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Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Digital Library Collections
This is a PDF of a folder from our textual collections.
Collection: Roberts, John G.: Files
Folder Title: JGR/President's
Legislative Message, 1985
Box: 43
To see more digitized collections visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/archives/digital-library
To see all Ronald Reagan Presidential Library inventories visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/document-collection
Contact a reference archivist at: [email protected]
Citation Guidelines: https://reaganlibrary.gov/citing
National Archives Catalogue: https://catalog.archives.gov/
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
January 24, 1986
MEMORANDUM FOR ALFRED H. KINGON
CABINET SECRETARY
AND ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT
WILLIAM F. MARTIN
SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT
FOR NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS
FROM:
ASSOCIATE COUNSEL 073 TO THE PRESIDENT
JOHN G. ROBERTS
SUBJECT:
President's Legislative Message (Revised)
Counsel's Office has reviewed the revised version of the
President's Legislative Message. On reflection, the second
and third sentences of the education section may go too far in
suggesting that education is an unconstitutional activity for
the Federal Government to pursue. That is not the Adminis-
tration's position, nor would such a position be upheld. The
following would make the desired point without danger of mis-
interpretation: "The Federal Government is one of limited
powers and responsibilities, and the appropriate role of the
Federal Government in education is very limited."
In line 3 on page 10B, add "or sentencing proceedings" after
"trials" -- the Kansas City trial recently concluded success-
fully with several convictions. In addition, "Hartford" should
be changed to "New Haven."
Anti-terrorism discussions occur both at page 8B and page 9C;
it may make sense to combine these discussions in one place.
The treaty with the United Kingdom is redundantly discussed in
both places. In addition, consideration should be given to
citing the work of the Vice President's Task Force on Terrorism
in the terrorism section or sections.
cc: David L. Chew
ID #.
CU
WHITE HOUSE
CORRESPONDENCE TRACKING WORKSHEET
D BUTBOING
H - INTERNAL
I . INCOMING
Date Correspondence
Received (YY/MM/DD)
1
/
Name of Correspondent:
law Chew
MI Mail Report
User Codes: (A)
(C)
Subject: President's Legislative message (reuised)
ROUTE TO:
ACTION
DISPOSITION
Tracking
Type
Completion
Action
Date
of
Date
Office/Agency
(Staff Name)
Code
YY/MM/DD
Response
Code
YY/MM/DD
CUHOLL
ORIGINATOR
86,01,24
/
/
Referral Note:
cust 18
B 86,0124
586,01.24
Referral Note:
4pm
/
I
I
/
Referral Note:
1
/
-
1
-
Referral Note:
/
/
-
/
Referral Note:
ACTION CODES:
DISPOSITION CODES:
A . Appropriate Action
I Info Copy Only/No Action Necessary
A -"Answered
c "Completed
C Comment/Recommendation
R Direct Reply w/Gopy
B Non-Special Referral
B Suspended
D Draft Response
$ For Signature
F . Furnish Fact Sheet
*X -Interim Reply
to be used as Enclosure
FOR OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE:
Type of Response - initials of Signer
Code = "M"
Completion Date
Date of-Dutgoing
Comments:
Keep this worksheet attached to the original incoming letter.
Send all routing updates to Central Reference (Room 75, OEOB).
Always-retum completed correspondence record to Central Files.
Refer questions about the correspondence tracking system to Central Reference, ext. 2590.
1981
VERY CLOSE HOLD
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE: 1/24/86
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 4:00 p.m. TODAY
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT'S LEGISLATIVE MESSAGE (REVISED) -- 1/24, 9:00 a.m.
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
OGLESBY
REGAN
POINDEXTER
MILLER
RYAN
BUCHANAN
SPEAKES
CHAVEZ
SPRINKEL
CHEW
P
SS STEELMAN
DANIELS
SVAHN
FIELDING
THOMAS
HENKEL
TUTTLE
:
HICKS
ELLIOTT
KINGON
LACY
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments on the "ECONOMY" and "DEFINING OUR
VALUES IN A MODERN AGE" Sections directly to Al Kingon; and
comments on the "FOREIGN POLICY" and "SDI" Sections directly
to Bill Martin by 4:00 this afternoon. Info copies of all
comments should be sent to my office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
David L. Chew
Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
January 24, 1986
9:00 a.m.
ECONOMY
Today, we see an American economic renaissance. Tax cuts,
deregulation, and low inflation have freed the entrepreneurial
genius of the American people, returned incentives to our
economy, and powered 37 months of economic expansion. Sunrise
industries light our horizons, while technology modernizes our
factories and makes America more competitive in the international
marketplace.
But this is only the beginning. Now is the time to build a
solid foundation for a decade of economic growth -- growth that
will give us a full employment economy, with real jobs for all
Americans from the sidewalks of Harlem to the shores of Hawaii.
Now is the time to lay the groundwork for an ever-expanding
economy that leads the world in innovation, performance, and
productivity.
Budget and Budget Process Reform
The future beckons; we cannot let ourselves be held back by
the growing burden of out-of-control Federal spending. Our 1987
budget, to be sent to Congress next week, will meet the
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings deficit targets while still fulfilling
essential Federal responsibilities to Social Security, safety net
programs, and, most especially, our national defense. Because
new taxes would only shift the burden while choking off
incentives, slowing growth and making us less competitive
internationally, I will veto any tax increase, in any shape or
size or form, that the Congress sends me.
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings can make a dramatic improvement. But
experience shows that simply setting spending targets does not
Page 2 - A
assure they will be met. We must begin now to put the budget
process itself back in working order. An executive line-item
veto will restore balance to the budget process and ensure that
wasteful spending does not sneak through under the cover of
massive appropriations bills.
[I am also asking the Congress to make the Congressional
Budget Resolution a joint resolution subject to my signature; and
that consideration be given to greater use of multi-year
budgeting, with 2-year or longer appropriations for many on-going
programs.]
And once we have made the hard decisions and gotten our
budget down to size, we should lock in our gains with a balanced
budget amendment to the Constitution -- so that Government
spending can never again grow out of control, threatening our
economic well being and dreams for the future.
We will continue to improve the quality and efficiency of
Federal management, and will work with the Congress to obtain
legislation to fully implement our management improvement
program. We have proposed legislation to improve Federal
productivity; streamline financial management; prevent fraud;
improve grant cash management; reduce error rates in benefit
programs; and reduce regulations. We will also continue to seek
supplemental retirement system legislation for newer Federal
employees and certain elected and appointed officials now covered
by Social Security.
Tax Reform
Our first tax cuts opened the way to prosperity; now is the
time to fire the engines of growth with tax reform that is
pro-fairness, pro-family, and pro-future. The House of
Page 3 - A
Representatives has taken an historic first step; let us join
together and go the distance. First, we must promise the
American people never to betray their hopes for tax reform with a
tax increase in disguise. True tax reform must be a vehicle of
hope and opportunity, and that means raising thresholds so hard
working taxpayers are not pushed into higher brackets. True tax
reform must make us more productive and competitive
internationally, and that means incentives for capital formation
and a top bracket no higher than 35 percent. And true tax reform
must be truly fair, and that means raising the personal exemption
to $2,000.
Antitrust Reform
If America hopes to compete successfully abroad, we cannot
bind the hands of American business and industry at home.
Therefore, we are asking the Congress to remove unreasonable
constraints on U.S. competitiveness by reforming our Federal
antitrust statutory framework to reflect the global nature of our
markets.
These changes will enhance the vigor and competitiveness of
American businesses, while continuing to protect American
consumers and businesses from unfair practices, including
monopolies, cartels, and price fixing.
Product Liability Reform
The need for certainty in the area of product liability
reform is an important matter that affects manufacturers,
including some who can no longer afford product liability
insurance, and consumers, who may pay higher prices for products
or lose the availability of certain products altogether. We will
Page 4 - A
work with Senator Kasten and others to establish a uniform
standard of product liability insurance that is fair to consumers
and manufacturers alike.
Free and Fair Trade
As we knock down barriers to growth, we must redouble our
efforts for freer and fairer trade. We have already taken
actions to counter unfair trading practices and to open closed
markets abroad. We will continue to do so. We will also oppose
legislation touted as providing "protection" that in reality pits
one American worker against another, one industry against
another, one community against another, and that raises prices
for us all. If the United States can trade with other nations on
a level playing field, we can out-produce, out-compete, and
out-sell anybody, anywhere in the world.
Trade is the life blood of the global economy. Growing
world markets mean growing prosperity for America and a stronger,
safer, and more secure world for the family of free nations.
Therefore, we will work to promote a free, fair, and expanding
world trading system by:
-- Continuing to seek legislation authorizing a
$300 million fund for combating predatory tied aid credits by
other countries.
-- Proposing omnibus legislation by strengthening and
broadening Federal and international protection of intellectual
property.
Further, we will work to correct the deficiencies in the new
farm bill, including provisions mandating a reduction in the
amount of sugar permitted to enter the United States, the 3-year
Page 5 - A
payment-in-kind bonus export program, and a new dairy program,
which obligates the Government to pay farmers to liquidate their
dairy herds and to buy the meat in order to support prices.
Our Administration has initiated discussions with Canada,
our largest trading partner, to establish a free trade
arrangement that would further reduce the already low level of
trade barriers between our two countries. We will work with the
Congress to assure that a mutually beneficial arrangement can be
achieved.
Our Administration will engage some of our major trading
partners in discussing the idea of establishing a multinational
or regional patent office. Such an office could provide a higher
level of common patent protection, including coverage and terms,
and establish a more efficient system for gaining patent
protection beyond United States borders.
We will continue to enforce vigorously the unfair trade
laws, in particular Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and the
anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws. The Strike Force on
Trade will continue its efforts to identify unfair foreign
practices that restrict U.S. access to world markets.
Our Administration is working vigorously to launch a new
round of multilateral trade negotiations through the Preparatory
Committee established last November by the GATT. Under the
leadership of the U.S., the Preparatory Committee is developing
the framework for negotiations that would strengthen the
international trading system, eliminate unfair trade practices,
and address major new problem areas in international trade such
as services, intellectual property protection, and investment.
We will continue the market-oriented sector-selective (MOSS)
talks with the Japanese, aimed at identifying trade barriers in
Page 6 - A
specific sectors and encouraging the Japanese to remove them.
The talks have succeeded thus far in opening up markets in
telecommunications and other sectors, and we will continue to
press for the removal of barriers in additional sectors. We also
welcome Prime Minister Nakasone's expressed determination to move
toward the restructuring of Japan's export oriented economy.
We will aggressively renegotiate the Multi-Fiber Arrangement
(MFA), currently scheduled to expire July 1, 1986, on terms no
less favorable than present. We are consulting closely with the
U.S. textile and apparel industries to ensure that its views will
be fully represented during these negotiations.
The Global Economy
Today, America is part of a global economy. The constant
expansion of our economy and exports demands a sound and stable
dollar at home and reliable exchange rates around the world. It
also demands that our trading partners grow along with us.
We cannot race forward to the future if our friends and
allies are lagging behind. Many of the trade problems we are
experiencing today are caused by the imbalance between our
low-tax, high-growth economy and the high-tax, low-growth
economies of so many of our trading partners. Our dynamic,
expanding economy is hungry for goods from abroad; but economies
still suffering under excessive taxation, over-regulation, and
top-heavy government simply cannot afford to buy from us.
Our Administration is working to promote growth in the world
economy by strengthening economic policy coordination among our
industrialized trading partners. I have directed Treasury
Secretary James A. Baker III to determine if the nations of the
Page 7 - A
world should convene to discuss the role and relationship of our
currencies.
Many of the developing countries, where large debts further
oppress struggling economies, are in particularly dire straights,
and we in the industrial world must accept at least partial
responsibility. Unfortunately, while we have championed free
markets at home, we have too often encouraged developing
countries to go the route of central planning, high, progressive
tax rates, and denial of property rights. As they always do,
these policies bore only barren fruit, plunging the world's poor
deeper into poverty -- and closer to violence.
Let us have the courage of our convictions. Starting now,
let us marshall our energies for a peaceful revolution of hope
and opportunity across the world through lower taxes, freer and
fairer trade, a sound monetary system, and, above all, the
inalienable human right of all of God's children to follow their
dreams.
Our Administration will vigorously pursue implementation of
our proposed "Program for Sustained Growth" to address problems
of debt and declining growth in the developing countries. This
program calls for increased lending by commercial banks and an
expansion of loans by multinational banks conditioned on
structural reforms, including tax reforms, in the debtor
countries.
Deregulation
Deregulation is one of the great success stories of the
1980's. From plunging gasoline prices to lower airfares and
consumer prices, to expanded choice and innovation in
telecommunications, deregulation has allowed free markets to work
Page 8 - A
their wonders. We will move forward to liberate the vital
American economy from the grip of unnecessary regulation by:
-- Continuing to work with the Congress to develop and
implement proposals improving the soundness and competitiveness
of the financial services industry, including reforms in Federal
deposit insurance and regulatory frameworks.
-- Continuing our support of legislation to eliminate
virtually all remaining Federal regulations covering the
trucking, freight forwarder, and domestic water carrier
industries, excepting those regulations mandating safety and
insurance obligations.
-- Seeking to completely deregulate the pricing of natural
gas and to reform regulation of its transportation.
-- Continuing to seek legislation for standardized designs
for nuclear power plants and to simplify the licensing process.
The goal is a stable, predictable process that encourages nuclear
plant construction and that offers consumers reliable, economic,
and environmentally sound electricity.
We will also introduce legislation to remove the burden of
unnecessary price regulation from the large part of the oil
pipeline industry that is fully competitive and where regulation
only increases costs and serves no useful public purpose. The
legislation will provide for continued regulation of those few
pipelines where such regulation is necessary to protect consumer
interests.
Page 9 - A
Employment
We must extend the opportunity society until it reaches into
every corner of our land. No American should ever be shut out or
left behind. Therefore:
-- We will continue efforts to give American youth,
particularly minority youth, job opportunities and a chance to
develop essential job skills with a Youth Employment Opportunity
Wage and by improving Federal programs for literacy and job
training.
-- We will again seek Enterprise Zone legislation that
provides Federal regulatory and tax relief to encourage jobs
creation, economic development, and renewed hope in distressed
areas. Seeing our national Enterprise Zone legislation stymied
for 4 years in the House of Representatives, the American people
have taken the initiative themselves, and now State and local
Enterprise Zones are springing up all over the country, creating
thousands of new jobs. Imagine the good that could be done if
the House of Representatives caught the enterprise spirit and
enacted Enterprise Zone legislation in 1986?
-- The Departments of Labor and Education have joined
forces to provide closer coordination between the job training
and education programs administered by the two departments.
Through this cooperative effort, we are encouraging and assisting
the coordination of services at the State and local levels. Our
objective is to eliminate duplication and, at the same time,
provide a broader range of assistance to individuals. Progress
has already been achieved in linking job training and
apprenticeship with vocational education. Plans are underway to
extend this partnership to all the disparate training and
educational services in the community.
Page 10 - A
-- We will work with the Congress to implement a proposal,
under the Jobs Training Partnership Act, that helps American
workers who have been harmed by imports, through job search,
training, and relocation assistance.
Our Administration will continue to work to improve worker
health and safety by streamlining the OSHA regulatory process,
improving OSHA standards, and better focusing Federal resources
for encouraging workplace health and safety.
Privatization
Over the past 50 years, the public sector has expanded
without any clear criteria for determining which activities it
should undertake and which it should not. But when the private
sector can deliver better service for less money than the public
sector, as it can with Conrail, then the Government must step
aside. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has successfully
privatized more than a dozen major nationalized industries,
generating over 7 billion pounds for the Treasury. In this
country, State and local governments have taken the lead in
contracting out such public services as garbage collection,
street cleaning, and even prison services to the private sector.
Not surprisingly the result has been reduced costs and better
service.
At the present time, the Federal Government is engaged in
many activities that are similar to, or even the same as, those
done by the private sector. This year's budget proposes to
return some of these activities to the private sector. We will
also be considering other new opportunities to take advantage of
the incentives for efficiency that characterize the private
sector.
January 24, 1986
9:00 a.m.
DEFINING OUR VALUES FOR A MODERN AGE
As we work to make the American dream real for all, we must
adhere to traditional values and put faith in people, rather than
government, to solve the problems before us. We must continue to
advance the education of our youth and provide for a safe,
secure, and prosperous future for American families. Through a
recommitment to our fundamental values, we can achieve a
collective vision for a rising America -- now, and for the
future.
Education
Parents have a natural and inalienable right to educate
their children, publicly and privately, directly and indirectly,
as they see fit, and that right should be recognized and
encouraged. The Federal Government has limited and enumerated
powers under the Constitution, and education is not one of these.
Those powers not delegated to the Federal Government are to be
reserved to the States or to the people, respectively. If
education reform is to be lasting and effective, we must
rededicate ourselves to the viability of locally-run education.
It is with this in mind that I am supporting the legislative and
administrative recommendations outlined below.
Our Administration supports The Equity and Choice (TEACH)
legislation aimed at expanding opportunities for educationally
disadvantaged children. The legislation will increase
opportunities for parents to choose a school that best meets the
needs of their children. It will foster diversity and encourage
innovation by introducing the element of competition among
Page 2 - B
schools. It will also increase private sector involvement in
providing education to disadvantaged children.
Our Administration will again seek Federal tuition tax
credits for parents who send their children to private elementary
and secondary schools. These credits will foster more choice,
improve the quality of both private and public schools, and treat
more fairly parents exercising educational choice.
Our Administration seeks to amend the Bilingual Education
Act in order to expand State and local flexibility in meeting the
bilingual education needs of children with limited English
proficiency. This includes removing the 4 percent limit on
special alternative instructional programs and making other
technical changes.
The Congress will be asked for Higher Education Act
amendments to restructure Federal student aid. This program must
be made more cost effective. It should be structured to give
needy students greater flexibility and choice in financing their
post secondary education. We will also seek legislation to
revise aid programs for developing institutions and to foster
teacher training and improvement.
We propose establishing an Education Savings Account that
will exclude from taxable income the earnings on any savings
deposited in a special educational account. Such a provision
would increase the self-sufficiency of parents and students and
strengthen our higher educational system.
Our Administration will seek legislative amendments
retargeting teacher development and retraining funds. The focus
of this funding should be on improving the quality of our
Nation's elementary and secondary school teachers.
Page 3 - B
There is currently a staggering and wholly unacceptable
number of illiterate Americans. Research has shown the dramatic
increase in illiteracy can be traced directly to the change in
methods of teaching reading. Secretary Bennett will cooperate
with other Cabinet officers to improve the administration of the
more than 70 Federal programs aimed at improving literacy in our
country. They will make sure that the most cost effective
methods of teaching reading are used where Federal programs are
involved. This will lead to reduced costs and improved literacy.
The Federal Government has a significant role in providing
useful and reliable information to the American people about
education. Armed with such information, our citizens can be
trusted to improve the education of their children. Secretary
Bennett will release a report in February, What Works, that will
be a notable landmark in this effort.
Health
America's health care system is the finest in the world.
More people receive better health care services here than
anywhere else in the world. Further improvements should build
upon the fundamental strengths of this system, leaving the
provision and financing of most health care services in the
private sector.
Our health care system, however excellent, is also extremely
expensive, and costs continue to rise rapidly. A primary reason
for the escalating cost of health care is that adequate
incentives for keeping costs down were not built into the system,
and there has been a lack of competition in the field of health
services. We made a significant improvement with the Prospective
Payment System for hospitals under Medicare, begun in 1983. As a
result, health care spending increases have slowed.
Page 4 - B
Appropriate Federal Government action can lead to a more
efficient health care system. To accomplish this we must rely on
market forces to produce the level of services the consumers
desire to buy, at the quality and cost they will accept.
In a time of overall budget restraint, health care spending
is not and should not be exempt. Therefore, any new programs
should be fully financed and should not increase the budget
deficit.
After seeing how devastating illness can destroy the
financial security of a family, I am directing Secretary of
Health and Human Services Dr. Otis Bowen to report to me by
year-end with recommendations on how the private sector and
Government can work together to address the problems of
affordable insurance for those whose life savings would otherwise
be threatened when catastrophic illness strikes.
Our Administration will continue to support the concept of
prepaid health care, and will seek legislation emphasizing
competition and broadening the types of health plans that qualify
as alternatives to traditional Medicare coverage. Our
Administration will encourage private health care providers to
develop less costly plans and programs directed at maintaining
health rather than treating illness, including those that call
for a fixed annual payment for a given benefit package.
My Administration will propose to limit Federal medicaid
payments for medical assistance and introduce new program
flexibility to eliminate Federal obstructions to State and local
discretion in controlling medicaid costs and delivering new, more
efficient services.
Our Administration will initiate a major study of high
malpractice insurance premiums paid by health care providers and
Page 5 - B
defensive medicine practices that minimize malpractice exposure.
We will look for ways to reduce the impact of medical liability
on health care costs while retaining quality care.
We will continue, as a high priority, the fight against
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). An unprecedented
research effort is underway to deal with this major epidemic
public health threat. The number of AIDS cases will continue to
increase. While there are hopes for drugs and vaccines against
AIDS, none is immediately at hand. Consequently, efforts should
focus on prevention, to inform and to lower risks of further
transmission of the AIDS virus. To this end, I am asking the
Surgeon General to prepare a report to the American people on
AIDS.
Our Administration will accelerate the processes for
bringing safe and effective new drug therapies and new medical
devices to ease pain and suffering of millions of Americans while
providing consumers with more choice at less cost. We will
continue nationwide protection programs to ensure that approved
food, drug, and device supplies are safe. Education and other
forms of prevention will be stressed.
Our Administration will continue to support the nearly
28 million veterans who have given faithful service in defense of
our Nation. We will provide quality medical care, fair and
compassionate disability compensation, and other benefits for
eligible veterans.
Welfare
I have charged the White House Domestic Policy Council to
present me by December 1, 1986, an evaluation of programs and a
strategy of immediate actions to meet the financial, educational,
Page 6 - B
social, and safety concerns of families -- a strategy for real
and lasting emancipation.
As we work to make the American Dream real for all, we must
also look to the condition of America's families. Struggling
parents today worry how they will provide their children the
advantages of their parents gave them. In the welfare culture,
the breakdown of the family, the most basic support system, has
reached crisis proportions -- in growing female and child
poverty, child abandonment, horrible crimes and deteriorating
schools. After a trillion dollars in poverty programs, the
plight of the poor grows more painful. But the waste in dollars
and cents pales before the most tragic loss -- the sinful waste
of human spirit and potential.
An effective anti-poverty program must both meet the
legitimate subsistence needs of the poor and create an
environment leading to less poverty and less dependence on
Government support. The current collection of Federal low income
assistance programs spends $100+ billion annually to meet
subsistence needs, but in such an uncoordinated fashion that many
who are poor receive more than they need, and many who are not
poor receive benefits intended for the poor. Moreover, by
failing to promote self, family, and community responsibility,
these programs encourage dependency and entrench the very poverty
they were intended to alleviate.
We can ignore this terrible truth no longer. As Franklin
Roosevelt warned 51 years ago before this chamber: Welfare "is a
narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit." And we must
now escape the spider's web of dependency.
Page 7 - B
Justice and Public Safety
Our system of justice is dedicated to and guided by the
belief that the Constitution creates a government at once limited
and energetic.
The Constitution carefully enumerates the powers the Federal
Government may wield. But where the power is legitimately given,
the Constitution also provides the means for a forceful and
energetic execution of the law. We are committed to bring the
full force of the law to bear on those who transgress its
prohibition or ignore its commands.
We have four priorities. First, to protect the law abiding
from the lawless with due and careful deference to the
constitutional rights of all citizens. Second, to safeguard
individual privacy from improper governmental intrusion. Third,
to defend vigilantly and energetically the civil rights of all
Americans. And fourth, to promote legal and regulatory
structures designed to conserve and expand economic freedom.
Our Administration will continue to seek legislation to:
-- Restore constitutional procedures to impose capital
punishment for especially heinous Federal crimes, including the
most vile acts of murder, treason, and espionage.
-- Modify habeas corpus procedures so as to give greater
finality to State court criminal judgements and reduce the
seemingly unending chain of appeals and re-appeals.
-- Reform the exclusionary rule to allow use of certain
types of truthful evidence that may now be shielded by the
Federal courts.
Page 8 - B
These fundamental anti-crime measures deserve the same
priority in the Congress that they have received from the
Administration.
Our Administration will continue to investigate and
prosecute fraud and other economic, or "white collar," crimes.
The Congress can support improved enforcement by completing
action on anti-fraud legislative proposals introduced last year.
These include the Money Laundering and Related Crimes Act, Legal
Fees Equity Act, False Claims Act Amendments, Program Fraud Civil
Penalties Act, Contract Disputes Act and Federal Courts
Improvement Act Amendments, Bribes and Gratuities Act, Grand Jury
Disclosure Amendments, Anti-Fraud Criminal Enforcement Act, and
the Federal Computer Systems Protection Act.
Our Administration will continue to take measures to counter
the brutal, savage terrorist attacks on innocent people. We will
head off terrorist incidents before they can occur through
tightened security measures and new regulations for checked
baggage, cargo, and access to aircraft. We are working with
,OC
international organizations to enhance security standards
ALSU
worldwide and will ask the Congress to approve the treaty with
move
PASE
the United Kingdom. This treaty will serve as a model of
cooperation by permitting the return of international terrorists
for trial. We are also requesting legislation to minimize the
risk of terrorism for international travelers. And we are
requesting additional funds to improve the security of our
diplomatic missions abroad and of foreign diplomats here in the
United States.
Our Administration is completely and totally dedicated to
the safety of air travel and the security of our airports. In
the United States each day, 14,000 flights carry 1 million
passengers. To further guarantee their safety we will continue
to increase the number of air traffic controllers and inspectors.
Page 9 - B
We have improved safety regulations and in-depth inspection of
air carriers and equipment. We are modernizing our airspace
system to make the safest system in the world even safer and more
efficient. We have expanded the Federal air marshall program,
increased security training of flight crews, and required
background checks for all persons with access to aircraft or
secure airport areas -- all measures that will enhance the
security of the traveling public.
The workload of the Federal courts has skyrocketed in recent
years. To ensure fairness and consistency in the administration
of justice, our Administration will continue to appoint highly
qualified judges who support the limited policy making role of
the Federal courts envisioned by the Constitution. The Founding
Fathers did not want our judiciary system to be first among
equals. They wanted it to be one of the co-equal branches of
government.
Our Administration considers improvements to the Federal
drug law enforcement program to be one of its top domestic
priorities. Thus, we will continue efforts to eradicate illegal
drugs before they can be harvested, and to reduce demand for
these narcotics by opening the eyes of our Nation's young people
to the damage drugs do to the health and lives of anyone who uses
them. The Vice President will continue to provide strong
leadership in demonstrating the importance of coordinated effort
by all the Nation's law enforcement agencies to interdict the
flow of narcotics in this country. Through our Organized Crime
Drug Enforcement Task Force Program, we will strike at organized
criminal elements who profit from drug trafficking.
Our Administration will be calling for the help of all
Americans in our battle to eliminate organized crime's extensive
influence in American society. Every Government agency will be
mobilized and will cooperate with local and State police to wipe
Page 10 - B
out all types of organized crime. At this moment, the heads of
major organized crime families and their associates are facing
11 separate trials, in Boston, Kansas City, Chicago, Hartford,
Newark, and New York. The forfeiture provisions already enacted
in the Administration's comprehensive crime control package will
allow us to stem the life blood of organized crime by impounding
some of their illicit proceeds. However, further reform and
toughening of these procedures is in order.
Our Administration will continue to help victims of crime
through State victims assistance programs. We have drafted model
legislation for States to ease the burden on crime victims.
Our Administration continues to support legislation to
reform the Nation's immigration laws. This includes prohibiting
employment of illegal aliens and granting amnesty to certain
qualified aliens.
Personal Freedom
Our Administration will seek amendments to civil rights laws
to extend the prohibition of discrimination to entire educational
institutions that receive Federal financial assistance.
We will continue to prosecute those who are guilty of
employment discrimination. Instead of schemes that impose
arbitrary numerical requirements, which really help no one and
insult all who have worked hard to qualify for the jobs they
seek, we need to focus instead on providing true opportunity to
compete for employment in the marketplace. Employment
opportunity must be based on skill and ability.
Our Administration continues to support strengthening the
Federal fair housing laws and efforts to create free and open
Page 11 - B
housing opportunities for all Americans. The amendments we have
proposed will stimulate voluntary efforts in support of fair
housing and provide stronger penalties for those who break the
law.
From the early days of the colonies, the right to
voluntarily pray in our public schools has been a revered and
important tradition. In 1984, I signed the equal access
legislation which allows students in public secondary schools to
meet voluntarily for religious purposes during non-instructional
periods. But there is more to be done. The right to pray in
school is a fundamental American liberty that was elementary to
the drafters of our Constitution. I again ask the Congress to
pass a constitutional amendment to restore the right of students
to voluntarily pray in our public schools.
Our Administration will continue seeking to restore a proper
balance between protecting the free exercise of religion and
preventing establishment of religion as provided by the First
Amendment. We will do this by filing amicus briefs in court
actions where the Attorney General determines that government is
improperly interfering with the constitutional guarantees of
religious freedom, and will protect the American public against
any form of persecution or religious intolerance.
America was founded with a ringing affirmation of the
transcendence of human rights. Our Declaration of Independence
proclaims that the rights to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness" are not a grant from the government, but a gift from
the Creator; and we declared that the same Divine Providence in
which the new Nation placed its "firm reliance" imposes on
government a solemn duty to respect and secure these fundamental
rights. We will work to restore the legal protection of the
unborn and carry this message to our courts, our legislatures,
and our fellow citizens.
Page 12 - B
The Congress should pass legislation prohibiting the use of
Federal funds to finance, promote, encourage or otherwise support
abortion. Abortion is the taking of human life. It is immoral.
Such killing debases the underpinnings of our country.
Environment
By most conventional measures of environmental quality, the
air and the waters of the United States continue to improve as a
result of the enormous national commitment to these goals that
has come about since 1970. Likewise, we continue to be ever more
careful stewards of our lands and their abundant natural
resources -- wildlife, soils, minerals, fuels, and forests. We
are moving aggressively to eliminate serious contamination of
valuable land and ground water from the past mismanagement of
hazardous wastes.
Human institutions can encourage or constrain the ability of
people to make the best use of their resources and to solve
environmental problems. Rational policies that recognize and
make effective use of economic incentives should help to improve
the management of our environment and natural resources by
stimulating new achievements on the part of the American people.
Efficient use of the Nation's resources, guided whenever possible
by free markets rather than centralized controls, will work to
promote environmental health, economic productivity, and fiscal
responsibility.
Environmental protection regulations should be fashioned so
that innovation and the substitution of progressively safer new
products and technologies for old ones are not inhibited,
especially where risk reduction or increased benefits will be the
likely result. We must be alert lest government restrictions,
however benevolently aimed at protecting the public as a whole,
Page 13 - B
begin to hamper the creativity and productivity of entrepreneurs
and other individuals who also can bring about social advances.
Consistent with these thoughts, our Administration continues
to support reauthorization of the Comprehensive Environmental
Response Compensation Liability Act -- Superfund -- for another
5 years. While we are firmly opposed to funding this through a
value-added tax, we urge the Congress to keep the clean-up of
hazardous waste a high priority.
Our Administration will continue to propose legislation for
additional National Wild and Scenic Rivers/Wilderness
designations as part of our efforts to preserve natural
environment areas.
We will continue to work with the Congress to closely
examine the Nation's major environmental laws and will pay close
attention to balancing tradeoffs among social costs, risk, and
environmental protection. We will encourage market-oriented
strategies throughout this process.
All Americans should take pride in their outstanding public
lands and historic sites that belong to everyone. The
Departments of Interior, Agriculture, Education, and Army (Corps
of Engineers) will work together on a "Take Pride in America"
campaign. We must all work for a renewed awareness that these
lands are our lands. A "Take Pride in America" campaign will be
launched to achieve that goal. The Departments of Interior,
Agriculture, Education, and Army (Corps of Engineers) will work
together on this campaign.
Recognizing that environmental problems do not stop at
national boundaries we will continue to collaborate closely with
other nations to maintain the quality of the global environment
and improve the management of natural resources of common
Page 14 - B
interest. The United States has long been the world leader in
making its scientific talent, data and information, and financial
resources available to the international community for these
purposes, and we intend to maintain such a role.
Federalism
The United States is, and was intended to be, governed by a
Federal system. State and local governments should play a
significant role in the life of our country. During the 1970's,
local and State governments were often bypassed as the Federal
establishment grasped more and more authority and co-opted much
of the Nation's tax base. As Government became farther and
farther removed from the people, it became less efficient and
less responsive.
Today, we have reversed the trend toward centralization.
Local and State governments are again assuming their rightful
role. This is a trend we must encourage. We must see to it that
local and State governments are able to do those jobs that they
can do best.
We are working with State and local government officials and
organizations to compile a roster of major Federal regulations
for revision or elimination. We will also seek to standardize
agency grant management practices so as to reduce administrative
costs and confusion.
Through block grants, we have been able to cut through
Federal red tape and allow State and local officials to design
and administer programs that make sense to them and their
taxpayers. Accordingly, the budget I submit will contain
proposals for new block grants, and maintain healthy funding
levels for the ones already in place.
Page 15 - B
Our Administration will continue working with State and
local governments through the National Environmental Enforcement
Council to ensure that environmental statutes are properly
enforced and managed. Such activities have already fostered an
atmosphere of mutual cooperation leading to stronger and more
efficient enforcement of our environmental laws.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
The national security and economic success of the United
States can be traced, to a large degree, to the close,
constructive cooperation between government, industry, and
academia.
As we move from basic research to development of new
products, it becomes more difficult to justify a Government role.
The most effective role of the Federal Government is supporting
basic research. Recognizing this, the Administration has shifted
resources toward this end, and proposes to increase its funding
in 1986 by
percent. We will also seek to renew the R&E
tax credit as an incentive for additional private sector research
and development and will encourage commercial application of
federally sponsored R&D by the non-profit sector.
My Administration is committed to a strong space program
that includes a Space Station, space transportation, assured
access to space, and programs required to protect the right to
operate in space. We also seek a strong space science program
that will exploit space as a research laboratory for development
of aerospace flight, Earth sensing and advanced technology
programs required in the 1990's and into the 21st century.
Research has already begun on an aerospace plane that will, by
the middle of the next decade, be able to take off from Dulles
Airport, accelerate to 25 times the speed of sound, fly in
Page 16 - B
low-earth orbit, and land in Tokyo in 90 minutes. Another group
of scientists is working on the baggage problem. We will
continue to look for economic initiatives to benefit the civil
and commercial communities that will encourage private sector
investment and involvement in civil space activities and promote
greater international cooperation in pursuing opportunities in
space. We must remain a leader in conquering new frontiers or
we, as a people, will surely fall behind. Our destiny, truly, is
tied to the stars.
Our Administration will continue to support basic research
in the promising new field of biotechnology. We will seek to
provide for protection of intellectual property in biotechnology
in order to promote innovation, and will ensure that health and
safety regulations are adequate to ensure that new products are
safe.
January 24, 1986
9:00 a.m.
FOREIGN POLICY
In the area of foreign affairs, America will continue to be
a strong and reliable ally to our friends, and a wise and hopeful
adversary to those who, for now, choose not to be our friends.
With the former we hope for continued harmony; with the latter,
for progress toward that most elusive of goals, peace. This is
our agenda for the future.
A Relationship Based on Realism
Our relationship with the Soviet Union must be supported by
the twin pillars of hope and realism. The United States and the
Soviet Union are not alike; we are not two equal and competing
Superpowers divided only by a difference in our "systems." The
United States is a free and open society, a democracy in which a
free press and free speech flourish. The people of the Soviet
Union live in a closed dictatorship in which the democratic
freedoms are denied. Their rulers do not respond to the will of
the people; their decisions are not determined by domestic debate
or dissent; unlike the democracies of the West, they pursue not
peace but "revolution."
And so the tensions between us reflect differences that
cannot be wished away. But history is malleable; it changes and
can be changed. Knowing this, and truly desiring to make the
differences between us smaller and more manageable, the United
States continues to pursue progress toward peace with the Soviet
government.
We will seek to ensure that our relationship with the Soviet
Union continues to be peaceful. At the same time, we will see to
it that our freedoms and those of our Allies are protected.
Page 2 - C
My Administration seeks a secure future at lower levels of
arms, particularly nuclear forces, through agreements that are
equitable and verifiable. The soundness of our proposals, our
renewed military strength and our bipartisan determination to
assure a strong deterrent create incentives for the Soviet Union
to negotiate seriously.
We can move toward a better, more cooperative working
relationship with the Soviet Union if the Soviet leadership is
willing. This will require full compliance with the letter and
spirit of both past and future agreements.
There is much work to be done. I will meet General
Secretary Gorbachev later this year, and in preparation we will
pursue discussions at all levels. I also hope to see greater
communication between our peoples. I am optimistic that if the
Soviet leadership is willing to meet us halfway, we will be able
to put our relations on a more cooperative footing in 1986.
Sustaining Our Strong Commitment to National Defense
In spite of our current discussions, however, the Soviet
leaders are continuing a massive military buildup that threatens
the United States and our free world allies. Real arms
reductions are possible only if the Soviets do not doubt our
strength and ability to counter aggression.
Keeping America strong, free, and at peace is solely the
responsibility of the Federal Government; it is Government's
prime responsibility. We have devoted 4 years trying to narrow a
dangerous gap born of illusion and neglect. And we have made
important gains.
Page 3 - C
In the past 5 years, our Administration has reversed the
decline in defense spending that occurred during the 1970's and
has made significant progress in strengthening our military
capabilities. Last year the Congress and I reached a deficit
reduction agreement. We pledged together to hold real growth in
defense spending to the bare minimum. My 1987 budget honors that
pledge. It proposes defense levels that are essential simply to
maintain the defense capability that we have achieved in the face
of the continuing Soviet military buildup. I am now asking
Congress to keep its end of the bargain. The Soviets must know
that if America reduces her defenses, it will be because of a
reduced threat, not a reduced resolve.
I will continue to vigorously pursue our 5-part strategic
modernization program in my 1987 budget to modernize our bomber,
ICBM, and missile-submarine forces, so as to assure effective and
stable deterrence.
My Administration will actively continue research into new
technologies in search of secure strategic defense systems. The
Strategic Defense Initiative offers the prospect of using such
systems, which threaten no one, to keep the peace, protect the
United States and our allies in greater safety, and ultimately to
eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons.
We have witnessed in the past 5 years a remarkable
improvement in personnel quality and retention throughout all
components of the Military Services. My 1987 budget continues to
ensure that the high quality of our forces is maintained.
My Administration is strongly committed to improving
management of our defense programs. I will soon receive -- and
am determined to follow through on -- the recommendations of my
Blue Ribbon Commission, chaired by David Packard, which has been
reviewing this issue. The Department of Defense will continue to
Page 4 - C
root out waste and inefficiency and will aggressively initiate
any new improvements necessary to assure that taxpayer dollars
are well spent. We will also pursue organizational changes,
where appropriate, to ensure the continued effectiveness of our
Armed Forces.
Support for a World of Hope
The United States continues to pursue a world of hope where
people are free to choose the political system by which they will
be governed. We seek to roll back the tide of tyranny; we seek
to increase freedom across the face of this planet. One of our
fundamental policy objectives is to support freedom and democracy
wherever that support is needed. To do so serves the cause of
peace.
In Afghanistan we must continue our support for the forces
fighting an oppressive Communist regime. As a result of the
Soviet Union's military presence and vicious campaign against the
freedom fighters, a quarter of the Afghan population is either
dead or in refugee camps. The Afghan people will have our
support as long as the Soviet Union continues its war against
them.
In Latin America the trend toward elected civilian
governments continues, with Guatemala as the latest new entry.
Over 90 percent of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean
now enjoy democratic rule. That compares to less than one-third
only 5 years ago. However, Communist subversion and the
insidious spread of narcotics trafficking continue to menace the
region. In fact, they sometimes work hand in hand, as in
Colombia, where Communist insurgents are increasingly linked to
drug traffickers and narcotics growers.
Page 5 - C
The Central American democracies need our help. Our
assistance is crucial, for when the democracies receive it they
are successful, as the example of democratic El Salvador
demonstrates.
For moral and strategic reasons we must continue to support
the freedom fighters in Nicaragua. The Nicaraguan resistance is
fighting not only the Sandinistas, but Cubans armed with Soviet
weapons. I will be asking the Congress to provide the Nicaraguan
democrats with the moral and material support they require to
continue and expand their struggle. We are also pressing the
Sandinistas to negotiate with their own people and to fulfill the
promises made to them of genuine democracy.
Reflecting the concerns expressed by our Latin American
neighbors, we have developed a prudent approach to the debt
problem, recommending free market policies that promote economic
adjustment and resumed growth. Secretaries Shultz and Baker, in
addresses in Colombia and Korea, respectively, have set out this
approach.
We can help those seeking democracy not only by economic and
military aid, but with ideas and the active involvement of
democratic parties and institutions. The National Endowment for
Democracy has a creative role to play in fostering the ideals
that make democracy work.
In Africa, many countries have experienced deep economic
distress and starvation in the past year, brought about in part
by the drought and in some cases -- particularly Ethiopia -- by
the brutal policies of a Communist regime. As the human cost of
such policies mounts, we encourage Africans to take the lead in
moving toward economic and political freedoms. We are moved by
the efforts of freedom fighters such as Jonas Savimbi and the
members of UNITA. They deserve our support in their brave
Page 6 - C
struggle against Soviet-Cuban imperialism in Angola. We will
work with the Congress to determine the most effective way of
demonstrating our support.
In South Africa, we stand forthrightly on the principle that
the government must achieve freedom and justice for all its
citizens. Apartheid, in our view, is doomed. But we have a
major stake -- as elsewhere, both moral and strategic -- in
encouraging a peaceful transition and avoiding a terrible civil
war. We reject the approach of those on both sides who pursue
violence and oppression as a means to an end. Our ability to
affect the ultimate outcome is limited, but we will continue to
employ our good offices -- both official and private -- to pursue
dialogue and negotiation as the best way to change the system
while protecting the future of all South Africans.
In Southeast Asia, the United States supports ASEAN in its
efforts to aid the struggle of the Cambodian people to free their
country from foreign occupation while aiding Thailand, the ASEAN
front-line state. We are prepared to contribute to a negotiated
settlement of this war, in the context of the "regional
initiative" I put forward at the United Nations last year. We
are implementing humanitarian measures in response to the refugee
problems in the region.
My Administration has pressed the governments of Indochina
for the fullest possible accounting of the MIA/POW question.
These efforts have shown significant progress and will continue.
We will continue to pursue, with all resources available to us,
reports of Americans who could still be held captive.
Page 7 - C
Alliances and Friendships
America's strength and staying power are the essential
prerequisites for strengthening our alliances and friendships.
In Europe we have launched, together with our NATO allies, a
Conventional Defense Initiative to find more effective means to
improve our conventional deterrent; we are also seeking ways,
with congressional support, to stimulate armaments cooperation.
We are continuing alliance implementation of the decision to
reduce by 1,400 the number of nuclear warheads available to NATO,
bringing our theater-nuclear inventory to its lowest level in
20 years; this unilateral decision is being carried out despite
the absence of reductions by the Soviet Union. We have agreed
with Great Britain to undertake cooperative research into the
Strategic Defense Initiative and are laying the groundwork for
cooperation with others.
No discussion of Europe and its security can be complete
without a reference to western Europe's great and just hope: an
end to the artificial division of Europe. The dividing line
between freedom and oppression is one boundary that can never be
made legitimate. The most significant way of making all Europe
more secure is to make it more free.
We stand for the principles of freedom, democracy, the rule
of law, unconditional human rights, and government with the
consent of the governed. In Poland -- a country that continues
to arouse the conscience of mankind -- the cause of Solidarity
has captured the imagination and support of all the people of the
West. Solidarity will not die because its heartbeat is an
indestructible truth that resonates in every human heart.
In our relations with Japan, we will seek to expand efforts
to resolve bilateral trade issues through trade liberalizing
solutions that open Japanese markets to American goods. We
continue to rely on the United States-Japanese Mutual Security
treaty as a pillar of Asian peace and stability.
Page 8 - C
Our commitment to the security of the Republic of Korea has
never been stronger. We have a number of differences on trade
issues but believe the market opening steps being taken or under
consideration by the Republic of Korea will alleviate these
difficulties.
Elsewhere in Asia I will continue to expand and deepen
cooperation with China, and improve our relationships in
Southeast Asia and the dynamic Pacific Basin as a whole.
Termination of United States Trusteeship over the Micronesian
Territories, which I hope we can achieve this year, will be a
landmark in our relations with the emerging Pacific Island
nations and a symbol of our support for democracy and freedom
everywhere.
One of the most critical areas to our security is the Middle
East. Security assistance to the countries of the region is
important to maintaining United States influence and to
preventing Soviet intimidation and exploitation. We have helped
Israel and Jordan to narrow their differences in the peace
process. We will continue our efforts to facilitate direct
negotiations between Israel and her Arab neighbors. We must also
enlarge the gains already made between Israel and Egypt.
In South Asia major strides have been taken in the past year
to advance regional peace and prosperity. A new regional
association was inaugurated to grapple with the twin killers of
narcotics and terrorism. The leaders of India and Pakistan have
met frequently to resolve outstanding differences. The United
States stands ready to promote regional peace and reduce the risk
of a South Asian arms race in any way it can.
In terms of our legislative intentions, let me be clear: in
many regions of the world, a strong security assistance program
is one of the most effective, and least costly, ways of
Page 9 - C
protecting interests we share with allies and friends. I will
work with the Congress to preserve this invaluable policy tool.
I will also seek congressional approval of our requests to sell
arms to Jordan and other pro-Western governments in the Mideast.
Countering Terrorism and Espionage
Terrorism is a growing threat, as evidenced by the increased
targeting of innocent civilians engaged in innocent pursuits. We
are taking several measures to increase our capability to deal
with this scourge. We are aware that it thrives with the support
of nations such as Libya that provide funding, logistics,
direction, and safehavens.
We will increase our intelligence cooperation with friendly
nations to share information on terrorist plans and intentions.
We will also increase the security of American official
REPORT
installations abroad. Our Administration will place greater
emphasis by our intelligence community on collecting information
on terrorist groups and their state supporters. We will also
increase ar readiness to strike back at terrorists where they
have been dentified and their responsibility for actions against
Americans has been determined.
We will act swiftly and severely against those who kill and
maim innocent Americans. Those countries that support and direct
the terrorists should know there is no refuge, there is no hiding
place, there is no sanctuary that will keep them safe forever.
Our Administration will continue, unilaterally and in
cooperation with our allies, private sector transportation
companies, and international organizations to take preventive and
response measures to counter the brutal, savage terrorist attacks
on innocent people. Through the Federal Bureau of Investigation
January 24, 1986
9:00 a.m.
FOREIGN POLICY
In the area of foreign affairs, America will continue to be
a strong and reliable ally to our friends, and a wise and hopeful
adversary to those who, for now, choose not to be our friends.
With the former we hope for continued harmony; with the latter,
for progress toward that most elusive of goals, peace. This is
our agenda for the future.
A Relationship Based on Realism
Our relationship with the Soviet Union must be supported by
the twin pillars of hope and realism. The United States and the
Soviet Union are not alike; we are not two equal and competing
Superpowers divided only by a difference in our "systems." The
United States is a free and open society, a democracy in which a
free press and free speech flourish. The people of the Soviet
Union live in a closed dictatorship in which the democratic
freedoms are denied. Their rulers do not respond to the will of
the people; their decisions are not determined by domestic debate
or dissent; unlike the democracies of the West, they pursue not
peace but "revolution."
And so the tensions between us reflect differences that
cannot be wished away. But history is malleable; it changes and
can be changed. Knowing this, and truly desiring to make the
differences between us smaller and more manageable, the United
States continues to pursue progress toward peace with the Soviet
government.
We will seek to ensure that our relationship with the Soviet
Union continues to be peaceful. At the same time, we will see to
it that our freedoms and those of our Allies are protected.
Page 2 - C
My Administration seeks a secure future at lower levels of
arms, particularly nuclear forces, through agreements that are
equitable and verifiable. The soundness of our proposals, our
renewed military strength and our bipartisan determination to
assure a strong deterrent create incentives for the Soviet Union
to negotiate seriously.
We can move toward a better, more cooperative working
relationship with the Soviet Union if the Soviet leadership is
willing. This will require full compliance with the letter and
spirit of both past and future agreements.
There is much work to be done. I will meet General
Secretary Gorbachev later this year, and in preparation we will
pursue discussions at all levels. I also hope to see greater
communication between our peoples. I am optimistic that if the
Soviet leadership is willing to meet us halfway, we will be able
to put our relations on a more cooperative footing in 1986.
Sustaining Our Strong Commitment to National Defense
In spite of our current discussions, however, the Soviet
leaders are continuing a massive military buildup that threatens
the United States and our free world allies. Real arms
reductions are possible only if the Soviets do not doubt our
strength and ability to counter aggression.
Keeping America strong, free, and at peace is solely the
responsibility of the Federal Government; it is Government's
prime responsibility. We have devoted 4 years trying to narrow a
dangerous gap born of illusion and neglect. And we have made
important gains.
Page 3 - C
In the past 5 years, our Administration has reversed the
decline in defense spending that occurred during the 1970's and
has made significant progress in strengthening our military
capabilities. Last year the Congress and I reached a deficit
reduction agreement. We pledged together to hold real growth in
defense spending to the bare minimum. My 1987 budget honors that
pledge. It proposes defense levels that are essential simply to
maintain the defense capability that we have achieved in the face
of the continuing Soviet military buildup. I am now asking
Congress to keep its end of the bargain. The Soviets must know
that if America reduces her defenses, it will be because of a
reduced threat, not a reduced resolve.
I will continue to vigorously pursue our 5-part strategic
modernization program in my 1987 budget to modernize our bomber,
ICBM, and missile-submarine forces, so as to assure effective and
stable deterrence.
My Administration will actively continue research into new
technologies in search of secure strategic defense systems. The
Strategic-Defense Initiative offers the prospect of using such
systems, which threaten no one, to keep the peace, protect the
United States and our allies in greater safety, and ultimately to
eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons.
We have witnessed in the past 5 years a remarkable
improvement in personnel quality and retention throughout all
components of the Military Services. My 1987 budget continues to
ensure that the high quality of our forces is maintained.
My Administration is strongly committed to improving
management of our defense programs. I will soon receive -- and
am determined to follow through on -- the recommendations of my
Blue Ribbon Commission, chaired by David Packard, which has been
reviewing this issue. The Department of Defense will continue to
Page 4 - C
root out waste and inefficiency and will aggressively initiate
any new improvements necessary to assure that taxpayer dollars
are well spent. We will also pursue organizational changes,
where appropriate, to ensure the continued effectiveness of our
Armed Forces.
Support for a World of Hope
The United States continues to pursue a world of hope where
people are free to choose the political system by which they will
be governed. We seek to roll back the tide of tyranny; we seek
to increase freedom across the face of this planet. One of our
fundamental policy objectives is to support freedom and democracy
wherever that support is needed. To do so serves the cause of
peace.
In Afghanistan we must continue our support for the forces
fighting an oppressive Communist regime. As a result of the
Soviet Union's military presence and vicious campaign against the
freedom fighters, a quarter of the Afghan population is either
dead or in refugee camps. The Afghan people will have our
support as long as the Soviet Union continues its war against
them.
In Latin America the trend toward elected civilian
governments continues, with Guatemala as the latest new entry.
Over 90 percent of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean
now enjoy democratic rule. That compares to less than one-third
only 5 years ago. However, Communist subversion and the
insidious spread of narcotics trafficking continue to menace the
region. In fact, they sometimes work hand in hand, as in
Colombia, where Communist insurgents are increasingly linked to
drug traffickers and narcotics growers.
Page 5 - C
The Central American democracies need our help. Our
assistance is crucial, for when the democracies receive it they
are successful, as the example of democratic El Salvador
demonstrates.
For moral and strategic reasons we must continue to support
the freedom fighters in Nicaragua. The Nicaraguan resistance is
fighting not only the Sandinistas, but Cubans armed with Soviet
weapons. I will be asking the Congress to provide the Nicaraguan
democrats with the moral and material support they require to
continue and expand their struggle. We are also pressing the
Sandinistas to negotiate with their own people and to fulfill the
promises made to them of genuine democracy.
Reflecting the concerns expressed by our Latin American
neighbors, we have developed a prudent approach to the debt
problem, recommending free market policies that promote economic
adjustment and resumed growth. Secretaries Shultz and Baker, in
addresses in Colombia and Korea, respectively, have set out this
approach.
We can help those seeking democracy not only by economic and
military aid, but with ideas and the active involvement of
democratic parties and institutions. The National Endowment for
Democracy has a creative role to play in fostering the ideals
that make democracy work.
In Africa, many countries have experienced deep economic
distress and starvation in the past year, brought about in part
by the drought and in some cases -- particularly Ethiopia -- by
the brutal policies of a Communist regime. As the human cost of
such policies mounts, we encourage Africans to take the lead in
moving toward economic and political freedoms. We are moved by
the efforts of freedom fighters such as Jonas Savimbi and the
members of UNITA. They deserve our support in their brave
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struggle against Soviet-Cuban imperialism in Angola. We will
work with the Congress to determine the most effective way of
demonstrating our support.
In South Africa, we stand forthrightly on the principle that
the government must achieve freedom and justice for all its
citizens. Apartheid, in our view, is doomed. But we have a
major stake -- as elsewhere, both moral and strategic -- in
encouraging a peaceful transition and avoiding a terrible civil
war. We reject the approach of those on both sides who pursue
violence and oppression as a means to an end. Our ability to
affect the ultimate outcome is limited, but we will continue to
employ our good offices -- both official and private -- to pursue
dialogue and negotiation as the best way to change the system
while protecting the future of all South Africans.
In Southeast Asia, the United States supports ASEAN in its
efforts to aid the struggle of the Cambodian people to free their
country from foreign occupation while aiding Thailand, the ASEAN
front-line state. We are prepared to contribute to a negotiated
settlement of this war, in the context of the "regional
initiative" I put forward at the United Nations last year. We
are implementing humanitarian measures in response to the refugee
problems in the region.
My Administration has pressed the governments of Indochina
for the fullest possible accounting of the MIA/POW question.
These efforts have shown significant progress and will continue.
We will continue to pursue, with all resources available to us,
reports of Americans who could still be held captive.
Page 7 - C
Alliances and Friendships
America's strength and staying power are the essential
prerequisites for strengthening our alliances and friendships.
In Europe we have launched, together with our NATO allies, a
Conventional Defense Initiative to find more effective means to
improve our conventional deterrent; we are also seeking ways,
with congressional support, to stimulate armaments cooperation.
We are continuing alliance implementation of the decision to
reduce by 1,400 the number of nuclear warheads available to NATO,
bringing our theater-nuclear inventory to its lowest level in
20 years; this unilateral decision is being carried out despite
the absence of reductions by the Soviet Union. We have agreed
with Great Britain to undertake cooperative research into the
Strategic Defense Initiative and are laying the groundwork for
cooperation with others.
No discussion of Europe and its security can be complete
without a reference to western Europe's great and just hope: an
end to the artificial division of Europe. The dividing line
between freedom and oppression is one boundary that can never be
made legitimate. The most significant way of making all Europe
more secure is to make it more free.
We stand for the principles of freedom, democracy, the rule
of law, unconditional human rights, and government with the
consent of the governed. In Poland -- a country that continues
to arouse the conscience of mankind -- the cause of Solidarity
has captured the imagination and support of all the people of the
West. Solidarity will not die because its heartbeat is an
indestructible truth that resonates in every human heart.
In our relations with Japan, we will seek to expand efforts
to resolve bilateral trade issues through trade liberalizing
solutions that open Japanese markets to American goods. We
continue to rely on the United States-Japanese Mutual Security
treatv as a pillar of Asian stability
Page 8 - C
Our commitment to the security of the Republic of Korea has
never been stronger. We have a number of differences on trade
issues but believe the market opening steps being taken or under
consideration by the Republic of Korea will alleviate these
difficulties.
Elsewhere in Asia I will continue to expand and deepen
cooperation with China, and improve our relationships in
Southeast Asia and the dynamic Pacific Basin as a whole.
Termination of United States Trusteeship over the Micronesian
Territories, which I hope we can achieve this year, will be a
landmark in our relations with the emerging Pacific Island
nations and a symbol of our support for democracy and freedom
everywhere.
One of the most critical areas to our security is the Middle
East. Security assistance to the countries of the region is
important to maintaining United States influence and to
preventing Soviet intimidation and exploitation. We have helped
Israel and Jordan to narrow their differences in the peace
process. We will continue our efforts to facilitate direct
negotiations between Israel and her Arab neighbors. We must also
enlarge the gains already made between Israel and Egypt.
In South Asia major strides have been taken in the past year
to advance regional peace and prosperity. A new regional
association was inaugurated to grapple with the twin killers of
narcotics and terrorism. The leaders of India and Pakistan have
met frequently to resolve outstanding differences. The United
States stands ready to promote regional peace and reduce the risk
of a South Asian arms race in any way it can.
In terms of our legislative intentions, let me be clear: in
many regions of the world, a strong security assistance program
is one of the most effective, and least costly, ways of
Page 9 - C
protecting interests we share with allies and friends. I will
work with the Congress to preserve this invaluable policy tool.
I will also seek congressional approval of our requests to sell
arms to Jordan and other pro-Western governments in the Mideast.
Countering Terrorism and Espionage
Terrorism is a growing threat, as evidenced by the increased
targeting of innocent civilians engaged in innocent pursuits. We
are taking several measures to increase our capability to deal
with this scourge. We are aware that it thrives with the support
of nations such as Libya that provide funding, logistics,
direction, and safehavens.
We will increase our intelligence cooperation with friendly
nations to share information on terrorist plans and intentions.
We will also increase the security of American official
VEEPURT
installations abroad. Our Administration will place greater
emphasis by our intelligence community on collecting information
on terrorist groups and their state supporters. We will also
increase car readiness to strike back at terrorists where they
have been identified and their responsibility for actions against
Americans has been determined.
We will act swiftly and severely against those who kill and
maim innocent Americans. Those countries that support and direct
the terrorists should know there is no refuge, there is no hiding
place, there is no sanctuary that will keep them safe forever.
Our Administration will continue, unilaterally and in
cooperation with our allies, private sector transportation
companies, and international organizations to take preventive and
response measures to counter the brutal, savage terrorist attacks
on innocent people. Through the Federal Bureau of Investigation
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
February 3, 1986
MEMORANDUM FOR ALFRED H. KINGON
CABINET SECRETARY AND
ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT
W. ROBERT PEARSON
DEPUTY EXECUTIVE SECRETARY AND
DEPUTY GENERAL COUNSEL, NATIONAL
SECURITY COUNCIL
FROM:
ASSOCIATE COUNSEL 276 TO THE PRESIDENT
JOHN G. ROBERTS
SUBJECT:
President's Agenda for the Future (Revised)
Counsel's Office has reviewed the above-referenced revised agenda,
and finds no objection to it from a legal perspective. On page
16, line 8 of the "Justice and Public Safety" section, "prohibition"
should be "prohibitions." On page 28, paragraph 3, lines 8-9,
we refer to "Great Britain," while on page 36, first full paragraph,
line 8, we refer to the "United Kingdom." Both are correct, of
course, but there may be a virtue in consistency.
CC: David L. Chew
ID #.
CU
WHITE HOUSE
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