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Text of the Remarks of the President to Be Delivered to the 85th Continental Congress of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution [Ford Speech or Statement]
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7343619
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Text of the Remarks of the President to Be Delivered to the 85th Continental Congress of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution [Ford Speech or Statement]
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White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
Press Releases
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1976-04-21
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1976
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Digitized from Box 24 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE ON
APRIL 21, 1976
DELIVERY 10:30 A.M. (EST)
Office of the White House Press Secretary
THE WHITE HOUSE
TEXT OF THE REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT TO BE DELIVERED
TO THE 85TH CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
OF THE SOCIETY OF THE DAUGHTERS
OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
CONSTITUTION HALL
It is a great honor and privilege for me to meet with
you again. In this Bicentennial year we have a special
reason for rededication to the ideals and principles that
motivated American patriots in 1776.
I am proud that my mother was a very active and dedicated
member of the Sophie de Marsac Campau Charter of the Daughters
of the American Revolution. The principles of loyalty and
love of country which she cultivated in her children are just
as important today as they were throughout her life. They
will continue to be important throughout our third century
of freedom.
The patriots of 1776
men like George Washington and
Patrick Henry --- did not mince words. Nor will I -- 200 years
later --- in reporting to you on a matter of growing national
concern.
Over the past several weeks, as the 1976 political cam--
paigns have begun to heat up. more and more attention has
focused on the issue of America's military strength. Frankly,
I suppose, because a grab-bag of other issues has been tried
and failed.
However this should not be a partisan discussion. On
national defense matters, some of my supporters are Democrats;
some of my critics are Republicans. Nevertheless, politics
does have a way of confusing the extremely complex issues of
national security. This is particularly evident every four
years when we have a Presidential election campaign.
I welcome the emergence of this debate because during
the next four years many crucial decisions must be made about
our armed forces decisions that will affect our freedoms
until the end of this century and beyond. Nothing is more
vital to our individual personal security than the security
of our Nation.
At the same time, however, the gravity of this subject
demands that it be addressed honestly, factually and fairly.
Unfortunately. too much of the debate so far has been
cast in exaggerated rhetoric that tends to mislead and con-
fuse, not to enlighten and clarify.
I believe the American people as well as our friends
and adversaries abroad --- have too much common sense to fall
for these oversimplifications, but as your President and as
Commander- in Chief, I do have a responsibility to set the
record straight. And obviously, it is time for a little
straight talk.
Recent charges that the United States is in a position
of military inferiority and that we have accepted Soviet
world domination are complete and utter nonsense.
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2
If there is any single standard which has guided my
years in public service, it has been this: The freedom and
security of the United States of America must always be
preserved. America is the greatest nation on earth and
we will keep it that way. I know the D.A.R. 's record on
national defense and you know mine.
My knowledge, my concern and my record in support of
a strong national defense does not go back merely a few
days, weeks or months -- but all the way back to 1949 when
I first went to the Congress.
-- For 25 years in the Congress I stood for, I spoke
for and I voted for a strong defense force.
-- For 14 years, I served on the House Subcommittee
that each year examined in great detail every one of the
programs and then provided the appropriations for the Army,
the Navy, the Air Force and the Marines. And always -- in
all of those years -- my stance was on the side of strength.
-- During the years before I became Vice President,
as Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, I fought
openly and hard, year after year, for the maximum military
strength recommended -- whether by Republican Presidents or
Democratic Presidents.
-- For these last two years as your President, I have
called upon the Congress to approve the two biggest defense
budgets in our entire history.
-- And my pledge to you today is this: That as long as
I hold this Office, I intend to see to it that the United States
will never become second to anybody -- period.
Let's look at the record more closely for a few moments.
When I became President in August of 1974 -- some 20
months ago -- I reaffirmed my conviction that our military
power must be strong enough to carry out three essential
objectives, and I found that we successfully met all three:
We were -- and remain today -- ready and able to protect
our own vital security interests.
We were -- and remain today --- ready and able to deter
aggression against our allies.
And we were -- and remain today -- ready and able to keep
the peace.
Yet, as I was sworn into Office, it was also apparent that
we could not afford complacency about our armed forces. Quite
the contrary. For the past 10-15 years, the Soviet Union had
been striving with dogged determination to overtake us in
military strength. In our own country, on the other hand,
many people -- especially in the United States Congress --
seemed oblivious to the growing Soviet military capability.
Instead, they seemed to believe that we could channel more and
more of our tax dollars into rapidly growing social programs
and that our military should receive a smaller and smaller
share of our financial resources.
In the 10-year period from 1964 to 1974, estimated in real
dollar terms, the Soviets expanded their defense spending by
fully one-third. By stark contrast, military requests of
successive Presidents were slashed by 50 billion dollars in
the Congress during that same period. When I became President,
defense spending represented the lowest share of our G.N.P.
since 1947.
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There was cause to be concerned about the future security
of the country, particularly if the Congress continued to hack
away at our military budgets. If the Soviet Union continued
to expand its capabilities and we continued to bleed our own
defense forces, it was inevitable that the United States would
eventually become a second-rate power. Clearly the adverse
trend had to be reversed, and I set out to make that one of
the foremost objectives of my Administration.
In January of 1975 -- five months after I came into
Office -- I submitted my first budget to the Congress, calling
for a ten percent increase in overall defense spending.
However, that year the Congress cut my defense budget
request by 6.5 billion dollars, which included reductions of
more than 1.5 billion dollars in operations and maintenance
for our forces, more than three billion dollars in procure-
ment of weapons and other equipment, and more than 700 million
dollars in research and development. Specifically the Congress:
--
refused to provide the full funding I requested for
new Naval ships;
-- took away funds for two of our new airborne warning
and control systems aircraft designed to vastly improve our
surveillance, warning and control capabilities;
-- denied us additional attack aircraft;
-- reduced the funds for modifying civil reserve air
fleet aircraft, delaying our back-up airlift capability for
support in military contingencies;
-- cut our intelligence and communications programs;
-- reduced the program for our new B-1 strategic bomber;
--
cut into the Air Force program for development of
a new air combat fighter to maintain our air superiority in
the future;
-- reduced our ballistic missile defense technology
program;
-- reduced the fund request for war reserve stocks and
spare parts needed to sustain our fighting men in combat.
I could go on, but the point is clear: No President
could countenance such disregard for the Nation's security
needs.
So in January of this year -- only three months ago --
I submitted an even bigger defense budget: 112.7 billion
dollars, or 14 percent bigger than the defense budget of the
year before.
I also made it clear that if the Congress sent me a
defense bill that shortchanged the needs of the country,
I would take the unprecedented step of vetoing it. Further-
more, I have gone to the American people on the issue.
To my satisfaction, it seems the American people share
my concern and are communicating that message to the Congress.
And their message was loud and clear: Stop cheating the
country's defenses. Two weeks ago, the Congress took the
first steps toward committing us to the biggest single
increase in defense spending since the Korean War. I thank
you and millions of other Americans for your help on this
crucial matter.
I hope you will keep the pressure on.
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The defense program that I am advancing will mean that
the United States will remain unsurpassed for years to come.
Just about two weeks ago we laid the keel for the
first of a new class of nuclear submarines to be armed with
the most accurate submarine ballistic missiles in the world.
This Trident missile fleet will be the foundation for a
formidable, technologically superior force through the 1980s;
-- We are now completing the final testing of the world's
most modern and capable strategic bomber, the B-1;
-- We are also accelerating work on a new intercontinental
ballistic missile for the 1980s;
-- We are developing a new cruise missile for our air
and naval forces.
-- Nor does our effort stop with weapons, for we are
also expanding our Army from 13 to 16 combat divisions.
We are seeking to achieve new efficiencies across the
board -- better ways to carry out our military missions that
will not only save taxpayers over 2.8 billion dollars for
the next fiscal year, but will also improve our readiness
capability.
This is a program designed to ensure that America will
never become number two in military power. It is a sound
investment in our future, and I intend to see it through --
this year, next year, right through to the end of this decade.
I have spoken of our military strength. Let us never
forget that our strength will be meaningful only if it is
matched by our resolve -- our resolve to keep the peace, our
resolve to preserve our precious freedom.
No one should mistake our internal debates as a weakening
of our intention to protect our interests and to live up to
our obligations to our friends. The United States will not
only remain secure in its power, but I assure you, we shall
not hesitate to use that power when it must be used in our
national interest.
Even as we are determined in our defense, we shall also
be determined in our efforts to reduce the potential for
nuclear holocaust.
We are continuing the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
with the Soviet Union for the simple but good reason that
these negotiations offer the best hope for sanity in super-
power relations. Ever since the beginning of serious arms
negotiations with the Russians years ago, there have been
political pressures either to speed up or slow down the
negotiations and those pressures continue.
Instead, I have chosen a steady but persistent course
based on a realistic appreciation of our national interests.
Those interests do not lie in an uncontrolled nuclear arms
race but in maintaining an equitable strategic balance at
the lowest possible level.
Those who argue that the SALT talks jeopardize the
security of the United States are mistaken. In Vladivostok,
we began negotiating an agreement which if successfully com-
pleted will place equal ceilings on missiles, heavy bombers
and multi-warhead missiles.
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There are still important issues to resolve in the SALT
talks. I do not know whether we will succeed. But under no
circumstances will we be stampeded by arbitrary deadlines or
demagogic political charges. We will be guided solely by
the national interests of the United States. If a sound
agreement is reached, I will submit it to the Senate for
ratification.
My friends, this election year is still young. There is
still time to restore reason and perspective to our debates
over national security. Those who seek our Nation's highest
Office have an obligation, I believe, to spell out the alter-
native directions they propose in our foreign policy and our
defense policy. It is not good enough to criticize current
policies while refusing to propose specific alternatives.
Those who seek the Presidency must be equal to its burdens.
To charge that this Administration -- an Administration
that has fought for the two biggest defense budgets in history
and for the first time in ten years is convincing the United
States Congress to spend enough for defense -- to charge that
we have led our Nation into military inferiority is preposterous
on its face.
The American people have had enough distorted allegations
that we have become a second-rate nation.
We must see the world as it is. We must form our policies
out of hard facts, not political fiction.
First and foremost is the fact that the United States
is today the single most powerful nation on earth -- indeed,
in all of history. And we're going to keep it that way.
Our economic power is far and away the largest and the
most productive, producing an estimated 24 percent of the
world's wealth with less than six percent of the world's
population.
At a time when the number of democracies in the world
has dwindled to less than two dozen out of over 140 countries,
we remain the best hope of freedom and the inspiration for
liberty of mankind.
I say that those with faith in America must speak the
truth to the American people:
-- The truth that we are the greatest nation on earth;
-- The truth that we have the strength to defend our
interest and the resolve to uphold our values;
-- The truth that though we are strong, we can never
relax our guard;
-- The truth that for the first time since the days
of Dwight Eisenhower, a President standing for election can
say we are at peace; and finally,
--
The truth that we must remain actively engaged in
maintaining world peace and defending freedom.
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6
I promise to you that I will do everything within the
power of the Presidency to keep America strong -- militarily,
economically and morally -- as I have throughout my public
life.
But I need your help.
Without your support -- without the informed, intelligent,
confident constructive support' of all the American people --
no President can keep the Ship of State on a safe, steady
course.
But with your help, our 200th birthday as a Nation can
be truly a rebirth of America.
For 200 years, we have more than justified the faith and
far exceeded the wildest dreams of our Founding Fathers. Time
and time again we have repeated the hardships of Valley Forge
and the sacrifices of Iwo Jima to protect and defend our
precious freedom. Our dedicated armed forces stand guard
today in that same spirit.
America today is unsurpassed in military capability. We
have the greatest industrial capacity in the history of man-
kind. Our farmers outproduce everyone in history. We are
ahead in education, science and technology. We have the
greatest moral and spiritual resources of any modern nation.
Let us resolve today to build upon those great strengths
so that one hundred years from now, our great grandchildren
can look back and say that they, too, are proud of America
and proud to be Americans.
Thank you very much.
####