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    "title": "Remarks of the President at Beach Park [Ford Speech or Statement]",
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            "day": 26,
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    "ocrText": "Digitized from Box 31 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nSEPTEMBER 26, 1976\nOFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY\n(Pascagoula, Mississippi)\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nREMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT\nAT\nBEACH PARK\n6:05 P.M. CDT\nTrent, Bill Colmer, Jack, Mr. Levy -- we have\ngot a couple of good Alabamans here, Jack Edwards and\nBear Bryant -- it is great to have them and we are\ngoing into Alabama very shortly.\nLet me say to the people of Mississippi we\nstarted in Bay St. Louis, we went to Gulfport, we went\nto Biloxi, and we are now here in Pascagoula. It has\nbeen a wonderful day.\nAt the Convention in Kansas City I said that\nwe would not concede a single State, we would not concede\na single vote, and that we would campaign from the\nsnowy banks of Minnesota to the sandy soil of Georgia,\nand we are here and we are here to win.\nIt has been a great experience coming along\nthe coast to see all the wonderful recreation areas that\nyou have where you can fish, where you can hunt, where\nyou can really spend a wonderful time after you work and\ngo to school.\nBut, speaking of hunting, I want to make one\ncomment because I think it is vitally important for\nall of us who have a great dedication to the Constitution.\nNo law-abiding citizen should be deprived of the right\nto have a gun in his possession under our Constition.\nLet me talk for just a minute, if I might, about\nwhere we have been and where we are going. Two years\nago, when I became President, August 9, 1974, this\ncountry was in tough shape. I recall vividly, as I\nthink you do, the American people -- for understandable\nreasons -- had lost faith and trust in the White House.\nThe American people were faced with economic conditions\nwhich were very difficult. The cost of living was 12\npercent or more. We were on the brink of a serious\nrecession, and we were still involved in Vietnam.\nMORE\n(OVER)\nPage 2\nThat was a tough time. But, something\nreally wonderful happened in this country. We got\ntogether. We realized what a blessing we had in the\nkind of Government we have and instead of the division\nwe had among our people, we began to heal and the net\nresult is that two years later we have .made an\nincredible come-back and vie are going to do better and\nbetter.\nBut, let's talk about the future because that is\nwhat we really are all here about. I appreciate your\ncoming. I am grateful for you to give me the opportunity\nto talk affirmatively.\nWhat do we have in mind for the future? We\nwant a better quality of life now that we have taken\ncare of the immediate problems. What we want is a job\nfor everybody who wants a job, for everybody who wants\nto work a meaningful job, and I won't be satisfied\nuntil we have a job for everybody who wants à job and\nwho will look for a job.\nI don't mean a dead-end job for the Government.\nI mean a job where you have got an opportunity for\nadvancement, where you can make yourself a career.\nWe also want everybody who will work and save,\nto have a home in a decent neighborhood and under the next\nfour years of this Administration that is what we will\nget.\nWe want to get rid of crime on our streets. We\nwant to give people the kind of health care that they\ncan afford. Nobody should have to go broke just to\nget well.\nNow let me talk just a minute about the national\nsecurity. This is my third visit to Pascagoula. I came\ndown here in 1962 with my wife, Betty. She commissioned\na new submarine over here in the Ingalls shipbuilding\nyard.\nLet me talk about the Navy and what the\nIngalls shipbuilding yard means to the kind of a Navy\nthat we have to have. We are being challenged by the Soviet\nUnion on the sea. We have had our Navy gradually go down\nin ship numbers, although we have done very well in\ntonnage. You have a big shipbuilding contract out here\nin Ingalls shipbuilding. I understand 27,000 people\nwork here building those fine ships.\nI compliment you, but let me say this: We need\na first-class Air Force; we have got one. We need a\nsuburb, first-class Army; we have one. We need an out-\nstanding Marine Corps; we have got one. We have got a\nswell, first-class Navy, and you are a big part of it.\nMORE\nPage 3\nI am very proud of the fact that I sent to the\nCongress in the last two years the two largest defense\nbudgets in the history of the United States, and I\nwill submit one next year that will be the third largest\nmilitary budget in the history of the United States.\nI am not going to cut the defense budget just to appeal\nto some people. Anybody who says you can cut $5 to\n$7, or $10, or $15 billion out of the defense budget\ndoes not know what he is talking about.\nThe United States is number one, and under the\nFord Administration we are going to keep it number one,\nperiod.\nOne final comment. I will bet all of you in\nPascagoula had a tremendous Fourth of July celebration\nwhen we celebrated our nation's 200th birthday. Wasn't\nit a great day? Wasn't it wonderful?\nWell, we are now in our third century, and we\nhave got a new spirit. We are going on the offensive.\nThat is what Bear knows how to do with those good ball\nteams he has.\nBut, let me say this: We are healed. We are\ngoing forward. We are on the upbeat. America is going\nsomeplace and it is all to the good. Let's work to\nbuild a better America in our third century.\nNow let me ask one question -- one question.\nI have had a wonderful day in Mississippi. I am looking\nforward to going to Alabama. You people in Mississippi\nhave such a strong patriotism. I love being down here.\nIt has been a great day.\nLet me ask one favor of you. Will you vote for\nJerry Ford On November 2? All right, that is a compact.\nYou vote for me -- I won't let you down.\nThank you very much.\nEND\n(AT 6:14 P.M. CDT)"
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