem there.
THE MODERATOR. President Ford.
THE PRESIDENT. Let me speak out very strongly. The Ford administration does have a very comprehensive program to help our major metropolitan areas. I fought for, and the Congress finally went along with, a general revenue sharing program whereby cities and states -- the cities, two-thirds, and the States, one-third -- get over $6 billion a year, in cash, with which they can provide many, many services, whatever they really want.
In addition, we in the Federal Government make available to cities about $3,300 million in what we call community developments. In addition, as a result of my pressure on the Congress, we got a major mass transit program over a 4-year period -- $11,800 million. We have a good housing program that will result in cutting the down payments by 50 percent and having mortgage payments lower at the beginning of any mortgage period. We are expanding our homestead housing program.
The net result is, we think, under Carla Hills, who is the Chairman of my Urban Development and Neighborhood Revitalization program, we will really do a first-class job in helping the communities throughout the country. As a matter of fact, that committee, under Secretary Hills, released about a 75-page report with specific recommendations, so we can do a better job in the weeks ahead.
And in addition, the tax program of the Ford administration, which provides an incentive for industry to move into our major metropolitan areas, into the inner cities, will bring jobs where people are, and help to revitalize those cities as they can be.
THE MODERATOR. Mr. Nelson, your question next to President Ford.
MR. NELSON. Mr. President, your campaign has run ads in black newspapers saying that quote, "for black Americans, President Ford is quietly getting the job done." Yet, study after study has shown little progress in desegregation and, in fact, actual increases in segregated schools and housing in the Northeast.
Now, civil rights groups have complained repeatedly that there has been lack of progress and commitment to an integrated society during your administration. So how are you getting the job done for blacks and other minorities, and what programs do you have in mind for the next four years?
THE PRESIDENT. Let me say at the outset, I am very proud of the record of this administration. In the Cabinet I have one of the outstanding, I think, administrators as the Secretary of Transportation, Bill Coleman. You are familiar, I am sure, with the recognition given in the Air Force to General James. And there was just approved a three-star admiral, the first in the history of the United States Navy. So, we are giving full recognition to individuals of quality in the Ford administration in positions of great responsibility.
In addition, the Department of Justice is fully enforcing, and enforcing effectively, the Voting Rights Act -- the legislation that involves jobs, housing for minorities, not only blacks but all others.
The Department of HUD is enforcing the new legislation that takes care of redlining. What we are doing is saying that there are opportunities -- business opportunities, educational opportunities, responsibilities -- where people with talent, black or any other minority, can fully qualify.
The Office of Minority Business in the Department of Commerce has made available more money in trying to help black businessmen, or other minority businessmen, than any other administration since the office was established.
The office of small business, under Mr. Kobelinski, has a very massive program trying to help the black community. The individual who wants to start a business or expand his business as a black businessman is able to borrow, either directly or with guaranteed loans.
I believe on the record that this administration has been more responsive and we have carried out the law to the letter, and I'm proud of the record.
THE MODERATOR. Governor Carter, your response, please.
MR. CARTER. The description just made of this administration's record is hard to recognize. I think it's accurate to say that Mr. Ford voted against the voting rights acts and against the civil rights acts in their debative stage. I think once it was assured they were going to pass, he finally voted for it.
This country changed drastically in 1969 when the terms of John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson were over, and Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford became the Presidents. There was a time when there was hope for those who were poor and downtrodden and who were elderly or who were ill or who were in minority groups. That time has been gone.
I think the greatest thing that ever happened to the South was the passage of the civil rights acts and the opening up of opportunities to black people, to have the chance to vote, to hold a job, to buy a house, to go to school, and to participate in public affairs. It not only liberated black people but it also liberated the whites.
We have seen in many instances in recent years a minority affairs section of a small loan administration, Small Business Administration, lend a black entrepreneur just enough money to get started, and then to go bankrupt. The bankruptcies have gone up an extraordinary degree.
The FHA [Federal Housing Administration], which used to be a very responsible agency that everyone looked to to help own a home, lost $600 million last year. There have been over 1300 indictments in HUD, over 800 convictions relating just to home loans. And now the federal government has become the world's greatest slum landlord.
We've got a 30-percent or 40-percent unemployment rate among minority young people. And there has been no concerted effort given to the needs of those who are both poor and black, or poor and who speak a foreign language. And that's where there's been a great generation of despair and ill health and lack of education and lack of purposefulness and the lack of hope for the future.
But it doesn't take just a quiet, dormant, minimum enforcement of the law. It requires an aggressive searching out and reaching out to help people who especially need it. And that's been lacking in the last 8 years.
THE MODERATOR. Mr. Kraft, to Governor Carter.
MR. KRAFT. Governor Carter, in the nearly 200-year history of the Constitution, there have been only, I think it is, 25 amendments, most of them on issues of the very broadest principle. Now we have proposed amendments in many highly specialized causes like gun control, school busing, balanced budget, school prayer, abortion, things like that. Do you think it's appropriate to the dignity of the Constitution to tack on amendments in wholesale fashion, and which of the ones that I listed -- that is, balanced budget, school busing, school prayer, abortion, gun control -- which of those would you really work hard to support if you were President?
MR. CARTER. I would not work hard to support any of those. We have always had, I think, a lot of constitutional amendments proposed, but the passage of them has been fairly slow, and few and far between. In the 200-year history there's been a very cautious approach to this. Quite often we have a transient problem. I am strongly against abortion. I think abortion is wrong. I don't think the government ought to do anything to encourage abortion, but I don't favor a constitutional amendment on the subject. But short of a constitutional amendment, and within the confines of a Supreme Court ruling, I will do everything I can to minimize the need for abortions with better sex education, family planning, with better adoptive procedures. I personally don't believe that the Federal Government ought to finance abortions, but I draw the line and don't support a constitutional amendment. However, I honor the right of people who seek the constitutional amendments on school busing, on prayer in the schools, and on abortion, but among those you named, I won't actively work for the passage of any of them.
THE MODERATOR. President Ford, your response, please.
THE PRESIDENT. I support the Republican platform, which calls for the constitutional amendment that would outlaw abortions. I favor the particular constitutional amendment that would turn over to the States the individual right of the voters in those States the chance to make a decision by public referendum. I call that the peoples' amendment. I think if you really believe that the people of a State ought to make a decision on a matter of this kind, that we ought to have a federal constitutional amendment that would permit each one of the 50 States to make the choice.
I think this is a responsible and proper way to proceed. I believe also that there is some merit to an amendment that Senator Everett Dirksen proposed very frequently, an amendment that would change the Court decision as far as voluntary prayer in public schools. It seems to me that there should be an opportunity, as long as it's voluntary, as long as there is no compulsion whatsoever, that an individual ought to have that right.
So in those two cases I think such a constitutional amendment would be proper. And I really don't think in either case they are trivial matters. I think they are matters of very deep conviction as far as many, many people in this country believe, and therefore they shouldn't be treated lightly, but they are matters that are important. And in those two cases, I would favor them.
THE MODERATOR. Mr. Maynard, to President Ford.
MR. MAYNARD. Mr. President, twice you have been the intended victim of would-be assassins using handguns, yet you remain a steadfast opponent of substantive handgun control. There are now some 40 million handguns in this country, going up at the rate of 2.5 million a year, and tragically those handguns are frequently purchased for self-protection and wind up being used against a relative or a friend. In light of that, why do you remain so adamant in your opposition to substantive gun control in this country?
THE PRESIDENT. Mr. Maynard, the record of gun control, whether it's one city or another or in some States does not show that the registration of a gun, handgun, or the registration of the gun owner, has in any way whatsoever decreased the crime rate or the use of that gun in the committing of a crime. The record just doesn't prove that such legislation or action by a local city council is effective.
What we have to do -- and this is the crux of the matter -- is to make it very, very difficult for a person who uses a gun in the commission of a crime to stay out of jail. If we make the use of a gun in the commission of a crime a serious criminal offense, and that person is prosecuted, then in my opinion we are going after the person who uses the gun for the wrong reason. I don't believe in the registration of handguns or the registration of the handgun owner. That has not proven to be effective. And therefore, I think the better way is to go after the criminal, the individual who commits a crime in the possession of a gun and uses that gun for a part of his criminal activity.
Those are the people who ought to be in jail. And the only way to do it is to pass strong legislation so that once apprehended, indicted, convicted, they'll be in jail and off the streets and not using guns in the commission of a crime.
MR. MAYNARD. But Mr. President, don't you think that the proliferation of the availability of handguns contributes to the possibility of those crimes being committed? And, there's a second part to my follow-up. Very quickly, there are, as you know and as you've said, jurisdictions around the country with strong gun control laws. The police officials in those cities contend that if there were a national law to prevent other jurisdictions from providing the weapons that then came into places like New York, that they might have a better handle on the problem. Have you considered that in your analysis of the handgun proliferation problem?
THE PRESIDENT. Yes, I have, and the individuals with whom I have consulted have not convinced me that a national registration of handguns or handgun owners will solve the problem you are talking about. The person who wants to use a gun for an illegal purpose can get it whether it's registered or outlawed -- they will be obtained -- and they are the people who ought to go behind bars. You should not, in the process, penalize the legitimate handgun owner. And when you go through the process of registration, you, in effect, are penalizing that individual who uses his gun for a very legitimate purpose.
THE MODERATOR. Governor Carter.
MR. CARTER. I think it's accurate to say that Mr. Ford's position on gun control has changed. Earlier, Mr. Levi, his Attorney General, put forward a gun control proposal which Mr. Ford later, I believe, espoused that called for the prohibition against the sale of the so-called Saturday Night Specials. It would have put very strict control over who owned a handgun.
I have been a hunter all my life and happen to own both shotguns, rifles, and a handgun. And the only purpose that I would see in registering handguns and not long guns of any kind would be to prohibit the ownership of those guns by those who have used them in the commission of a crime or who have been proven to be mentally incompetent to own a gun. I believe that limited approach to the question would be advisable, and I think adequate, but that's as far as I would go with it.
THE MODERATOR. Mr. Nelson, to Governor Carter.
MR. NELSON. Governor, you've said the Supreme Court of today is, as you put it, moving back in a proper direction in rulings that have limited the rights of criminal defendants, and you've compared the present Supreme Court under Chief Justice Burger very favorably with the more liberal Court that we had under Chief Justice Warren. So, exactly what are you getting at, and can you elaborate on the kind of court you think this country should have? And can you tell us the kind of qualifications and philosophy you would look for as President in making Supreme Court appointments?
MR. CARTER. While I was Governor of Georgia, although I am not a lawyer, we had complete reform of the Georgia court system. We streamlined the structure of the court, put in administrative offices, put a unified court system in, and required that all severe sentences be reviewed far uniformity; and, in addition to that, put forward a proposal that was adopted and used throughout my own term of office -- selection of all judges and district attorneys or prosecuting attorneys, on the basis of merit.
Every time I had a vacancy on the Georgia Supreme Court -- and I filled five of those vacancies out of seven total, and about half the Court of Appeals judges, about 35 percent of the trial judges -- I was given from an objective panel the five most highly qualified persons in Georgia, and from those five I always chose the first or second one. So, merit selection of judges is the most important single criterion. And I would institute the same kind of procedure as President, not only in judicial appointments but also in diplomatic appointments.
Secondly, I think that the Burger Court has fairly well confirmed the major and most far-reaching and most controversial decisions of the Warren Court. Civil rights has been confirmed by the Burger Court. It hasn't been reversed. And I don't think there is any inclination to reverse those basic decisions -- of one man-one vote rule, which is a very important one that struck down the unwarranted influence in the legislature of sparsely populated areas of the States. The right of indigent or very poor accused persons to legal counsel -- I think the Burger Court has confirmed that basic and very controversial decision of the Warren Court. Also, the protection of an arrested person against unwarranted persecution in trying to get a false confession.
But now, I think there have been a couple of instances where the Burger Court has made technical rulings where an obviously guilty person was later found to be guilty. And I think that in that case some of the more liberal members of the so-called Warren Court agreed with those decisions.
But the only thing I have pointed out was what I've just said, and that there was a need to clarify the technicalities so that you couldn't be forced to release a person who was obviously guilty just because of a small technicality in the law. And that's a reversal of position by the Burger Court with which I do agree.
MR. NELSON. Governor, I don't believe you answered my question, though, about the kinds of people you would be looking for for the Court, the type of philosophy you would be looking for if you were making appointments to the Supreme Court as President.
MR. CARTER. Okay, I thought I answered it by saying that it would be on the basis of merit. Once the search and analysis procedure had been completed, and once I'm given a list of the 5 or 7 or 10 best qualified persons in the country, I would make a selection from among those persons. If the list was in my opinion fairly uniform, if there was no outstanding person, then I would undoubtedly choose someone who would most accurately reflect my own basic political philosophy, as best I could determine it, which would be to continue the progress that has been made under the last two Courts -- the Warren Court and the Burger Court.
I would also like to completely revise our criminal justice system to do some of the things at the Federal level and court reform that I've just described, as has been done in Georgia and other States. And then I would like to appoint people who would be interested in helping with that. I know that Chief Justice Burger is. He hasn't had help from the administration and from the Congress to carry this out.
The emphasis, I think, of the court system should be to interpret the Constitution and the laws equally between property protection and personal protection. But when there's a very narrow decision -- which quite often is one that reaches the Supreme Court -- I think the choice should be with human rights, and that would be another factor that I would follow.
THE MODERATOR. President Ford.
THE PRESIDENT. I think the answer as to the kind of person that I would select is obvious. I had one opportunity to nominate an individual to the Supreme Court, and I selected the Circuit Court of Appeals judge from Illinois, John Paul Stevens. I selected him because of his outstanding record as a Circuit Court of Appeals judge. And I was very pleased that an overwhelming Democratic United States Senate, after going into his background, came to the conclusion that he was fit and should serve, and the vote in his behalf was overwhelming.
So, I would say somebody in the format of Justice Stevens would be the kind of an individual that I would select in the future, as I did him in the past.
I believe, however, a comment ought to be made about the direction of the Burger Court, vis-a-vis the Court that preceded it. It seems to me that the Miranda case was a case that really made it very, very difficult for the police, the law enforcement people in this country to do what they could to make certain that the victim of a crime was protected and that those that commit crimes were properly handled and sent to jail. The Miranda case, the Burger Court is gradually changing. And I'm pleased to see that there are some steps being made by the Burger Court to modify the so-called Miranda decision.
I might make a correction of what Governor Carter said, speaking of gun control. Yes, it is true, I believe that the sale of Saturday night specials should be cut out, but he wants the registration of handguns.
THE MODERATOR. Mr. Kraft.
MR. KRAFT. Mr. President, the country is now in something that your advisors call an economic pause. I think to most Americans that sounds like an antiseptic term for low growth, unemployment, standstill at a high, high level, decline in take-home pay, lower factory earnings, more layoffs. Isn't that a really rotten record and doesn't your administration bear most of the blame for it?
THE PRESIDENT. Well, Mr. Kraft, I violently disagree with your assessment, and I don't think the record justifies the conclusion that you come to. Let me talk about the economic announcements that were made just this past week.
Yes, it was announced that the GNP real growth in the third quarter was at 4 percent. But do you realize that over the last 10 years that's a higher figure than the average growth during that 10-year period? Now it's lower than the 9.2-percent growth in the first quarter, and it's lower than the 5-percent growth in the second quarter. But every economist -- liberal, conservative -- that I'm familiar with recognizes that in the fourth quarter of this year and in the first quarter of next year that we'll have an increase in real GNP.
But now let's talk about the pluses that came out this week. We had an 18-percent increase in housing starts. We had a substantial increase in new permits for housing. As a matter of fact, based on the announcement this week, there will be at an annual rate, 1 million 800-some thousand new houses built, which is a tremendous increase over last year and a substantial increase over the earlier part of this year.
Now in addition, we had some very good news in the reduction in the rate of inflation. And inflation hits everybody -- those who are working and those who are on welfare. The rate of inflation, as announced just the other day, is under 5 percent; and the 4.4 percent that was indicated at the time of the 4 percent GNP was less than the 5.4 percent. It means that the American buyer is getting a better bargain today because inflation is less.
MR. KRAFT. Mr. President, let me ask you this. There has been an increase in layoffs and that's something that bothers everybody because even people that have a job are afraid that they're going to be fired. Did you predict that increase in layoffs? Didn't that take you by surprise? Hasn't your administration been surprised by this pause? In fact, haven't you been so obsessed with saving money that you didn't even push the government to spend funds that were allocated?
THE PRESIDENT. Mr. Kraft, I think the record can be put in this way, which is the way that I think satisfies most Americans: Since the depths of the recession, we have added 4 million jobs. Most importantly, consumer confidence as surveyed by the reputable organization at the University of Michigan is at the highest since 1972.
In other words, there is a growing public confidence in the strength of this economy. And that means that there will be more industrial activity; it means that there will be a reduction in the unemployment; it means that there will be increased hires; it means that there will be increased employment. Now we've had this pause, but most economists, regardless of their political philosophy, indicate that this pause for a month or two was healthy, because we could not have honestly sustained a 9.2 percent rate of growth which we had in the first quarter of this year.
Now, I'd like to point out as well that the United States' economic recovery from the recession of a year ago, is well ahead of the economic recovery of any major free industrial nation in the world today. We are ahead of all of the Western European countries. We are ahead of Japan. The United States is leading the free world out of the recession that was serious a year and a half ago.
We are going to see unemployment going down, more jobs available, and the rate of inflation going down. And I think this is a record that the American people understand and will appreciate.
THE MODERATOR. Governor Carter.
MR. CARTER. With all due respect to President Ford, I think he ought to be ashamed of making that statement, because we have the highest unemployment rate now than we had at any time between the Great Depression, caused by Herbert Hoover, and the time President Ford took office.
We have got 7 1/2 million people out of jobs. Since he's been in office, 2 1/2 million more American people have lost their jobs. In the last four months alone, 500,000 Americans have gone on the unemployment roll. In the last month, we've had a net loss of 163,000 jobs.
Anybody who says that the inflation rate is in good shape now ought to talk to the housewives. One of the overwhelming results that I have seen in the polls is that people feel that you can't plan anymore, there's no way to make a prediction that my family might be able to own a home or to put my kid through college. Savings accounts are losing money instead of gaining money. Inflation is robbing us.
Under the present administrations -- Nixon's and Ford's -- we have had three times the inflation rate that we experienced under President Johnson and President Kennedy. The economic growth is less than half today what it was at the beginning of this year. And housing starts -- he compares the housing starts with last year, I don't blame him, because in 1975 we had fewer housing starts in this country, fewer homes built than any year since 1940. That's 35 years. And we've got a 35-percent unemployment rate in many areas of this country among construction workers. And Mr. Ford hasn't done anything about it. And I think this shows a callous indifference to the families that have suffered so much. He has vetoed bills passed by Congress within the congressional budget guidelines -- job opportunities for 2 million Americans. We will never have a balanced budget, we will never meet the needs of our people, we will never control the inflationary spiral as long as we have 7 1/2 or 8 million people out of work who are looking for jobs. And we have probably got 2 1/2 more million people who are not looking for jobs any more because they've given up hope. That is a very serious indictment of this administration. It's probably the worst one of all.
THE MODERATOR. Mr. Maynard.
MR. MAYNARD. Governor Carter, you entered this race against President Ford with a 20-point lead or better in the polls. And now it appears that this campaign is headed for a photo finish. You have said how difficult it is to run against a sitting President. But Mr. Ford was just as much an incumbent in July when you were 20 points ahead as he is now. Can you tell us what caused the evaporation of that lead, in your opinion?
MR. CARTER. Well, that's not exactly an accurate description of what happened. When I was that far ahead, it was immediately following the Democratic Convention and before the Republican Convention. At that time 25 or 30 percent of the Reagan supporters said that they would not support President Ford, but as occurred at the end of the Democratic Convention, the Republican Party unified itself, and I think immediately following the Republican Convention there was about a 10-point spread. I believe that to be accurate. I had 49 percent; President Ford had 39 percent.
The polls are good indications of fluctuations, but they vary widely one from another, and the only poll I've ever followed is the one that, you know, is taken on Election Day. I was in 30 primaries in the spring and at first it was obvious that I didn't have any standing in the polls. As a matter of fact, I think when Gallup ran their first poll in December 1975, they didn't even put my name on the list. They had 35 people on the list -- my name wasn't even there. And at the beginning of the year I had about 2 percent. So the polls, to me, are interesting, but they don't determine my hopes or my despair.
I campaign among people. I have never depended on powerful political figures to put me in office. I have a direct relationship with hundreds of thousands of people around the country who actively campaign for me. In Georgia alone, for instance, I got 84 percent of the vote, and I think there were 14 people in addition to myself on the ballot, and Governor Wallace had been very strong in Georgia. That's an overwhelming support from my own people who know me best. And today, we have about 500 hundred Georgians at their own expense, just working people who believe in me, spread around the country involved in the political campaign.
So the polls are interesting, but I don't know how to explain the fluctuations. I think a lot of it depends on current events -- sometimes foreign affairs, sometimes domestic affairs. But I think our core of support among those who are crucial to the election has been fairly steady. And my success in the primary season was, I think, notable for a newcomer, from someone who's outside of Washington, who never has been a part of the Washington establishment. And I think that we will have a good result on November 2 for myself and I hope for the country.
THE MODERATOR. President Ford, your response.
THE PRESIDENT. I think the increase in the prospects as far as I'm concerned and the less favorable prospects for Governor Carter, reflect that Governor Carter is inconsistent in many of the positions that he takes. He tends to distort on a number of occasions. Just a moment ago, for example, he was indicating that in the 1950's, for example, unemployment was very low. He fails to point out that in the 1950's we were engaged in the war in Vietnam -- I mean in Korea. We had 3,500,000 young men in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. That's not the way to end unemployment or to reduce unemployment.
At the present time, we are at peace. We have reduced the number of people in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines from 3,500,000 to 2,100,000. We are not at war. We have reduced the military manpower by 1,400,000. If we had that many more people in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and Marines, our unemployment figure would be considerably less.
But this administration doesn't believe the way to reduce unemployment is to go to war, or to increase the number of people in the military. So you cannot compare unemployment, as you sought to, at the present time, with the 1950s, because the then administration had people in the military. They were at war, they were fighting overseas. And this administration has reduced the size of the military by 1,400,000. They are in the civilian labor market, and they are not fighting anywhere around the world today.
THE MODERATOR. Thank you, gentlemen.
This will complete our questioning for this debate. We don't have time for more questions and full answers. So now each candidate will be allowed up to 4 minutes for a closing statement. And, at the original coin toss in Philadelphia a month ago it was determined that President Ford would make the first closing statement tonight.
President Ford.
THE PRESIDENT. For 25 years, I served in the Congress under five Presidents. I saw them work, I saw them make very hard decisions. I didn't always agree with their decisions, whether they were Democratic or Republican Presidents. For the last 2 years, I've been the President, and I have found from experience that it's much more difficult to make those decisions than it is to second guess them.
I became President at the time that the United States was in a very troubled time. We had inflation of over 12 percent; we were on the brink of the worst recession in the last 40 years; we were still deeply involved in the problems of Vietnam; the American people had lost faith and trust and confidence in the Presidency itself. That situation called for me to first put the United States on a steady course and to keep our keel well-balanced, because we had to face the difficult problems that had all of a sudden hit America.
I think most people know that I did not seek the Presidency. But I am asking for your help and assistance to be President for the next four years. During this campaign we've seen a lot of television shows, a lot of bumper stickers, and a great many slogans of one kind or another. But those are not the things that count. What counts is that the United States celebrated its 200th birthday on July fourth. As a result of that wonderful experience all over the United States, there is a new spirit in America. The American people are healed, are working together. The American people are moving again and moving in the right direction.
We have cut inflation by better than half. We have come out of the recession and we are well on the road to real prosperity in this country again. There has been a restoration of faith and confidence and trust in the Presidency because I've been open, candid and forthright. I have never promised more than I could produce and I have produced everything that I promised. We are at peace -- not a single young American is fighting or dying on any foreign soil tonight. We have peace with freedom.
I've been proud to be President of the United States during these very troubled times. I love America just as all of you love America. It would be the highest honor for me to have your support on November second and for you to say, "Jerry Ford, you've done a good job, keep on doing it."
Thank you, and good night.
THE MODERATOR. Thank you, President Ford.
Governor Carter.
MR. CARTER. The major purpose of an election for President is to choose a leader, someone who can analyze the depths of feeling in our country, to set a standard for our people to follow, to inspire our people to reach for greatness, to correct our defects, to answer difficulties, to bind ourselves together in a spirit of unity.
I don't believe the present administration has done that. We have been discouraged and we've been alienated. Sometimes we've been embarrassed, sometimes we've been ashamed. Our people are out of work, and there is a sense of withdrawal.
But our country is innately very strong. Mr. Ford is a good and decent man, but he's been in office now more than 800 days, approaching almost as long as John Kennedy was in office. I would like to ask the American people what has been accomplished. A lot remains to be done.
My own background is different from his. I was a school board member and a library board member, I served on a hospital authority, and I was in the State senate, and I was Governor and I am an engineer, a Naval officer, a farmer, a businessman. I believe we require someone who can work harmoniously with the Congress, who can work closely with the people of this country, and who can bring a new image and a new spirit to Washington.
Our tax structure is a disgrace, it needs to be reformed. I was Governor of Georgia for 4 years. We never increased sales taxes or income tax or property taxes. As a matter of fact, the year before I went out of office we gave a $50 million refund to the property taxpayers of Georgia.
We spend $600 per person in this country -- every man, woman and child -- for health care. We still rank 15th among all the nations of the world in infant mortality, and our cancer rate is higher than any country in the world. We don't have good health care. We could have it.
Employment ought to be restored to our people. We have become almost a welfare state. We spend now 700 percent more on unemployment compensation than we did 8 years ago when the Republicans took over the White House. Our people want to go back to work. Our education system can be improved. Secrecy ought to be stripped away from government, and a maximum of personal privacy ought to be maintained. Our housing programs have gone bad. It used to be that the average family could own a house, but now less than a third of our people can afford to buy their own homes.
The budget was more grossly out of balance last year than ever before in the history of our country -- $65 billion -- primarily because our people are not at work. Inflation is robbing us, as we've already discussed, and the government bureaucracy is just a horrible mess.
This doesn't have to be. I don't know all the answers. Nobody could. But I do know that if the President of the United States and the Congress of the United States and the people of the United States said, "I believe our nation is greater than what we are now," I believe that if we are inspired, if we can achieve a degree of unity, if we can set our goals high enough and work toward recognized goals with industry and labor and agriculture along with government at all levels, we can achieve great things.
We might have to do it slowly. There are no magic answers to it, but I believe together we can make great progress, we can correct our difficult mistakes and answer those very tough questions.
I believe in the greatness of our country, and I believe the American people are ready for a change in Washington. We have been drifting too long. We have been dormant too long. We have been discouraged too long. And we have not set an example for our own people, but I believe that we can now establish in the White House a good relationship with Congress, a good relationship with our people, set very high goals for our country, and with inspiration and hard work we can achieve great things and let the world know -- that's very important -- but more importantly, let the people in our own country realize -- that we still live in the greatest Nation on earth.
Thank you very much.
THE MODERATOR. Thank you, Governor Carter, and thank you, President Ford. I also would like to thank the audience and my three colleagues -- Mr. Kraft, Mr. Maynard and Mr. Nelson, who have been our questioners.
This debate has, of course, been seen by millions of Americans, and in addition tonight is being broadcast to 113 nations throughout the world.
This concludes the 1976 Presidential debates, a truly remarkable exercise in democracy, for this is the first time in 16 years that the Presidential candidates have debated. It is the first time ever that an incumbent President has debated his challenger, and the debate included the first between the two Vice-Presidential candidates.
President Ford and Governor Carter, we not only want to thank you but we commend you for agreeing to come together to discuss the issues before the American people.
And our special thanks to the League of Women Voters for making these events possible. In sponsoring these events, the League of Women Voters Education Fund has tried to provide you with the information that you will need to choose wisely.
The election is now only 11 days off. The candidates have participated in presenting their views in three 90-minute debates, and now it's up to the voters, and now it is up to you to participate. The League urges all registered voters to vote on November 2 for the candidate of your choice.
And now, from Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall on the campus of the College of William and Mary, this is Barbara Walters wishing you all a good evening.
Note: The debate began at 9:30 p.m. at the Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall on the Campus of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was broadcast live on radio and television.
President Gerald Ford's Remarks on the Presidential Election Results and Telegram Congratulating President-Elect Jimmy Carter on His Victory
It is perfectly obvious that my voice isn't up to par, and I shouldn't be making very many comments, and I won't. But I did want Betty, Mike, Jack, Steve, Susan, and Gayle to come down with me and to listen while Betty read a statement that I have sent to Governor Carter. I guess Ron [Press Secretary Ron Nessen] has told you that I called him.
But I do want to express on a personal basis my appreciation and that of my family for the friendship that all of us have had. And after Betty reads the statement that was sent to Governor Carter by me, I think all of us-Betty, the children, and myself-would like to just come down and shake hands and express our appreciation personally.
Let me call on the real spokesman for the family. Betty.
MRS. FORD: The President asked me to tell you that he telephoned President-elect Carter a short time ago and congratulated him on his victory. The President also wants to thank all those thousands of people who worked so hard on his behalf and the millions who supported him with their votes. It has been the greatest honor of my husband's life to have served his fellow Americans during 2 of the most difficult years in our history.
The President urges all Americans to join him in giving your united support to President-elect Carter as he prepares to assume his new responsibilities.
I would like to read you the telegram the President sent to President-elect Carter this morning.
[At this point, Mrs. Ford read the telegram, the text of which follows:]
Dear Jimmy:
It is apparent now that you have won our long and intense struggle for the Presidency. I congratulate you on your victory.
As one who has been honored to serve the people of this great land, both in Congress and as President, I believe that we must now put the divisions of the campaign behind us and unite the country once again in the common pursuit of peace and prosperity.
Although there will continue to be disagreements over the best means to use in pursuing our goals, I want to assure you that you will have my complete and wholehearted support as you take the oath of office this January.
I also pledge to you that I, and all members of my Administration, will do all that we can to ensure that you begin your term as smoothly and as effectively as possible.
May God bless you and your family as you undertake your new responsibilities.
Signed, "Jerry Ford."
Thank you very much.
NOTE: The President spoke at 12:14 p.m. to reporters assembled in the Briefing Room at the White House.
President Gerald R. Ford's Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress Reporting on the State of the Union
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of the 95th Congress, and distinguished guests:
In accordance with the Constitution, I come before you once again to report on the state of the Union.
This report will be my last--maybe--[laughter]--but for the Union it is only the first of such reports in our third century of independence, the close of which none of us will ever see. We can be confident, however, that 100 years from now a freely elected President will come before a freely elected Congress chosen to renew our great Republic's pledge to the Government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
For my part I pray the third century we are beginning will bring to all Americans, our children and their children's children, a greater measure of individual equality, opportunity, and justice, a greater abundance of spiritual and material blessings, and a higher quality of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The state of the Union is a measurement of the many elements of which it is composed--a political union of diverse States, an economic union of varying interests, an intellectual union of common convictions, and a moral union of immutable ideals.
Taken in sum, I can report that the state of the Union is good. There is room for improvement, as always, but today we have a more perfect Union than when my stewardship began.
As a people we discovered that our Bicentennial was much more than a celebration of the past; it became a joyous reaffirmation of all that it means to be Americans, a confirmation before all the world of the vitality and durability of our free institutions. I am proud to have been privileged to preside over the affairs of our Federal Government during these eventful years when we proved, as I said in my first words upon assuming office, that "our Constitution works; our great Republic is a Government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule."
The people have spoken; they have chosen a new President and a new Congress to work their will. I congratulate you--particularly the new Members--as sincerely as I did President-elect Carter. In a few days it will be his duty to outline for you his priorities and legislative recommendations. Tonight I will not infringe on that responsibility, but rather wish him the very best in all that is good for our country.
During the period of my own service in this Capitol and in the White House, I can recall many orderly transitions of governmental responsibility--of problems as well as of position, of burdens as well as of power. The genius of the American system is that we do this so naturally and so normally. There are no soldiers marching in the street except in the Inaugural Parade; no public demonstrations except for some of the dancers at the Inaugural Ball; the opposition party doesn't go underground, but goes on functioning vigorously in the Congress and in the country; and our vigilant press goes right on probing and publishing our faults and our follies, confirming the wisdom of the framers of the first amendment.
Because of the transfer of authority in our form of government affects the state of the Union and of the world, I am happy to report to you that the current transition is proceeding very well. I was determined that it should; I wanted the new President to get off on an easier start than I had.
When I became President on August 9, 1974, our Nation was deeply divided and tormented. In rapid succession the Vice President and the President had resigned in disgrace. We were still struggling with the after-effects of a long, unpopular, and bloody war in Southeast Asia. The economy was unstable and racing toward the worst recession in 40 years. People were losing jobs. The cost of living was soaring. The Congress and the Chief Executive were at loggerheads. The integrity of our constitutional process and other institutions was being questioned. For more than 15 years domestic spending had soared as Federal programs multiplied, and the expense escalated annually. During the same period our national security needs were steadily shortchanged. In the grave situation which prevailed in August 1974, our will to maintain our international leadership was in doubt.
I asked for your prayers and went to work.
In January 1975 I reported to the Congress that the state of the Union was not good. I proposed urgent action to improve the economy and to achieve energy independence in 10 years. I reassured America's allies and sought to reduce the danger of confrontation with potential adversaries. I pledged a new direction for America. 1975 was a year of difficult decisions, but Americans responded with realism, common sense, and self-discipline.
By January 1976 we were headed in a new direction, which I hold to be the right direction for a free society. It was guided by the belief that successful problem solving requires more than Federal action alone, that it involves a full partnership among all branches and all levels of government and public policies which nurture and promote the creative energies of private enterprises, institutions, and individual citizens.
A year ago I reported that the state of the Union was better--in many ways a lot better--but still not good enough. Common sense told me to stick to the steady course we were on, to continue to restrain the inflationary growth of government, to reduce taxes as well as spending, to return local decisions to local officials, to provide for long-range sufficiency in energy and national security needs. I resisted the immense pressures of an election year to open the floodgates of Federal money and the temptation to promise more than I could deliver. I told it as it was to the American people and demonstrated to the world that in our spirited political competition, as in this chamber, Americans can disagree without being disagreeable.
Now, after 30 months as your President, I can say that while we still have a way to go, I am proud of the long way we have come together.
I am proud of the part I have had in rebuilding confidence in the Presidency, confidence in our free system, and confidence in our future. Once again, Americans believe in themselves, in their leaders, and in the promise that tomorrow holds for their children.
I am proud that today America is at peace. None of our sons are fighting and dying in battle anywhere in the world. And the chance for peace among all nations is improved by our determination to honor our vital commitments in defense of peace and freedom.
I am proud that the United States has strong defenses, strong alliances, and a sound and courageous foreign policy.
Our alliances with major partners, the great industrial democracies of Western Europe, Japan, and Canada, have never been more solid. Consultations on mutual security, defense, and East-West relations have grown closer. Collaboration has branched out into new fields such as energy, economic policy, and relations with the Third World. We have used many avenues for cooperation, including summit meetings held among major allied countries. The friendship of the democracies is deeper, warmer, and more effective than at any time in 30 years.
We are maintaining stability in the strategic nuclear balance and pushing back the specter of nuclear war. A decisive step forward was taken in the Vladivostok Accord which I negotiated with General Secretary Brezhnev--joint recognition that an equal ceiling should be placed on the number of strategic weapons on each side. With resolve and wisdom on the part of both nations, a good agreement is well within reach this year.
The framework for peace in the Middle East has been built. Hopes for future progress in the Middle East were stirred by the historic agreements we reached and the trust and confidence that we formed. Thanks to American leadership, the prospects for peace in the Middle East are brighter than they have been in three decades. The Arab states and Israel continue to look to us to lead them from confrontation and war to a new era of accommodation and peace. We have no alternative but to persevere, and I am sure we will. The opportunities for a final settlement are great, and the price of failure is a return to the bloodshed and hatred that for too long have brought tragedy to all of the peoples of this area and repeatedly edged the world to the brink of war.
Our relationship with the People's Republic of China is proving its importance and its durability. We are finding more and more common ground between our two countries on basic questions of international affairs.
In my two trips to Asia as President, we have reaffirmed America's continuing vital interest in the peace and security of Asia and the Pacific Basin, established a new partnership with Japan, confirmed our dedication to the security of Korea, and reinforced our ties with the free nations of Southeast Asia.
An historic dialog has begun between industrial nations and developing nations. Most proposals on the table are the initiatives of the United States, including those on food, energy, technology, trade, investment, and commodities. We are well launched on this process of shaping positive and reliable economic relations between rich nations and poor nations over the long term.
We have made progress in trade negotiations and avoided protectionism during recession. We strengthened the international monetary system. During the past 2 years the free world's most important economic powers have already brought about important changes that serve both developed and developing economies. The momentum already achieved must be nurtured and strengthened, for the prosperity of the rich and poor depends upon it.
In Latin America, our relations have taken on a new maturity and a sense of common enterprise.
In Africa the quest for peace, racial justice, and economic progress is at a crucial point. The United States, in close cooperation with the United Kingdom, is actively engaged in this historic process. Will change come about by warfare and chaos and foreign intervention? Or will it come about by negotiated and fair solutions, ensuring majority rule, minority rights, and economic advance? America is committed to the side of peace and justice and to the principle that Africa should shape its own future, free of outside intervention.
American leadership has helped to stimulate new international efforts to stem the proliferation of nuclear weapons and to shape a comprehensive treaty governing the use of oceans.
I am gratified by these accomplishments. They constitute a record of broad success for America and for the peace and prosperity of all mankind. This administration leaves to its successor a world in better condition than we found. We leave, as well, a solid foundation for progress on a range of issues that are vital to the well-being of America.
What has been achieved in the field of foreign affairs and what can be accomplished by the new administration demonstrate the genius of Americans working together for the common good. It is this, our remarkable ability to work together, that has made us a unique nation. It is Congress, the President, and the people striving for a better world.
I know all patriotic Americans want this Nation's foreign policy to succeed. I urge members of my party in this Congress to give the new President loyal support in this area. I express the hope that this new Congress will reexamine its constitutional role in international affairs.
The exclusive right to declare war, the duty to advise and consent on the part of the Senate, the power of the purse on the part of the House are ample authority for the legislative branch and should be jealously guarded. But because we may have been too careless of these powers in the past does not justify congressional intrusion into, or obstruction of, the proper exercise of Presidential responsibilities now or in the future. There can be only one Commander in Chief. In these times crises cannot be managed and wars cannot be waged by committee, nor can peace be pursued solely by parliamentary debate. To the ears of the world, the President speaks for the Nation. While he is, of course, ultimately accountable to the Congress, the courts, and the people, he and his emissaries must not be handicapped in advance in their relations with foreign governments as has sometimes happened in the past.
At home I am encouraged by the Nation's recovery from the recession and our steady return to sound economic growth. It is now continuing after the recent period of uncertainty, which is part of the price we pay for free elections.
Our most pressing need today and the future is more jobs-- productive, permanent jobs created by a thriving economy. We must revise our tax system both to ease the burden of heavy taxation and to encourage the investment necessary for the creation of productive jobs for all Americans who want to work.
Earlier this month I proposed a permanent income tax reduction of $10 billion below current levels, including raising the personal exemption from $750 to $1,000. I also recommended a series of measures to stimulate investment, such as accelerated depreciation for new plants and equipment in areas of high unemployment, a reduction in the corporate tax rate from 48 to 46 percent, and eliminating the present double taxation of dividends. I strongly urge the Congress to pass these measures to help create the productive, permanent jobs in the private economy that are so essential for our future.
All the basic trends are good; we are not on the brink of another recession or economic disaster. If we follow prudent policies that encourage productive investment and discourage destructive inflation, we will come out on top, and I am sure we will.
We have successfully cut inflation by more than half. When I took office, the Consumer Price Index was rising at 12.2 percent a year. During 1976 the rate of inflation was 5 percent.
We have created more jobs--over 4 million more jobs today than in the spring of 1975. Throughout this Nation today we have over 88 million people in useful, productive jobs--more than at any other time in our Nation's history. But there are still too many Americans unemployed. This is the greatest regret that I have as I leave office.
We brought about with the Congress, after much delay, the renewal of the general revenue sharing. We expanded community development and Federal manpower programs. We began a significant urban mass transit program. Federal programs today provide more funds for our States and local governments than ever before--$70 billion for the current fiscal year. Through these programs and others that provide aid directly to individuals, we have kept faith with our tradition of compassionate help for those who need it. As we begin our third century we can be proud of the progress that we have made in meeting human needs for all of our citizens.
We have cut the growth of crime by nearly 90 percent. Two years ago crime was increasing at the rate of 18 percent annually. In the first three quarters of 1976, that growth rate had been cut to 2 percent. But crime, and the fear of crime, remains one of the most serious problems facing our citizens.
We have had some successes, and there have been some disappointments. Bluntly, I must remind you that we have not made satisfactory progress toward achieving energy independence. Energy is absolutely vital to the defense of our country, to the strength of our economy, and to the quality of our lives.
Two years ago I proposed to the Congress the first comprehensive national energy program--a specific and coordinated set of measures that would end our vulnerability to embargo, blockade, or arbitrary price increases and would mobilize U.S. technology and resources to supply a significant share of the free world's energy after 1985. Of the major energy proposals I submitted 2 years ago, only half, belatedly, became law. In 1973 we were dependent upon foreign oil imports for 36 percent of our needs. Today, we are 40-percent dependent, and we'll pay out $34 billion for foreign oil this year. Such vulnerability at present or in the future is intolerable and must be ended.
The answer to where we stand on our national energy effort today reminds me of the old argument about whether the tank is half full or half empty. The pessimist will say we have half failed to achieve our 10-year energy goals; the optimist will say that we have half succeeded. I am always an optimist, but we must make up for lost time.
We have laid a solid foundation for completing the enormous task which confronts us. I have signed into law five major energy bills which contain significant measures for conservation, resource development, stockpiling, and standby authorities. We have moved forward to develop the naval petroleum reserves; to build a 500-million barrel strategic petroleum stockpile; to phase out unnecessary Government allocation and price controls; to develop a lasting relationship with other oil consuming nations; to improve the efficiency of energy use through conservation in automobiles, buildings, and industry; and to expand research on new technology and renewable resources such as wind power, geothermal and solar energy. All these actions, significant as they are for the long term, are only the beginning.
I recently submitted to the Congress my proposals to reorganize the Federal energy structure and the hard choices which remain if we are serious about reducing our dependence upon foreign energy. These include programs to reverse our declining production of natural gas and increase incentives for domestic crude oil production. I proposed to minimize environmental uncertainties affecting coal development, expand nuclear power generation, and create an energy independence authority to provide government financial assistance for vital energy programs where private capital is not available.
We must explore every reasonable prospect for meeting our energy needs when our current domestic reserves of oil and natural gas begin to dwindle in the next decade. I urgently ask Congress and the new administration to move quickly on these issues. This Nation has the resources and the capability to achieve our energy goals if its Government has the will to proceed, and I think we do.
I have been disappointed by inability to complete many of the meaningful organizational reforms which I contemplated for the Federal Government, although a start has been made. For example, the Federal judicial system has long served as a model for other courts. But today it is threatened by a shortage of qualified Federal judges and an explosion of litigation claiming Federal jurisdiction. I commend to the new administration and the Congress the recent report and recommendations of the Department of Justice, undertaken at my request, on "the needs of the Federal Courts." I especially endorse its proposals for a new commission on the judicial appointment process.
While the judicial branch of our Government may require reinforcement, the budgets and payrolls of the other branches remain staggering. I cannot help but observe that while the White House staff and the Executive Office of the President have been reduced and the total number of civilians in the executive branch contained during the 1970's, the legislative branch has increased substantially although the membership of the Congress remains at 535. Congress now costs the taxpayers more than a million dollars per Member; the whole legislative budget has passed the billion dollar mark.
I set out to reduce the growth in the size and spending of the Federal Government, but no President can accomplish this alone. The Congress sidetracked most of my requests for authority to consolidate overlapping programs and agencies, to return more decision-making and responsibility to State and local governments through block grants instead of rigid categorical programs, and to eliminate unnecessary red tape and outrageously complex regulations.
We have made some progress in cutting back the expansion of government and its intrusion into individual lives, but believe me, there is much more to be done--and you and I know it. It can only be done by tough and temporarily painful surgery by a Congress as prepared as the President to face up to this very real political problem. Again, I wish my successor, working with a substantial majority of his own party, the best of success in reforming the costly and cumbersome machinery of the Federal Government.
The task of self-government is never finished. The problems are great; the opportunities are greater.
America's first goal is and always will be peace with honor. America must remain first in keeping peace in the world. We can remain first in peace only if we are never second in defense.
In presenting the state of the Union to the Congress and to the American people, I have a special obligation as Commander in Chief to report on our national defense. Our survival as a free and independent people requires, above all, strong military forces that are well equipped and highly trained to perform their assigned mission.
I am particularly gratified to report that over the past 2 1/2 years, we have been able to reverse the dangerous decline of the previous decade in real resources this country was devoting to national defense. This was an immediate problem I faced in 1974. The evidence was unmistakable that the Soviet Union had been steadily increasing the resources it applied to building its military strength. During this same period the United States real defense spending declined. In my three budgets we not only arrested that dangerous decline, but we have established the positive trend which is essential to our ability to contribute to peace and stability in the world.
The Vietnam war, both materially and psychologically, affected our overall defense posture. The dangerous anti-military sentiment discouraged defense spending and unfairly disparaged the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces.
The challenge that now confronts this country is whether we have the national will and determination to continue this essential defense effort over the long term, as it must be continued. We can no longer afford to oscillate from year to year in so vital a matter; indeed, we have a duty to look beyond the immediate question of budgets and to examine the nature of the problem we will face over the next generation.
I am the first recent President able to address long-term, basic issues without the burden of Vietnam. The war in Indo-china consumed enormous resources at the very time that the overwhelming strategic superiority we once enjoyed was disappearing. In past years, as a result of decisions by the United States, our strategic forces leveled off, yet the Soviet Union continued a steady, constant buildup of its own forces, committing a high percentage of its national economic effort to defense.
The United States can never tolerate a shift in strategic balance against us or even a situation where the American people or our allies believe the balance is shifting against us. The United States would risk the most serious political consequences if the world came to believe that our adversaries have a decisive margin of superiority.
To maintain a strategic balance we must look ahead to the 1980's and beyond. The sophistication of modern weapons requires that we make decisions now if we are to ensure our security 10 years from now. Therefore, I have consistently advocated and strongly urged that we pursue three critical strategic programs: the Trident missile launching submarine; the B-1 bomber, with its superior capability to penetrate modern air defenses; and a more advanced intercontinental ballistic missile that will be better able to survive nuclear attack and deliver a devastating retaliatory strike.
In an era where the strategic nuclear forces are in rough equilibrium, the risks of conflict below the nuclear threshold may grow more perilous. A major, long-term objective, therefore, is to maintain capabilities to deal with, and thereby deter, conventional challenges and crises, particularly in Europe.
We cannot rely solely on strategic forces to guarantee our security or to deter all types of aggression. We must have superior naval and marine forces to maintain freedom of the seas, strong multipurpose tactical air forces, and mobile, modern ground forces. Accordingly, I have directed a long-term effort to improve our worldwide capabilities to deal with regional crises.
I have submitted a 5-year naval building program indispensable to the Nation's maritime strategy. Because the security of Europe and the integrity of NATO remain the cornerstone of American defense policy, I have initiated a special, long-term program to ensure the capacity of the Alliance to deter or defeat aggression in Europe.
As I leave office I can report that our national defense is effectively deterring conflict today. Our Armed Forces are capable of carrying out the variety of missions assigned to them. Programs are underway which will assure we can deter war in the years ahead. But I also must warn that it will require a sustained effort over a period of years to maintain these capabilities. We must have the wisdom, the stamina, and the courage to prepare today for the perils of tomorrow, and I believe we will.
As I look to the future--and I assure you I intend to go on doing that for a good many years--I can say with confidence that the state of the Union is good, but we must go on making it better and better.
This gathering symbolizes the constitutional foundation which makes continued progress possible, synchronizing the skills of three independent branches of Government, reserving fundamental sovereignty to the people of this great land. It is only as the temporary representatives and servants of the people that we meet here, we bring no hereditary status or gift of infallibility, and none follows us from this place.
Like President Washington, like the more fortunate of his successors, I look forward to the status of private citizen with gladness and gratitude. To me, being a citizen of the United States of America is the greatest honor and privilege in this world.
From the opportunities which fate and my fellow citizens have given me, as a Member of the House, as Vice President and President of the Senate, and as President of all the people, I have come to understand and place the highest value on the checks and balances which our founders imposed on government through the separation of powers among co-equal legislative, executive, and judicial branches. This often results in difficulty and delay, as I well know, but it also places supreme authority under God, beyond any one person, any one branch, any majority great or small, or any one party. The Constitution is the bedrock of all our freedoms. Guard and cherish it, keep honor and order in your own house, and the Republic will endure.
It is not easy to end these remarks. In this Chamber, along with some of you, I have experienced many, many of the highlights of my life. It was here that I stood 28 years ago with my freshman colleagues, as Speaker Sam Rayburn administered the oath. I see some of you now-- Charlie Bennett, Dick Bolling, Carl Perkins, Pete Rodino, Harley Staggers, Tom Steed, Sid Yates, Clem Zablocki--and I remember those who have gone to their rest. It was here we waged many, many a lively battle--won some, lost some, but always remaining friends. It was here, surrounded by such friends, that the distinguished Chief Justice swore me in as Vice President on December 6, 1973. It was here I returned 8 months later as your President to ask not for a honeymoon, but for a good marriage.
I will always treasure those memories and your many, many kindnesses. I thank you for them all.
My fellow Americans, I once asked you for your prayers, and now I give you mine: May God guide this wonderful country, its people, and those they have chosen to lead them. May our third century be illuminated by liberty and blessed with brotherhood, so that we and all who come after us may be the humble servants of thy peace. Amen.
Good night. God bless you.
NOTE: The President spoke at 9:10 p.m. in the House Chamber at the Capitol, after being introduced by Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on radio and television.
Post-Presidential Speeches and Writings
The War Powers Resolution: Striking a Balance Between the Executive and Legislative Branches
John Sherman Cooper Lecture
Delivered by Gerald R. Ford
University of Kentucky , Louisville
April 11, 1977
It is an honor and a very special privilege for me to deliver the first John Sherman Cooper Lecture at the University of Kentucky.
To know John Sherman Cooper is to know one of the finest statesmen this country and the Commonwealth of Kentucky have ever produced.
As a serious student of government, and as an able lawyer, Senator Cooper devoted much of his time and thought to the search for a proper balance of powers -- particularly in foreign policy -- between the executive and legislative branches of government.
How should the powers of the executive and legislative branches be coordinated, especially in the field of foreign policy?
I address this question tonight as one who has been honored to serve at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue over the past thirty years.
In the years just following World War II, there was a remarkable degree of national consensus about the role America should play in the world.
We held the noble conviction that since we alone had emerged virtually unscathed by the destruction of war -- since the war had in fact made us the most formidable military and economic power on earth -- we had a special responsibility to build a new and better world from the ruins of the old.
This national consensus was made possible by such men as Senator Arthur Vandenberg, my own political mentor, who championed bipartisanship in foreign affairs and helped cement with President Truman a common bond of purpose between the legislative and executive branches of government.
Underlying every presidential initiative was a broad foundation of support in the United States Congress. Even in the case of Vietnam, the SEATO treaty was approved by the Senate 82 to 1 in 1955, and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed in the Senate 88 to 2, and in the House of Representatives 414 to 0, in 1964. But as that frustrating war went on year after year, our national unity was shattered, and with it the essential foreign policy coordination between President and Congress.
Old assumptions were challenged. Long-standing commitments were called into question. Bipartisanship in foreign affairs gave way to deep divisions within the parties themselves.
Members of Congress who came to oppose the war would also come to oppose the Presidents who prosecuted the war.
In the end, they would argue that the presidency itself had grown too powerful, that a usurpation of powers by the President from the Congress was chiefly to blame for our disillusioning involvement in Vietnam.
These concerns found legislative expression in the War Powers Resolution of 1973.
This resolution claimed for the Congress unprecedented power in the conduct of foreign policy, at the same time holding the President in strict account for his own actions in international affairs.
The arrangements which the Constitution makes for the conduct of foreign policy involve a complex interplay between the legislative and executive branches.
Congress is given the power to declare war and to raise an army and navy. The Senate is given the additional power of advice and consent in the ratification of treaties and the appointment of ambassadors and other officials, including the secretaries of state and defense.
The President is made commander-in-chief and head of state. By fundamental definition, the chief executive is also given the power to execute American foreign policy.
It was not intended that these powers be consolidated in the interest of efficiency, but rather that they be separated in the interest of democracy.
Coordination between the two branches was obviously to be encouraged. The brilliant system of checks and balances which the Founding Fathers devised was not meant to breed constant, paralyzing confrontation between the President and Congress of the United States.
The War Powers bill seeks by simple legislation to codify the military powers of the President, spelling out exactly what he can and cannot do, and how, and under what circumstances, to defend the United States and its citizens from international danger.
The resolution also grants to the Congress powers which tend to make it superior to the executive branch, as in the provision that Congress may order the withdrawal of troops within 60 days by a concurrent resolution not subject to presidential veto.
Furthermore, the resolution requires consultation with Congress in military emergencies. No President with common sense would dream of neglecting this aspect of his obligation. But can it be mandated by law? And what does it mean? Finally, there is a question of how closely this resolution would involve the Congress in the actual execution, as opposed to the general direction, of foreign policy, particularly in times of crisis.
Does the consultation provision require the approval of the Congress before executive action is taken? What if the President and Congress disagree? Which of these separate but equal powers would prevail in such a confrontation?
These arguments of constitutionality can be more than matched by arguments of workability.
The United States was involved in six military crises during my presidency: the evacuation of U.S. citizens and refugees from DaNang, Phnom Penh , and Saigon in the spring of 1975, the rescue of the Mayaguez in May 1975, and the two evacuation operations in Lebanon in June 1976.
In none of those instances did I believe the War Powers Resolution applied, and many members of Congress also questioned its applicability in cases of protection and evacuation of American citizens.
Furthermore, I did not concede that the resolution itself was legally binding on the President on constitutional grounds.
Nevertheless, in each instance, I took note of its consultation and reporting provisions, and provided certain information on operations and strategies to key members of Congress.
It is my view that when the President as commander-in-chief undertakes such military operations, he would inevitably take the Congress into his confidence in order to receive its advice and, if possible, insure its support.
This type of consultation makes common sense and certainly strengthens trust between the executive and legislative branches. But it is to be distinguished from the detailed information and time limits imposed by the War Powers Resolution.
Once the consultation process began, the inherent weakness of the War Powers Resolution from a practical standpoint was conclusively demonstrated.
When the evacuation of DaNang was forced upon us during the Congress's Easter recess, not one of the key bipartisan leaders of the Congress was in Washington.
Without mentioning names, here is where we found the leaders of Congress: two were in Mexico, three were in Greece , one was in the Middle East, one was in Europe, and two were in the People's Republic of China. The rest we found in twelve widely scattered states of the Union.
This, one might say, is an unfair example, since the Congress was in recess. But it must be remembered that critical world events, especially military operations, seldom wait for the Congress to meet. In fact, most of what goes on in the world happens in the middle of the night, Washington time.
On June 18, 1976, we began the first evacuation of American citizens from the civil war in Lebanon. The Congress was not in recess, but it had adjourned for the day.
As telephone calls were made, we discovered, among other things, that one member of Congress had an unlisted number which his press secretary refused to divulge. After trying and failing to reach another member of Congress, we were told by his assistant that the congressman did not need to be reached.
We tried so hard to reach a third member of Congress that our resourceful White House operators had the local police leave a note on the congressman's beach cottage door: "Please call the White House."
When a crisis breaks, it is impossible to draw the Congress into the decision-making process in an effective way, for several reasons.
First, they have so many other concerns: legislation in committee and on the floor, constituents to serve, and a thousand other things. It is impractical to ask them to be as well-versed in fast-breaking developments as the President, the National Security Council, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and others who deal with foreign policy and national security situations every hour of every day.
Second, it is also impossible to wait for a consensus to form among those congressional leaders as to the proper course of action, especially when they are scattered literally around the world and when time is the one thing we cannot spare. Again, we should ask what the outcome would be if the leaders consulted do not agree among themselves or disagree collectively with the President on an action he considers essential.
Third, there is the risk of disclosure of sensitive information through insecure means of communication, particularly by telephone. Members of Congress with a great many things on their minds might also confuse what they hear on the radio news in this day of instant communication with what they are told on a highly classified basis by the White House.
Fourth, the potential legal consequences of taking executive action before mandated congressional consultation can be completed may cause a costly delay. The consequences to the President, if he does not wait for Congress, could be as severe as impeachment. But the consequences to the nation, if he does wait, could be much worse.
Fifth, there is a question of how consultations with a handful of congressional leaders can bind the entire Congress to support a course of action -- especially when younger members of Congress are becoming increasingly independent.
A survey reported by Congressional Quarterly last November indicated that an overwhelming majority of the Congress believed the legislative branch had an inadequate role in the international crises I have mentioned.
Sixth, the Congress has little to gain and much to lose politically by involving itself deeply in crisis management.
If the crisis is successfully resolved, it is the President who will get credit for the success. If his efforts are not successful, if the objectives are not met or if casualties are too high, the Congress will have seriously compromised its right to criticize the decisions and actions of the President.
Finally, there is absolutely no way American foreign policy can be conducted or military operations commanded by 535 members of Congress on Capitol Hill, even if they all happen to be on Capitol Hill when they are needed.
Domestic policy -- for housing, health, education or energy -- can and should be advanced in the calm deliberation and spirited debate I loved so much as a congressman.
The broad outlines and goals of foreign policy also benefit immensely from this kind of meticulous congressional consideration.
But in times of crisis, decisiveness is everything -- and the Constitution plainly puts the responsibility for such decisions on the shoulders of the President of the United States.
There are institutional limitations on the Congress which cannot be legislated away.
Yet since the Mayaguez incident, there has been talk of putting more teeth into the War Powers Resolution, intensifying congressional participation in actual crisis management.
There have also been attempts to introduce the Congress into sensitive negotiations with foreign nations.
The Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the Trade Act of 1972, proposed to liberalize emigration from the Soviet Union by legislative decree, had precisely the opposite effect.
The congressional restrictions on military assistance to Turkey after the latest Cyprus crisis prove how determined -- and how wrong -- the Congress can be, and how cumbersome diplomacy by rigid legislative dictate can be.
Where, then, does the balance of powers lie?
It cannot lie in a constant rivalry for power. As Eugene Rostow has written, this "would tend to convert every crisis of foreign policy into a crisis of will, of pride and of precedence between Congress and the President."
The balance must lie, instead, in a frank recognition of the basic strengths and weaknesses of both the executive and legislative branches of government, in the institutional capabilities and limitations imposed by the Constitution and by common sense.
The bitter experiences of Vietnam and the national atmosphere in the last decade have encouraged, I believe, too much tampering with the basic machinery by which the United States government has run successfully for the past two hundred years.
We must not abandon the wisdom of the ages in the passion of a moment.
If we have disagreements of policy, let us resolve them as matters of policy, rather than escalating them into constitutional confrontations.
Tragically, in recent years, the bases of trust, cooperation and civility between the legislative and executive branches of our government have been eroded.
In their place, there has been an attempt to build new and permanent structures on the shaky ground of mutual suspicion.
This is no way for the government to serve the American people. It is, instead, the sure way to division at home and danger abroad.
We need to seek once again a common ground on which the President, the Congress and the American people can proudly and firmly stand through crisis and calm.
We must decide again, as a nation, what is important to us, what goals we will set, what dangers we will risk, what burdens we will bear, in our dealings with the wider world.
The Congress has the responsibility to do now what it does best -- debate these great issues, openly, freely and thoroughly -- and help us find a new path on which we all may travel together.
The new administration -- free of the burden of war, unfettered by mistakes of the past -- has an historic opportunity to lead America to a new age in foreign policy: an age in which the goals and commitments we hold precious as a nation may be fulfilled through the quiet, beneficent strength that commands respect and invites cooperation.
All this will not be easy. The world is very different now than it was thirty years ago. We are different, and our problems and aspirations more complex.
But we are still Americans who love our country, who cherish peace and freedom in the world.
Let us in the months ahead open a constructive dialogue among the American people, the Congress and the President, leaders past and present, so we can preserve the bulwark of our strength -- the Constitution -- and find the mechanisms and the spirit that have made America what it is today -- free and dedicated to a better world for all peoples.
The text of this speech is from the reprint published by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.
Remarks of Gerald R. Ford at the Dedication of the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Mr. President -- President Lopez Portillo of Mexico, our good neighbor to the south -- Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada, our good neighbor to the north -- President Giscard d'Estaing of France, 0ur good neighbor across the Atlantic Foreign Minister Sonoda of Japan, our good neighbor across the Pacific --distinguished guests, and all of my good neighbors from Grand Rapids, Michigan and beyond.
They say you can't go home again -- they're wrong!
It is not uncommon for a man of my age to be surrounded by so many friends and to be eulogized so eloquently. What is most unusual -- and I must say most enjoyable -- is to be here in person to hear it.
Old soldiers may just fade away, but politicians will always respond to one more curtain call. It is not just the applause we love -- it is the sense of communion of shared interests and ideals, of serving a purpose larger than ourselves -- it is the comfort of being among friends.
The high point of my life, next to meeting and marrying Betty, was not making Eagle Scout, or being named all-state center from South High, or earning my varsity M at the University of Michigan, or getting my sheepskin from Yale Law School, or winning my first election to Congress, or serving as the 38th President of the United States. They seemed so at the time, but the high point is always ahead, and today it is here, in my hometown, among my dear friends. This building is made of steel and concrete -- but this moment is made of love.
As I look back over the lessons of the years, it has been my experience that if you want to get to where you are going -- you cannot spend too much of your time contemplating where you have already been.
All those Saturdays I spent in the Michigan line, looking at the world backwards and upside down, taught me this: the world looks a lot better head-on and straight ahead.
Yet, there are times for looking back, I'm thinking, in particular, of Election Day, 1976. Some of you may remember, I voted early -- I'll let you guess for whom -- and before heading back to Washington, we unveiled Paul Collins' mural at Kent County Airport. There was my whole life spread out before me -- my dear mother and father, my brothers, the happy scenes of my boyhood here. I was physically drained and emotionally full. I knew it was going to be a close election. We had come from 30 points behind in the polls to just about even. We were hopeful, but still, the thought seized my mind that I might be nearing the end of a full career.
Well, nearly five years have passed, and I have never been busier or happier. I've been to places I've always wanted to see. I've talked with thousands of people. I've played a little golf with you know who -- and I've had time to reflect.
I have worked to bring this museum and the Ford Library at Ann Arbor to completion. Now I am working on a foundation that will help students and scholars from all over the world to work with the original documents and mementoes of my career in the Congress, the Vice-Presidency and in the White House. Here they can examine in specific detail how our constitution works, why our great republic is a government of laws and not of men, and discover for themselves that here the people rule.
This magnificent structure beside the Grand River shares with other presidential archives and memorials a common purpose and utility, though their contents, like the men they honor, are very different. Unlike the pyramids, their function is not to deify the dead but rather to distill from the past the essence of experience that may illuminate the dim path into the future.
The past can instruct the present not only in the art of leadership but also in the opportunities of citizenship. Since the days of Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln it has been a tenet of American faith that every native son could grow up to be President. But the ideals of their generations had to be forged into the realities of ours -- and so, through the years we have moved slowly, but surely, to erase every spurious bar to high public office whether it be region, religion, race or sex.
I would not b surprised -- I would be glad -- if in this century it can be said that every American boy or girl can grow up to be president of the United States.
Within these walls you will find clues to some of the convictions I hold, which explain the policies I set and the decisions I made. There are souvenirs and beautiful state gifts from my official visits to our good neighbor Mexico, whose president honors us today, and with his family, joined Betty and me at a private dinner in the White House. Journeys to Europe and Asia including, Mr. Foreign Minister, the historic first exchange of visits by an American President and the Emperor of Japan,
One of my regrets is that I never got to Canada while I was in the White House, but I did have a number of constructive meetings with Prime Minister Trudeau in Washington, Brussels, Helsinki and Puerto Rico -- and a couple of winters ago we had a memorable reunion on the ski slopes at Vail, where I showed him the superb upside-down landing techniques I learned in the Laurentians forty years ago.
I am also sorry I was never able to visit metropolitan France, but recall a delightful meeting on the sunny isle of Martinique. Defying protocol, president Giscard d'Estaing and I immediately jumped into a swimming pool, outdistanced our foreign ministers and did more for Franco-American friendship than had been done since the last time Ben Franklin saw Paris.
Curious citizens and future historians may ask: Why, with his desk piled high with domestic difficulties, did Jerry Ford spend so much time traveling a quarter of a million miles to NATO meetings, European security conferences, economic summit sessions and SALT talks? Why did he crowd his White House calendar with calls from foreign leaders? Why spend most of his first hectic day as President seeing nearly every ambassador in Washington?
The answer to these questions is here in the Ford Museum. It helps to go back to the summer of 1940. Europe was in flames; one by one our traditional friends were being smashed by Hitler's stukas and panzers. I had one more year to go at Yale. In whatever time I could spare, I flung myself into Wendell Willkie's campaign, even though he had beaten Michigan's hero, Senator Arthur Vandenberg of Grand Rapids, for the Republican nomination.
Why Willkie? Vandenberg was an ardent isolationist, so was Grand Rapids in those days, and so was I. But what I admired about Willkie was his freedom from machine politics and his fighting spirit.
When I came home from -the Navy after World War II it was plain to me that the free nations would have to stick together, as they had in war, to preserve and protect the peace we had so dearly won. My political mentor, Senator Vandenberg, had abandoned isolationism and so had I. In fact, Arthur Vandenberg had become the chief Republican champion of international cooperation. He strongly supported President Truman on the Marshall Plan and the North Atlantic Alliance.
More significantly, from my point of view, Senator Vandenberg quietly encouraged me to challenge the veteran Republican Congressman from this district who was a pillar of the isolationist sentiment in the House of Representatives. Thanks to the efforts of so many of you here today, I won. And for 25 years, whether the administration was Republican or Democratic, I worked to keep the United States strong and the free nations united.
I saw the democracies of Western Europe, the Americas and the Pacific rise to new levels of productivity and prosperity for their peoples. I witnessed the growing effectiveness of NATO, and of other allies on the frontiers of freedom, and I know that only through these common undertakings have we escaped global war for more than a generation. As President, I gave the nurturing of such partnerships for mutual security my very highest priority.
So it is deeply gratifying to me that this dedication is more than a local or even a national event. To have such distinguished friends as President Lopez Portillo of Mexico, Prime Minister Trudeau, former President Giscard d'Estaing, Foreign Minister Sonoda is not only a warm and gratefully received gesture to our friendship, but also a renewed expression of confidence in the United States as a reliable ally under the strong leadership of President Reagan.
As long as the Lord permits, I will continue to advocate closer cooperation among the free nations, a greater sharing of the benefits and burdens of preserving the peace. Yet I perceive a revival of isolationism in today's world, spreading like the elusive fruit fly, under whatever guise, the new isolationism -- like the old represents a futile dream of going it alone.
The new isolationism springs from natural impulses and national traditions. as did earlier waves of American isolationism. The Nazis did not invent the old isolationism, but they counted on it to divide the defenders of freedom, neither have the Communists contrived the new isolationism, but they are cheering it on. It feeds on the fear that the United States has lost its power, or its resolution, that it is rapacious and reckless and unreliable. If ever there was belief in such alarms, you, Mr. President, strengthened with the emphatic mandate given you by the American people, have dispelled such notions. Today the United States is surely rebuilding its capability and its credibility.
As I said in my farewell message to the Congress, to be first in peace, we can never be second in defense. But military and material strength alone -- and this is the surest lesson the past can teach the present -- even the awesome might of this great and good land will not prevail if we fail to stand united in purpose and perseverance. If ever freedom falls, it will fall one isolated citadel at a time.
I do not believe for a moment that the fall of freedom is imminent, yet remembering the summer of 1940, we should take warning in time. And I for one, would rather the leaders of tomorrow learned these lessons from the Ford Museum, than on the beaches of the Pacific and Normandy.
It is my hope, and Betty's, that all our good friends who have helped to complete this magnificent structure, and fill it with a portion of America's past, will not regard this day as an end but rather as a beginning.
The unfinished work of this world is always more than that which has been accomplished. While we can never do all we might wish, we must always do what we can. I am profoundly grateful for the kind words that have been said about me, but the finest tribute of all will be to see the Gerald R. Ford Museum living and growing in constructive and useful ways.
Shortly after assuming the office of President, I said.
"The world is not a lonely place, there is light and life and love enough for us all."
I continue to believe that -- and I thank all of you here today for giving me more than my share.
Thank you and God bless you all.
Excerpts from Scholastic Network's Online Interview with Former President Gerald R. Ford
Q: What do you consider to be the single most important accomplishment of your presidency? - Dale Rosene, 8th Grade, Marshall Middle School, Marshall, Michigan
A: When I became president the country was in turmoil--a result of the Vietnam War and Watergate. We were facing riots in our major cities and many college campuses. There was a serious distrust of the White House and the Federal Government. As President it was most important that I heal the land to restore public confidence in our government. Healing America was the greatest accomplishment in my Administration.
Q: When you suddenly assumed the role of president after President Nixon resigned and you got to spend your first few moments alone with no one else around, what was the biggest fear that passed through your thoughts? - Mrs. Grindall's 4th/5th Grade, Portage Path School of Technology, Akron, Ohio
A: I was not really worried about my capability to handle the responsibilities as president. I had been in the Congress for 25 years, Vice President for nine months. I had many contacts with previous presidents involving domestic and foreign policy crises, so when I took the oath of office, I had a good feeling about the opportunity to do the job. I did not fret or worry because I was prepared to handle the new challenges and responsibilities.
Q: The decision to pardon Mr. Nixon must have been very difficult. What was it that made that decision the "right one" for you, and have you ever regretted it? Did you remain friends with Mr. Nixon over the years before he died? - Susan Barkdoll's 3rd Grade, North Verdemont Elementary, San Bernardino, California
A: I have never regretted my decision to pardon Mr. Nixon. It was the right decision when I made it in 1974 and the public today better understands my reasons. As a result more than 50% of the American people are supportive of my pardon of Mr. Nixon. Let me tell you why I made this very critical decision. In the first few weeks that I was President, I was facing a serious economic recession in the U.S. Inflation was high, interest rates were going up, unemployment was getting worse. At the same time, I was worried about the attitude of our allies in Europe and our enemies in the Soviet Union. These serious challenges required 100% of my time as president. At the same time, I was called upon to spend 25% of my time in the Oval Office listening to the Department of Justice and my White House Counsel as to what I should do with Mr. Nixon's tapes and papers.
I finally decided the only way to spend 100% of my time on the serious problems of the Federal Government and 30 million citizens was to get rid of the time spent on Mr. Nixon's tapes and papers. To do that, I pardoned Mr. Nixon, got his problems off my White House desk, so I could spend all of my time on the nation's problems at home and abroad.
Q: You faced so many problems while in office – inflation, recession, the fall of South Viet Nam--its refugees, Watergate. What was your worst problem? - C. Rose's 7-8th Grade, Centerville Jr. High School, Fremont, California
A: You have to divide the problems of foreign policy and domestic problems. In foreign policy, it was a major challenge to negotiate with the Soviet Union on how to reduce the nuclear confrontation. At the same time, there were 2 superpowers -- the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Both nations had huge nuclear arsenals. I negotiated with Mr. Brezhnev of the Soviet Union to reduce the nuclear threat. We made significant results. That was a major challenge and success of my Administration.
Domestically, the most serious problem after healing our nation was how to overcome the economic recession that I inherited and restore economic prosperity. In my judgment the Ford administration was successful in our dealings with the Soviet Union and restoring economic prosperity.
Q: How do you believe your efforts at "detente" with the Soviet Union influenced our current relations with Russia and the associated countries today? - Mrs. Jo Browning's 7th Grade, Elmbrook Middle School, Elm Grove, Wisconsin
A: By standing strong and powerful in our confrontations with the Soviet Union, and exposing the failures of Communist economic policy, the Ford administration was influential in bringing about the downfall of the Kremlin. My Administration (participated in) the Helsinki Accord, where 35 nations on both sides of the Iron Curtain met to expose the lack of human rights in the Soviet Union. We added another blow at the Soviet Union and its satellites. The total collapse of the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall came in 1989-1990, but the disintegration externally and internally started during my Administration.
Q: What did Betty Ford do to help you out when you were president? Stephen Jones, Mr. Dickey's 5th Grade, Millinocket Middle School, Millinocket, Maine
A: My wife, Betty Ford, at all times during my political career was most helpful with her strong convictions on certain issues. For example, she was an ardent advocate of ERA, the Equal Rights (Amendment) for women. With her support and my own strong convictions, I was able to get the amendment on the floor of the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, the Senate did not take follow-up action.
As President, my wife prodded me frequently to make sure that women were treated equitably when positions were open. As a result, I appointed Carla Hills, Secretary of HUD. She was a very effective member of my Cabinet. At the time, I had the opportunity to appoint a member of the Supreme Court. My wife was very active in promoting several women who would be fully qualified for that job as a Justice. There were other issues in which Betty was very active in promoting. I can assure you that she twisted my arm, but did it less visibly than perhaps some successor [first] ladies.
Q: When you were president you had a lot of decisions to make. What was the most difficult one to decide and how did you make your choice? Carlos Ramirez, Ms. Shell's 5th Grade, John Ruhrah Elementary, Baltimore, Maryland
A: As I said earlier, the toughest foreign policy decision was negotiating with Mr. Brezhnev to reduce the nuclear threshold. The most difficult domestic issue was how to get rid of the economic recession and restore economic prosperity. In dealing in foreign policy, I was very fortunate to have the advice and knowledge of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who was one of the finest Secretaries of State in the history of the U.S. On domestic economic policy, I was equally fortunate to have the advice of Alan Greenspan, Chairman of my White House Economic Council, my Secretary of the Treasury, Bill Simon, and others. A President is helped in making good decisions by the quality of his Cabinet. I had an excellent Cabinet.
Q: What were the sacrifices you made and the things you lost during your presidential term? - Mr. Urban's 5th Grade, Hutchinson School, Pelham, New York
A: I don't believe there were any personal things that I lost while I had the privilege of serving as President of the United States. As you know, I never aspired to be President. My political ambition was to be Speaker of the House, but I got diverted with the resignation of Vice President Agnew. I then became President with the resignation of President Nixon. I considered the Presidency a great honor and tremendous challenge. In no way was it a sacrifice to be President. I had many wonderful experiences while in the White House, which I will always cherish during my lifetime.
Q: What was your favorite book as a child and why? - Karen Foley, 4th Grade, E.A. Bogert School, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey
A: While I grew up, I read every Horatio Alger book I could get my hands on. Those stories were an inspiration to me and had a significant impact on my ambition as I matured.
Q: If I wanted to become President and lead America, what advice would you have for me? Irina Kantorovich, PS 99, Brooklyn, New York
A: I would strongly recommend that anyone who has the ambition to become President would first get an excellent education. One must first graduate from high school, then college and possibly a graduate degree. In my judgment, one should achieve good grades. It is always important to have outside activities that involve the day to day problems of the community. A person must know about people problems and community problems if he or she wants to be a successful office holder -- at the local, state or national level. A good President is one who is well educated, but who knows the problems first hand throughout the country. With this background, you are qualified to serve in the White House, providing you can get the nomination and be elected.
Q: How did you feel when you received offers to play professional football and why did you turn down the offers? - Mrs. Hargrove's 6th Grade, Canby Lane School, Decatur, Georgia
A: Quite frankly, I was overwhelmed to receive the 2 offers to play professional football from the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers. I was tempted because it was during the Depression when there weren't very many jobs available for a college graduate. The nation was faced with 25% unemployment. Fortunately, I was offered a job as Assistant Football Coach at Yale University for a salary of $2,400 a year. I thought this was a better opportunity, though less money, than playing Pro football, because I would also have the opportunity to attend Yale Law School.
As I look back, I made the right decision, although on occasion it would have been nice to have played one year in the NFL. I think this illustrates that you have to make tough choices. I'm glad that it worked out the way it did.
Q: Who was your childhood role model? - Dan Krull, Stuart Sharack's 5th Grade, Juliet Long School, Gales Ferry, Connecticut
A: My childhood role models--my mother and my stepfather. My mother was a strong, wonderful lady and my stepfather was a great inspiration because of his integrity, hard work and community dedication. I will forever be grateful for the guidance and support of my mother and stepfather.
Q: How would you like to be remembered? - Mr. Clifford's 7th Grade, DeForest Middle School, DeForest, Wisconsin
A: As President, I want to be remembered as the person in the White House who assumed that responsibility under very difficult circumstances and restored public trust in the Presidency and healed the Nation following the tragedies of Vietnam and Watergate.
Gerald R. Ford's Remarks at the 1996 Republican Convention, San Diego, California
Thank you, Governor Bush, delegates, fellow Americans. Welcome to the thirty-sixth Republican National Convention. It is definitely not true that I've seen them all. I have seen most of them since 1940 - when I was one of the young rebels who stormed onto the Convention floor in Philadelphia shouting "We Want Wilkie!" That was my first whiff of political campaigning - I'll tell you a secret: I did inhale.
And I still love it. Ask my wife Betty. For our honeymoon I took her to a rally for Tom Dewey. Haven't heard the last of that yet. A few years ago, when I suddenly found myself President, I said I was a Ford, not a Lincoln. Today, what we have in the White House is neither a Ford or a Lincoln. What we have is a convertible Dodge. Isn't it time for a trade-in?
As we gather here this week, our Republican hearts and minds are in hospitable San Diego - and our FBI files are in the White House.
What is it, in a few words, that all Republicans believe? We believe - along with millions of Democrats and Independents - that a government big enough to give you everything you want…is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.
What we want is an across-the-board change in Washington. Let's complete the fundamental Federal reform the American voters mandated for Congress two years ago. Above all, we desperately need a leader of principled, proven integrity who believes as we do…an expert at building consensus…a Commander-in-Chief who has earned his salutes…a President who would rather tackle tough problems than talk - and talk and talk - and talk about them.
President Bob Dole…and Vice President Jack Kemp!!!
Never forget, my friends, the primary purpose of a political party is to win. Since I first ran for Congress in 1948 we have generally won when we practiced a policy of inclusion, of expanding our Republican tent to welcome every American who believes in liberty and justice for all, special privilege for none, and a decent respect for the convictions of others. We have won - on merit, on character, on performance.
Ours is the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln, who lived and died for the proposition that all Americans - indeed all people - are created equal, with unalienable God-given rights. Ours is the Republican Party of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who reminded us that America is not good because she is great; but rather - America is great because she is good. Ours is the Republican Party of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, whose persistence in building and maintaining America's military and industrial superiority finally persuaded the Communists they could never hope to defeat us, and thus ended the Cold War. Ours is the Republican Party of Bob Dole, another plain-speaking son of the American heartland, who persevered in the service of his Kansas neighbors to be Congressman, a Senator, our party's nominee for Vice President, minority and majority leader of the Senate. And, God willing, with your help and mind, the next President of the United States.
My friends, I know a thing or two about Bob Dole. And if there was anything I didn't know, I checked it out before choosing him as my running mate in 1976. I found Bob Dole fit to be President then; I find him even more qualified now. Remember when you read today's national polls, Ford and Dole came from 30 points behind that August to win 49.9 percent of the actual ballots cast. We lost a cliffhanger. The only poll that counts THIS YEAR is still three months away.
Our second President, John Adams, was the first to move into the White House. It was on a hilltop where sheep grazed and citizens walked up to the door. No fence, no concrete roadblocks, and the roof leaked. Adams wrote home to his wife, telling her about a prayer he had composed for the new President's House. For all his successors, Adams wrote: "May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof." I say Amen. God bless our country and all Americans. Thank you, and good night.
Gerald R. Ford's Remarks at the Ford Library Conference, "The Trouble with Washington…"
A special thanks to everyone responsible for today's program, and to all those who have come to Ann Arbor to share their thoughts on the American political process and how we might address some of its imperfections. I'm especially pleased to see so many cherished friends and colleagues from my own days in Washington. Your presence honors the Ford Library and this great University. The organizers of the conference suggested that I might like to offer some concluding remarks. And I thought: great--I can finally deliver that speech to the Republican convention that you never heard unless you were watching C-SPAN.
The late John Connally used to startle audiences, especially in the east, by declaring that George Washington was a Texan. (You know how Texans are--they feel about their state a lot like the way we in Ann Arbor feel about the Wolverines).
As John told the story, young Washington's father called him in one day to ask whether he had cut down the mesquite tree in the backyard.
"I cannot tell a lie," said George. "I took my hatchet and chopped down the mesquite tree."
At which point George's father told him to pack his bags--they were moving to Virginia.
"But why?" asked the boy. "Because I chopped down the mesquite tree?"
"No", his father said, "Because if you cannot tell a lie, you'll never succeed in Texas."
Washington, D.C. is a city for which I have great affection, but also some very real concerns. I worry that our capital has become the symbol of a government too large, too remote, too costly and, ultimately, too unresponsive to the people who pay its bills and suffer its consequences.
Age has its privileges. One of which is to offer whatever perspective may come from having lived a long and eventful life. As a matter of fact, San Diego marked the fourteenth time that I have attended a Republican National Convention. The first was in 1940, when I was part of a very vocal crowd in the galleries shouting "We Want Wilkie."
Even then, I was part of a national debate which, in its very intensity, drew millions of people into the political process. That's the very essence of a successful democracy. An election campaign is a conversation we have with ourselves. Lately it seems as if many Americans are barely on speaking terms with each other. Just as bad, millions of us have tuned out to the conversation altogether.
As a result, democracy in America may seem less robust in 1996 than in 1896. A century ago five million people heard William Jennings Bryan in person as he barnstormed the country. Bryan's opponent, William McKinley, had a very different way of getting his message across. He stayed home in Canton, Ohio, and let the voters come to him.
And they did. 750,000 people trooped to McKinley's front porch before election day.
Let me assure you all--I wasn't one of them. But I have been through more than a few campaigns. Out of my experience I have distilled what you might call Ford's Seven Rules of Civic Engagement. Some amount to little more than wishful thinking. But all are designed to address the "trouble" with Washington, and dispel feelings of alienation which have taken root in recent years.
Rule Number One: Politicians should never forget to whom they are responsible. Contrast recent campaigns, with their focus groups, ever shrinking sound bites and consultants who sometimes act as if they are candidates. Contrast all that with the race that Jimmy Carter and I ran exactly twenty years ago. As the first post-Watergate candidates, we were governed by stringent limits on how much we could spend. Today, the same financial laws apply, yet most spending restrictions resemble Swiss cheese. As a result, there is more money, and less participation, in our politics than at any time in recent memory.
Early in this century the comedian Will Rogers anticipated this dilemma when he said that running for office had become so expensive, "It takes a fortune just to get beat." Now I revere the Constitution as much as any man. If I were a member of the Supreme Court, I might have a different view of the First Amendment as it relates to the unlimited right of individuals to influence political decisions through unlimited expenditures.
But as someone who has spent the better part of a lifetime in political persuasion, I can't avoid the feeling that any system awash with cash will pose at least a subtle temptation to office holders and office seekers alike to represent checkbooks instead of constituents.
Of course, the '76 campaign was shaped by far more than federal spending limits. Because the specter of Vietnam and Watergate loomed so large, I found myself, in effect, running two campaigns: one, to win a full term as president in my own right, and another, to restore the shattered confidence of the American people in our democratic institutions.
I was unsuccessful in the first. But as I left Washington I could take some consolation in knowing that the national mood was very different from what it had been just a few short years earlier.
Twenty years later, it seems as if we've turned the clock back - not to 1976, but to the late 60's and early 70's, when an unpopular war and the taint of political scandal combined to produce a level of distrust that can only be imagined by the students in our audience this afternoon.
In some ways the problems we experienced then were actually preferable to the current climate. For a generation ago, it was possible--if depressing--to trace voter unhappiness to specific policies and personalities. People objected to the war, the way it was being conducted, and the presidents of both parties who conducted it. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Because in a democracy, differences are not only unavoidable--if pursued with civility as well as conviction, they are downright healthy. Only political indifference is lethal. Put another way, I'd much rather deal with honest contention than creeping cynicism. This, I fear, is the greatest single difference between the disillusionment of the seventies and the widespread feeling among today's electorate that the system itself has broken down.
Maybe that's a reflection of the times and the issues which dominate the public discourse. Which brings me to Rule Number Two: Elections should be about more than personal ambition or short term political advantage. In 1948, my first race for Congress, I ran against an entrenched Republican incumbent who believed that the United States had been divinely placed between two oceans to protect us from foreign contamination.
I disagreed passionately. As a young Navy officer, just back from the Pacific war, I felt we could no longer take shelter behind geography or tradition. I had seen enough of the world to know that it was not going to go away.
I ran for Congress because of a big idea--the idea that American isolation was a thing of the past, and that only American leadership could help to shape a future where peace was possible and freedom triumphant.
Across the hall from my office in the Old House Office Building was another young Navy veteran of the Pacific front. His name was John F. Kennedy. Although our parties differed, our priorities were much the same. We were both internationalists in our outlook, both willing to accept the burdens of leadership in standing up to Soviet aggression. We often walked over to the floor of the House together. Once there, we might go our separate ways politically--but we never questioned each other's patriotism or motives.
Which brings me to Rule Number Three: There are no enemies in politics, just opponents who might vote with you on the next roll call.
Today our nation's Capital inspires various comparisons. To its harshest critics, it is a chamber of horrors. To many of those holding office it is a pressure cooker. To me, Washington is a mirror held up to the people and the process it represents. If it is less civil than it might be, isn't that a reflection of a society coarsened by tabloid values, one in which fame is confused with notoriety, and shame is the surest ticket to 15 minutes on daytime television?
In a culture where more people recognize Oprah than the Speaker of the House, it's easy to say that politics have been crowded out of our lives by other forms of mass entertainment. The problem with this theory is that Oprah doesn't set your taxes or run your schools or commit young Americans to foreign wars.
Meanwhile, the more the political parties try to make themselves over into vehicles of entertainment, the smaller the audience and the greater the popular disappointment when we fail to solve problems the way Jessica Fletcher solves a mystery--neatly, in sixty minutes, before a final plug for Miracle Grow or the Chrysler LeBaron.
Ford's Rule Number Four: don't make politics more like television; make television pay more attention to politics. That means free time for the major candidates on all leading media outlets. It means more than four and half hours of convention coverage every four years. It even means showing the vice presidential candidate's acceptance speech instead of a "Seinfeld" rerun.
Some network executives complained that the recent conventions were overly scripted. Perhaps we would have more spontaneity if the networks didn't lay down an ultimatum to the parties, restricting coverage to one hour each night of the convention.
But if there is too little media attention paid the unglamorous aspects of self-government, in my opinion there is far too much showered on the trivial and the tawdry. Let me put it bluntly: if I want to attend a horse race I'll go to the track. If I want to choose a president, or member of Congress, I'd like to rely on serious, substantive reporting about issues, character and performance.
Rule Number Five: let's hear from the candidates, not their consultants. Too many of the latter are hired guns, for whom the lure of celebrity takes the place of conviction or even loyalty. Don't get me wrong. There are some superb pollsters, speech writers, strategists and advisers out there. My own campaign in 1976 benefited greatly from their work. But their proliferation since, not to mention their shameless self-promotion, has only furthered the popular belief that politicians are puppets on a string, dancing to the music of the spinmeisters. That tarnishes democracy itself.
Politics is not a spectator sport, much less an episode of American Gladiators. Yet much of the media persist in treating it as such. Worse, one can hardly watch a week's worth of network news without concluding that many journalists aren't just hostile to conservatives - they're anti-politics! They believe conventions are boring, parties are obsolete, and Presidents are guided solely by polls. They think that national political discourse is something restricted to the McLaughlin Group.
They're wrong, which brings me to Rule Number Six. An informed electorate deserves something better than what I call "gotcha" journalism, which puts the spotlight on the reporter rather than the candidate, asks questions designed to entrap rather than elucidate, and ignores difficult issues with long-term consequences to concentrate on the flap of the moment.
In de-emphasizing serious coverage of the political process, journalists and network executives stand on their First Amendment rights. They are hardly alone in this. Thanks to the women's movement, the civil rights revolution, and other campaigns for individual empowerment, we have belatedly fulfilled many of the noble promises that we made to ourselves and to each other two hundred years ago. We are all better for it.
But in pursuing our rights as individuals, we should never forget our responsibilities as citizens. In 1992 approximately 55% of eligible voters cast ballots in that year's presidential contest. That was up from 50% in 1988, yet sharply lower than the 63% who voted in the Kennedy-Nixon race of 1960. Is it any accident that voter turnout has fallen along with party allegiance, a rise in media skepticism, the fragmenting of the television audience and the general fraying of community?
Once upon a time parties mattered. So did party loyalists and the conventions they attended. We could do a lot worse than to recreate that sense of belonging to a cause larger than ourselves, which in turn made Washington something more than a gigantic soundbite factory.
Let me put in a good word for the much abused smoke filled room of political legend. Over the years I've sat in more than my share of such castigated rooms. I won't claim that I never inhaled--but I will argue that a strong party system and yes, a boss or two, gave us Lincoln, both Roosevelts, Truman and Eisenhower--not to mention such distinguished also-rans as Al Smith, Tom Dewey, Adlai Stevenson and even my youthful hero Wendell Wilkie, who owed his nomination to more than those noisy galleries in Philadelphia.
Ironically, the bigger the issue, the greater the need for parties to help us organize consensus. It was true when I entered politics because I felt strongly about the future role America should play in the world. And it will be just as true as we debate such sensitive subjects as the future of current entitlement programs.
I said earlier that Washington was a mirror reflecting our instincts. That includes the instinct for political survival. I'm an optimist. Call it a hunch, but I think it's a mistake to underestimate the American people--millions of whom are willing to help forge the necessary consensus that will keep entitlements from strangling our economy or mortgaging the future of our children. In any event here is a challenge worthy of American democracy in the 21st century.
Which brings me to my seventh and final rule. The Founders designed a government in which it is easier to do nothing than to do a great deal all at once. But they also counted on the will and wisdom of Americans to conceive and implement reforms where necessity demands solutions. So I leave you with the most radical thought of all--and a hint that big issues and big ideas may yet revitalize public faith in a system that earns our trust by appealing to what Lincoln called "the better angels of our nature."
Entitlement programs, we are told, represent the third rail of American politics. Touch it and you die--politically at least. Wouldn't it be ironic if those supposedly untouchable third rails were to supply the very track that will carry us into the next century and a renewal of confidence in a political system that is wise enough to listen and strong enough to lead?
Two hundred years ago, our first President summed up both the glory and the frustration of American politics when he said, "a democratic state must feel before it can see; that is what makes it slow to act. But the people, at last, will be right".
Whatever troubles may plague the city named for George Washington, they can be resolved as long as we place our ultimate trust in the people--and as long as we, the people, demand less of Washington, and more of ourselves.
Gerald R. Ford's Remarks at the Rededication of the Gerald R. Ford Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan
"Learning from the Past, Living for the Future"
Thank you very much, Richard [Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum Director Richard Norton Smith], for those generous words. Exactly 40 years ago this summer Harry Truman--the first American President with whom I had the honor of being associated--dedicated his Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri. As befitting Mr. Truman's generous nature, he invited his sometime adversary and enduring friend, Herbert Hoover, to assist in the honors. Afterward, a woman in the crowd approached Mr. Hoover and asked him how former Presidents occupied their days. "Madam," said Hoover, "We spend our time taking pills and dedicating Libraries."
Of course, it wasn't true then, and it is even less true today. With his far-flung humanitarian work and his unceasing efforts to avoid conflict around the globe, it sometimes seems as if President Carter lives on airplanes. President Bush, on the other hand, in addition to his many other activities, prefers to jump out of airplanes. He even invited me to go along with him on his recent parachute mission. "Not gonna do it," I told him. "Wouldn't be prudent." Besides, after all those jokes about my golf swing, do you really want to tempt fate by having me jump out of a plane?
Along with Presidents Carter and Bush, I belong to a rather exclusive trade union, one that makes up in diversity what it lacks in numbers. On the surface Jimmy Carter and George Bush appear as different as peanuts and pork rinds. They hail from different backgrounds. They belong to different political parties. But they share a lifelong commitment to public service. They are patriots before they are partisans.
Moreover, their years in the White House remind us all that the essence of presidential leadership consists of taking risks--not polls. Jimmy Carter, at Camp David, took risks for peace in the Middle East. George Bush took risks in war against Saddam Hussein. History will be grateful to both. The same holds true for Ladybird Johnson, Rosalyn Carter and Barbara Bush. You have made your own contributions to America. The result is a nation more beautiful, more humane, and more literate.
On this day of reflection and renewal, you will forgive me if I acknowledge some debts of very long standing. In my first remarks as President, delivered at a time of national as well as personal soul searching, I said I was indebted to no man, and only to one woman, my dear wife. In truth, there are no words to fully express how much I owe to Betty. For almost fifty years she has borne with my shortcomings and I have rejoiced in her graces. Scarcely smaller is my debt to four wonderful children and the extended Ford family. Likewise the countless friends who have become family, and who have earned not only my gratitude but the nation's, for their service in and out of government. I especially thank the many Members of my Cabinet who are here. They were magnificent advisors and doers. I congratulate each one for their superb service to America.
Today is the latest, but by no means the last, chapter in a story that began over 80 years ago, when a courageous woman named Dorothy Ford, having escaped a disastrous first marriage, returned home to Grand Rapids to begin a new life with an infant in her arms. All that I am, and whatever I may have achieved in this life, I owe to my mother Dorothy and my stepfather Jerry Ford, Sr.--for the strength of their character and the example of their love.
It is no accident that this museum should be located where it is, or that its front should reflect the city of Grand Rapids. For what is my own life, except a reflection of this city's most deeply held values? Here is where I first gained a sense of place, faith in a moral universe, and the certainty that we are all God's children. Three cardinal rules governed the Ford household: work hard, tell the truth, and come to dinner on time. All this was once part of an unimagined future; after today it belongs to a history that others will judge.
Someone has defined history as an unending dialogue between the present and the past. In this ongoing conversation, many voices clamor for our attention. Almost sixty years ago Franklin D. Roosevelt had the inspired idea that it wasn't enough to preserve America's history--but that it must be disseminated as well. It was FDR who invented the presidential library system to share that history with millions of Americans who might never get to our nation's Capitol, yet whose voices should be part of the democratic dialogue.
President Roosevelt knew that Washington, D.C., is not the ultimate source of our strength or wisdom, that it most certainly should not be the final repository of our history. Which is why he began the practice of constructing privately funded presidential libraries and museums, close to the people, instead of locking away our heritage in some marble palace in Washington.
Thanks to the generosity of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation, FDR's vision takes on new form in a museum designed for the 21st century. Built with private funds--not taxpayer dollars--this is not a monument to any one man or any one presidency. Rather, it is a classroom of American democracy, a place where school kids as well as scholars will enjoy privileged access to the innermost workings of their government. This is hands-on history, the result of a creative partnership between the Ford Museum and Library staffs--past and present--and a remarkable team of designers, craftsman and work crews, led and occasionally goaded by Richard Norton Smith, a true visionary who said it wasn't enough to renovate the Museum--we would reinvent it.
Most gratefully, I thank the generous donors whose financial support made this Museum possible sixteen years ago and the outstanding version today. And so we have. With the added perspective of time and the very latest in technology, we won't just tell you the story--we'll put you inside the story: from a typical day in the Oval Office, to a behind the scenes look at how foreign policy is made. Museum visitors will be given a holographic tour of the White House.
They will attend a State Dinner. Stand on the floor of a tumultuous Republican National Convention. They will share in the pride of our Bicentennial and the pain of April, 1975, when I watched a 20-year commitment of American blood and treasure dissolve in a frantic airlift from the roof of the American Embassy in Saigon.
While we learn from the past, we live for the future. This is especially true of the young people in our audience today. You will spend more time in the 21st century than anyone here on stage. Outwardly, your America will not look the same as ours. New technologies, new industries, new forms of communications; these and much more will expand the frontiers of life in the years ahead.
But amidst all these changes, some things must never change . . . things like individual decency and honor and compassion and service to others. Amidst all that is new, we must never lose the old faith in an America that is bolder and better with each passing generation.
In the White House I was called upon to help restore public trust in our government. Twenty years later I fear we have turned the clock back. Politicians today raise more money, and enjoy less respect. Many find it impossible to listen to each other, because they are busy shouting at each other. In some quarters civility is mistaken for weakness and compromise for surrender.
I know better. More importantly, so do the vast majority of the American people. Politics is a clash of ideas, not a blood sport. It is a contest of principles, not a holy war. So instead of blaming the people for their mistrust, maybe politicians in both parties should ask themselves why the public is so turned off to politics. They might begin by banishing the spin doctors who find their convictions in focus groups and who confuse leadership with salesmanship. For in the high stakes game of history, only those who are willing to lose for principle deserve to win at the polls. Anyone can read a poll; only a leader can move the nation.
You don't need to be president to make history. Make your own history by contributing to your own community. Then you will discover the joy of being part of something bigger than yourself--and the realization that, while we make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.
A legacy is a gift from one generation to the next. I hope that my legacy to young Americans is a freer, fairer America, where every day is a new beginning, and every life a vessel brimming with possibility. I hope that you see history--not as a catalog of human folly--but as a source of inspiration that one man or woman, fired by an ideal, can make the world a better place. That's what led me into politics half a century ago. That's what makes me an optimist in the evening of my life.
Sometimes we stumble in the dark, uncertain of the best course for ourselves and the nation we love. But the past holds out its own lantern to guide our steps. More than 170 years ago, an elderly gentleman in Quincy, Massachusetts wrote to his friend atop a Virginia mountain top. John Adams, then in his 80th year, wanted to know whether the 73 year old Thomas Jefferson would be willing to live his life over again. Jefferson replied promptly and positively. He believed the world to be a good place on balance, one where pleasure outweighed pain. "My temperament is sanguine," wrote Jefferson. "I steer my bark with Hope in the head, leaving Fear astern."
I have never heard a better definition of what it means to be American. Like a runner nearing the end of his course, I hand off the baton to those who share my belief in America as a country that has never become, but is always in the act of becoming. Presidents come and go. But principles endure, to inspire and animate leaders yet unborn. That is the message of this Museum. That is the mission of every American patriot. For here the lamp of individual conscience burns bright. By that light, we can all find our way home.
Thank you very much.
A Time to Heal Our Nation
It is proverbial that old men plant trees as an act of faith, precisely because they know they won't themselves live to sit under the shade. In this spirit, we believe the time has come to put aside political differences and plant seeds of justice and reconciliation.
There is precedent for this, for during our Presidencies each of us made difficult and controversial decisions in efforts to heal national divisions - the pardoning of President Richard Nixon and the granting of amnesty for those who had avoided the Vietnam draft.
In the wake of President Clinton's impeachment by the House of Representatives, America once again suffers from a grievous and deepening wound. Our people are angrily divided. Our political institutions are called into question. Public confidence erodes under waves of personal smear mongering. Against such a backdrop of inflamed emotions, we are convinced that the public good requires a prompt and fair resolution of the impeachment issue. While our acts of pardon or clemency are not directly analogous to the decision pending before the Senate, how that body resolves the issue can have similar benefits of healing and finality.
Fortunately, Senate procedures, through their flexibility and freedom, provide the means to end this national ordeal in ways that can uphold the rule of law without permanently damaging the Presidency. Before the Senators make history, we hope they will first turn to history for help in devising what would be, in effect, a unique punishment for a unique set of offenses.
One hundred and thirty years have passed since the last impeachment of an American President. At the time of Andrew Johnson's 1868 trial, as now, Senate Standing Rules and the Rules of Impeachment permitted almost all motions and matters of evidence to be determined by a majority vote. (By way of example, early in the proceedings, Chief Justice Salmon Chase, who presided over Andrew Johnson's Senate trial, put to a vote the question of whether to delay the trial for 40 days as requested by Johnson's lawyers. Members responded by granting only 10 days.)
Most recent impeachment cases involving judges have been resolved expeditiously by having a trusted bipartisan committee hear the evidence, either in public or private sessions, before making a recommendation to the full body for its consideration. How might all this bear on the current situation? In addition to immediate dismissal of the charges against President Clinton, there are four alternatives for the Senate to weigh: a trial followed by acquittal; a trial followed by conviction and removal from office; a trial followed by censure, or censure without a trial.
As intended by the founders, a two-thirds majority presents a formidable obstacle for the advocates of conviction and removal. Moreover, the sharp divisions rending the House, though sincerely held and based on principle, do not bode well for a quick or clear decision on either acquittal or removal from office. However one now supposes a trial may end, it seems inevitable that by rehashing the lurid evidence of President Clinton's misconduct, we will only exacerbate the jagged divisions that are tearing at our national fabric.
Somehow we must reach a conclusion that most Americans can embrace and that posterity will approve. Make no mistake, the judgment of history does matter. It matters profoundly. And impeachment by the full House has already brought profound disgrace to President Clinton. Whatever happens in the near future will do little to affect history's judgment of him. But he is not alone in standing before the bar of judgment. Our political system, too, is on trial. Can we find within ourselves the will, the vision, the generosity and, yes, the courage to resolve the current crisis in a way that makes Americans proud of their leaders, their institutions and themselves?
It is with this in mind that we personally favor a bipartisan resolution of censure by the Senate. Under such a plan, President Clinton would have to accept rebuke while acknowledging his wrongdoing and the very real harm he has caused. The Congressional resolution should contain language stipulating that the President's acceptance of these findings - including a public acknowledgment that he did not tell the truth under oath - cannot be used in any future criminal trial to which he may be subject. It may even be possible for the special prosecutor publicly to forego the option of bringing such charges against the President when Mr. Clinton leaves office.
Some may object that a censure can be repealed by a future Congress and is thus rendered meaningless. They underestimate the power of the modern news media to foster indelible images in the public memory. In any event, no one can undo President Clinton's impeachment by the full House.
It is the genius of our constitution that its authors provided us a governing charter whose legal mechanisms permit the nation to heal itself, so long as the end result is both justice and grace. Clearly, the American people expect and desire an outcome that is firm, fair and untainted by partisan advantage. That is the challenge before us. How we meet that challenge will go a long way toward healing our divided nation.
Gerald R. Ford's Remarks at the Opening of the Ford Museum's Saigon Staircase Exhibit, Grand Rapids Michigan
Thank you very much, Richard [Ford Library and Museum Director Richard Norton Smith]. This is a day of remembrance - and renewal. We remember past heroes, and we renew our hope that one day the people of Vietnam may enjoy the freedom that is every man's birthright. In that spirit, would you please join me in a silent prayer for all those who fought in a cause ennobled by their sacrifice….
Spring comes softly to west Michigan. In this season of new life and quickening possibilities, we have gathered to dedicate this staircase, which is all that remains of the former U.S. Embassy in Saigon. It has found a new home on the banks of the Grand River, thanks to the generosity of Fred Meijer and his family - whose name we give to the museum lobby in grateful recognition of their longstanding friendship and support. I would also like to acknowledge Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and her State Department colleagues, and the Gerald R. Ford Foundation and its chairman, Marty Allen, for all their help in preserving an important, if sobering, piece of 20th century history.
In recent days the civilized world has been horrified by the pictures coming out of Kosovo. We have drawn back in horror at what the diplomatic establishment calls ethnic cleansing, and we instinctively recognize as mass murder. Our hearts go out to the victims of a foreign dictator and his thuggish regime. It's a far cry from the mood prevailing in the spring of 1975. In their haste to consign an unpopular war to the history books, some Americans were all too willing to abandon those who had fought courageously at our side.
April 1975 was indeed the cruelest month. Even as Hanoi's armies poured south, I became the first President since Woodrow Wilson to meet with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the White House. My visitors were interested in one thing only - the immediate evacuation of all Americans in South Vietnam. One senator told me that to even try evacuating South Vietnamese refugees could involve us in a whole new war. Another pledged to vote whatever funds were needed to get Americans out - so long as the issue didn't become entangled with the question of our Vietnamese allies.
To me, such an attitude was unthinkable. To deliberately shut our doors to those fleeing a brutal dictatorship would add moral shame to military humiliation. It would have mocked the service of two and a half million Americans, and the supreme sacrifice of 58,209 who gave their lives so that a small land on the other side of the globe might somehow elude the grip of Communist tyranny. It would have repudiated the values we cherish as a nation of immigrants, and our longstanding tradition of providing refuge for the victims of religious, ethnic and political persecution.
In the end, we were able to mobilize public opinion and help resettle over 130,000 Vietnamese refugees, including Mr. Le and others in this audience. In the intervening years, you have greatly enriched our society, even as you have struggled to preserve your own traditions in a world few of us could have imagined in 1975. The passage of time has not dulled the ache of those days, the saddest of my public life. I pray that no future American president is ever faced with the grim options that confronted me as the military situation on the ground deteriorated … mediating between those who wanted an early exit and others who would go down with all flags flying … running a desperate race against the clock to rescue as many people as we could before enemy shelling destroyed airport runways … followed by the heartbreaking realization that, as refugees streamed out onto those runways, we were left with only one alternative - a final evacuation by helicopter from the roof of the U.S. Embassy.
We did the best we could. History will judge whether we could have done better. Inevitably some will question the wisdom of official policy. Yet no one can doubt the idealism of those brave helicopter pilots who flew nonstop missions for 18 hours, dodging relentless sniper fire to land on an embassy roof illuminated by nothing more than a 35 mm slide projector. They are the true heroes. Thanks to them, the pain of that long ago April is salved by the pride of so many Vietnamese-Americans who have carved out new lives in a new land.
A quarter century after Operation Frequent Wind concluded, I still grieve over those we were unable to rescue. I still mourn for 2500 American soldiers who to this day remain unaccounted for. Yet the passage of time brings with it a fresh perspective. No doubt each visitor will interpret this staircase and its historical significance for himself. For many, it was both a way out of a nightmare - and a doorway into something incomparably better. To some it will always be seen as an emblem of military defeat.
For me, however, it is a monument of hope and not despair. For it symbolizes man's undying desire to be free. Ernest Hemingway once declared that human beings are not made for defeat. Man can be destroyed, he wrote, but he can never be defeated. What applies to individuals holds equally true for nations. There is more to a nation than its soil, its cities, its wealth, or even its government. There is a soul in a great people. It is steeled in their sufferings. They may be occupied by foreign armies. They may be temporarily enslaved. They may be economically impoverished. But the soul of a great people cannot be crushed.
Today the Ford Museum assumes stewardship of the Saigon staircase in the name of such a people. It is my hope that one day it may be returned to a Vietnam that is free. Until then, let us remember the millions of brave men and women - Vietnamese and Americans - who fought a common foe with uncommon valor. May God bless you and them, now and always.
Inclusive America, Under Attack
Of all the triumphs that have marked this as America's century -- breathtaking advances in science and technology, the democratization of wealth and dispersal of political power in ways hardly imaginable in 1899 -- none is more inspiring, if incomplete, than our pursuit of racial justice. The milestones include Theodore Roosevelt's inviting Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House, Harry Truman's desegregating the armed forces, Dwight Eisenhower's using Federal troops to integrate Little Rock's Central High School and Lyndon Johnson's electrifying the nation by standing before Congress in 1965 and declaring, "We shall overcome."
I came by my support of that year's Voting Rights Act naturally. Thirty years before Selma, I was a University of Michigan senior, preparing with my Wolverine teammates for a football game against visiting Georgia Tech. Among the best players on that year's Michigan squad was Willis Ward, a close friend of mine whom the Southern school reputedly wanted dropped from our roster because he was black. My classmates were just as adamant that he should take the field. In the end, Willis decided on his own not to play.
His sacrifice led me to question how educational administrators could capitulate to raw prejudice. A university, after all, is both a preserver of tradition and a hotbed of innovation. So long as books are kept open we tell ourselves, minds can never be closed.
But doors, too, must be kept open. Tolerance, breadth of mind and appreciation for the world beyond our neighborhoods: these can be learned on the football field and in the science lab as well as in the lecture hall. But only if students are exposed to America in all her variety.
For the class of '35, such educational opportunities were diminished by the relative scarcity of African-Americans, women and various ethnic groups on campus. I have often wondered how different the world might have been in the 1940's. 50's and 60's -- how much more humane and just -- if my generation had experienced a more representative sampling of the American family. That the indignities visited on Willis Ward would be unimaginable in today's Ann Arbor is a measure of how far we have come toward realizing however belatedly the promises we made to each other in declaring our nationhood and professing our love of liberty.
And yet. In the last speech of his life, Lyndon, Johnson reminded us of how much unfinished work remained. "To be black in a white society is not to stand on level and equal ground," he said. "While the races may stand side by side, whites stand on history's mountain and blacks stand in history's hollow. Until we overcome unequal history, we cannot overcome unequal opportunity.
Like so many phrases that have become political buzzwords, affirmative action means different things to different people. Practically speaking, it runs the gamut from mandatory quotas, which the Supreme Court has ruled are clearly unconstitutional to mere lip service, which is just as clearly unacceptable.
At its core, affirmative action should try to offset past injustices by fashioning a campus population more truly reflective of modern America and our hopes for the future. Unfortunately, a pair of lawsuits brought against my alma mater pose a threat to such diversity. Not content to oppose formal quotas, plaintiffs suing the University of Michigan would prohibit that and other universities from even considering race as one of many factors weighed by admission counselors.
So drastic a ban would scuttle Michigan's current system one that takes into account nearly a dozen elements -- race, economic standing, geographic origin, athletic and artistic achievement among them -- to create the finest educational environment for all students.
This eminently reasonable approach, as thoughtful as it is fair, has produced a student body with a significant minority component whose record of academic success is outstanding.
Times of change are times of challenge. It is estimated that by 2030, 40 percent of all Americans will belong to various racial minorities. Already the global economy requires unprecedented grasp of diverse viewpoints and cultural traditions. I don't want future college students to suffer the cultural and social impoverishment that afflicted my generation. If history has taught us anything in this remarkable century, it is the notion of America as a work in progress.
Do we really want to risk turning back the clock to an era when the Willis Wards were isolated and penalized for the color of their skin, their economic standing or national ancestry?
To eliminate a constitutional affirmative action policy would mock the inclusive vision Carl Sandburg had in mind when he wrote: "The Republic is a dream. Nothing happens unless first a dream." Lest we forget: America remains a nation with have-nots as well as haves. Its government is obligated to provide for hope no less than for the common defense.
Remarks by Gerald R. Ford Upon Receiving the Congressional Gold Medal
Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, distinguished members, colleagues and friends: to be perfectly honest with you, an occasion such as this inspires somewhat mixed feelings. Of course I am grateful to the Congress for recognizing Betty and me in this way. At the same time, I know that it is customary for former Presidents to lie in state in this magnificent rotunda. Listening to all those fulsome tributes, I wondered if maybe you weren't jumping the gun a bit. I had to pinch myself to make sure I was still here.
Today Betty and I have come home--home, to this city that holds so many memories, to this building that I cherish, and this institution that I love. I hope you agree Mr. Speaker, that age has its privileges-among them the right to offer whatever perspective comes from having lived a long and eventful life.
There is something else I learned at an early age, something I would heartily recommend to anyone who contemplates a life in politics. I learned that most people are mostly good most of the time. Indeed, as far as I am concerned, there are no enemies in politics--just temporary opponents who might be with you on the next roll call.
My partner on the Ev and Jerry Show, Everett Dirksen, had a great line: "I live by my principles, and one of my principles is flexibility." Ev understood that healthy partisanship is the lifeblood of American Democracy. Yet the clash of ideas should never be confused with a holy war. Some people equate civility with weakness, and compromise and surrender. I couldn't disagree more.
I come by my political pragmatism the hard way, for my generation has paid a heavy price in resistance to this century's extremists--to the dictators and utopians and social engineers who are forever condemning the human race for being all too human.
In the course of 86 years, I have seen more than my share of miracles. I remain convinced that politics is a noble calling, one worthy of enlisting the idealism and commitment of young America. History tells us that it is only a matter of time before your generation is tested--just as mine was tested by economic depression, foreign tyranny, and the hateful traditions of Jim Crow. To you will fall the responsibility for crafting a political process that rises above focus groups and sound bites; for supplementing material prosperity with spiritual purpose.
Outwardly your America may not look the same as ours. New technologies and industries, new forms of communication and medical breakthroughs-- these or more promise to expand the frontiers of life in the new millennium.
I strongly disagree with the cynics, skeptics, and pessimists who condemn and criticize America's record in the 20th Century. Our Nation's achievements are significant:
1) America won two World Wars against oppression and aggression
2) We overcame the catastrophic economy depression of the 1930s
3) Since WWII we were successful against five economic recessions
4) Our scientists solved the scourge of polio and will, I'm sure, find the answer to AIDS.
5) America's astronauts planted the stars and stripes on the moon.
6) Finally Democratic Capitalism won the Cold War against the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. The Iron Curtain was eliminated by our political and economic freedom.
But amidst all that is new, I hope you never lose the old faith in an America that is bolder, freer, and more just with each passing generation. For America is nothing if not a work in progress.
Remarks at the Conference "After the Fall: Vietnam Plus 25," Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
Thank you very much, Richard. Let me begin by expressing my gratitude to you and everyone responsible for organizing today's program. In many ways it is a harbinger of what the Ford Library and the University can achieve together. For sharing this vision, and for placing my name on the School of Public Policy, I am deeply grateful to President Lee Bollinger and the University's Trustees.
A university, of course, is a somewhat paradoxical institution. Here the wisdom of the ages co-exists with the latest scientific and technological innovations. Here, too, we are reminded of the essential truth of liberal education - that so long as books are kept open, then minds can never be closed. Twenty-five years after the end of American military involvement in Indochina, there is no end to the books being written about this country's longest war. Indeed, the Ford Library proposes to spur the process along … for today, it is releasing nearly 25,000 pages of newly declassified material, covering everything from the Paris peace talks to the tumultuous final hours inside our Saigon Embassy.
These records, made available under the terms of President Clinton's Executive Order speeding up the declassification process, contain rich veins of information for future scholars to mine. A special word of thanks to those at the State Department and the CIA who have helped expedite their release - consistent with my personal view that history is best served by providing the widest, earliest possible access to official documentation.
A year ago this week I stood in the lobby of the Museum in Grand Rapids that bears my name for a bittersweet ceremony involving hundreds of Vietnamese-Americans. We had gathered to dedicate a symbol of the war, and of their own unquenchable desire to be free. Today visitors to the Ford Museum can see the original stairway that led to the roof of the U.S. Embassy. Eighteen steps that afforded the only way out for over 6,000 Vietnamese and American personnel in South Vietnam's beleaguered capital.
For me, April 1975 was indeed the cruelest month. The passage of time has not dulled the ache of those days, the saddest of my public life. I pray that no future American President is ever faced with the grim options that confronted me as the military situation on the ground deteriorated … mediating between those who wanted an early exit from Saigon, and others who would go down with all flags flying … running a desperate race against the clock to rescue as many people as we could before enemy shelling destroyed airport runways … followed by the heartbreaking realization that, as refugees streamed out on to those runways, we were left with only one alternative - a final evacuation by helicopter from the embassy roof.
A quarter century after Operation Frequent Wind concluded, I still grieve over those we were unable to rescue. I still mourn for 2500 American soldiers who to this day remain unaccounted for. Yet along with the pain there is pride. In the face of overwhelming pressure to shut our doors, we were able to resettle a first wave of over 130,000 Vietnamese refugees. To do anything less would, in my opinion, only add moral shame to military humiliation. It would have repudiated the values we cherish as a nation of immigrants, and our longstanding tradition of providing refuge for the victims of religious, ethnic and political persecution.
Age has its privileges. Certainly old men are entitled to their memories. I will never forget a visit to Vietnam in 1953, where I listened, in Saigon, to French generals confidently predict victory at Dien Bien Phu. But there is such a thing as collective memory too. Writing recently in the New York Times magazine, Ward Just noted that the Cold War that gave rise to American involvement in Indochina is long since over. "Yet the ghosts remain at the table," he added, "rising whenever Washington contemplates a military venture. Nicaragua, Grenada, Panama, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo were all seen through the shadow of Vietnam. For American statecraft, the legacy is as profound as that of World War II.”
It is to examine that legacy, along with the enduring impact of the Vietnam War upon this country's political institutions, its politics and its journalism that we have gathered at the Michigan League. To help in our examination we have assembled a remarkable group of diplomats and other public servants, together with historians, biographers, journalists, and academic experts. Many are no doubt familiar to you. One, however, I'd like to single out. We arrived in Congress on the same day in 1949. He was a liberal Democrat from Minnesota, one of the most eloquent and principled members of his party. I was an Arthur Vandenberg Republican from Grand Rapids, who didn't object, then or later, when people called me charismatically challenged.
In 1968 his convictions led him to challenge an incumbent President with whose Vietnam policies he profoundly disagreed. On countless campuses across America, including this one, he was and remains a true hero. I'm delighted to welcome him back to Ann Arbor. I'm honored to call Gene McCarthy my friend.
And now it's time for this morning's first panel, which will examine the legacy of Vietnam on America and the World. To moderate this and the following panel, I'm happy to introduce one of this country's most distinguished, if youthful, historians, a student of the Presidency who is as thoughtful as he is prolific. He is the author of definitive biographies of Jimmy Carter and Dean Acheson, as well as an epic history of the United States and a forthcoming life of the great civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. Will you please join me in welcoming Douglas Brinkley.
The Wisdom of Choosing Dick Cheney
By Gerald R. Ford and Bob Dole
The plain-spoken Harry Truman once defined an elder statesman as a politician who has been dead for 20 years. We don't presume to be anything other than politicians, albeit possessed of whatever perspective comes from lengthy service on Capitol Hill and in the national political arena.
We form a pretty balanced Republican ticket ourselves. We don't agree on every issue, but then, what two people do? We belong to a political party, not a cult. At the same time, neither of us regards pragmatism as a synonym for surrender. Throughout the campaign we have been encouraged by Gov. George W. Bush's vigorous outreach to audiences not always courted by Republicans in the past.
In this spirit, we are delighted by the selection of Dick Cheney to help implement Mr. Bush's inclusive vision. Ironically, the shrill reaction of some Democrats to the Cheney nomination only confirms the timeliness of Governor Bush's pledge to restore civility to Washington .
Polls are notoriously fickle, but we take heart from early opinion surveys that indicate widespread approval of the governor's choice. Equally important, we applaud the implicit rejection of the concerted campaign to demonize one of this country's most honorable public servants. Oddly enough, some of those who were quickest to rush to the microphones last week to indict Mr. Cheney for 20-year-old votes he cast as Wyoming 's congressman had in earlier times complimented his distinguished record of leadership in the Pentagon.
It was praise well deserved. As secretary of defense, Mr. Cheney successfully grappled with immensely difficult issues surrounding the post-cold war military, and waged a textbook campaign to evict Saddam Hussein from Kuwait . One might logically ask of these born-again critics whether a similar standard should be applied to Vice President Al Gore, whose House voting record on abortion and gun control was virtually identical to Mr. Cheney's.
All this calls to mind the political contortionist who bragged: "These are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others."
The ultimate test of statesmanship lies in the ability to place the national interest above purely personal ones. Like Mr. Cheney, each of us served in the House as a prelude to higher office. While never forgetting where we came from, over the course of our careers, we were challenged to adopt broader views, develop new sensitivities, and see a complex world through unfamiliar eyes. Here, we submit, is one difference between statecraft and the political theater that has turned off so many voters.
So, while some media and political operatives might see the Gore campaign's rapid response to Mr. Cheney's nomination as cause for self-congratulation, it is just as likely that the dealers in "Operation Research" have outsmarted themselves.
Like Dick Cheney himself, most Americans evince a basic fairness. They know decency and character when they see it. They also recognize a manufactured controversy when it spills across their television screens. Political labels aside, such voters share a bipartisan disdain for the sterile name-calling that has crowded honest debate off the political stage. And debate, after all, is what a campaign should be all about. The honest airing of our differences, not the poisonous rhetoric that demeans even as it disillusions.
If experience counts for anything -- and it ought to -- the Bush-Cheney slate is one of the most abundantly qualified in memory. As the youngest ever White House chief of staff, Mr. Cheney displayed the qualities instinctively recognized by Governor Bush and most fair-minded voters: a towering intelligence and probity, razor-sharp judgment, and a seriousness of purpose that is the antithesis of modern political spin. Yet there is much more to Dick Cheney than his resume. We know him as a man of conviction, whose principles include respecting others with whom he differs. He has adversaries but no enemies.
Mr. Cheney also represents an unconventional choice, if only because of the transparent merit which motivated his selection. This alone makes him a refreshing alternative to the usual electoral calculations. He was selected less because he could help Governor Bush get elected than because he could help a president Bush govern. And to do so in a way that will help restore popular respect for tarnished institutions.
In another sense, largely unnoticed by the media to date, Mr. Bush's choice deserved high marks for boldness. Implicit in the Bush-Cheney pairing is an appeal not frequently heard at some recent G.O.P. conventions. Quite simply, the governor and the secretary are presenting themselves as leaders who are best equipped by outlook, training, and temperament to govern America in a time of exhilarating change and daunting challenges.
Republicans in 2000 want to be America 's governing party. In our view, the Bush-Cheney team represents a giant stride in that direction.
Remarks by Gerald R. Ford Upon Receiving the Profile in Courage Award, John F. Kennedy Library
Thank you very much, Caroline and Senator Kennedy, for those kind words and for the great honor of this Award.
History has been defined as "argument without end." Come to think of it, Ted, much the same could be said of the United States Senate. No doubt arguments
over the Nixon pardon will continue for as long as historians relive those tumultuous days. But I would be less than candid - indeed, less than human - if I didn't tell you how profoundly grateful Betty and I are for this recognition. Indeed, the Award committee has displayed its own brand of courage.
But of course, around this place courage is contagious. To know Jack Kennedy, as I did, was to understand the true meaning of the word. Physical pain was an inseparable part of his life, but he never surrendered to it - any more than he yielded to freedom's enemies during the most dangerous moments of the nuclear age. President Kennedy understood that courage is not something to be gauged in a poll or located in a focus group. No advisor can spin it. No historian can backdate it. For, in the age-old contest between popularity and principle, only those willing to lose for their convictions are deserving of posterity's approval.
Half a century ago I entered politics because of a big idea. Rejecting the Midwestern isolationism of my youth, I learned on a combat aircraft carrier in the South Pacific that leadership carries with it a price - a price measured in the twentieth century by eternal vigilance against those who would put the soul itself in bondage.
In the course of almost 88 years, I have seen more than my share of miracles. I have witnessed the defeat of Nazi tyranny and the destruction of hateful walls that once divided free men from those enslaved.
Here at home, thanks to the bravery of men like John Lewis, we are belatedly honoring the promises we made to one another at the founding of the Republic. We have at last begun to recognize women for their talents and revere them for their contributions. My generation has celebrated the end of polio, cheered as men left their footprints on the moon, and scratched its head while trying to figure out the difference between a gigabyte and a Happy Meal.
None of this just happened. It happened because people of conscience refused to be passive in the face of injustice, or indifferent to the demands of democracy. Now a new generation, in a new century, is summoned to complete our unfinished work and to purge our politics of cynicism.
"Today the challenge of political courage looms larger than ever before … Our political life is becoming so expensive, so mechanized and so dominated by professional politicians and public relations men that the idealist who dreams of independent statesmanship is rudely awakened by the necessities of election and accomplishment."
So wrote then-Senator John Kennedy in introducing Profiles in Courage. Forty-five years later his concerns are more relevant than ever. If there is distrust out there - and there is - perhaps it is because there is so much partisan jockeying for advantage at the expense of public policy. At times it feels as if American politics consists largely of candidates without ideas, hiring consultants without convictions, to stage campaigns without content. Increasingly the result is elections without voters.
It doesn't have to be this way. Wherever I go these days, I sense a longing for community, and a desire on the part of Americans to be part of something bigger and finer than themselves. This is especially so among the young.
History tells us that it is only a matter of time before your generation is tested - just as ours was tested by economic depression, foreign wars, and the hateful regime of Jim Crow. Outwardly your America may not look the same as mine. New technologies, new forms of communications, new breakthroughs in science and medicine - all these promise to expand the frontiers of life in ways unimaginable just a few short years ago.
But amidst all that is new, may I suggest that you never lose the old faith - President Kennedy's faith - in an America that is better, fairer, and more humane with each generation. For all our imperfections, we remain very much a work in progress. I hope you will reject those on both extremes who mistake the honest clash of ideas for a holy war. The bigger the issue, the greater the need for political courage. It was true when I entered the political arena in defiance of those who believed the United States was divinely placed between two oceans to avoid foreign confrontation. Proudly in my first campaign for Congress, I was one of the original compassionate conservatives.
It was true when John F. Kennedy rallied his countrymen for the long twilight struggle to ensure freedom's survival on the narrow window ledge of nuclear vulnerability. It will be just as true for 21st century Americans who pursue JFK's vision of public service as the most purposeful way to make a life, as well as a living. May God bless you, and may God bless America.
Statement by President Ford at the Gerald R. Ford Museum's Ceremony of Remembrance and Resolve
Thank you very much. At a time like this, one’s thoughts naturally turn homeward. For Betty and me, that means Grand Rapids. This week, all Americans are neighbors. All of us are New Yorkers. All of us are Washingtonians. Most important, all of us are patriots.
All week we’ve heard repeated references to December 7, 1941. No doubt for most of you Pearl Harbor is just a name in the history books. For my generation, of course, it was a defining moment. From time to time, it’s been suggested that those who survived the Great Depression, overcame the hateful doctrines of Hitler and avenged the attack on Pearl Harbor represent America’s Greatest Generation. In fact, we were ordinary Americans confronted with some of the greatest tests in American history.
Now we confront another such test. I have not the slightest doubt that today’s Americans will show every bit as much courage and character and resilience and determination as we were called upon to display 60 years ago. I know as well, that everyone within the sound of my voice will join me in saying a prayer for all the victims and their families; for those who remain tortured by uncertainty as to the whereabouts of their loved ones; for those who have risked their own lives in rescue attempts; and for those ministering to our grieving neighbors.
I would also ask your prayers for the President of the United States. Take it from me, there is no lonelier or more responsible position on earth. Especially at a time like this, when our President confronts questions of life and death, war and peace. Make no mistake: whether or not we declare war, war has been declared on us. As President Bush has said, it is a different kind of war that we are called upon to wage. We are by nature a peace loving people. But we have been violated – savagely, without warning, by a foe whose cunning is equaled only by his cowardice.
We have taken the worst that terrorists have to offer. Now we will show them the best that America has to give.
That includes reaching out to all our fellow citizens in a loving embrace, whatever their nationality or religion. For any of us to give in to mindless hatred or bigotry at home would only ratify the evil that was inflicted from abroad. And that is something we can never permit. Betty joins me in thanking you for your extraordinary outpouring of generosity and patriotism. May God bless you all, and may God bless America.
Gerald R. Ford's Remarks at the National Press Club Luncheon, Washington, D.C.
The Press Club is a place that values candor. That’s one of the reasons why I look forward to this event each year. So I hope you won't mind if I speak to you today frankly, from my experience and from my heart. There is little I can add to the eloquent expressions of shock, followed by resolution and national unity, which have emanated from this Capitol in the days since September 11. On the other hand, whether or not age brings wisdom, it can at least afford perspective.
Before September 11, there was December 7. From the first terrible images of the Twin Towers and the Pentagon under attack, we have heard comparisons to Pearl Harbor. The parallels are obvious -- a surprise attack of unimaginable horror -- a nation rallying to defend itself, and rediscovering in the process its most cherished values. In the wake of such horror, questions have been raised about our preparedness. Some have gone beyond asking questions. A few, regrettably, have pointed fingers.
To this day, there are conspiracy theorists who believe that Franklin Roosevelt somehow knew specifically where and when the Japanese would attack on December 7, and that he did nothing to prevent the attack. In my opinion, this is an outrageous falsehood -- but no more so than the apparent willingness of some in Europe and elsewhere to ascribe responsibility for September 11 to Israeli intelligence, or even to our own government.
I mention this in light of the current debate over what we should investigate about September 11, and who should do the investigating. If I thought that a broadly based, independent commission would answer every question and silence every conspiracy theorist, I'd be all for it. However, because of my own experience, as the sole surviving member of the Warren Commission, I have no reservations about the Commission's basic conclusions. I firmly believe we did a good job, but there have been critics -- some credible, others totally irresponsible. Unfortunately, "official investigations" never seem to end the controversies.
More perspective. As a young Congressman in the 1950s I was asked to join the very small Congressional circle entrusted with oversight of this country's intelligence efforts. In fact, I was told to show up at a certain room in the Capitol at a certain time one day, without staff, and fully prepared to keep my mouth shut about whatever I heard. That doesn't sound like oversight to many of you. In fact, at the height of the Cold War, when our very survival seemed tenuous, it made sense -- as long as those who met behind closed doors were confident they could get straight answers to their tough questions -- and those whom they questioned knew there would be harsh consequences for anything less.
Half a century later, intelligence oversight is more formal, more visible, and, sometimes, more theatrical. Sometimes-and I emphasize sometimes -- it involves the hunt for headlines or scapegoats rather than thoughtful, practical correctives. In fact, I have enormous regard for the two Floridians -- one Republican, and one Democrat -- who co-chair the joint Intelligence Committee currently examining events leading up to September 11. Porter Goss and Bob Graham are among the most responsible of this town's overseers. No doubt the questions they raise, and the answers they extract, will uncover systemic failures that need addressing. Nor will individuals within those systems escape responsibility.
In the meantime, we are a nation at war. Nothing -- least of all election year politics -- should divert our attention from the immediate, essential task before us. Because in carrying the fight to the enemy in Afghanistan and other terrorist refuges, we can do more than any Congressional investigation to avert another atrocity on American soil.
From time to time I'm asked to compare the foreign threats posed during my days in the White House, with those facing the Bush Administration. In truth, there are profound differences between then and now. Stop and think: for more than 40 years, Presidents of both parties lived with the unimaginable prospect that, by accident or design, a few men in Moscow might incinerate the globe. That is what I dealt with, what President Kennedy faced during the Cuban Missile Crisis, what Harry Truman confronted at the time of the Berlin Airlift.
Throughout the Cold War seven American Presidents faced one adversary, the Soviet Union, and their supreme leader -- Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev -- whom we knew, or thought we knew. We knew their strategic intentions. We knew the weapons they possessed, the missiles they pointed at us, and the warheads they carried. To a significant degree, they knew as much about us as we did about them. We played by the same rules, because we harbored the same nuclear nightmare visions of what could happen if those rules were broken.
It was the symmetry of terror -- yet for four decades it kept mankind balanced, however precariously, on the thin window ledge of nuclear annihilation. The Berlin Wall fell. The Soviets collapsed. Two superpowers gave way to one. Today the danger of war wears many faces. Instead of the grim, Soviet era of Gromyko, it is a suicide bomber bred in the squalor and hatreds of a Middle Eastern slum. It is the radical cleric who perverts faith in the name of fanaticism. It is a jungle warrior, an urban guerilla, or a computerized terrorist for whom cyberspace is the newest field of battle.
This is the new world President Bush must deal with. From the outset following September II, he told us that this would be a different kind of war. He was right. What hasn't changed is the heroism and sacrifice of young Americans, who have lent new distinction to their uniforms even as they establish new frontiers for freedom. They may be aided by the latest in technology, by satellite guided weapons, smart bombs and unmanned drones in Afghanistan in contrast to the Soviet Iron Curtain. But in the end, success in war depends on the oldest and staunchest of human qualities -- on individual bravery, leadership, and sacrifice.
These qualities have been abundantly displayed, beginning on September 11 itself, and continuing throughout Operation Enduring Freedom. They help to put our current debate into its own updated perspective. For now, I believe that we could all benefit from lowering our voices and refocusing on the horrible mission before us. If you're looking for perspective, you can't do better than prayer. So in conclusion, may I ask you to join me in a moment of remembrance for those who have lost their lives or their loved ones, and of gratitude for those who are defending all that makes life worth living … America's freedom.
Curing, Not Cloning
It is a troubling paradox of American politics: All too often the issues that most cry out for thoughtful, dispassionate consideration are reduced to sound bites. Further distorted in the name of ideology or partisanship, they can become oversimplified to the point of caricature. The public -- and public policy -- suffer, if only because there are some phrases virtually guaranteed to polarize any debate before it gets started.
Affirmative action. Reproductive rights. Gay rights. Now you can add cloning to the list. For many, the word conjures up sinister images of mad scientists laying claim to God-like powers. From there it is a short step toward a soulless state, wherein assembly-line man is robbed of his individuality by science run amok. It's hard to imagine a more frightening scenario.
But is it real? Growing up in Grand Rapids , Mich., I was taught to put my faith in God, not government, and never to confuse the two. On the verge of my 89th birthday, I am not likely to change this view.
That's why I share the concerns of many about reproductive cloning, which in theory, at least, could lead to Dr. Frankenstein's vision of laboratory-manufactured humans. To me this is a perversion of science. Legislation has been introduced that would outlaw the cloning of human beings.
At the same time, this legislation would allow continued research into therapeutic cloning -- more precisely known as somatic cell nuclear transfer, or nuclear transportation -- a very different branch of science that holds limitless potential to improve or extend life for 130 million Americans now suffering from some chronic or debilitating condition.
The anguish of these people is multiplied by the number of family members struggling to care for victims of heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, spinal cord injury and a vast array of other ailments. For every Ronald Reagan, cruelly deprived of the knowledge of his pivotal place in our history, there are millions of elderly, and not so elderly, citizens who will never get their names in the history books, although they are similarly imprisoned in memory's darkened rooms. They deserve more than our sympathy. They deserve the finest treatment imaginable by the world's best scientists.
Unfortunately, they may not get it. In stark contrast to the Human Cloning Prohibition Act sponsored by Sens. Arlen Specter, Dianne Feinstein, Orrin Hatch and Edward M. Kennedy, other members of Congress in both houses are trying to legislate an absolute ban on all cloning, therapeutic as well as reproductive.
Under terms of the Brownback-Landrieu bill in the Senate, and its House counterpart, H.R. 2505, promising regenerative therapies would be criminalized. This is not locking the lid on Pandora's box. It is slamming the door to lifesaving cures and treatments merely because they are new.
No fewer than 40 Nobel laureates have warned that such legislation "would foreclose the legitimate use of nuclear transplantation . . . and impede progress against some of the most debilitating diseases known to man."
Nor would it end there. Long in the vanguard of scientific discovery, American scientists and public policymakers have done much to shape sound scientific policies throughout the world. To walk away from the advances already achieved through therapeutic cloning is to surrender this leadership. It is to turn our back on the worldwide debate over harnessing, controlling and sharing these powerful new discoveries. It is to reject much of our history and still more of our future.
This is not an either/or question. It is a false choice that says we can have medical breakthroughs or we can safeguard human individuality -- but we can't do both. No one knows this better than the scientific researcher. The frontiers of knowledge are often lonely and sometimes uncivilized. Government has a mandate to police these regions and to guard against unethical or exploitative conduct, without suffocating the instinct for exploration and self-improvement that defines the human race.
Notwithstanding the efforts of some scientists, men are not to be confused with sheep. So what is it that sets us apart? Among other things, it is our capacity for faith -- complemented by our God-given curiosity, our dissatisfaction with limits and our stubborn refusal to acquiesce in early death or to suffer passively through debilitating illnesses thinly disguised as life.
Fortunately, we have recent precedent to help guide us through the forest of scientific and political uncertainty. During my presidency, similar questions were raised about research into recombinant DNA. After careful deliberation, safeguards were devised to ensure that this promising new line of inquiry would be closely monitored. It was a measured response to a sensitive issue, and it has resulted in advances that were unimaginable in the 1970s.
A quarter-century later, would anyone turn back the clock? Would anyone discard vaccines traceable to recombinant DNA research? Would they dismiss the promising new strategies to prevent or combat AIDS, diabetes and cancer?
Bills have already been put forward that ban human cloning and provide stiff penalties for it, while allowing continued research into the promise of nuclear transfer research. I call on Congress to pick up the mantle of leadership on this important issue and craft a compromise solution that works.
Gerald R. Ford's Remarks at the Gerald R. Ford Foundation's 30th Anniversary Dinner, Washington, D.C.
When your heart is as full as mine is this evening, words don't come easily. So I'll trust you'll forgive me if I keep my remarks short, to the point and from the heart. It is tempting, on an anniversary like this, to tell old war stories--some of them true-- to relive the past, and reminisce about the history that we made together. But at my stage in life one is inclined to think less about dates on a calendar than those things that are timeless--about leadership and service and patriotism and sacrifice, about doing one's best in meeting every challenge that life presents.
Those are just some of the qualities that all of you displayed in a time of uncertainty and national testing. History will judge our success. But no one can doubt our dedication. We set out to bind America's wounds, and to heal America's heart. By the time we celebrated our bicentennial in 1976 we celebrated more than a distance event--we were able to take heart ourselves from the renewal of the great truths expressed by our Founders.
Did we make mistakes? Of course. Did we fall short of all that we hoped to achieve? Undoubtedly. We're only human. That, too, is part of the perspective that comes with time, and that balances the pursuit of power with the humility of faith. In this life I have been blessed in many ways. For a quarter century the people of Western Michigan trusted me to be their voice on Capitol Hill. My Republican colleagues in the House made me their leader. My Democratic colleagues made me their trusted friend.
Without seeking them, I was called upon to fill this nation's highest offices. For two and a half years, I had the greatest privilege that can come to any American--to lead my countrymen through trying times, and uphold the sacred honor of free men and women everywhere.
The greatest blessings of my life, however, extend far behind any political office, however exalted. They begin with parents who taught me that character and courage are inseparable. They continue with countless friends who embody both those vital qualities. That includes everyone in this room this evening, and so many more who live on in our memories. Best of all, I have been blessed with a family whose support has never wavered…with children and grandchildren, and yes--great grandchildren of whom I am extraordinarily proud.
The greatest of all of my blessings has been to share a journey of almost 56 years with a women whose love, loyalty, and laughter have never diminished. I thank God every day for Betty and the kids and so many, many gifts that He has showered upon me. So tonight I ask you join me in saluting the past, savoring the present, and anticipating the future. For in America, the best has never been…it is always yet to be. May God bless America.
Thank you for being with us tonight--I am so grateful.