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Press Conference of North Carolina Governor James E. Holshouser, Jr. and Mississippi Governor William L. Waller
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Press Conference of North Carolina Governor James E. Holshouser, Jr. and Mississippi Governor William L. Waller
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Digitized from Box 16 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 7, 1975
OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY
(Knoxville, Tennessee)
THE WHITE HOUSE
PRESS CONFERENCE
OF
JAMES E. HOLSHOUSER, JR.
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
AND
WILLIAM L. WALLER
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
THE HYATT REGENCY HOTEL
7:02 P.M. EDT
MR. GREENER: Governor Waller of Mississippi, who
is the Chairman of the Commission, and Governor Holshouser of
North Carolina are here to answer some of your questions.
Governor Waller?
GOVERNOR WALLER: I would like to briefly inform you
of the general coverage of the Conference, which we had the
privilege of having the President engage in. The crux of the
purpose of the Appalachian Governors meeting was the passage
of the resolution.
The key phrase or paragraph in the resolution is as
follows: "The Commission requests that the President
instruct the Domestic Council to work with the Appalachian
Regional Commission to review relevant Federal programs to
the end that policies affecting these programs and their
action within the region may be revised and directed to
support the kind of future development in Appalachia, which
reflects the values of the people who live there.
"Special attention shall be given to eliminating
the duplication of planning requirements in the economic
development programs. The goal that can unite regionwide
development action in both the regional and national
interests is to manage the opportunities inherent in
increased energy production to allow the region's people to
achieve for themselves a stable and diversified economy
and a sound fiscal and social environment."
I believe copies of this resolution will be avail-
able to you.
MORE
- 2 -
As we proceeded to discuss in dialogue fashion
with the President many problems in our region and else-
where, we developed into some discussion on forced busing,
the relation in transportation and production of natural
gas, the Federally owned sale of forestry products, timber
and energy legislation now pending before the Congress.
I am sure there were individual Governors that
had the opportunity to discuss other subjects of a wide
variety, but we would conclude by saying that this was a
unique opportunity for the Executive heads of State Govern-
ment to have this type of exchange with the President.
On behalf of the Governors from this region, we
are continuing to express our gratitude to the President for
taking the time to hear us relate our problems and to engage
in a two-way discussion about and in regard to the solution
of those problems.
GOVERNOR HOLSHOUSER: Gentlemen, you have heard, I
think, a very concise statement by Governor Waller of the
resolution that was adopted concerning the coordination of
economic development activities within our region; also,
a general synoposis of the various ideas and points of view
that came up regarding our region and its relationship with
the Federal Government.
As with most meetings of Government today, I
expect that a very considerable majority of the time was
spent discussing energy and energy-related problems, with
specific discussion in detail about the various proposals
before the Congress at this time regarding natural gas.
There have been some Pearson amendments and the
fact that they are on the floor of the Senate now and with
the general supportive attitude of the Governors who were
present.
We found the give and take very free, as most of
these meetings have been, with the President on the same
format somewhat as the meetings he conducted very early this
year in regions.
We also had a very specific point of view involving
an integrated system of transportation dealing with energy.
As you know, we have a considerable amount of energy within
this region dealing with coal and also specifically with the
Devonian shale gas moving from West Virginia into the Ohio
Basin, and the need for research there so that that gas can
be economically developed and pulled from the ground.
Q
Governor, on that score, do you or any of the
other Governors support the President's proposal to set up
a $100 billion corporation to develop these claims of energy
program?
MORE
- 3 -
GOVERNOR WALLER: I had the privilege of partici-
pating in the President's economic summit approximately 12
months ago, and this was my recommendation then, and I have
been privileged to meet with Governors throughout the
Nation in the meantime, and I think that I could mirror
the impressions of the Governors around the Nation and say
that we need a Manhattan-type project for energy.
We have to have a coordinated crash type program,
funded with this amount of money, to meet the needs of the
people. You know, gentlemen, we are facing the winter
months wherein, one, we have the energy and two, if we have
it, can we afford it.
The individual who has to live by the paycheck
on a weekly basis in my opinion cannot afford the cost of
gasoline to get to work, cannot afford the cost of
utilities, and the number one priority in the Nation today,
as we see it, is the solution of the energy crisis and to
become reasonably self-sufficient in energy or to drive the
price of imported crude oil or petrochemical products down
to a reasonable price.
Q
Governor Waller, what is your position on
President Ford's proposed tax and spending cut proposal?
GOVERNOR WALLER: I see it as a step forward. The
Federal Government's entry into the cash market to fund
the Federal deficit is a problem in my State beyond descrip-
tion. I think the President needs encouragement from the
average voter, and certainly from the several State Govern-
ments to continue his attempt to balance the State budget.
I believe the President is dedicated, from what he
told us, to a balanced Federal budget. My personal opinion
is that the tax reduction and the $395 billion limit on
Federal spending is little enough for us citizens to expect
in this day of inflation and in the day of deficit spending
and in the day of financing the Federal deficit.
I think that every man and woman in the Nation should
applaud the President for his effort. Many economists in
the Nation, I am sure, will reflect upon whether or not this
is the best medium to approach the solution of the problem
at the present day.
I support the President because no other Congress-
man or Senator has come forward with a better solution.
Q
Governor, can you tell us what some of the
other Governors might have said on the matter of budget
control?
MORE
- 4 -
GOVERNOR HOLSHOUSER: I don't think it was
specifically discussed at the meeting. I don't think it
was really brought up and discussed at all. I think
generally you are going to find Governors supportive of
a proposal. The Southern Governors at their meeting in
Orlando less than two weeks ago endorsed the concept of a
Constitutional amendment that would require a balanced
Federal budget. Obviously, the goal of reduction in the
growth of Federal spending is going to be one of the very
necessary steps that will have to be taken to meet that
goal.
Q
Governor, where would you like to see the
Federal Government's budget cut, specifically?
GOVERNOR HOLSHOUSER: Well, of course we are not
talking about cutting it, frankly. We are talking about
slowing down the growth rate. The proposal that comes
still has an increase in spending tied with it.
Q
$28 billion?
GOVERNOR HOLSHOUSER: That is correct.
We are talking about slowing down that growth rate.
You know, all of us face the same problem that a Congressman
does when he gets ready to vote on a bill. We have bureau-
cracy people coming to us every day saying, "We want you
to go to Washington and lobby for more money in this particular
program."
We have a pretty good standing rule in North Carolina
that nobody goes to Washington to lobby for more money
unless the Governor signs off on it personally, and we don't
do much of that because, frankly, even though it means we
have some bullets to bite at the local level, we think it
is time we started looking at the broader picture of
our national problems so that we don't nationally get in
the same shape that New York City is in.
Q
Governor, according to the pool report here,
Governor Moore started off the whole meeting by pointing out
how your funding is producing less and less for you in
Appalachia's program, and it immediately became involved in
the idea of the President's tax proposal and the fact that
it just might not provide you with the kind of money you
want.
GOVERNOR HOLSHOUSER: That is a perfect example
of the conflicts that all of us face, and we know that we
are going to have to restrain our own requests in terms of
increased Federal spending if we are going to do our part.
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- 5 -
You know, even where we know that, it means we
have to tighten our own belts and do a better job of
efficiency. We feel like we have got our obligation to do
as well.
Q
Do you think that is a majority sentiment of
the Governors, they would support the President's proposal,
which really does call for cutting back on programs which
would naturally exceed his new budget ceiling?
GOVERNOR HOLSHOUSER: First of all, having worked
on that resolution at the Southern Governors Conference,
which I think all the Governors here today were participants,
that resolution on the balanced budget passed unanimously.
I know a major part of the discussion of the other
resolutions that came before the Resolution Committee were
that we cannot have our cake and eat it, too, and that if we
are going to ask for a balanced Federal budget, we cannot
be putting out resolutions asking for more and more Federal
spending in the variety of programs that we are naturally
interested in.
Frankly, State and local Governments can do
it more efficiently at times than the Federal Government
can.
Q
How do you propose to do this in North
Carolina, with inflation up 30 percent, unless you ask the
President to get more money?
GOVERNOR HOLSHOUSER: Of course, I don't think
inflation is going to be up 30 percent between now and
next year, first of all.
Q
On highways, it is 30 percent.
GOVERNOR HOLSHOUSER: Inflation in the highway
sector is up, there is no question, and frankly it means
that probably some of those projects will have to be
slowed down.
Now, we have some States in our region that are
not going to be ready technically through the engineering
and planning process to use all their funds, and we will
probably go in and borrow and get an advance on our
allocations in order to try to keep on schedule.
They will get theirs back from us later, but there
is no question that it requires some balancing of concepts
and priorities.
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- 6 -
GOVERNOR WALLER: I think there is one thing that
rises above what we are talking about here, and that is that
the President suggests a decrease in the increase. What
you need to reflect upon, I believe, if I understood him
correctly, is that the decrease in the increase is an
increase of $22 billion rather than some $50-odd billion,
as the projection had been stated earlier.
So, the President is recommending to the Governors,
and we concur, in a decrease in the increase with the $28
billion in income tax reduction with 75 percent of that going
to individuals, which is an indirect infusion into the
economy by having additional cash dollars to spend and to
circulate in the economy.
Q
Governors, other than exchanging a lot of
rhetoric today, what did you accomplish?
GOVERNOR HOLSHOUSER: First of all, I think the
occasion offered a very great opportunity for us to bring
some problems to the attention of the President himself
that we would never have the opportunity to do otherwise.
For example, Western North Carolina faces some
very severe problems in our forestry industry as a result of
a recent West Virginia Federal decision. It restricts the
sale of timber from the national forests.
It gave Governor Rhodes from Ohio the opportunity
to lobby pretty hard for additional money for research on
that development of the Devonian shale gas. It gives
Governor Waller the opportunity to talk about waterway trans-
portation for coal. It gave Governor Carroll the chance to talk
about the need for development of an intermodal system of
transportation for getting coal out of Kentucky into
places like North Carolina and Georgia, involving a better
rail system out to where they can get on to the -- it also
gives the opportunity to point out the need for some help
where that ICC decision is concerned on unit trains, which
if it is not corrected is going to severely hamper the
transportation of coal all over the country.
Q
Governor Holshouser, I am puzzled by one
thing you are saying. It sounds to me as if all of you
presented the President with special projects that would cost
more money, and yet all of you are saying that you want less
money spent.
Now, these don't jibe, in my opinion.
MORE
- 7 -
GOVERNOR HOLSHOUSER: No. It may have sounded
that way, but that ain't the way it is. First of all,
ERDA, as you know, has a significant amount of money
already in hand for research on energy. I think the point
with the Governors today was to stress the fact that there
is a significant amount of that money that needs to go
into the development of the gasification of coal, of the
development of that Devonian shale gas.
When we talk about transportation, that is a
problem that is in our region and has to be part of the
solution to the energy problem. Part of it will cost some
money, there is no question about it, but then that is not to
say that because one project costs money that that makes it no
good because you still have some give and take within that
Federal budget.
You cannot say that because one project costs money
that that makes it no good in light of the overall concept.
Q Governor, I think that what bothers us is
no matter where we go in the country, to one of these very
similar meetings, everybody's project there is a good nne
and all we ever hear following the President around is
more projects, and they all do cost money.
GOVERNOR HOLSHOUSER: Not much of what we have
talked about today will cost money. Now, the transportation
part does cost money when you talk about that rail process
out of Kentucky or West Virginia, but with that exception,
you are not talking about money except money that is already
in hand and is not going to be in next year's budget. It
is in this year's budget, and it has already been appropriated.
Let me say this: The Appalachian Regional Commis-
sion, gentlemen, has been in operation for ten years. We
are basically talking about $300 million, 45 to 55 percent
of which is on a corridor highway system. Now, we Governors
in that area or that region of the Nation have been content
with a level, a plateau of spending. We did not go to the
President today for a 50 percent increase. We went to the
President reciting the benefits to the underprivileged
families of the Appalachian region and what we can do with
those dollars in the future.
True, there is an inflationary factor reducing
considerably the number of miles of corridor highways that
can be constructed with, we will say, $150 million annually
but, at the same time, we adjusted our thinking to the
current circumstances in the Federal fiscal planning. We
established camaraderie with the President over his plans to
have a balanced Federal budget.
MORE
- 8 -
Frankly, the Nation is going down in bankruptcy,
if the entire body politic -- and that is from the lowest
political subdivision to the highest -- does not address
itself to less Federal spending in terms of increase.
We have to increase to account for inflation, but
this is not a session where we have our handout. We are
justifying the validity of and the continuation of Federal
programs already onstream, not new ones.
Q
Governor, you indicated that the President
should beef up highway corridors in Northeastern
Mississippi.
GOVERNOR WALLER: Yes, sir.
Q
Are you going to give it up?
GOVERNOR WALLER: No, sir. I want my share of the
dollars that are already there.
Q
Governor Waller, you have indicated that the
President should be encouraged by the average voter for what
he is trying to do in limiting Government spending and so
forth. I would like to ask you a two-part question.
Number one, do you think the Democratic-controlled
Congress is being unfair to the President in not trying to
work with him. Number two, will you support the President
in his 1976 Presidential campaign?
GOVERNOR WALLER: The second question, I am a
Democrat, and I don't expect to support à Republican
next year at this juncture.
GOVERNOR HOLSHOUSER: If we talk to you, maybe you
will.
GOVERNOR WALLER: Okay. (Laughter)
The President's efforts are, I think, actually
what any taxpayer's efforts should be; that is, not to spend
more than you have. If you bought a house tomorrow, you are
paying probably 2 or 2-1/2 percentage points annually more
than you should because the Federal Government is buying up
all of the available cash.
All I am saying is that the poor people of my
State need a balanced budget so that they can afford a
washing machine, a three-bedroom house or whatever their
needs are in the future. I am not here today to address
myself to Republican politics or to Democratic politics,
but to peoples' politics.
MORE
- 9 -
Q
But do you think the Democratic-controlled
Congress is trying to work with the President?
GOVERNOR WALLER: On issues that from time to
time -- for example, on energy legislation -- I think that
there has to be a better understanding between Congress,
and to that end I would say they are not. You are going
to pay 20 percent more to get home tonight or to go to the
airport than you did a year ago because I think the
Congress hasn't solved or offered legislation or passed
legislation solving the energy crisis.
So, I can't stand here and tell you that
Congress is working with the President, but I am not
going to say the President is right and Congress is wrong.
I think it is time, and we face an emergency in this Nation.
I don't know how you write it or how you see it,
but it is time that we exorted each other to get together
and not to engage in partisan political folderol to the
detriment of the average man in America.
GOVERNOR HOLSHOUSER: Governor, that was very
eloquent. I think if you come to the Governors Conferences
you will find more Democratic Governors and Republican
Governors getting along on issues like this than you will
find in the Congress these days.
THE PRESS: Thank you very much, Governors.
END
(AT 7:24 P.M. EDT)