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Press Secretary Briefings, 4/22/76
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Press Secretary Briefings, 4/22/76
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This file contains materials relating to Vernon Walters.
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Ron Nessen Files (Ford Administration)
Ron Nessen's Press Briefing Transcripts
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White House (Washington, D.C.)
Federal Election Commission. Office of the Staff Directory. Office of the Commission Secretary. 1975-ca. 2005
Arms control
Legislation
Political reform
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1976-04-22
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1976
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22
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1976-04-22
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4
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1976
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Digitized from Box 18 of the Ron Nessen Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
This Copy For
NEWS CONFERENCE
#484
AT THE WHITE HOUSE
WITH RON NESSEN
AT 12:09 P.M. EST
APRIL 22, 1976
THURSDAY
MR. NESSEN: The bibles are ready for the trip
and will be handed out right after this briefing.
The Butler University speech for tonight is
being typed. It has not been finally approved by the
President so it is still questionable whether we are going
to have it or not.
Also, if you don't get the Butler speech in
advance --
Q Don't sweat it.
MR. NESSEN: -- don't sweat it. (Laughter)
Q
It is the start of a Q & A?
MR. NESSEN: Yes, it is a brief opening remarks.
Now I don't think the schedule showed an NSC
meeting this morning, did it?
Q
Yes.
MR. NESSEN: Well, the odd thing is that some news
reporters asked the President what the NSC meeting was
all about, and he told them, which is highly unusual. It
has to do with the study that is going on on the strength
of the American Navy and that is about all I can tell you
about. it, and that is all the President said, too.
The interview that the President is doing today
is with a number of radio stations from Texas.
Q Such as?
MR. NESSEN: Stations like KTRH, which wrote in
on April 8 asking for an interview; and KEY, which wrote in
on April 2 and asked for an interview; KJET, which wrote in
on March 31; KRTV --
Q What exactly do these letters say?
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MR. NESSEN: Well, their letter says, for instance,
they understand the President is coming to Texas -- this
is KTRH. They understand the President is coming to Texas
in connection with the primary campaign. "We are hopeful
his schedule will permit an appearance on KTRH's Talk of
Houston.' Several Presidential candidates have already
appeared on this program or have committed themselves to
an appearance. Your advice or assistance in arranging an
interview would be sincerely appreciated."
That was a follow-up letter to one they wrote on
February 23 saying that they would like KTRH to be considered
in any plans to invite Texas reporters to the White House,
as was done for the New Hampshire local stations.
This interview is going to be filed immediately
by the people who are doing it so the transcript will be
available as fast as the transcribers can do it. Now that
should be before you have to leave for the airport. If not,
it will be taken on the press plane and handed out there. I
think there are some interesting items in it that you will
probably want to look at.
Q
Like what, Ron?
MR. NESSEN: Primarily, you know, the major issues
of the day.
Q
Such as?
MR. NESSEN: I think the President is asked in
there a number of questions about America's defenses and
so forth.
Q
Was he asked, Ron, why Don Rumsfeld had not
agreed this morning that the United States was number one?
He kept saying again there was a rough equivalent.
MR. NESSEN: I didn't hear all of Don, but I did
hear the part where Don said that this issue is too complex
to be summed up by people using oversimplified expressions
such as those to try to encompass an enormously complex
subject. I heard that much of Don.
Q
We are number one and are going to stay that
way?
MR. NESSEN: We are what?
Q
That we are the most powerful nation in the
world and are going to stay that way.
MR. NESSEN: Certainly that is true.
Q
Is that the oversimplification? (Laughter)
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MR. NESSEN: Let me get back on the track here.
What are we talking about now?
All right, after this interview the President
is going to visit briefly with Ambassador Albert B. Fay,
who is the American Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago.
Q
Where is he from, Ron?
MR. NESSEN: He is a Houston businessman. (Laughter)
Q
Is he a registered Republican?
MR. NESSEN: He may be.
However, the briefing paper which is prepared
by the NSC indicates that this is a serious foreign policy
discussion with the Ambassador.
Q
Ron, how many members are appointed to the
Commission on the Executive Exchange by the President? They
come from States which have not had the primary? (Laughter)
MR. NESSEN: I don't even know who they are.
I didn't look at that thing.
Shortly, the President is going to accept an
award from the Big Brothers of America. It is actually
the Big Brothers of the Year Award, I believe. That can
be covered if you would like.
The Vernon Walters resignation, I understand
there have been some questions about it today since it was
not spelled out all that fully in the announcement.
Q
All that fully?
MR. NESSEN: What basically has transpired is
that when George Bush took over as CIA Director, which I
believe was January or February, Vernon Walters submitted --
well, let me go back one step. Vernon Walters was
scheduled to retire from the Army after 35 years service
last September. He was given an extension in order that he
could continue to serve during the transition period to
George Bush. When George came aboard, which was January
or February, Vernon Walters submitted his resignation and
said, you know, I am overdue to get out of the Army now
and I know you want to pick your own team, so George said,
no, I would like you to stay on at least until we get squared
away. So Vernon Walters had stayed on.
Now the new date of his retirement from the Army
is June 30. George has found a Deputy that needs to be
nominated now so that he can go through the Congressional
confirmation process and be confirmed before June 30, which
is the next retirement date of Vernon Walters from the Army.
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The letter of resignation that was submitted
by Vernon Walters in January and the President's responding
letter will be published shortly, but just to tell you,
the President does have very high regard and so does
George Bush for General Walters and they have a high regard
for the job he has done at the CIA and for his country,
and, in fact, Vernon Walters indicated that he would be
happy to continue to serve in whatever capacity the President
wanted him to, and that is being considered by the President.
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#484
- 5 -
#484 -4/22
Q
Ron, are you saying the President held that
letter of resignation from January until today?
MR. NESSEN: That is correct.
Q
Did he ever give any indication to Walters
whether it would be accepted or not?
MR. NESSEN: No. As I say, it was held because
originally George Bush said, "No, I don't want you to
leave now, I want you to stay," and during this transition
period and while George Bush was building his own team and
that has been done now.
Q
Well, Ron, was that letter given to Bush in
January or to the President?
MR. NESSEN: Well, my understanding is it was given
to Bush for transmittal to the President.
Q
So he never transmitted it to the President
until today?
MR. NESSEN: No. That is the normal process.
Q
That is what happened right?
MR. NESSEN: That is my understanding of what happened,
that is correct.
Q
When was the letter delivered to the
President?
MR. NESSEN: I don't know exactly.
Q This morning?
MR. NESSEN: No, no, certainly not. Before that.
Q Are you sure?
MR. NESSEN: Yes, I am sure.
Q
Will he be given a medal like Colby was?
MR. NESSEN: I don't know that, Bob.
Q
If so, will that be an open ceremony? (Laughter)
MR. NESSEN: All right. Let's work our way through
here now.
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#484 -4/22
Q
Ron, let me ask you about Walters'
successor. Does the President have strong feelings about
not putting a military man in that Deputy Director role?
MR. NESSEN: Does he have strong feelings about not
doing it?
Q Yes. He is putting a civilian into a job that
has, by tradition, been filled by a military man with some
exceptions, of course.
MR. NESSEN: Well, this is clearly the person
that George Bush wants for his deputy.
Q
So Bush is filling the job and the President
is submitting the nomination.
MR. NESSEN: No, Bush has recommended this
gentleman.
Q
Ron, what part in the appointment of Mr. Knoche
does, one, his experience in the day-to-day operations of the
agency play since he is going to be running the day-to-day
operations and, two, the morale factor within the agency
concerning a career diplomat.
MR. NESSEN: I am not that familiar with the back-
ground on this but Doug Bennett can help you further with
it.
Q
Ron, is there some reason why the President
didn't ask Walters to stay on even though he was getting
out of the Army?
MR. NESSEN: Well, as I say, his 35-year period
was up last September. It was extended once to June and he
had indicated his feeling that he wanted to retire.
Q
Could he not have stayed on on the job in a
civilian capacity?
MR. NESSEN: George Bush wanted to build his own
team and indicated that to Vernon Walters last January.
In fact, it really came more the other way, that Vernon
Walters said, "I know you want to put your own team here at
the CIA and so I am submitting my resignation," and George
urged him to stay on for a period.
Q
I am a little puzzled by your use of the term
"resignation" when I was just told by a CIA spokesman that
in fact it is the incorrect term, that he is retiring from
the Army and that no resignation is involved.
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- 7 -
484-4/22
MR. NESSEN: I have been trying to make that point
here this morning.
Q
Well, is he retiring from the Army or is he
resigning from the CIA? That is all I am asking.
MR. NESSEN: Both. But the retirement from the
Army is the sort of motivating force behind his resignation
from the CIA job, as I understand it.
Q
Could he not retire from the Army and remain
in that spot at the CIA?
MR. NESSEN: Technically he could, yes. That is
what I mentioned to Dick, but, you know, he recognizes and
did in January when he originally submitted his resignation
or announced his retirement that George Bush wants to build
his own team at the CIA.
All right. Now I think Frank Zarb has straightened
out the stories about whether the FEA is going out of business.
Does anybody have anything remaining on that?
Q
I have a question about something else Zarb
said yesterday.
MR. NESSEN: Yes?
Q
He said there is an increasingly great chance
of another Arab oil embargo. I just came from a press
conference with Zarb, and when he was asked, "Are you basing
this on any particular classified intelligence information
that you have as a member of the energy councils of
Government," he said, "Well, I do get reports from time to
time," but he was not any more specific.
MR. NESSEN: I don't know what specifically he
based that on other than perhaps the feeling of tensions in
the Middle East and so forth. I don't know of any specific
event that caused Frank to say that.
Q
Did you ever answer my question on the cruise
missile yesterday? Was the President making an announcement?
MR. NESSEN: I didn't get an answer to that, Valt.
I am sorry.
Q
There is a story coming out of State today
which differs somewhat with your version yesterday on the
status of SALT talks. The story coming out of State
suggests, as my question implied yesterday, that indeed the
SALT talks have been put on the back burner, or I think the
story was on ice for all this year, this being a political
year, and you said they were continuing.
MORE
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484-4/22
Now the State Department and the White House are
somewhat at odds then on that.
MR. NESSEN: My understanding of what the State
Department has said or will say is that the meetings within
this Government to review the latest Russian response are
continuing and that the SALT talks have not broken down,
there are several unresolved issues on which we are exchanging
views.
Q
Ron, would it be fair to say, though, that --
I think the gist of the State Department story that Jim raised
is that there is no expectation of reaching any agreement
this year.
MR. NESSEN: Well, I just really am not able to
prophesy what the course of events will be. The status is that
the Russians have sent a note in with their latest position,
we are reviewing it and will respond. There are some
unresolved issues.
Q
The President has said several times recently
that he would continue to pursue his policy on that --
continuing the negotiations, that is -- but that he could not
say when or if any agreement might come about.
Now is it possible for you to tell us, does
the President still expect to have an agreement this year?
Does he expect to have one at all?
MR. NESSEN: I cannot go beyond what he said, and
I don't want to try to forecast the outlook either, on SALT.
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#484-4/22
Q
Ron, has the President inquired of the Vice
President yet or will he do so this afternoon of what
he was referring to in the suggestion that there were
Communists or former Communists or leftward-leaning
unrevised --
MR. NESSEN: Well, the President is just not
aware of what the Vice President said to a group -- to
that group, whatever group it was -- if anything, along
these lines.
Q
Is he going to inquire?
MR. NESSEN: Now they do have their regular
weekly meeting scheduled this afternoon but it is a private
meeting and what they talk about or what they plan to talk
about I just you know, at the moment, the meeting has
not transpired yet so I don't know what they will talk about.
Q
Is there a security risk in Senator Jackson's
office?
MR. NESSEN: What?
Q
Is there some reason to think there is a
security risk in Jackson's office?
MR. NESSEN: Well, the President assumes that a
United States Senator has responsible people on his staff.
Q
Does he assume that the Vice President
makes the same assumption?
MR. NESSEN: I am speaking for the President only.
Q
So the President is not concerned by this --
this has not caused him any new worries?
MR. NESSEN: As I say, he is not aware of what
the Vice President said, if anything. I don't know whether
they will talk about it this afternoon. For his part, he
assumes that a U.S. Senator does have responsible people
on his staff.
Q
Does he believe that if such a remark was
made by the Vice President an apology should be made?
MR. NESSEN: Well, I don't want to deal with it
on that basis.
Q
In one fashion or another, it does reflect
on the Ford Administration, though, does it not? So wouldn't
they very likely discuss it this afternoon, Ron?
MR. NESSEN: Tom, I simply don't know. They
have not met yet.
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#484-4/22
Q
But the fact of the matter is, wouldn't
you say it is likely that they will discuss it?
MR. NESSEN: I cannot say whether it is likely
or not because they have not met and I don't know what
they are going to talk about.
Q
Did you ask the President about this this
morning?
MR. NESSEN: Well, obviously, I have some views
that I am relaying to you, Phil.
Q
Views on this?
Q
What are they?
MR. NESSEN: The President assumes that a United
States Senator has responsible people on his staff.
Q
Does the President have any view on whether
he will bring it up with Rockefeller this afternoon?
MR. NESSEN: Since the meeting has not taken place,
he does not know whether it will come up, either.
Q
He has a certain amount of control, I
would suspect. (Laughter)
MR. NESSEN: Maybe not.
Q
Does Rockefeller set the agenda for these
meetings?
MR. NESSEN: Well, if they have not met yet, it
is not possible to say whether it is going to --
Q
Did the President indicate that he was going
to discuss it with Rockefeller?
MR. NESSEN: This is all I can tell you on the
issue at the moment.
Q
Come on, Ron. You said you discussed it
with him. Didn't he suggest to you one way or the other
whether he was going to discuss it?
MR. NESSEN: I am telling you everything I can
tell you at the moment.
Q
Ron, does the President think that the Vice
President ought to make the same assumptions he does regarding
U.S. Senators?
MR. NESSEN: I just don't have anything further
to give you.
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Q
Ron, has the White House got a copy of the
Conference Report on the FEC bill yet?
MR. NESSEN: It is not written yet, Saul. It
can't be written until they come back from their vacation.
Q
If you send somebody over to my office, I
can let you have my copy. (Laughter)
MR. NESSEN: I don't think SO. I mean, you have
something but --
Q
Are you certain that there is not in the
White House a copy of the House version of that Conference
bill? If not, the legislation?
MR. NESSEN: We do have a draft of the Conference
Committee Report --
Q
Thank you.
MR. NESSEN: I have just learned. That is to be,
as I understand it, considered by the committee when it
comes back.
Q
Answer the question.
MR. NESSEN: The answer to that is yes, we do
have a copy of what it is they are going to consider.
Q
Would he sign that? As it is now constituted
in draft form?
MR. NESSEN: It is not anything that is here for
his decision. It is something that the Members will take up
when they come back.
He has seen it; I don't know if he has read it.
Q
What are his views of what he has seen?
MR. NESSEN: Well, it is something that he can't
have a view on because it is something that does not have
any standing.
Q
The defense bill is not here yet and he has
already said that --
MR. NESSEN: Let's take a step back here for
a moment, gang. You know the second day in a row there
is the implication that somehow the President is delaying
action on the FEC.
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#484-4/22
Now I mentioned to you yesterday that the
President asked for a timetable of his actions so he
could make sure that he had acted at every turn in an
effort to speed enactment of the law rather than to hinder
enactment of the law. This has been prepared for the
President, this is a copy, and it includes October 15,
1974, the President signing the FEC law into law.
January 30, the Supreme Court ruled that the
Commission and its method of appointment in some ways was
unconstitutional and the President issued a statement
that day --
Q
Ron, you did this yesterday.
MR. NESSEN: Well, I didn't do it yesterday because
I didn't have it, Muriel.
Q
The fact is, the question is, Ron, that the
House has sent down its version of its Conference Committee
Report and the President can have a view on it.
MR. NESSEN: Congress has taken two vacations,
Tom. The Congress has put off action until April 27 on
extending, a commission that expired on March 22. You know,
that is where the blame belongs.
Q
Ron, I am not asking you where the blame
belongs.
MR. NESSEN: Will the President sign ----
Q
No, that was not my question.
MR. NESSEN: Okay, let me hear Tom's question.
Q
My question is, you now have a copy, as we
hope you discover.
MR. NESSEN: Of what?
Q
Of the Conference Committee -- House version,
right? The draft?
MR. NESSEN: I am not sure which version it is,
but anyhow we have a copy of something the Conference
Committee will consider when it comes back on April 27.
Q
As I understand it, that was the draft that
was sent here by Congressman Wiggins who is a Member of
that Conference Committee. My question to you was, and it
seems to me a fair one, did the President have a reaction
to that draft and to those points of discussion raised
by Wiggins when he sent it down here, and you said
originally, "No, how can he have?"
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MR. NESSEN: Well, all right. I thought you
were asking whether he would sign this if it were
translated into law or something like that.
Q
And the answer is you don't know, right?
MR. NESSEN: Well, it is not a document that
the President can react to. It is some proposals that the
Members will consider when they come back on April 27.
Now his personal reaction to it, unrelated to
whether he will sign it or not, is he leafed through it
and noticed that about four pages of it amounted to an
extension of the law and another, I think, twenty pages of
it amounted to changes in the law, and he made that comment.
Now I don't think that indicates one way or the
other what he is going to do if and when a piece of
legislation comes down here, but that was his personal
reaction to it.
Q
But is that copy -- and it seems to me we
are engaged here in a really senseless exercise because
you know precisely what I am talking about -- if he looks
at that copy and sees within it drafts of law rules to
govern--for instance, contributions from labor unions--
he surely must have a reaction to some of those proposed
new rules.
MR. NESSEN: Tom, the President cannot determine
whether to sign or veto a piece of legislation until it is
in its final form and comes down here for his decision.
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Q
Did he not offer Mr. Wiggins any guidance at
all on his views on some of these proposals?
MR. NESSEN: If he has, I am not aware of it.
Q
He does that all the time. He did it with the
defense bill and he did it with the Hatch Act. He made clear
determinations that he would veto the defense bill and he made
a clear announcement that he would veto the Hatch Act long
before the Hatch Act report ever got here.
MR. NESSEN: And in this case he has indicated that
what should be done, and he has been urging this since the
30th of January -- nearly three months -- is a simple extension
of the Commission and have it reconstituted in a constitutional
way so that the candidates can get their money and the election
can be run under the same rules it was started under.
Now if you want to know what is his position on
FEC, that is his position on FEC and has been since the 30th
of January.
Q
Didn't he say specifically on the 26th of
February that he would veto any bill which invited further
court action or which changed the rules in the iddle of the
campaign?
MR. NESSEN: It was, I think, the 27th of January,
but -- I mean the 27th of February -- but, in any case,
the President has --
Q What did he say?
MR. NESSEN: Well, I don't know, it is in the files,
Phil. We can dig it out for you.
Q
Ron, what did the President say in addition
to noting that there were 20 pages or so about the change
in the law?
MR. NESSEN: That is all.
Q
He just made that comment?
MR. NESSEN: Yes.
Q
Not what he thinks of those changes?
MR. NESSEN: He did not. He just noted that that
is what Congress had been spending its time on or whatever house
this was the version from, and when, for the last three months,
they could have done what all the candidates are asking
Congress to do, which is to extend the law, and which he has
asked.
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Q
What is the answer to Saul's question? Does
he still stand behind that statement he made in February?
MR. NESSEN: Which was what?
Q
The statement you just referred to that he would
veto any law or any bill that changed the law.
Q
What is the answer to Bob's question?
MR. NESSEN: I don't know exactly how to answer
the question. You know, I don't -- what was the question
again?
Q
Does he still stand behind the February
statement?
MR. NESSEN: Which was?
Q
Whatever it was.
MR. NESSEN: Let me look up what he said so I
know whether he stands behind it or not.
Q
It included changing of the rules in the
middle of a campaign and inviting further court action.
MR. NESSEN: Let me look it up.
Q
Ron, is it fair to assume that there is
nothing objectionable enough in this draft to cause the
President to say "if that remains, I will veto it?"
MR. NESSEN: I would not leap to that conclusion.
It is something that the President does not intend to make
a decision on because there is nothing to make a decision
on until a piece of legislation comes here.
Q
Ron, if the President considers this so
important, why is it that he has only just leafed through
this document?
MR. NESSEN: If Congress considers this so
important, why has it taken three months and gone off on two
vacations without acting on it?
Q
I asked about the President.
MR. NESSEN: Well, I am asking about Congress.
Q
Well, we ask the questions.
MR. NESSEN: I sometimes ask some of them myself.
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Q
Ron, is it fair to go out of this briefing today
saying that the White House has come to no decision yet on
whether the bill will be vetoed or approved?
MR. NESSEN: I think it would be fairer to say that
since Congress has not acted on this matter that the
President cannot make up his mind whether to sign or veto a
piece of legislation which he has not seen yet.
Q
So he is still keeping his options open?
MR. NESSEN: No, because there is nothing here to
choose an option, there is no legislation here.
Q
And it is also fair to infer that he was
pleased by having four pages on one subject and 20 pages
on something else?
MR. NESSEN: No, I think it was more of a comment on
how much time this is all taking and why it is taking so much
time because instead of the simple extension he has called
for for three months, they are in there changing the rules
of the game in the middle of the game.
Q
Ron, the point is, though, that they have
taken this time and they have done the 20 pages of changes and
that is what is before the conference committee, the Congress
and the President. Yesterday you said that he couldn't have
a view because you had nothing in writing. Now you have
it in writing, therefore --
MR. NESSEN: But what is it we have in writing?
It is a set of proposals that the conferees will get back to
work on sometime next week. When they decide what they want
to do and send it down here, the President will decide what he
wants to do. What they should have done a long time ago, in
the President's view, is extend the law so that the
candidates can get their money.
Q
Why is it that the President can make up his
mind on some bills before he sees them and not on others?
MR. NESSEN: I don't think he normally makes up
his mind until there is a piece of legislation in existence.
Q
Walt cited a perfect example.
MR. NESSEN: But then, again, consistency is the hob-
goblin of a small mind.
I was just trying to get a little literate here.
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Q
Ron, can you tell us if the President sees
any inconsistency in Rumsfeld's statement that there is rough
equivalency with the Soviets and his own flat statement that
we are not number two?
MR. NESSEN: I don't see any conflict, no.
Q
Does he agree that in some areas it is just
rough equivalency?
MR. NESSEN: I think the public record is pretty
clear there, Fran, without reopening it today.
Q
Just to keep the record updated, there are those
who are charging that you were trying to starve out Reagan.
MR. NESSEN: Yes.
Q
Is this true?
MR. NESSEN: Well, Phil, look at the record, for
goodness sakes. That is why I was trying to read this
thing before Muriel said you didn't want to hear it, but
clearly not. I mean it is the Democratic Congress, if anyone,
who is trying to starve out Carter, Udall and all the other
candidates, Reagan and anybody else.
Q
Are they trying to starve out the President?
MR. NESSEN: I don't mean they are trying to starve
out, but if there is any starving out, the cause of the
starving out is the failure of a Democratic Congress to
enact the bill, if there is any. I don't know what it means,
anyhow, and I am sorry I accepted it.
Q
Ron, there is a report here this morning or
this afternoon that money was passed in a plain brown envelope
from a junior White House aide to a reporter for a news
magazine. Do you know anything about that? (Laughter)
MR. NESSEN: Now, let's see. (Laughter)
Just to tell you about my own personal travel plans,
I am going down to the great State of Texas this afternoon,
as are some of you, to take part in a seminar at the Johnson
Library on the press and the White House. I think Helen is
going, Frank is going and Deakin and Sidey and so forth.
Q
This is tomorrow?
MR. NESSEN: It is tomorrow and then I will join
you in Tyler, Texas, on Tuesday. John will be here and running
things well while I am gone.
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484-4/22
Q
Ron, Betty Ford was quoted yesterday as having
said that she thought parts of the Saturday night live show
were somewhat lacking in taste and that the President agreed --
Q Question, please?
MR. NESSEN: I will repeat it loudly when I answer.
Q
-- and that the President agreed with that view.
Is that correct? Is that your understanding?
MR. NESSEN: The way I read what she said was:
"I thought the White House material was very funny and so
did the President. We both laughed at it and had a good
time."
Q Isn't there an earlier quote?
MR. NESSEN: But this is the later quote. (Laughter)
I wonder why it is the later quote.
Q What about the other material?
Q
Did the President ever say anything more to
you about your appearance on that show?
MR. NESSEN: No, he has not.
Q
Ron, can we return to the Rockefeller thing
just a minute?
MR. NESSEN: Yes.
Q You said the President's only reaction was that
a U.S. Senator assumes the responsibility for his --
MR. NESSEN: No, no, no. He assumes that a
United States Senator has responsibility.
Q
Was Rockefeller down there ostensibly to
advance the Ford candidacy in the primary? Wasn't there any
expression of "What's the matter of Jackson's staff coming
up in the meeting with Republicans in Atlanta?"
MR. NESSEN: I don't know, and the President
does not know what the Vice President said, if anything,
in that meeting.
Q
Ron, to pursue that one bit further, you
said that you didn't know if they had been discussing it at
this meeting and you also said, I think before that, that at
this point the President is just not aware of what the
Vice President said.
MR. NESSEN: Correct.
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Q
Are you leaving open the possibility that the
President won't even inquire?
MR. NESSEN: I just don't know one way or the other,
Dick.
Q
Well, I mean if you don't know, then that
possibility exists, doesn't it?
MR. NESSEN: It also doesn't exist.
Q
The President did not give you any indication
that he would ask the Vice President?
MR. NESSEN: One way or the other, I don't know.
Q
Is he not concerned about the effect of that
statement?
MR. NESSEN: I thought we went through this whole
set of questions already one time.
Q
We didn't do very well the first time.
(Laughter)
MR. NESSEN: But I am not going to get any better
the second time.
THE PRESS: Thank you.
END
(AT 12:40 P.M. EST)