Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
4526104
label
Model Congress, American International College, Springfield, MA, March 22, 1968
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
4526104
sourceUrl
contentType
document
title
Model Congress, American International College, Springfield, MA, March 22, 1968
citationUrl
collections
Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
Speeches
subjects
African Americans
Civil disobedience
Economics
Inflation (Finance)
Race relations
Vietnam War, 1961-1975
iiifBase
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
4526104
coverageEndDate
logicalDate
1968-03-31
month
3
year
1968
coverageStartDate
logicalDate
1968-03-01
month
3
year
1968
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
url
mediaId
831e0aa22e3010bc
ocrText
The original documents are located in Box D24, folder "Model Congress, American
International College, Springfield, MA, March 22, 1968" of the Ford Congressional
Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Digitized from Box D24 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD
"THREE CRISES"
THIS IS A TIME OF GRAVE CRISIS FOR
AMERICA. IT IS A TIME WHEN OUR NATION IS
BESET WITH AGONIZING PROBLEMS BOTH AT HOME AND
ABROAD, A TIME WHICH DEMANDS THE BEST THAT IS
IN ALL AMERICANS.
THE CHALLENGE WHICH CONFRONTS US IS IN
REALITY THREE CRISES JOINED IN ONE.
THERE IS THE CRISIS OF VIETNAM AND THE
OVERALL ISSUE OF WAR AND PEACE NOT ONLY FOR OUR
TIME BUT FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.
THERE IS THE CRISIS CREATED BY POLAR-
IZATION OF THE RACES INTO TWO WARRING CAMPS,
THE THREAT OF A SECOND CIVIL WAR.
THERE IS THE CRISIS THAT UNDERMINES OUR
ECONOMIC WELL-BEING AS INFLATION WITH ALL ITS
INSIDIOUS RAMIFICATIONS ERODES THE VALUE ERALD OF THE
-2-
DOLLAR AT HOME AND ABROAD.
IF WE ARE TO SEEK THE GREAT NATIONAL
OBJECTIVES OF PEACE, JUSTICE, PROSPERITY AND
HUMAN DIGNITY FOR ALL, WE MUST WRESTLE WITH
AND SEEK TO DEVELOP SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS
GENERATED BY THESE CRISES.
WE MUST TAKE A FRESH LOOK AT VIETNAM,
WHERE WE ARE INVOLVED IN THE THIRD LARGEST
FOREIGN WAR IN OUR HISTORY--A MASSIVE LAND WAR
TO WHICH OUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF HAS COMMITTED
MORE THAN 525,000 U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL, A
CONFLICT WHICH HAS ALREADY TAKEN THE LIVES OF
MORE THAN 23,000 AMERICANS DUE TO ENEMY ACTION
AND OTHER CAUSES, A WAR WHICH IS DEVOURING
AMERICAN WEALTH AT THE RATE OF MORE THAN
$30 BILLION A YEAR.
WE MUST EXAMINE OUR POLICIES IN VIETNAM
AND ASK OURSELVES WHETHER OUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
HAS PURSUED THE PROPER COURSE IN THIS WAR.
WHAT HAVE THE RESULTS BEEN IN THIS LIMITED WAR
-3-
FOR LIMITED OBJECTIVES? WHAT ARE THOSE
OBJECTIVES AND WHAT, PROPERLY, SHOULD THEY BE
IN THE LIGHT OF AMERICA'S WORLD MISSION? WHAT,
INDEED, IS AMERICA'S MISSION IN THE WORLD?
HAVING DEFINED HER WORLD ROLE, HOW BEST CAN WE
CARRY IT OUT?
AMERICANS HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO LIVE IN
PEACE.
FROM THE BIRTH OF THIS NATION IN THAT
CRADLE OF DEMOCRACY FASHIONED BY THE MEN OF
PENNSYLVANIA, MASSACHUSETTS, NEW YORK AND THE
OTHER ORIGINAL COLONIES TO THE PRESENT TIME.
UNFORTUNATELY, THERE IS AN ALIEN BREED
OF MEN IN THE WORLD TODAY WHO CARE NOTHING
ABOUT INDIVIDUAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND WHO ARE
DISTURBED NOT A BIT AT BLOTTING OUT THOUSANDS
OF LIVES IF THEY CAN ONLY SEIZE THE REINS OF
POWER IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND ELSEWHERE IN THE
WORLD.
AMERICANS HAVE LEARNED THAT THERE ARE
TIMES WHEN THEY MUST GO TO WAR IF PEACE IS TO
-4-
BE WORTH HAVING
THAT THEY MUST GO TO WAR IF
FREEDOM IS TO LIVE. AND SO THEY HAVE FOUGHT--
AT CONCORD, AT BUNKER HILL, IN THE FIELDS OF
FRANCE, ON THE BEACHES OF NORMANDY AND THE
ISLANDS IN THE PACIFIC, IN KOREA, AND NOW IN
THE RICE PADDIES OF SOUTH VIETNAM.
TODAY WE TALK NOT ONLY OF FREEDOM BUT
THE BALANCE OF POWER IN A WORLD WHERE THE
COMMUNIST NATIONS CONSTANTLY USE WAR OR THREATS
OF WAR TO FURTHER THEIR DESIGNS. IT IS AN
EXCEEDINGLY COMPLEX WORLD, AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
IS PERHAPS THE MOST COMPLEX PART OF IT. OUR
TASK IS TO EXAMINE OUR COMMITMENT THERE AND TO
ASSESS OUR OPTIONS IN THE LIGHT OF CURRENT
DEVELOPMENTS AND OUR PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE.
OUR ECONOMY IS IN CRISIS. THE
STAGGERING COST OF THE VIETNAM WAR IS ONLY ONE
OF THE FACTORS.
THE COST OF LIVING IS MOVING STEADILY
LIBRARY
UPWARD, DESTROYING THE HOPES OF THE AMERICAN
-5-
WORKER FOR ECONOMIC PROGRESS BY EATING UP HIS
WAGE GAINS AND ERODING HIS SAVINGS.
FEDERAL FINANCES ARE OUT OF CONTROL, THE
RESULT OF EXCESSIVE SPENDING AND HUGE DEFICITS
OVER A PERIOD OF EIGHT CONSECUTIVE YEARS.
INTEREST RATES HAVE RISEN TO THE HIGHEST
POINT IN A HUNDRED YEARS, ADDING HEAVILY TO
MORTGAGE AND TIME PURCHASE COSTS AND EVEN PRE-
VENTING SOME AMERICANS FROM BUYING A HOME.
THE VALUE OF THE DOLLAR IN TERMS OF
PURCHASING POWER HAS DROPPED TO 87 CENTS SINCE
1960.
FOREIGNERS HAVE LOST CONFIDENCE IN THE
DOLLAR--PREFERRING GOLD--AND HAVE DRAINED THE
UNITED STATES OF MORE THAN $2.2 BILLION WORTH
OF GOLD SINCE LAST NOVEMBER TO BRING OUR OVERALL
GOLD STOCKS DOWN TO A LOW OF $10.4 BILLION.
THIS NATION HAS REMOVED ALL GOLD BACKING
FROM OUR CURRENCY--TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF
FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS PREFERRING GOLD TO DOLLARS--
-6-
SO THAT NOW WE TRULY DO HAVE PAPER MONEY.
WE CANNOT NOW SUDDENLY ERASE THE
TREMENDOUS SPURT IN FEDERAL SPENDING WHICH HAS
FUELED THE ENGINE OF INFLATION FOR THE LAST
SEVERAL YEARS AND AT CURRENT RATES IS
PROPELLING OUR ECONOMY DOWN THE ROAD TOWARD
DESTRUCTION. WE CAN AND MUST APPLY THE BRAKES.
A NATION, LIKE A FAMILY, MUST LIVE CLOSE TO ITS
MEANS. WE MUST BEGIN MOVING TOWARD A BALANCED
BUDGET.
WE MUST MOVE THIS NATION AHEAD TOWARD
DESIRABLE SOCIAL GOALS--BUT WE MUST BE EVER
MINDFUL THAT ATTEMPTS AT TOTAL GOVERNMENT
SOLUTIONS HAVE FAILED DESPITE THE HUGE SUMS
OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS TOSSED AT OUR PROBLEMS.
IT IS NOT PROGRESS WHEN THE ECONOMY OF THE
RICHEST NATION IN THE WORLD FALLS ILL BECAUSE
THE MEN WHO MAKE ECONOMIC POLICY IN WASHINGTON
LOSE CONTROL OF FEDERAL SPENDING. THAT WAY
LIES DISASTER.
GERAL
LIBRARY
-7-
I URGE, THEN, THAT THE CONGRESS SET FOR
ITSELF A RESPONSIBLE AND RESPONSIVE FINANCIAL
PLAN AS A GOAL. WE MUST KEEP UPPERMOST IN OUR
MINDS THAT IF AMERICANS ARE TO ENJOY PERSONAL
SECURITY AND AMERICA IS TO MAKE REAL PROGRESS,
WE MUST RESTORE STABLE PURCHASING POWER TO THE
DOLLAR.
HOW MANY AMERICANS FULLY REALIZE THAT IN
A SINGLE YEAR--THE 12-MONTH PERIOD WHICH WILL
END THIS JUNE 30--THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL
HAVE PAID OUT MORE THAN $180 BILLION?
HOW MANY AMERICANS KNOW THAT FEDERAL
SPENDING HAS JUMPED MORE THAN $80 BILLION IN
JUST THE LAST SEVEN YEARS--A RISE OF MORE THAN
80 PER CENT?
HOW MANY AMERICANS KNOW THAT THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT'S OUTLAY OF CASH FOR NON-MILITARY
FUNCTIONS HAS GONE UP $51 BILLION IN THOSE
SEVEN YEARS WHILE DEFENSE SPENDING, INCLUDING
THE COST OF THE VIETNAM WAR, ROSE ONLY $30
BILLION?
-8-
HOW MANY OF OUR PEOPLE REALIZE THAT THE
LAST TIME THE FEDERAL BUDGET WAS BALANCED WAS
IN 1960--AND THAT THERE HAVE BEEN ONLY SEVEN
BALANCED BUDGETS IN THE LAST 38 YEARS?
WHEN THE WORLD LOOKS AT THE UNITED STATES
IT SEES A NATION WITH ITS BOOKS CONSTANTLY OUT
OF BALANCE AND ITS ACCOUNTS WITH OTHER NATIONS
RUNNING DEEPLY INTO DEFICIT YEAR AFTER YEAR
AFTER YEAR.
WE ARE OVERCOMMITTED AND OVEREXTENDED
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. WE MUST ALTER THAT TREND.
WE MUST REVISE OUR COMMITMENTS WHILE CONTINUING
TO FULFILL OUR ESSENTIAL ROLE OF WORLD LEADER-
SHIP.
EVEN A NATION AS RICH AND POWERFUL AS
THE UNITED STATES CANNOT OVERSPEND INDEFINITELY
WITHOUT INVITING DISASTER.
IN LOOKING AT OUR OVERSEAS COMMITMENTS,
WE MUST EXAMINE NOT ONLY OUR POSITION IN VIETNAM
BUT ALL OVER THE GLOBE. BESIDES THE 550,000
-9-
U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL POSITIONED IN THE SOUTH-
EAST ASIA BATTLE ZONE, WE HAVE 217,000 MEN
ELSEWHERE IN THE FAR EAST, 352,000 IN EUROPE
AND THE MEDITERRANEAN, 23,000 IN THE CARIBBEAN
AND 400,000 ELSEWHERE ABROAD INCLUDING THOSE
IN OUR NAVAL FLEETS.
WE HAVE BEEN PLAGUED BY CONTINUING
UNCERTAINTY AS TO HOW TO USE THE MASSIVE POWER
AT OUR DISPOSAL. WE MUST RESOLVE THIS BASIC
POLICY QUESTION IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF OUR
NATION. AND WE MUST PERSUADE THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE THAT THE UNITED STATES is, INDEED, A
PACIFIC NATION ALTHOUGH ASIA SEEMS VERY REMOTE
FROM US. IT IS MUCH THE SAME PROBLEM OUR
NATIONAL LEADERS HAD IN THE LATE 1930's.
EUROPE, EVEN WITH HITLER'S OUTRAGES, SEEMED
BEYOND OUR INTERESTS.
PARTICULARLY NOW WHEN OUR OVERSEAS
COMMITMENTS ARE A GIANT FACTOR IN OUR CONTINU-
ING BALANCE OF PAYMENTS DEFICIT--A MASSIVELY
LIBRARY
-10-
LARGER OUTFLOW OF DOLLARS EACH YEAR FROM THIS
COUNTRY THAN THE INFLOW--WE MUST PARE OVERSEAS
SPENDING TO THE BAREST POSSIBLE MINIMUM. WE
MUST INSIST UPON REFORMS IN EXCHANGE FOR OUR
FOREIGN AID. AND WE MUST CREATE AND EXPAND AID
ARRANGEMENTS WHEREBY MANY NATIONS IN A GIVEN
REGION POOL THEIR LENDING RESOURCES INSTEAD OF
MAKING DEMANDS UPON THE UNITED STATES ALONE.
THE STAKES IN VIETNAM GO FAR BEYOND THAT
BATTLE AREA TO EMBRACE THE FUTURE OF MANY OTHER
PEOPLES AS WELL--ALL THOSE WHO ARE THREATENED
WITH EXTERNALLY-AIDED WARS OF LIBERATION.
VIETNAM IS A TEST OF WHETHER WE AS A PEOPLE
HAVE THE WISDOM, THE MATURITY AND THE PATIENCE
TO PURSUE A FAR-REACHING OBJECTIVE AND TO AVOID
OVER-SIMPLIFIED SOLUTIONS.
AMONG OUR FIGHTING MEN IN VIETNAM ARE
THOUSANDS OF NEGROES. CASUALTIES AMONG OUR
NEGRO Gl's ARE GREATER THAN THE RATIO OF
NEGROES TO WHITES IN THE POPULATION OF THIS
LIBRARY
-11-
COUNTRY.
IN THE GHETTOES OF OUR GREAT CITIES,
UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG YOUNG NEGRO MALES AVERAGES
ABOUT 30 PER CENT WHILE THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
NATIONWIDE HOVERS NEAR THE 4 PER CENT MARK.
LAST YEAR LARGE-SCALE RIOTS SCARRED THE
FACE OF AMERICA. RACIAL EXPLOSIONS ERUPTED IN
SOME 120 CITIES. JUST LAST WEEK, RIOTING
BROKE OUT IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE. WE HAVE
WITNESSED GROWING HOSTILITY BETWEEN THE RACES,
AND A BREAKDOWN OF LAW AND ORDER WHICH HAS
MADE NEARLY EVERY MAJOR AMERICAN CITY THE
SEEDBED FOR RACIAL RIOT AND A POTENTIAL WAR
BETWEEN THE RACES.
IT DOESN'T HELP TO SAY THAT RIOTS ARE
UNAVOIDABLE IN THE SUMMER OF 1968. IT DOESN'T
HELP FOR NEGROES AND WHITES ALIKE TO BUY GUNS
BECAUSE "THEY MIGHT COME IN HERE." DOES THIS
SOLVE ANYTHING?
THE PROBLEM IS MOST COMPLEX. BASICALLY
-12-
IT IS ONE OF FOOLISH HOSTILITY AND OF MISERABLE
LIVING CONDITIONS FOR WHICH THERE IS REALLY NO
EXCUSE.
AS FOR THE HOSTILITY, I KNOW THIS.
THERE IS NO HOSTILITY BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE
CHILDREN UNTIL IT IS TAUGHT TO THEM BY THEIR
PARENTS OR FRIENDS.
WHITE RACISTS AND THOSE WHO HAVE PLUNDERED
AND LITERALLY STOLEN FROM NEGRO POOR HAVE
PLANTED THE SEEDS OF BITTERNESS.
I AM SURE, TOO, THAT MUCH OF THE PRESENT
HOSTILITY HAS BEEN STIMULATED BY BLACK
MILITANTS WHO HAVE BEEN PREACHING VIOLENCE,
SEPARATISM, AND BLOODY REVOLUTION. THIS,
RIGHTLY OR WRONGLY, HAS DAMAGED THE CAUSE OF
CIVIL RIGHTS.
WITHOUT REGARD FOR THE BLACK MILITANTS
AND OR THE WHITE RACISTS AND SIMPLY FOR THE
GOOD OF THE NATION, WE MUST GET ABOUT A TASK
TOO LONG NEGLECTED--THE REBUILDING OF OUR
GERALD
-13-
CITIES.
TO REBUILD OUR CITIES, WE MUST BUILD
THE PEOPLE OF OUR CENTRAL CITIES BY HELPING
THEM TO HELP THEMSELVES AND TO LIVE BETTER
LIVES FROM A SENSE OF PERSONAL PRIDE.
THE AREAS OF NEED ARE WELL KNOWN. WE
MUST MOVE VIGOROUSLY TO FILL THE DEEP GAPS IN
EMPLOYMENT, HOUSING AND EDUCATION THAT MAKE
DISADVANTAGED AREAS OF OUR CENTRAL CITIES. THE
FIRST PRIORITY IS JOBS.
I URGE THAT THE CONGRESS CONSIDER THE
WISDOM OF PROVIDING INDUSTRY WITH TAX CREDITS
TO STIMULATE A NATIONWIDE PROGRAM OF ON-THE-JOB
TRAINING FOR GHETTO YOUTHS AND TO GET INDUSTRY
TO BUILD INDUSTRIAL PLANTS IN THE CENTRAL
CITIES. COUPLED WITH THIS I SEE A PLAN TO
ENGAGE INDUSTRY IN A MASSIVE, GOVERNMENT-
UNDERWRITTEN PROGRAM TO PROVIDE PRIVATE HOUSING
FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES AND GIVE THEM THE
FORD
TREMENDOUS PERSONAL PRIDE THAT GOES WITH HOME
LIBRARY
-14-
OWNERSHIP. THIS WOULD HELP TO KEEP FAMILIES
TOGETHER AND THUS STRENGTHEN THE ENTIRE FABRIC
OF OUR SOCIETY.
WE NEED NOT ONLY A NEW SET OF NATIONAL
SPENDING PRIORITIES BUT AN ENTIRELY NEW
APPROACH TO AMERICA'S SOCIAL PROBLEMS--AN
APPROACH WHICH DEPARTS FROM TOTAL GOVERNMENT
SOLUTIONS TO BRING BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY INTO
A LEADERSHIP ROLE IN PROBLEM--SOLVING, ALONG
WITH GOVERNMENT AT ALL LEVELS.
AND WE MUST CULTIVATE A NEW MEASURE OF
UNDERSTANDING AMONG OUR PEOPLE-THE FULL
REALIZATION THAT, AS ONE OF OUR GREATEST
PRESIDENTS EXPRESSED IT, A NATION DIVIDED
AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND.
THE WAY FOR AMERICA TO SOLVE ITS
PROBLEMS IS TO GET ALL AMERICANS INVOLVED IN
SOLVING THEM, TO TAP THE GREAT WELL OF
COMMITMENT AND IDEALISM THAT IS JUST WAITING TO
BE DRAWN UPON.
-15-
WINSTON CHURCHILL ONCE SAID, "GIVE US
THE TOOLS, AND WE WILL FINISH THE JOB."
WE HAVE THE TOOLS TO DO THE JOB--YOU
AND OTHER AMERICANS WHO ARE WILLING AND EAGER
TO GET INVOLVED.
YOU HAVE THE TALENT. YOU HAVE THE
BRAINS. GIVE OF YOURSELF TO AMERICA.
WITH YOUNG PEOPLE LIKE YOU, WE CANNOT
FAIL.
-END-
ADDRESS BEFORE THE MODEL CONGRESS SPONSORED
BY AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE, SPRINGFIELD
MASS. AT N A.M., M FRIDAY MARCH MADOH 22, 1968.
an Address by Rep. ferald ford
"THREE CRISES"
MR. CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS OF THIS MODEL
CONGRESS.
THIS IS
A TIME OF GRAVE CRISIS
IT I 15
FOR AMERICA.
WE ARE MET AT A TIME WHEN OUR
NATION IS BESET WITH AGONIZING PROBLEMS BOTH
AT HOME AND ABROAD
WE ARE LET at A TIME
WHICH DEMANDS THE BEST THAT IS IN ALL AMERICANS.
THE CHALLENGE WHICH CONFRONTS US IS IN
REALITY THREE CRISES JOINED IN ONE.
THERE IS THE CRISIS OF VIETNAM AND THE
OVERALL ISSUE OF WAR AND PEACE NOT ONLY FOR OUR
TIME BUT FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.
THERE IS THE CRISIS CREATED BY POLAR-
IZATION OF THE RACES INTO TWO WARRING CAMPS,
THE THREAT OF A SECOND CIVIL WAR.
THERE IS THE CRISIS THAT UNDERMINES OUR
817 1817 FORD
-2-
with
all
ECONOMIC WELL-BEING AS INFLATION, ERODES THE
VALUE OF THE DOLLAR AT HOME AND ABROAD.
THIS MODEL CONGRESS ANY CONGRESS WHICH
IF WE ARE
PURPORTS TO SPEAK FOR THE PEOPLE AND TO SEEK THE
GREAT NATIONAL OBJECTIVES OF PEACE, JUSTICE,
PROSPERITY AND HUMAN DIGNITY FOR ALL WE MUST
WRESTLE WITH AND SEEK TO DEVELOP SOLUTIONS TO
THE PROBLEMS GENERATED BY THESE CRISES.
WE MUST TAKE A FRESH LOOK AT VIETNAM,
WHERE WE ARE INVOLVED IN THE THIRD LARGEST
FOREIGN WAR IN OUR HISTORY--A MASSIVE LAND WAR
TO WHICH OUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF HAS COMMITTED
MORE THAN 525,000 U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL, A
CONFLICT WHICH HAS ALREADY TAKEN THE LIVES OF
MORE THAN 23,000 AMERICANS DUE TO ENEMY ACTION
AND OTHER CAUSES, A WAR WHICH IS DEVOURING
AMERICAN WEALTH AT THE RATE OF MORE THAN
$30 BILLION A YEAR.
WE MUST
AND
EXAMINE OUR POLICIES IN VIETNAM
ASK
EVERIT
OURSELVES WHETHER OUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF HAS
-3-
PURSUED THE PROPER COURSE IN THIS WAR. WHAT
HAVE THE RESULTS BEEN IN THIS LIMITED WAR FOR
LIMITED OBJECTIVES? WHAT ARE THOSE OBJECTIVES
AND WHAT, PROPERLY, SHOULD THEY BE IN THE
LIGHT OF AMERICA'S WORLD MISSION? WHAT, INDEED,
IS AMERICA'S MISSION IN THE WORLD? HAVING
DEFINED HER WORLD ROLE, HOW BEST CAN WE CARRY
IT OUT?
AMERICANS HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO LIVE
IN PEACE FROM THE BIRTH OF THIS NATION IN THAT
CRADLE OF DEMOCRACY FASHIONED BY THE MEN OF
PENNSYLVANIA,
1 MASSACHUSETTS,
NEW YORK AND THE OTHER ORIG-
INAL COLONIES TO THE PRESENT TIME.
UNFORTUNATELY, THERE IS AN ALIEN BREED
OF MEN IN THE WORLD TODAY WHO CARE NOTHING
ABOUT INDIVIDUAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND WHO ARE
DISTURBED NOT A BIT AT BLOTTING OUT THOUSANDS
OF LIVES IF THEY CAN ONLY SEIZE THE REINS OF
POWER IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND ELSEWHERE IN THE
WORLD.
GERALD LISAARY
-4-
AMERICANS HAVE LEARNED THAT THERE ARE
Go To
TIMES WHEN THEY MUST WAR IF PEACE IS TO
GoTo
BE WORTH HAVING
THAT THEY MUST
,MM
WAR IF
FREEDOM IS TO LIVE. AND SO THEY HAVE FOUGHT--
AT CONCORD, AT BUNKER HILL, IN THE FIELDS OF
FRANCE, ON THE BEACHES OF NORMANDY AND THE
IN KOREA,
ISLANDS IN THE PACIFIC, AND NOW IN THE RICE
PADDIES OF SOUTH VIETNAM.
TODAY WE TALK NOT ONLY OF FREEDOM BUT OF
THE BALANCE OF POWER IN A WORLD WHERE THE
COMMUNIST NATIONS CONSTANTLY USE WAR OR THREATS
OF WAR TO FURTHER THEIR DESIGNS. IT IS AN
EXCEEDINGLY COMPLEX WORLD, AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
IS PERHAPS THE MOST COMPLEX PART OF IT.
OUR
TASK IS TO EXAMINE OUR COMMITMENT THERE AND TO
ASSESS OUR OPTIONS IN THE LIGHT OF CURRENT
DEVELOPMENTS AND OUR PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE.
OUR ECONOMY IS IN CRISIS. THE
STAGGERING COST OF THE VIETNAM WAR IS ONLY ONE
OF THE FACTORS.
-5-
THE COST OF LIVING IS MOVING STEADILY
UPWARD, DESTROYING THE HOPES OF THE AMERICAN
WORKER FOR ECONOMIC PROGRESS BY EATING UP HIS
WAGE GAINS AND ERODING HIS SAVINGS.
FEDERAL FINANCES ARE OUT OF CONTROL, THE
RESULT OF EXCESSIVE SPENDING AND HUGE DEFICITS
OVER A PERIOD OF EIGHT CONSECUTIVE YEARS.
INTEREST RATES HAVE RISEN TO THE HIGHEST
POINT IN A HUNDRED YEARS, ADDING HEAVILY TO
MORTGAGE AND TIME PURCHASE COSTS AND EVEN PRE-
VENTING SOME AMERICANS FROM BUYING A HOME.
THE VALUE OF THE DOLLAR IN TERMS OF
PURCHASING POWER HAS DROPPED TO 87 CENTS SINCE
1960.
FOREIGNERS HAVE LOST CONFIDENCE IN THE
DOLLAR--PREFERRING GOLD--AND HAVE DRAINED THE
UNITED STATES OF MORE THAN $2.2 BILLION WORTH
OF GOLD SINCE LAST NOVEMBER TO BRING OUR OVERALL
GOLD STOCKS DOWN TO A LOW OF $10.4 BILLION.
THIS NATION HAS REMOVED ALL GOLD BACKING
-6-
FROM OUR CURRENCY--TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF
FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS PREFERRING GOLD TO DOLLARS--
SO THAT NOW WE TRULY DO HAVE PAPER MONEY.
WE CANNOT NOW SUDDENLY ERASE THE
TREMENDOUS SPURT IN FEDERAL SPENDING WHICH HAS
FUELED THE ENGINE OF INFLATION FOR, THE LAST
at current nates is propelling
SEVERAL YEARS AND EVEN_NOW PROPELS OUR ECONOMY
DOWN THE ROAD TOWARD DESTRUCTION. BST. WE CAN
AND MUST APPLY THE BRAKES. A NATION, LIKE A
FAMILY, MUST LIVE CLOSE TO ITS MEANS. WE MUST
BEGIN MOVING TOWARD A BALANCED BUDGET.
WE MUST MOVE THIS NATION AHEAD TOWARD
DESIRABLE SOCIAL GOALS--BUT WE MUST BE EVER
MINDFUL THAT ATTEMPTS AT TOTAL GOVERNMENT
SOLUTIONS HAVE FAILED DESPITE THE HUGE SUMS
OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS TOSSED AT OUR PROBLEMS.
IT IS NOT PROGRESS WHEN THE ECONOMY OF THE RICH-
EST NATION IN THE WORLD FALLS ILL BECAUSE THE
MEN WHO MAKE ECONOMIC POLICY IN WASHINGTON LOSE
CONTROL OF FEDERAL SPENDING. THAT WAY LIES
ABRARY
DISASTER.
-7-
the
I URGE THEN, THAT TIIIS CONGRESS SET FOR
a responsible of nesponsive financial plan asa
ITSELF A BALANCED BUDGE AS A LONGTERM GOAL.
WE MUST KEEP UPPERMOST IN OUR MINDS THAT IF
AMERICANS ARE TO ENJOY PERSONAL SECURITY AND
AMERICA IS TO MAKE REAL PROGRESS, WE MUST
RESTORE STABLE PURCHASING POWER TO THE DOLLAR.
HOW MANY AMERICANS FULLY REALIZE THAT IN
A SINGLE YEAR--THE 12-MONTH PERIOD WHICH WILL
END THIS JUNE 30--THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL
HAVE PAID OUT MORE THAN $180 BILLION?
HOW MANY AMERICANS KNOW THAT FEDERAL
SPENDING HAS JUMPED MORE THAN $80 BILLION IN
JUST THE LAST SEVEN YEARS--A RISE OF MORE THAN
80 PER CENT?
HOW MANY AMERICANS KNOW THAT THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT'S OUTLAY OF CASH FOR NON-MILITARY
FUNCTIONS HAS GONE UP $51 BILLION IN THOSE
SEVEN YEARS WHILE DEFENSE SPENDING, INCLUDING
THE COST OF THE VIETNAM WAR, ROSE ONLY $30
FORD
BILLION?
-8-
HOW MANY OF OUR PEOPLE REALIZE THAT THE
LAST TIME THE FEDERAL BUDGET WAS BALANCED WAS
IN 1960--AND THAT THERE HAVE BEEN ONLY SEVEN
BALANCED BUDGETS IN THE LAST 38 YEARS:
WHEN THE WORLD LOOKS AT THE UNITED STATES
IT SEES A NATION WITH ITS BOOKS CONSTANTLY OUT
OF BALANCE AND ITS ACCOUNTS WITH OTHER NATIONS
RUNNING DEEPLY INTO DEFICIT YEAR AFTER YEAR
AFTER YEAR.
WE ARE OVERCOMMITTED AND OVEREXTENDED
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. WE MUST
ALTER THAT
THE TREND. WE MUST REVISE OUR COMMIT-
MENTS WHILE CONTINUING TO FULFILL OUR ESSENTIAL
ROLE OF WORLD LEADERSHIP.
EVEN A NATION AS RICH AND POWERFUL AS
THE UNITED STATES CANNOT OVERSPEND INDEFINITELY
WITHOUT INVITING DISASTER.
IN LOOKING AT OUR OVERSEAS COMMITMENTS,
WE MUST EXAMINE NOT ONLY OUR POSITION IN ERALD VIETNAM
BUT ALL OVER THE GLOBE. BESIDES THE 550,000
BRARY
-9-
U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL POSITIONED IN THE SOUTH-
EAST ASIA BATTLE ZONE, WE HAVE 217,000 MEN
ELSEWHERE IN THE FAR EAST, 352,000 IN EUROPE
AND THE MEDITERRANEAN, 23,000 IN THE CARIBBEAN
AND 400,000 ELSEWHERE ABROAD INCLUDING THOSE
IN OUR NAVAL FLEETS.
WE HAVE BEEN PLAGUED BY CONTINUING
UNCERTAINTY AS TO HOW TO USE THE MASSIVE POWER
AT OUR DISPOSAL. WE MUST RESOLVE THIS BASIC
POLICY QUESTION IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF OUR
NATION. AND WE MUST PERSUADE THE AMERI CAN
PEOPLE THAT THE UNITED STATES is, INDEED, A
PACIFIC NATION ALTHOUGH ASIA SEEMS VERY REMOTE
had in the late 1930s. Curpl, wen with Hitter's outrages, seemed beyond
FROM US. 2t Rs much the same problem our national leaders
PARTICULARLY NOW WHEN OUR OVERSEAS Mr interest
COMMITMENTS ARE A GIANT FACTOR IN OUR CONTINU-
ING BALANCE OF PAYMENTS DEFICIT--A MASSIVELY
LARGER OUTFLOW OF DOLLARS EACH YEAR FROM THIS
COUNTRY THAN THE INLOW--WE MUST PARE OVERSEAS
SPENDING TO THE BAREST POSSIBLE MINIMUM.
WE
LIBRARY
-10-
MUST INSIST UPON REFORMS IN EXCHANGE FOR OUR
FOREIGN AID. AND WE MUST CREATE AND EXPAND AID
ARRANGEMENTS WHEREBY MANY NATIONS IN A GIVEN
REGION POOL THEIR LENDING RESOURCES INSTEAD OF
MAKING DEMANDS UPON THE UNITED STATES ALONE.
THE STAKES IN VIETNAM GO FAR BEYOND THAT
BATTLE AREA TO EMBRACE THE FUTURE OF MANY OTHER
PEOPLES AS WELL-ALL THOSE WHO ARE THREATENED
WITH EXTERNALLY-AIDED WARS OF LIBERATION.
VIETNAM IS A TEST OF WHETHER WE AS A PEOPLE HAVE
THE WISDOM, THE MATURITY AND THE PATIENCE TO
PURSUE A FAR-REACHING OBJECTIVE AND TO AVOID
OVER-SIMPLIFIED SOLUTIONS.
AMONG OUR FIGHTING MEN IN VIETNAM ARE
THOUSANDS OF NEGROES. CASUALTIES AMONG OUR
OF NEGROES TO WHITES
NEGRO GI'S ARE GREATER THAN THE RATIONIN THE
POPULATION OF THIS COUNTRY.
IN THE GHETTOES OF OUR GREAT CITIES,
UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG YOUNG NEGRO MALES AVERAGES
ABOUT 30 PER CENT WHILE THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
-11-
NATIONWIDE HOVERS NEAR THE 4 PER CENT MARK.
LAST YEAR LARGE-SCALE RIOTS SCARRED THE
FACE OF AMERICA. RACIAL EXPLOSIONS ERUPTED IN
JUST LAST WEEK, RIOTING BROKE OUT IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.
SOME 120 CITIES./ WE HAVE WITNESSED GROWING
HOSTILITY BETWEEN THE RACES, AND A BREAKDOWN OF
LAW AND ORDER WHICH HAS MADE NEARLY EVERY MAJOR
AMERICAN CITY THE SEEDBED FOR RACIAL RIOT AND
A POTENTIAL WAR BETWEEN THE RACES.
IT DOESN'T HELP TO SAY THAT RIOTS ARE
UNAVOIDABLE IN THE SUMMER OF 1968. IT DOESN'T
HELP FOR NEGROES AND WHITES ALIKE TO BUY GUNS
BECAUSE "THEY MIGHT COME IN HERE." DOES THIS
SOLVE ANYTHING?
THE PROBLEM IS MOST COMPLEX. BASICALLY
IT IS ONE OF FOOLISH HOSTILITY AND OF MISERABLE
LIVING CONDITIONS FOR WHICH THERE IS REALLY NO
EXCUSE.
AS FOR THE HOSTILITY, I KNOW THIS. THERE
IS NO HOSTILITY BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE CHILDREN
UNTIL IT IS TAUGHT TO THEM BY THEIR PARENTS OR
FRIENDS.
danted The seeds 1 l'itterness
While Racrots & those who have-planding and negro poor have
Interally stolen from
AM SURE, TOO, THAT MUCH OF THE PRESENT
HOSTILITY HAS BEEN STIMULATED BY BLACK MILITANTS
WHO HAVE BEEN PREACHING VIOLENCE SEPARATISM.
rightly or wrongly,
AND BLOODY REVOLUTION. THIS,
HAS
DAMAGED THE CAUSE OF CIVIL RIGHTS.
WITHOUT REGARD FOR THE BLACK MILITANTS
AND SIMPLY FOR THE GOOD OF THE NATION, WE MUST
GET ABOUT A TASK TOO LONG NEGLECTED--THE
REBUILDING OF OUR CITIES.
TO REBUILD OUR CITIES, WE MUST BUILD
THE PEOPLE OF OUR CENTRAL CITIES BY HELPING
THEM TO HELP THEMSELVES AND TO LIVE BETTER
LIVES FROM A SENSE OF PERSONAL PRIDE.
THE AREAS OF NEED ARE WELL KNOWN. WE
MUST MOVE VIGOROUSLY TO FILL THE DEEP GAPS IN
EMPLOYMENT, HOUSING AND EDUCATION THAT MAKE
DISADVANTAGED AREAS OF OUR CENTRAL CITIES. THE
FIRST PRIORITY IS JOBS.
URGE THAT THE
I ASK THIS MODEL CONGRESS CONSIDER
THE WISDOM OF PROVIDING INDUSTRY WITH TAX
-13-
CREDITS TO STIMULATE A NATIONWIDE PROGRAM OF
ON-THE-JOB TRAINING FOR GHETTO YOUTHS AND TO
GET INDUSTRY TO BUILD INDUSTRIAL PLANTS IN THE
CENTRAL CITIES. COUPLED WITH THIS I SEE A
PLAN TO ENGAGE INDUSTRY IN A MASSIVE,
GOVERNMENT-UNDERWRITTEN PROGRAM TO PROVIDE
PRIVATE HOUSING FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES AND
GIVE THEM THE TREMENDOUS PERSONAL PRIDE THAT
GOES WITH HOME OWNERSHIP. THIS WOULD HELP TO
KEEP FAMILIES TOGETHER AND THUS STRENGTHEN THE
ENTIRE FABRIC OF OUR SOCIETY.
WE NEED NOT ONLY A NEW SET OF NATIONAL
SPENDING PRIORITIES BUT AN ENTIRELY NEW
APPROACH TO AMERICA'S SOCIAL PROBLEMS--AN
APPROACH WHICH DEPARTS FROM TOTAL GOVERNMENT
SOLUTIONS TO BRING BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY INTO
A LEADERSHIP ROLE IN PROBLEM--SOLVING_ALONG
WITH GOVERNMENT AT ALL LEVELS.
Tigury
AND WE MUST CULTIVATE A NEW MEASURE OF
GERAL
LIBRARY
UNDERSTANDING AMONG OUR PEOPLE-THE FULL
-14-
REALIZATION THAT, AS ONE OF OUR GREATEST
PRESIDENTS EXPRESSED IT, A NATION DIVIDED
AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND.
SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE FOUND MY COMMENTS
TODAY RATHER HEAVY GOING. I COULD HAVE TALKED
WITH YOU ABOUT SCHOOL, THE PROBLEMS OF DATING
AND EARLY MARRIAGE, CAREERS AND JOB PROSPECTS.
BUT I HAVE FOUND THAT THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF
AMERICA WANT TO THINK--AND THEY WANT TO THINK
FOR THEMSELVES. IN FACT, THEY THEY FEEL THAT THE
ADULT INFLUENCE IS DAMAGING TO TEENAGERS.
I DON'T T BELIEVE ADULTS INTERFERE WITH
THE ABILITY OF TEENAGERS TO THINK FOR THEM-
2 haven't noticed that in her family
SELVES., YOU DO PLENTY OF THAT, FROM MY
OBSERVATIONS, AND THAT IS WHY I HAVE NOT
HESITATED TO TALK WITH YOU ABOUT VIETNAM,
INFLATION, THE GOLD DRAIN, AMERICAN COMMITMENTS
ABROAD, RACE RELATIONS AND THE BROADER PROBLEMS
OF THE CITIES. YOU ARE FULLY COMPETENT TO EXAMINE THE SE AND OTHER PROBLEMS
THAT FACE AMERICA IN 1968
YOU WOULD NOT BE
PRESENT HERE
AND YOU CAN HELP TO CURE
-15-
THE SICKNESS THAT INFECTS AMERICA TODAY IF YOU
WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT EVERY OTHER AMERICAN
WANTS TO BE LOVED AND RESPECTED.
I COULD LIST MANY MORE PROBLEMS FOR YOUR
STUDY THAN I ALREADY HAVE BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THEY
Take Eric & Tobe Michy
ARE--AIR AND WATER POLLUTION CRIME THAT HAS
GONE UP 83 PER CENT IN THE PAST SEVEN YEARS
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IN THE SUBURBS, DISHONESTY
IN HIGH PLACES, DRUG ADDICTION, FAMILY BREAKDOWN
PERSONAL RRESPONSIBILITY IN ALL ITS FORMS.
YOU KNOW THE PROBLEMS. NOW BRING YOUR
THINK-POWER TO BEAR ON THEM.
INSERT
THE WAY FOR AMERICA TO SOLVE ITS
PROBLEMS IS TO GET ALL AMERICANS INVOLVED IN
SOLVING THEM TO TAP THE GREAT WELL OF
COMMITMENT AND IDEALISM THAT IS JUST WAITING TO
BE DRAWN UPON.
WINSTON CHURCHILL ONCE SAID, "GIVE US
THE TOOLS, AND WE WILL FINISH THE JOB."
YOU HAVE THE TOOLS TO DO THE JOB--YOU
-16-
AND OTHER AMERICANS WHO ARE WILLING AND EAGER
TO GET INVOLVED.
YOU HAVE THE TALENT. YOU HAVE THE
BRAINS. GIVE OF YOURSELF TO AMERICA.
WITH YOUNG PEOPLE LIKE YOU, WE CANNOT
FAIL.
-END-
FORD VIDRARY
M Copy
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE IN FRIDAY PM's--
March 22, 1968
An Address by Rep. Gerald R. Ford before the Model Congress sponsored by
American International College, Springfield, Mass., at 10 a.m. Friday.
Mr. Chairman and members of this Model Congress:
We are met in a time of grave crisis for America. We are met at a time
when our Nation is beset with agonizing problems both at home and abroad. We
are met at a time which demands the best that is in all Americans.
The challenge which confronts us is in reality three crises joined in one.
There is the crisis of Vietnam and the overall issue of war and peace not
only for our time but for generations to come.
There is the crisis created by polarization of the races into two warring
camps, the threat of a second civil war.
There is the crisis that undermines our economic well-being as inflation
erodes the value of the dollar at home and abroad.
This Model Congress--any Congress which purports to speak for the people and
to seek the great national objectives of peace, justice, prosperity and human
dignity for all--must wrestle with and seek to develop solutions to the problems
generated by these crises.
We must take a fresh look at Vietnam, where we are involved in the third
largest foreign war in our history--a massive land war to which our commander-
in-chief has committed more than 525,000 U.S. military personnel, a conflict
which has already taken the lives of more than 23,000 Americans due to enemy
action and other causes, a war which is devouring American wealth at a rate of
more than $32 billion a year.
Examine our policies in Vietnam. Ask yourselves whether our commander-in-
chief has pursued the proper course in this war. What have the results been in
this limited war for limited objectives? What are those objectives and what,
properly, should they be in the light of America's world mission? What, indeed,
is America's mission in the world? Having defined her world role, how best can
we carry it out?
Americans have always wanted to live in peace from the birth of this
Nation in that cradle of democracy fashioned by the men of Massachusetts and
(more)
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
-2-
New York and the other original colonies to the present time.
Unfortunately, there is an alien breed of men in the world today who care
nothing about individual human rights and who are disturbed not a bit at blotting
out thousands of lives if they can only seize the reins of power in Southeast
Asia and elsewhere in the world.
Americans have learned that there are times when they must make war if peace
is to be worth having that they must make war if freedom is to live. And so
they have fought at Concord, at Bunker Hill, in the fields of France, on the
beaches of Normandy and the islands in the Pacific, and now in the rice paddies
of South Vietnam.
Today we talk not only of freedom but of the balance of power in a world
where the communist nations constantly use war or threats of war to further their
designs. It is an exceedingly complex world, and Southeast Asia is perhaps the
most complex part of it. Your task is to examine our commitment there and to
assess our options in the light of current developments and our prospects for
the future.
Our economy is in crisis. The staggering cost of the Vietnam War is only
one of the factors.
The cost of living is moving steadily upward, destroying the hopes of the
American worker for economic progress by eating up his wage gains and eroding
his savings.
Federal finances are out of control, the result of excessive spending and
huge deficits over a period of eight consecutive years.
Interest rates have risen to the highest point in a hundred years, adding
heavily to mortgage and time purchase costs and even preventing some Americans
from buying a home.
The value of the dollar in terms of purchasing power has dropped to 87 cents
since 1960.
Foreigners have lost confidence in the dollar--preferring gold--and have
drained the United States of more than $2.2 billion worth of gold since last
November to bring our overall gold stocks down to a low of $10.4 billion.
This Nation has removed all gold backing from our currency--to meet the
demands of foreign governments preferring gold to dollars--so that now we truly
do have paper money.
We cannot now suddenly erase the tremendous spurt in federal spending which
has fueled the engine of inflation for the last several years and even now
(more)
-3-
propels our economy down the road toward destruction. But we can and must apply
the brakes. A nation, like a family, must live close to its means. We must
begin moving toward a balanced budget.
We must move this Nation ahead toward desirable social goals--but we must
be ever mindful that attempts at total government solutions have failed despite
the huge sums of taxpayer dollars tossed at our problems. It is not progress
when the economy of the richest nation in the world falls ill because the men
who make economic policy in Washington lose control of federal spending. That
way lies disaster.
I urge, then, that this Congress set for itself a balanced budget as a long-
term goal. We must keep uppermost in our minds that if Americans are to enjoy
personal security and America is to make real progress, we must restore stable
purchasing power to the dollar.
How many Americans fully realize that in a single year--the 12-month period
which will end this June 30--the Federal Government will have paid out more
than $180 billion?
How many Americans know that the Federal Government's outlay of cash for
non-military functions has gone up $51 billion in those seven years while defense
spending, including the cost of the Vietnam War, rose only $30 billion?
How many of our people realize that the last time the Federal budget was
balanced was in 1960--and that there have been only seven balanced budgets in
the last 38 years?
When the world looks at the United States it sees a nation with its books
constantly out of balance and its accounts with other nations running deeply into
deficit year after year after year.
We are overcommitted and overextended at home and throughout the world. We
must reverse the trend. We must revise our commitments while continuing to
fulfill our essential role of world leadership.
Even a nation as rich and powerful as the United States cannot overspend
indefinitely without inviting disaster.
In looking at our overseas commitments, we must examine not only our position
in Vietnam but all over the globe. Besides the 550,000 U.S. military personnel
positioned in the Southeast Asia battle zone, we have 217,000 men elsewhere in
the Far East, 352,000 in Europe and the Mediterranean, 23,000 in the Caribbean
and 400,000 elsewhere abroad including those in our naval fleets.
We have been plagued by continuing uncertainty as to how to use the massive
(more)
-4-
power at our disposal. We must resolve this basic policy question in the best
interests of our Nation. And we must persuade the American people that the
United States is, indeed, a Pacific nation although Asia seems very remote from us.
Particularly now when our overseas commitments are a giant factor in our
continuing balance of payments deficit--a massively larger outflow of dollars
each year from this country than the inflow--we must pare overseas spending to the
barest possible minimum. We must insist upon reforms in exchange for our foreign
aid, and we must create and expand aid arrangements whereby many nations in a
given region pool their lending resources instead of making demands upon the
United States alone.
The stakes in Vietnam go far beyond that battle area to embrace the future
of many other peoples as well--all those who are threatened with externally-aided
wars of liberation. Vietnam is a test of whether we as a people have the wisdom,
the maturity and the patience to pursue a far-reaching objective and to avoid
over-simplified solutions.
Among our fighting men in Vietnam are thousands of Negroes. Casualties
among our Negro GI's are greater than their ratio in the population of this
country.
In the ghettoes of our great cities, unemployment among young Negro males
averages about 30 per cent while the unemployment rate nationwide hovers near
the 4 per cent mark.
Last year large-scale riots scarred the face of America. Racial explosions
erupted in some 120 cities. We have witnessed growing hostility between the
races, and a breakdown of law and order which has made nearly every major
American city the seedbed for racial riot and a potential war between the races.
It doesn't help to say that riots are unavoidable in the summer of 1968. It
doesn't help for Negroes and whites alike to buy guns because "THEY might come
in here." Does this solve anything?
The problem is most complex. Basically it is one of foolish hostility and of
miserable living conditions for which there is really no excuse.
As for the hostility, I know this. There is no hostility between black and
white children until it is taught to them by their parents or friends.
I am sure, too, that much of the present hostility has been stimula ted by
black militants who have been preaching violence, separatism, and bloody revolution.
This, I believe, has damaged the cause of civil rights.
Without regard for the black militants and simply for the good of the Nation,
-5-
we must get about a task too long neglected--the rebuilding of our cities.
To rebuild our cities, we mus t build the people of our central cities by
helping them to help themselves and to live better lives from a sense of personal
pride.
The areas of need are well known. We must move vigorously to fill the deep
gaps in employment, housing and education that make disadvantaged areas of our
central cities. The first priority is jobs.
I ask this Model Congress to consider the wisdom of providing industry with
tax credits to stimulate a nationwide program of on-the-job training for ghetto
youths and to get industry to build industria 1 plants in the central cities.
Coupled with this I see a plan to engage industry in a massive, government-
underwritten program to provide private housing for low-income families and give
them the tremendous personal pride that goes with home ownership. This would help
to keep families together and thus strengthen the entire fabirc of our society.
We need not only a new set of national spending priorities but an entirely
new approach to America's social problems--an approach which departs from total
government solutions to bring business and industry into a leadership role in
problem-solving along with government at all levels.
And we must cultivate a new measure of understanding among our people--the
full realization that, as one of our greatest Presidents expressed it, a Nation
divided against itself cannot stand.
Some of you may have found my comments today rather heavy going. I could
have talked with you about school, the problems of dating and early marriage,
careers and job prospects. But I have found that the young people of America
want to think--and they want to think for themselves. In fact, they feel that
the adult influence is damaging to teenagers.
I don't believe adults interfere with the ability of teenagers to think for
themselves. You do plenty of that, from my observations. And that is why I
have not hesitated to talk with you about Vietnam, inflation, the gold drain,
American commitments abroad, race relations and the broader problems of the
cities.
You are fully competent to examine these and other problems that face
America in 1968 or you would not be present here today. And you can help to
cure the sickness that infects America today if you will always remember that
every other American wants to be loved and respected.
I could list many more problems for your study than I already have but you
(more)
-6-
know what they are--air and water pollution, crime that has gone up 83 per cent
in the past seven years, juvenile deliquency in the suburbs, dishonesty in high
places, drug addiction, family breakdown, personal irresponsibility in all its
forms.
You know the problems. Now bring your think-power to bear on them.
The way for America to solve its problems is to get all Americans involved
in solving them, to tap the great well of commitment and idealism that is just
waiting to be drawn upon.
Winston Churchill once said: "Give us the tools, and we will finish the
job."
You have the tools to do the job--you and other Americans who are willing
and eager to get involved.
You have the talent. You have the brains. Give of yourself to America.
With young people like you, we cannot fail.
# # #
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE IN FRIDAY PM's--
March 22, 1968
An Address by Rep. Gerald R. Ford before the Model Congress sponsored by
American International College, Springfield, Mass., at 10 a.m. Friday.
Mr. Chairman and members of this Model Congress:
We are met in a time of grave crisis for America. We are met at a time
when our Nation is beset with agonizing problems both at home and abroad We
are met at a time which demands the best that is in all Americans.
The challenge which confronts us is in reality three crises joined in one.
There is the crisis of Vietnam and the overall issue of war and peace not
only for our time but for generations to come.
There is the crisis created by polarization of the races into two warring
camps, the threat of a second civil war.
There is the crisis that undermines our economic well-being as inflation
erodes the value of the dollar at home and abroad.
This Model Congress--any Congress which purports to speak for the people and
to seek the great national objectives of peace, justice, prosperity and human
dignity for all--must wrestle with and seek to develop solutions to the problems
generated by these crises.
We must take a fresh look at Vietnam, where we are involved in the third
largest foreign war in our history--a massive land war to which our commander-
in-chief has committed more than 525,000 U.S. military personnel, a conflict
which has already taken the lives of more than 23,000 Americans due to enemy
action and other causes, a wat which is devouring American wealth at a rate of
more than $32 billion a year.
Examine our policies in Vietnam, Ask yourselves whether our commander-in-
chief has pursued the proper course in this war. What have the results been in
this limited war for limited objectives? What are those objectives and what,
properly, should they be in the light of America's world mission? What, indeed,
is America's mission in the world? Having defined her world role, how best can
we carry it out?
Americans have always wanted to live in peace...from the birth of this
Nation in that cradle of democracy fashioned by the men of Massachusetts and
(more)
FORD is LIBRARY GERALD
-2-
New York and the other original colonies to the present time.
Unfortunately, there is an alien breed of men in the world today who care
nothing about individual human rights and who are disturbed not a bit at blotting
out thousands of lives if they can only seize the reins of power in Southeast
Asia and elsewhere in the world.
Americans have learned that there are times when they must make war if peace
is to be worth having that they must make war if freedom is to live. And so
they have fought--at Concord, at Bunker Hill, in the fields of France, on the
beaches of Normandy and the islands in the Pacific, and now in the rice paddies
of South Vietnam.
Today we talk not only of freedom but of the balance of power in a world
where the communist nations constantly use war or threats of war to further their
designs. It is an exceedingly complex world, and Southeast Asia is perhaps the
most complex part of it. Your task is to examine our commitment there and to
assess our options in the light of current developments and our prospects for
the future.
Our economy is in crisis. The staggering cost of the Vietnam War is only
one of the factors.
The cost of living is moving steadily upward, destroying the hopes of the
American worker for economic progress by eating up his wage gains and eroding
his savings.
Federal finances are out of control, the result of excessive spending and
huge deficits over a period of eight consecutive years.
Interest rates have risen to the highest point in a hundred years, adding
heavily to mortgage and time purchase costs and even preventing some Americans
from buying a home.
The value of the dollar in terms of purchasing power has dropped to 87 cents
since 1960.
Foreigners have lost confidence in the dollar--preferring gold--and have
drained the United States of more than $2.2 billion worth of gold since last
November to bring our overall gold stocks down to a low of $10.4 billion.
This Nation has removed all gold backing from our currency--to meet the
demands of foreign governments preferring gold to dollars--so that now we truly
do have paper money.
We cannot now suddenly erase the tremendous spurt in federal spending which
has fueled the engine of inflation for the last several years and even now
(more)
-3-
propels our economy down the road toward destruction. But we can and must apply
the brakes. A nation, like a family, must live close to its means. We must
begin moving toward a balanced budget.
We must move this Nation ahead toward desirable social goals--but we must
be ever mindful that attempts at total government solutions have failed despite
the huge sums of taxpayer dollars tossed at our problems. It is not progress
when the economy of the richest nation in the world falls ill because the men
who make economic policy in Washington lose control of federal spending. That
way lies disaster.
I urge, then, that this Congress set for itself a balanced budget as a long-
term goal. We must keep uppermost in our minds that if Americans are to enjoy
personal security and America is to make real progress, we must restore stable
purchasing power to the dollar.
How many Americans fully realize that in a single year--the 12-month period
which will end this June 30--the Federal Government will have paid out more
than $180 billion?
How many Americans know that the Federal Government's outlay of cash for
non-military functions has gone up $51 billion in those seven years while defense
spending, including the cost of the Vietnam War, rose only $30 billion?
How many of our people realize that the last time the Federal budget was
balanced was in 1960--and that there have been only seven balanced budgets in
the last 38 years?
When the world looks at the United States it sees a nation with its books
constantly out of balance and its accounts with other nations running deeply into
deficit year after year after year.
We are overcommitted and overextended at home and throughout the world. We
must reverse the trend. We must revise our commitments while continuing to
fulfill our essential role of world leadership.
Even a nation as rich and powerful as the United States cannot overspend
indefinitely without inviting disaster.
In looking at our overseas commitments, we must examine not only our position
in Vietnam but all over the globe. Besides the 550,000 U.S. military personnel
positioned in the Southeast Asia battle zone, we have 217,000 men elsewhere in
the Far East, 352,000 in Europe and the Mediterranean, 23,000 in the Caribbean
and 400,000 elsewhere abroad including those in our naval fleets.
We have been plagued by continuing uncertainty as to how to use the massive
(more)
-4-
power at our disposal. We must resolve this basic policy question in the best
interests of our Nation. And we must persuade the American people that the
United States is, indeed, a Pacific nation although Asia seems very remote from us.
Particularly now when our overseas commitments are a giant factor in our
continuing balance of payments deficit--a massively larger outflow of dollars
each year from this country than the inflow--we must pare overseas spending to the
barest possible minimum. We must insist upon reforms in exchange for our foreign
aid, and we must create and expand aid arrangements whereby many nations in a
given region pool their lending resources instead of making demands upon the
United States alone.
The stakes in Vietnam go far beyond that battle area to embrace the future
of many other peoples as well--all those who are threatened with externally-aided
wars of liberation. Vietnam is a test of whether we as a people have the wisdom,
the maturity and the patience to pursue a far-reaching objective and to avoid
over-simplified solutions.
Among our fighting men in Vietnam are thousands of Negroes. Casualties
among our Negro GI's are greater than their ratio in the population of this
country.
In the ghettoes of our great cities, unemployment among young Negro males
averages about 30 per cent while the unemployment rate nationwide hovers near
the 4 per cent mark.
Last year large-scale riots scarred the face of America. Racial explosions
erupted in some 120 cities. We have witnessed growing hostility between the
races, and a breakdown of law and order which has made nearly every major
American city the seedbed for racial riot and a potential war between the races.
It doesn't help to say that riots are unavoidable in the summer of 1968. It
doesn't help for Negroes and whites alike to buy guns because "THEY might come
in here." Does this solve anything?
The problem is most complex. Basically it is one of foolish hostility and of
miserable living conditions for which there is really no excuse.
As for the hostility, I know this. There is no hostility between black and
white children until it is taught to them by their parents or friends.
I am sure, too, that much of the present hostility has been stimula ted by
black militants who have been preaching violence, separatism, and bloody revolution.
This, I believe, has damaged the cause of civil rights.
Without regard for the black militants and simply for the good of the Nation,
-5-
we must get about a task too long neglected--the rebuilding of our cities.
To rebuild our cities, we mus t build the people of our central cities by
helping them to help themselves and to live better lives from a sense of personal
pride.
The areas of need are well known. We must move vigorously to fill the deep
gaps in employment, housing and education that make disadvantaged areas of our
central cities. The first priority is jobs.
I ask this Model Congress to consider the wisdom of providing industry with
tax credits to stimulate a nationwide program of on-the-job training for ghetto
youths and to get industry to build industria 1 plants in the central cities.
Coupled with this I see a plan to engage industry in a massive, government-
underwritten program to provide private housing fcr low-income families and give
them the tremendous personal pride that goes with home ownership. This would help
to keep families together and thus strengthen the entire fabirc of our society.
We need not only a new set of national spending priorities but an entirely
new approach to America's social problems--an approach which departs from total
government solutions to bring business and industry into a leadership role in
problem-solving along with government at all levels.
And we must cultivate a new measure of understanding among our people--the
full realization that, as one of our greatest Presidents expressed it, a Nation
divided against itself cannot stand.
Some of you may have found my comments today rather heavy going. I could
have talked with you about school, the problems of dating and early marriage,
careers and job prospects. But I have found that the young people of America
want to think--and they want to think for themselves. In fact, they feel that
the adult influence is damaging to teenagers.
I don't believe adults interfere with the ability of teenagers to think for
themselves. You do plenty of that, from my observations. And that is why I
have not hesitated to talk with you about Vietnam, inflation, the gold drain,
American commitments abroad, race relations and the broader problems of the
cities.
You are fully competent to examine these and other problems that face
America in 1968 or you would not be present here today. And you can help to
cure the sickness that infects America today if you will always remember that
every other American wants to be loved and respected.
I could list many more problems for your study than I already have but you
(more)
-6-
know what they are--air and water pollution, crime that has gone up 83 per cent
in the past seven years, juvenile deliquency in the suburbs, dishonesty in high
places, drug addiction, family breakdown, personal irresponsibility in all its
forms.
You know the problems. Now bring your think-power to bear on them.
The way for America to solve its problems is to get all Americans involved
in solving them, to tap the great well of commitment and idealism that is just
waiting to be drawn upon.
Winston Churchill once said: "Give us the tools, and we will finish the
job."
You have the tools to do the job--you and other Americans who are willing
and eager to get involved.
You have the talent. You have the brains. Give of yourself to America.
With young people like you, we cannot fail.
# # #