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    "title": "Remarks of the President at the Ohio State Capitol [Ford Speech or Statement]",
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    "ocrText": "Digitized from Box 34 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nNOVEMBER 1, 1976\nOFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY\n(Columbus, Ohio)\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nREMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT\nAT THE\nOHIO STATE CAPITOL\n12:30 P.M. EST\nThank you very, very much, Governor Rhodes and\nMayor Moody. Let me express my deep appreciation to\nCongressman Sam Devine, Congressman Chalmers Wylie,\nCongressman Clarence Brown, John Ashbrook and Bill Harsha.\nI want to make sure you elect them and re-elect them\nfor the benefit of Ohio and the United States.\nBut, I want also for the benefit of the great\nBuckeye State and for the benefit of our great country --\nyou send Bob Taft back to Washington as your next United\nStates Senator.\nYou know this all began right here, right in\nfront of the Capitol, and local and State Government is vital,\nand so I urge you to elect Bill Brownfield to the State\nSenate.\nIt is great to be in Columbus, the home of two\nof my good friends who represent excellence: First, Jack\nNicklaus, a great supporter of mine. I thank him for that\nhelp and assistance. And then also one of my best friends,\nthe kind of a person who represents excellence not only in\ncoaching but excellence in the character. He believes in\nwinning, and that is what we are going to do. Thank you\nvery much, Woody Hayes.\nYou know, I come from that State up north. (Laughter)\nBut, since 1963 I have visited the Buckeye State 56 times,\nand I love you. I had the honor and great privilege of\nspeaking at a commencement at Ohio State in the fall of\n1974. Itwas a great experience. But, I have also come to\nColumbus and all of the other places. You know what?\nColumbus likes to be, along with the great State of Ohio,\non the side of a winner, so let's make it a home run, a\ntouchdown tomorrow for the winning team, Jerry Ford and\nBob Dole.\nBut there are several other people that I would\nlike to recognize and indicate to them and to all of you my\nappreciation. First, we have on this platform one of the\nthree greatest Governors in the State of Ohio, John\nBricker.\nMORE\nPage 2\nMay I say, incidentally, from the appearance here\nof this great crowd and from the wonderful rally that we\nhad in the Akron, Canton, Alliance and Massillon area\nthis morning, I am going to issue all of you an invitation.\nBetty and I want all of you to come down to that inaugur-\nation on January 20 when Jerry Ford and Bob Dole are sworn\nin as President and Vice President.\nNow let me introduce to you a person who is well\nknown to you, who was a judge here in the State of Ohio\nand Cleveland, who was your Governor, and one of the three\ngreatest Governors in the history of Ohio, who was a\nUnited States Senator. Now, it is my privilege to intro-\nduce a close personal friend whose support I really\nappreciate -- your former Senator, your Former Governor,\nFrank Lausche.\nAn endorsement from one of Ohio's great, great\ncitizens means a great deal to Jerry Ford, and I promise\nyou, Frank, I won't let you down.\nAs we enter this critical last 24 hours -- and\nthis is one of the most critical elections in the history\nof the United States; it is the election that will set our\ncourse for the first four years of our third century --\nI want you to know where I stand.\nI stand for lower taxes, more jobs, a balanced\nbudget, lower Federal spending, beating inflation, a clean\nenvironment, peace and liberty for the United States of\nAmerica. From your ranks I come, and with you I stand.\nIn the last two years our great country, faced\nwith adversity, has made an incredible comeback. When\nI spoke to you and to the American people in Kansas\nCity, I said I would not concede a single vote, I would not\nconcede a single State.\nOhio is going to be on the right side. We are\ncounting on that Buckeye State to be with us tomorrow.\nWith our momentum, let's do it, a home run.\nI love that enthusiasm and applause, but take\njust a minute -- let's hear a pin drop -- because I want\nto talk about some of these, or at least two of the\ncritical issues where I strongly differ with my opponent.\nFirst, taxes. In the first debate, my opponent\nsaid that we could anticipate a $60 billion surplus in the\nFederal Treasury. He said in that debate that he would\nspend that $60 billion for more programs, piling one on\ntop of another. In that debate I said if there is a $60\nbillion surplus, I think it ought to go for a tax\nreduction to the middle income taxpayer.\nI can stand here and say with good conscience that\nPresident Ford stands for the little taxpayer and President\nFord is against the big tax spender.\nMORE\nPage 3\nWithin the last several days Mr. Carter has\nbeen pressed. Does he want a tax reduction, or not? He\nsays, if, perhaps. President Ford has been on the line\ntalking straight from the shoulder saying, yes, the\nmiddle income taxpayer has been short-changed.\nI recommended to the Congress in January that\nwe ought to have a $28 billion tax reduction along side\nof a $28 billion restraint on Federal spending -- for\nevery tax dollar in reduction, a dollar reduced in the\nrate of growth of Federal spending. The Congress gave\nyou half a loaf. They didn't go along with my proposal\nto increase the personal exemption from $750 to $1,000.\nNow, let me tell you what that means. It means\nthat the middle income taxpayer -- 50 percent of those\nthat pay our taxes -- would get -- and let me illustrate\nit with an incident that happened: I was in a factory the\nother day, down a production line, and one of the men said\nto me, \"President Ford, where do you stand on taxes?\" I\ntold him how I wanted to increase the personal exemption.\nI said, \"How many children do you have?\" He said, \"I have\nthree.\" I said, \"If you have a wife, three children and\nyourself, if Congress had acted responsibly, next April\nwhen you made out that income tax return, you would have\nhad under President Ford's tax reduction program $1,250\nmore in personal exemption for you to spend and not have\nin the Federal Treasury.\nNow Congress didn't do it. But on January 3,\nwhen that next Congress convenes -- and I want all of this\ngood Ohio delegation back there to help me -- I will have\non their desk a tax reduction proposal that will include\nthe increase in the personal exemption, it will increase\njobs incentive legislation to help industry expand, to\nmodernize, and if that Congress doesn't pass it in 1977,\nthey will have it on their desk in January of 1978, and if\nthey don't give that kind of decent, equitable tax reduction\nin 1978, I will join every one of you trying to beat them\nin that election in 1978.\nBut now let's talk about defense. Today the\nUnited States, with our Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines,\nwe are number one, and under President Ford we are going\nto keep them number one. I have recommended appropriations\nso they will have the best weapons, the best leadership,\nthe best training. That is the way to keep the peace. And\nunder President Ford, with the strength that we have, we\nwill strengthen our alliances. We will be able to look\nour adversaries straight in the eye and they will respect us.\nBut let me say, you make a great contribution\nin the City of Columbus because in the recommendations\nthat I made for a strong defense -- and that is the way\nyou keep the peace -- that we have a B-1 bomber to replace\nthose aging B-52s that are now 20 and 25 years old. If\nwe don't get the B-1 bomber as an instrument of peace, the\nPresident in the next five, the next ten years, if we\ncontinue to rely on the B-52, will be sending our young\ncombat pilots to protect us in the aircraft older than they\nare, and that is not going to happen under President Ford.\nMORE\nPage 4\nI am proud to stand before you and say that I\nam the first President since Dwight D. Eisenhower who can\ntell the American people that America is at peace. I am\nproud of the fact that not a single young American is\nfighting or dying on any foreign soil today. And we are\nat peace because the United States is strong. We are not\nat war because the United States is strong.\nAnd let me say, wasn't it a great, great\ncelebration on the Fourth of July when America celebrated\nits 200th birthday? I happened to have the privilege to\nfly over New York Harbor and see those Tall Ships coming\nin, representing many, many countries. And why did they\ncome to the United States? Because they respect America\nand we are proud of America, and we will continue to be\nproud of America.\nBut now as this great campaign comes to a\nconclusion, I have the feeling that we have reunited as\na people. When I became President, people were angry,\ndivided, disillusioned. I will never forget that day in\nthe East Room of the White House when I put my hand on\nthe Bible, held by my wife Betty, and took the oath of\noffice when America was troubled.\nYes, we were in trouble. Inflation was over 12\npercent; we were still involved in Vietnam; there was a\nloss of confidence in the White House itself; we were on\nthe brink of the worst recession in 40 years. And, after\nhaving taken the oath of office to be your President, I\nsaid, since you have not elected me by your ballots, I ask\nyou to confirm me with your prayers.\nWith those prayers, we put the ship of State on\na: steady keel. I had a firm, common sense hand on the\ntiller, and we have made incredible progress in the last\ntwo years. We have cut inflation by better than 50 percent;\nwe have added four million jobs; we have 88 million people\nworking today, the most in the history of the United States;\nwe are at peace, and we are going to keep the peace.\nAnd I can say with pride to all of you and to\nmy former colleagues in the Congress -- Bob Taft, Sam Devine,\nChalmers Wylie, Clarence Miller, Bud Brown, Bill Harsha,\nWill Gradison -- that we have restored that confidence\nin the White House. I have been open, candid, frank.\nAnd now, as we come to the final quarter -- in\nfact, the final minutes -- of this great campaign, you have\na critical decision to make tomorrow. It couldn't have\nbeen put better than the way Frank Lausche put it.\nBut let me add, I have been proud to be your\nPresident during troubled times. I want the opportunity to\nbuild on that firm foundation, to keep America moving.\nTherefore, I ask when you go to the polls tomorrow\nthat you not only confirm me with your prayers but you also\nconfirm me with your ballots, and I won't let you down.\nEND\n(AT 12:57 P.M. EST)"
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