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    "localId": "7343463",
    "label": "Text of Remarks by the President to Be Delivered at a Public Forum, West Texas State University Gymnasium, Canyon, Texas [Ford Speech or Statement]",
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    "title": "Text of Remarks by the President to Be Delivered at a Public Forum, West Texas State University Gymnasium, Canyon, Texas [Ford Speech or Statement]",
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            "logicalDate": "1976-04-10",
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    "ocrText": "Digitized from Box 24 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nEMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL\nAPRIL 10, 1976\n6:00 pm EST (5:00 pm CST)\nOffice of the White House Press Secretary\n(Dallas, Texas)\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nTEXT OF REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT\nTO BE DELIVERED\nAT A PUBLIC FORUM\nWEST TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY GYMNASIUM\nCANYON, TEXAS\nTexas is a proud state. It's a proud state because the people of Texas\nhave always been tough, hard-working, and independent minded. You have\nthe frontier spirit, and you can be rightly proud of it.\nThe guiding principle of our nation's greatness has not been a reliance on\nwhat the government does for the people -- but what the people have done\nfor themselves.\nHere in Texas you have never lost sight of one basic truth: That a govern-\nment big enough to give us everything we want, is a government big enough\nto take from us everything we have.\nAmericans can only be successful, strong and proud if they are free -- and\nthe duty of my Administration is to preserve that freedom. As your\nPresident for the last 20 months, that is the goal I have consistently\npursued.\nAmerica's freedom takes many forms. The most fundamental freedom is\nthe freedom from outside threats. Preserving that freedom through a strong\nnational defense is one of the Federal government's most important\nresponsibilities.\nI have always, in my 27 years in government, stood for a strong defense\ncapability. If I learned one thing from my experience in World War II -- that\nwas it. My voting record on defense has been clear and consistent for\n27 years, and I'm proud to stand on it.\nAs President I have to deal in facts -- and fact number one is, today our\nmilitary strength is sufficient to keep us free and secure. Our national\ndefenses -- our two million men and women in uniform and the strategic\nmight they underwrite -- are the finest in the world.\nSome countries -- the Soviet Union for example -- must protect their\nborders with large standing armies. But, fortunately, we have friends on\nboth of our land borders.\nWe do have a fine army -- an all-volunteer army -- well equipped, well run,\nand well coordinated with the armies of our many powerful allies around the\nworld.\nBut our basic strength in protecting our freedom lies in our abilities to\nprotect our power by air and sea around the world.\nMORE\n- 2 -\nAnd in those categories where our military planners call for clear-cut\nsuperiority--the fact is we are first. The United States has the most accurate\nballistic missiles. The United States of America has many, many more\nmissile warheads than the Soviet Union. Furthermore, we also have a\nvast superiority in strategic bombers. We have aircraft carriers, and\ncarrier task forces at sea.\nThere are those who would seek to raise false alarms--by saying, for\nexample, that the Soviet Union has more ships than we do. But the fact is,\nyou do not compare navies by numbers. You compare total firepower, you\ncompare tonnage and combat capability--and you find we are on top.\nLet me put it this way--would you say a football team was better than the\nDallas Cowboys just because it had more players on the roster? Of course\nnot. You have to know how good those players are. You compare the teams'\ntalents, their strengths and their strategies. And in terms of quality and\ntechnological superiority, the national defenses of the United States of\nAmerica are unsurpassed. And what is more, we are going to stay that way\nso long as I am your President.\nIt is the strength of our military forces which makes credible our diplomatic\ninitiatives for peace and which provides the firm foundation of our leadership\nin the international community.\nBut let me add that our strength involves more than our military might. Cur\nnation's real power is measured more completely by considering a combination\nof its military, agricultural, industrial, technological and moral strength.\nAll these contribute to our national security. And in every one of these areas,\nthe number one nation in the world is the United States of America.\nBut even within a physically secure United States, there can be other threats\nto freedom. Just think back to the state of our economy a year and a half\nago, and you will see what I mean. When I became President 20 months ago,\nthe national economic climate was bad--and getting worse. As a result,\nAmerican citizens were losing their freedom to live the way they wanted to.\nConsumers had less choice about what to buy, because inflation was eating\nup the value of their incomes. Businessmen had lost the freedom to invest,\nand to expand and improve their operations. And, tragically, many Americans\nhad lost the freedom to earn a decent living, because our nose-diving economy\ndid not need their services.\nMy Administration fought hard to regain America's economic freedom--and\nit is clear that we are winning. The figures show us that the rate of in-\nflation has been cut in half. Incomes are once again rising faster than the\ncost of living. The March figures show us that not only have we recovered\nall the jobs we had lost to the recession--but there are more Americans\nworking today than ever before in our history.\nAnd most important of all, the figures show us that the confidence of the\nAmerican people is rising, steadily and strongly. We are going to keep\nAmerica's confidence rising. We are going to keep protecting your economic\nfreedom just as steadfastly as we protect all of America's freedoms.\nOne way I will do that, with the cooperation of the Congress, is by sticking\nto the path of fiscal responsibility. Let me remind you of the budget I\nsubmitted this year--and those I plan to submit in the next four years.\nMy plans will bring a balanced budget in 1979.\n(MORE)\n- 3 -\nAnd that will bring you another major tax cut. That will give you the freedom\nto spend more of your money the way you want to spend it. And finally,\nand most importantly, I will continue to protect your freedom by being honest\nwith you. When I gave you my first state of the union message, I knew\nthings looked bad for the economy, and I said so. I did not raise any false\nhopes, and I never will.\nBut I will not conjure up any false fears, either. Because irresponsible and\nmisleading statements threaten our progress and your freedom--and my job\nis to protect them.\nThat is why America needs a realistic government. A government that\npromises only what it can deliver--and delivers everything it promises.\nA government that protects its people's freedoms by being strong, steady\nand responsible without being afraid of the future--and without retreating\ninto the past.\nThat is the kind of government we have given you for the last 20 months.\nAnd with your help next month and next November, that is the kind of\ngovernment we will give you for the next four years as well.\n###"
}