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    "title": "Remarks of the President at the Iowa GOP Reception [Ford Speech or Statement]",
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    "ocrText": "Digitized from Box 14 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nAUGUST 18, 1975\nOFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY\n(Des Moines, Iowa)\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nREMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT\nAT THE\nIOWA GOP RECEPTION\nHOTEL FORT DES MOINES\n7:14 P.M. CDT\nBob Ray, Chuck Grassley, Mary Louise Smith,\nJohn McDonald, Margaret McDonald -- these Scotsmen seem\nto predominate around here -- distinguished guests,\nladies and gentlemen -- and I have to add a postscript.\nYour new Miss Iowa is a most attractive young lady:\nIt is nice to be here on this occasion, but I\nmust say it has been a wonderful opportunity to come back\nto Des Moines. I have a great fondness for the people\nhere, people in Iowa, and I thank you not_only for the\nwarm reception at the State fair this afternoon, but for\nthe great reception here tonight. I want you to know I\nappreciate it.\nI have been looking forward to this evening and\nin particularly the entertainment part of the program that\nfollows this speech. I understand that Governor Bob Ray\nand Attorney General Dick Turner are going to sing a\nduet together. (Laughter) It will be their favorite\nsong -- \"Come Josephine In My Flying Machine.\" (Laughter)\nI am really so encouraged to be here tonight\nto enjoy your wonderful hospitality and especially to ask\nfor your help next year in making it a banner year\nfor the Republican Party in Iowa, as well as across the\ncountry.\nWithout question, 1976 offers 2 great, great\nopportunity for the Republican Party, to prove once\nand for all to the skeptics that it has the strength to\nsurvive setbacks, the resolution to rouse the Nation's\ngreatness and the will to win elections.\nWe can do it, and we are going to do it.\nMORE\nPage 2\nI think it is obvious to all of you the fondness\nI have for Bob Ray who is nearly a year into his fourth\nterm and who is also serving with great distinction as the\nChairman of the National Govenors Conference.\nHe has done a magnificent, a superior job of putting\nacross what I think is the most important thing -- the\ncommon sense philosophy of the Republican Party and\nmaking it work here in your great State of Iowa.\nHis successful Administration, not one, but several,\nis a testament to the effectiveness of both his leadership\nand the sound Republican approach he has brought to the\nGovernment here in your State, and I must say I thank you very,\nvery deeply for giving us Mary Louise Smith, who is doing\nan outstanding job as Republican National Chairwoman.\nAs you know, the Iowa State slogan is \"Iowa is\na place to grow\". Mary Louise has definitely applied this\nphilosophy, this thinking to the Republican Party nationally,\nand we are seeing some results. And I thank you and\ncongratulate you, Mary Louise. And in Chuck Grassley you\nhave a fine new younger member of the House of Representatives.\nHe may be outnumbered -- what is it, five to one, Chuck? (Laughter)\nNot always because votes do count in the House,\nbut when you put it on another scale, I would rather have\nquality than quantity.\nChuck has impressed me,as well as his colleagues\nin the House of Representatives, and after spending 25 years\nin the House, I have a feel for the kind of people that will\ngrow and become more and more effective. And it would\nbe my judgment that Chuck fits that pattern.\nHe started well, he will do better and better\nevery year. Just give him some help here in Iowa. We\ncould use those votes, too.\nI visited every State in the Union in the last\nten years since I became first the Minority Leader of\nthe House and then Vice President and now President, so\nI know State organizations, I know the kind of people that\nback State organizations. And I think here in Iowa, you\nhave a good State organization. And I wish to congratulate\nthose who have been giving you the leadership and those who\nwill now take over and continue that leadership.\nYou are fortunate in Iowa, and I: congratulate\nyou, John, and those who have worked with you, Charlie.\nNow, if we are to capitalize on the opportunity\nahead of us, in my judgment, we must reach out to that\ngreat, great American majority that does the Nation's work,\npays the Nation's bills, provides for the Nation's defense and\nobeys the Nation's laws. That is the group we believe\nought to be in the Republican Party.\nMORE\nPage 3\nYou know, no matter the color of their skin, the\nreligion they profess, the politics they vote, these solid,\nsolid Americans who make up this vast Midwest heartland of\nthe Republican Party's national constituency--I could feel\nthat out there at the State Fair today--they are the\npeople to whom we must tell our story, over and over again,\nthis year and next year.\nOnce again in our party's history our principles\nand our goals match the beliefs, and, I happen to think, the\naspirations of a majority of the American people.\nRepublicans have always believed that too\nmuch Government spending has been the primary cause of\ninflation, and I have a feeling, as I travel around the\ncountry, that on a daily basis more and more Americans\nagree with that principle.\nAren't we fortunate that these people who are\ngetting this new approach, this new attitude, look to\nthe Republican Party as their only hope. That is one reason\nI have been vetoing some of the bills that compel excess\nFederal spending.\nQuite frankly, I will keep on doing it as long\nas the Congress keeps sending down to the White House\nthese budget busters to me.\nLet me put it this way: They stop, I stop.\nIt is just as simple as that. (Laughter)\nOur Republicans, you know, have always believed\nin a strong, effective, ready national defense program.\nToday, most Americans are convinced a strong defense is\nthe best guarantee of peace in the world, and I will do every-\nthing in my personal power to see that Congress appropriates\nsuch funds to make sure that the United States, our\ncountry, always has a military capability second to none.\nRepublicans have always believed that personal\ninitiative and private enterprise, not a meddling muscle-\nbound Government, a Federal Government, are what made\nthis Nation great.\nToday, more and more Americans, as I see people\nfrom the 50 States, are reaffirming that view. They\nwant personal initiative and private enterprise to\nbe rewarded. Hard work and diligence are the foundation\nin many respects in any endeavor that we undertake.\nFrankly, that is one reason why I am trying to\nfree American business from the shackles of Government\noverregulation.\nMORE\nPage 4\nWhile we, on a daily basis, in the White House\nare seeking to free the individual citizen from the\npressures of a faceless bureauocracy, insensitive to\npersonal differences and personal desires. I think\nRepublicans have always believed that local control over\nlocal problems is better than turning to Washington for\nevery single solitary solution.\nToday, after nearly 40 years of seeing reruns of\n\"Washington knows best\", in the halls of the Congress and\nelsewhere, the American people are ready for a fresh start.\nAnd we are going to give it to them.\nThat is why I have proposed what we call a new\nagenda for America's future. And I ask the American people\nthrough what we hope to do in a series of community meetings\naround the country; I asked the American people to help\nme write that new agenda. There is a message I think we\nhave to get across to our fellow citizens, a message that says\nloud, that says clearly, \"Republican Government is common\nsense Government, it is the most effective Government.\"\nA message that says, \"Republican stands for and works for the\nvery same things that the majority of Americans believe in.\"\nAnd finally, a message that says, \"We can win the\nelections of 1976 from the courthouse right here in\nDes Moines to the White House in Washington. Let's do it.\"\nIf we broaden our Party, bringing in to join us\nthose who have a philosophical agreement with us -- and I\nthink we must -- opening our door wide to all Americans\nrather than opening it just a crack for a few; if we\nwork together for a common victory, as we must, rather\nthan working against each other for sure defeat, I am\nconvinced that 1976 can be a great election year for all of\nus.\nTogether, you know, there is so much that we can\ndo for our Party, for the American people, but primarily\nfor our country. Let's get to work. Let's get it done.\nLet's make sure 1976 is a banner year and let's make sure, let's\nmake certain that that banner says, \"Republican\".\nThank you very much.\nEND\n(AT 7:28 P.M. CDT)"
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