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7335772
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Remarks of the President Upon Signing Amendments to H.R. 69, The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare [Ford Speech or Statement]
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7335772
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document
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Remarks of the President Upon Signing Amendments to H.R. 69, The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare [Ford Speech or Statement]
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White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
Press Releases
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U.S. House of Representatives. (03/04/1789 - )
Legislation
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7335772
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21
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1974-08-21
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8
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1974
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Digitized from Box 1 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUST 21, 1974
OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY
THE WHITE HOUSE
REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT
UPON SIGNING AMENDMENTS TO H.R. 69
THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE
2:15 P.M. EDT
Secretary Carlucci, distinguished administrators
and employees of the Department of Health, Education, and
Welfare, my former colleagues in the House and the Senate,
fellow Americans:
It is really a great privilege and pleasure for
me to be here. I know that all of us wish Secretary
Weinberger were here, but he is off on a very important
responsibility, and I am sure he is here in spirit, if
not person.
I suspect this is the first Federal aid to
education bill that has ever been signed by a left-handed
President. I attach no significance to that, but it was
difficult with a person with a short name to use so many
pens. (Laughter)
President Eisenhower once said in discussing
education, and I quote, "The Federal role should be
merely to facilitate, never to control education."
Now, striking the right balance between helping
on the one hand and dominating on the other is never an easy
task. And those of you who participated in the preparation
of the submission in the first instance to the Congress
and those of you who have labored so hard in both the House
and the Senate to find a balance in 1974 in my judgment all
deserve a great deal of commendation and congratulation.
I don't think any one faction or any one party
dictated the contents of that very substantial and very
important piece of legislation. I know from some personal
experience on the periphery, when I was in the House and
subsequently as Vice President, how much hard work, how
many long hours, how many compromises were made between,
in the first instance, the Legislative and the Executive
branches and between various points of view, legitimate,
well-motivated, differences philosophically.
MORE
Page 2
I don't believe anyone who labored so long and
so hard would say this is a perfect piece of legislation,
but I think it is a good law, it justified the final
action by the Congress, and it fully justified my
signature representing approval by the Executive branch.
It does provide, in my opinion, for a more
effective distribution of Federal funds to help elementary
and secondary schools so that our Federal tax dollars
can be more appropriately and efficiently and economically
utilized to improve education throughout our 50 States.
The legislation also provides for better Federal
administration of the various programs under the more
or less direct control of Federal officials, and
this better management of Federal programs will help States
and localities so they will have a better and more effective
input into the management of these Federal programs.
I think it is fair to say that this legislation
places reasonable and equitable restrictions upon the problem
of busing, and in conjunction with the Supreme Court
decision will hopefully relieve that problem and make the
solution far more equitable and just.
It is my judgment that H.R. 69 represents the
kind of an approach that in this day and age we must follow
if we are to do the right thing in education, in housing
and in a multitude of other highly essential programs for
the benefit of our country as a whole.
This legislation itself does represent the way
to solve disagreements, but if we approach other
problems as we have approached this one, with candor on
the one hand, cooperation on another, compromise on a
third, I think we can march together, the Executive, the
Legislative, Democrats, Republicans, liberals and conser-
vatives in working together to make our country what we
all want it to be, a better America.
Thank you very kindly.
END
(AT 2:20 P.M. EDT)