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Fifth District Weekly Radio Reports, July-December 1971
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Fifth District Weekly Radio Reports, July-December 1971
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
Weekly Radio Reports
subjects
China
Department of Defense. 9/18/1947-
Appropriations and expenditures
Arms control
Busing for school integration
Cancer
Consumer protection
Correctional institutions
Drug abuse
Economic stabilization
Environmental protection
Government reorganization
Labor disputes
Legislation
National security
Old age
Pentagon Papers
Prayer in the public schools
Private schools
Railroads
Taxation
United States-Soviet relations
Vietnam War, 1961-1975
Voting
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12217342
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1971-12-31
month
12
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1971
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1971-07-01
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7
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1971
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The original documents are located in Box D36, folder "Fifth District Weekly Radio
Reports, July-December 1971" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and
Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
SCRIPT TAPED FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF JULY 3-4, 1971.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
few days ago a House Commerce Subcommittee began considering President
Nixon's plany to create a special White House action office to coordinate the Federal
drug abuse programs now scattered among nine agencies of the Federal Government.
this
I cannot over-emphasize the importance of the President's crusade against drug
abuse.
I am supporting the President's
all-out assault against drug abuse with all
the vigor at my command.
I hope Congre SS acts very quickly on his legislative proposals
in this field.
They am sound & In supporting Them requiredy for prompt acher
The epidemic proportions of drug abuse threaten the quality of American life in all
sectors of our society and also
among our servicemen.
200,000
For instance, it is estimated that people in New York City are heroin users--
among them 35,000 children of school age. At the same time it is estimated that 10
per cent of our men in Vietnam are heroin addicts but the porther in
m The mahlong
The magnitude of the drug menace mands total and immediate response on
the
part of the Congress and all the forces of government.
The President has responded with a four-pronged assault on drug
abuse:
1. A new attempt to dry up overseas sources of heroin.
2. Increased efforts to enforce the law effectively against dealers in illegal
drugs.
3. A greatly expanded program to detoxify G.I. drug addicts before they re
discharged and to put them into a readjustment programthat could extend their terms
of service,
4. In anti-drug educational drive aimed principally at young people.
administration
against
The President is stepping up our national attack At drug abuse on four
fronts. FORD LIBRAS
because what we must have is a national offensive pointed at this problem.
Digitized from Box D36 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
President Nixon plans to name Dr. Jerome H. Jaffe as the head of
the White House Office of Drug Abuse Prevention. Dr. Jaffe is a Chicago pharmacologist
successful
who has directed the statewide
drug abuse control program in Illinois. Hₑ is noted
for methadone treatment of heroin addicts.
While Congress considers whether to set up the
White House Drug Abuse
Prevention
Office, Dr. Jaffe is serving as the President's drug abuse advisor.
Dr. Jaffe has said that the goals of the new office would be to reduce the national
rate of drug addiction, cut down on drug-related deaths and drug use in schools, and
to increase the number of individuals treated for drug addiction.
Meantime, the United States and South Vietnam have just begun the biggest
crackdown yet attempted
to
stem the flow of narcotics to servicemen in the
Vietnam war zone. The drive is scheduled to run for three months. It will cover the
five northernmost provinces of Vietnam, where 90,000 of the 240,000 U.S. servicemen in
Vietnam are stationed.
Joint patrols of American and Vietnamese military police will make searches of all
bases and adjacent areas during the three-month drive. The allies have also formed
committees to seek out drug peddlers/ and are launching an anti-drug-abuse
educational campaign.
The President is asking Congress for $155 million in new funds to fight drug abuse.
Of this amount, $105 million would be used solely for the treatment and rehabilitation
of drug addicts. On the enforcement side, the President has asked Congress to set up
325 addtional positions within the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs to increase its
capacity for apprehending narcotics traffickers.
The additional $155 million would bring to
a total of $371 million the
BERALOP FORDS LIBRARY
being sought for fiscal 1972 to control drug abuse in the United States.
-3-
Much of the effort is directed toward rehabilitation. And in that connection,
the Veterans Administration plans to open 27 new drug treatment centers
by Oct. 1.
Of these new centers, 14 will be opened by the end of this month, and the other 13 will be
in operation by about Oct. 1. Five centers already are operating. One of them is in
Battle Creek, where work was begun last January.
When all of the VA centers are
open, VA will be providing
annual
care
addition
for an estimated 6,000 veteran-addicts in to those already receiving treatment in
re gular VA hospitals.
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from the Nation's Capital.
I'll be talking with your again next week-same time, same station.
GERALD R.FORD LIBRARY
SCRIPT TAPED FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF JULY 10-11, 1971.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
The recent Supreme Court decrision in the Pentagon Papers Case was a most
significant one, ruling out--as it did--any attempt by the Government to block
the cooled Pentugon Papers
news articles prior to publication.
As you know, this was a six to three verdict. Three of the six justices ruling
extreme
in favor of the newspapers took the absolutist view regarding the First Amendment to
the Constitution--the position that the courts lack the power to suppress any press
publication, no matter how grave the threat to security it might pose.
do
not
agree with this view, 1
My position tallies with that of a second group of three justices who
held
that the press cannot be barred from publishing any material unless it is to prevent
direct, immediate and irreparable
harm to the Nation.
this group
m this particular care
decided that the Pentagon Papers did not pose such a threat--and I agree
with them.
1
The minority group of three justices declared that the courts should not refuse to
enforce the executive branch's desire to keep the material confidential since it involved
a matter affecting foreign relations.
My basic position is that it should be the function of a democratic government
as muchly as possible
to make public the record of past policy decisions on its own-and to make current
policy abundantly clear. This should be prevailing policy except when national security
actually
is endangered. I do not believe
publication of the Pentagon Papers
posed any threat to the national security.
In a free society the people are entitled to every
bit of information as
long as this does not endanger the national security.
FORD
Having said that, let me emphasize that there are matters which should
GERAL be kept LIBRARY
wonfidential--matbers I would categorize as military secrets. There is no doubt in
-2-
my mind that the Government has the right--and should have the right-to classify
as Secret or Top Secret documents involved in the confidential planning of high
military and political strategy
affecting other nations.
There are also strong reasons for keeping certain Government documents confidential
measonable
for a long time. To publish verbatim lengthy texts that
have been transmitted in
2 emphasing in code
code by radio risks
disclosing something about our cryptographic techniques.
n
But as to the Pentagon Papers, the overwhelming indication is that the Executive
Branch itself should have declassified them--and so I have urged that they now do SO.
If the Defense Department doe not
declassify the Pentagon Papers, then the
Congress should adopt a law providing for full publication of this material.
There has been no showing by the Government that publication of this material
would result in irreparable injury to the United States. These are documents that
were collected in 1967 and 1968 for strictly historical purposes. They affect present
diplomatic and military operations only in an historical sense. There is no good reason
for them to be classified Top Secret.
The
Federal 1 aw the papers were supposed to have violated was one guarding
From the widness Thus for
against espionage. There was no espionage involved in the Pentagon Papers case-only
a
a confrontation between the Government and a free press
brought about when the
pre SS insisted on its right to publish information of
great historical
importance.
The central point which was raised by the Pentagon Papers case is how the Government
and the news media can best function in an open society to serve the interests of the
Nation and its people. It is the duty of the news media to seek out the truth and report
FORD
it. It is the duty of the Government to protect the best interests of the GERAL Nation. Both
the papers and the Administration sought to serve their particular ends.
-3-
Now that the court has ruled in favor of the newspapers in the Pentagon Papers
case, the next step should be to improve our
classification system. To this end,
there should be a regular review of material that has been classified secret to see
Parhaps
whether it should continue to be so cl assified. An independent board or commission
should be named to carry out this review. This board should remove from the
classified list all material which does not directly affect the national security.
I
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from the Nation S
capital.
I'll be talking with you again next wek-same time, same station.
######
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
SCRIPT TAPEDIM FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF JULY 17-18, 1971.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
The new fiscal year began July 1, and again Congress
had failed Bythat to enact the
major money bills to fund the Federal Government's agencies for the next 12 months.
Only three appropriations bills have been cleared out of the 14 major bills--and
one of those is for the operations of Congress.
Since 1964, there have been 86 major money bills passed by the Congress. Of
that number, only six were enacted before the start of the fiscal year.
Some people would be inclined to say...so what? The answer is that failure by
Congress to pass appropriation bills before the start of a new fiscal year breeds
inefficiency and uncertainty in the operation of Government.
Some appropriation bills are not even passed until the following session of
Congre SS, and this
promotes panic spending during the last fiscal quarter by
agencies trying to dispose of funds they could not adequately plan for.
It is time Congre SS gave serious thought to changing from a fiscal year
to a calendar year for the funding of Government.
The pattern is clear. With the huge budgets the Congress now considers, the
mid-year fiscal year ending places an unfair burden on the Congre SS and is creating
chaos at the local level where budgets are built around Federal grants.
Many localities even borrow money to tide them over. This adds to costs.
They also delay projects. And this in turn adds to costs.
Many members of Congress have introduced legislation to change from the fiscal
to the calendar year. This would bring Congress into the 1970's, budgetwise.
A full year to pass the appropriations bills would give Congress more time
to
take a really close look at what the Executive Branch is asking for. It would
benefit not only Federal fiscal procedure but also the thousands of local
,-2-
governments which are left holding the bag when
Congre SS is unable to meet the
fiscal year budget deadline. It is clearly time for a change.
are
Educators and college students dependent upon funds from Washington
relievedAthat Congress has
passed and the President has signed the annual
education appropriation bill. This provides time for at least some weeks of planning
before school opens in the fall.
The bill provides $5,146,000,000 for education in the fiscal year
bhat began
more
last July 1. That sum is more than shalf a billion dollars
than
the
appropriation for
the last fisdal year. There were increases in
virtually every educational program, including loans for college students. Even so,
it is le SS than the education lobby demanded. It appears impossible to satisfy all
such demands.
The education bill is only one
of several adopted by the House recently.
For example, the Environmental Protection Agency was given over $3 billion for
its many activities. Agriculture received $5 billion, plus another
billion for
rural development and nearly $3 billion for marketing and consumer activities.
The House voted $3.2 billion for housing, and the same amount for space
exploration.
Veterans came in for $11 billion, including a sizable increase in funds for
the administering of the many claims arising out of the Vietnam War and for
hospitals.
Another $2 billion was voted to support the activities of the
Interior Department.
All in all, we voted some $46.5 billion during June for some 40 agencies
and activities.
FORD SERALD LIBRARY ERALD
As I mentioned earlier, if
the Federal Budget were on a
calendar
-3-
year basis, Congre SS could do a better job of considering Executive Branch dollar
requests.
Every year the Congre SS enacts a continuing resolution which permits the
departments and agencies not appropriated byJuly for to continue their operations at the
previous
fiscal year's level. This is just a stopgap...an emergency
measure which has become routine. It is a poor way to do business.
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from the Nation's
capital. I'll be talking with you again next week-same time, same station.
########
GERALD FORD VIBRARY
SCRIPT TAPED FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF JULY 24-25, 1971.
This is your congre ssman, Jerry For d, reporting to you from Washington.
Last Monday morning I
was among some 20 members of the Congre SS who met with
Pre sident Nixon, foreign affairs advisor Henry Kissinger, Defense Secretary Melvin
Laind and Secretary of State William Rogers at the White House.
I am not at liberty to
talk about what was discussed at that meeting, but
without
revealing anything about the White House briefing or engaging in
speculation about the President 's prospective trip to Peking I would like to make a
few comments about U.S. -Chinese relations.
The announcement that President Nixon will meet in Peking with Premier Chou En-Lai
and
7
is clearly the most startling foreign affairs development
the
Nixon
However, any foreign affairs observer knows that Mr. Nixon has been working for months
to establish some kind of working agreement with the People's Republic of China. This is
necessary, he feels, if he
is to bring about the generation of peace which is Mrs most
eagerly
sought goal.
Without engaging in current speculation, I might say that my immediate reaction
to the President's announcement that he will go to Peking was that a meeting between
Mr. Nixon and Chou En-Lai might conceivably lead to an all-Indochina peace conference
throughout his
of the kind that the President has been seeking
Administration.
This thought struck me because the Nixon-Chou En-Lai meeting announcement followed
very closely upon reports that China was interested in negotiations to end hostilities
in the Indochina states. Chou himself spoke of the desirability of convening
a
Southeast Asia peace conference in which China would play a role.
There a re
formidable barriers to such a solution of the conflicts
Q FORD in LIBRAR,
Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia,
including North Vietnam's
insistence on a prior
settlement of the Vietname se War. But the possibility of
a Southeast Asia peace
-2-
Conference remains.
To dismiss the possibility of a Southeast Asia peace conference would be
unrealistic.
After
all
who
would have dreamed a few short weeks ago that the
belitted
Bamboo Curtain would
and that movement would occur toward a normalization
of relations between the United States and Communist China. We can all remember
when Chinese internal propaganda was directed at hate of the United States.
At
the time, most Americans looked upon the Chinese Communists as the "wild men" of the
world international scene.
In foreign affairs, almost nothing is impossible. Circumstances change, and
relations between nations change.
Again, without speculating, one can be certain that the
prospective visit
by President Nixon to Peking will have some effect on Hanoi--and also on Moscow and
Taipei and Tokyo.
Hanoi has maintained its independence of the
People's Republic of China, but
the fact
remains that Peking has provided Hanoi with about 30 per cent of its
Vietnam War supplies--the other 70 per cent coming from the Soviet Union.
Seeing America and Chinas improve their relations has to have some impact on
the Vietnam War.
The Russians have to react in some way. With armed regiments facing the Chinese
acro SS Siberian borders and American-supported NATO forces facing them in Europe, the
Russians have to view the new relitations between their two biggest adversaries with
more than mild interest.
The Formiosan Chinese and the South Koreans will feel real concern, despite
President
Nixon's flat statement that we are not going to abandon our old friends
IBRAR
in seeking new ones. But it is time for normalization of relations with all other
-3-
nations. The South Koreans have grown stronger economically, militarily and in their
own democratic institutions.
Hopefully, so have the free Chinese on Taiwan. Is
?
it sensible for these two nations to exist only on U.S. support and a policy of hate
for the Communist Chinese and the Japanese, an even older adversary? It would appear
time for them to accept the responsibility of independent nationhood and peaceful
co-existence.
Whatever the total results, President Nixon's trip seems certain to turn the
and
world in a new direction in diplomacy power balances. And it should move the world
closer to peace.
This
is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from the Nation's
Capital. I'll be talking with you again next week-same time, same station.
#######
BERALD FORD LIBRARY
SCRIPT TAPED FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF JULY 31-SUGUST 1, '71.
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
The results of my 1971 congressional questionnaire are now in--and I found them
most
significant and enlightening.
inGrand Repids
I don't know what the November referendum will show on the Vietnam question
because of the way that question will be phrased on the ballot. But my questionnaire
results
indicate to me that nearly two out of three Kent and Ionia
County residents are oppo sed to fixing a date for a Vietnam pullout if this is done
without any regard for the consequences.
Only one-third of the people responding to my questionnaire said they favor a
pullout by a fixed date regardle SS of the impact on Vietnam negotiations.
By contrast, roughly half said they favor the present policy of gradual withdr aval
from Vietnam while we pursue
a
political settlement of the Vietnam War through
negotiations. And 13 per cent wanted to step up the fighting inthe hope of achieving
a military victory in Vietnam.
Nearly two out of three favored keeping a re sidual force in Vietnam until all
American prisoners of war are released.
Kent and Ionia residents have very strong opinions on a number of subjects, my
questionnaire indicated.
Eight out of 10 are opposed to making food stamps available to strikers-some thing
which is now permitted.
Eight out of 10 favor the welfare reform legislation which the House of
Representatives recently passed. I worked hard to bring about the passage of that
legislation.
Nearly seven out of 10 feel so strongly about air and water pollution that
FORD they LIBRARI
GER
would be willing to pay more in increased price S and taxes-if necessary- to expand
-2-
our efforts to control air and water pollution.
Nearly eight out of 10 would like to see Federal
legislation enacted which
would require grocers to make unit pricing of food items available to shoppers so that
people could compare the per pound cost of various brands at a glance.
More than six out of 10 made it clear that Kent and Ionia Counties are basically
conservative. They opposed deficit Federal financing to stimulate the economy.
Kent and Ionia residents are pretty much split over the question of imposing
wage and price controls on the economy. Better than half--53.6 per cent favor strict
controls; 41.6 per cent did not think it was a good idea; and the rest were undecided.
One of the most perplexing problems facing the American people today is what
to do about
the tremendous rise in State and local taxes and how best to finance
the need for local service Sg
If I had simply asked my constituents whether or not they favor President Nixon's
plan to share $5 billion in Federal income tax revenue with the states and local units
of government, I believe a heavy majority would have said "yes." But
instead
I
asked my constituents to choose between various
ways of handling the problem of
financing state
and local needs.
The
balloting therefore was split among
the various choices.
The largest number--37.7 per cent--said a percentage of Federal income
tax
revenue should be returned to the State and local units of government; 25.5 per
cent favored increasing State and local taxes and cutting the Federal income tax;
13.9 per cent favored a Federal
takeover of all welfare costs; and 7.8 per
cent favored increas fing Federal grants for local matching programs.
FORD
I feel that my annual congressional questionnaire is very much worthwhile.
LIBRARY
It provides me with guidance on how to vote on crucial questions of the
day.
-3-
The results help me to make up my mind how to vote on the various bills coming
before the Congress. One letter writer, however, objected to the thought that the
questionnaire results might influence my decisions. "We did not," he said, "send
you to Congre SS to be a rubber stamp." I would like to assure him and everyone
else at this time that I am not a rubber stamp for anyone.
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford), reporting to you from the Nation's
capital. I will be talking with you again next week--same time, same station.
######
BERALD LISBARY NEEDRO
SCRIPT TAPED FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF
-AUGUST 2:8
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
Congre SS has begun an August recess that
runs from the close of business
August 6 to Sept. 8. An August congre ssional recess now is mandatory in odd-numbered
years
under the Legislative
Reorganization Act we passed last
year.
Maybe some people think Congre SS ought to work right through the year without
a break, but even congre ssmen need a vacation The provision for an August rece SS
particularly throe with small children
was put into the Reorganization Act because year-around sessions of Congress have become
a pattern in non-election years.
Last year
the full year wasn't time enough. Congress had to come back
to
work for the first lame-duck session in nearly two decades.
The result has been that congre ssmen with families have had no real holidays
some
with their wives and children in
years. And as the average age of congre ssmen
and senators has dropped, the number of them with children still in the home has risen
proportionately.
As one of the members with a relatively young family, I welcome the recess. Of
course, I
also will be
using some of the recess time to visit with my consti tuents
folks at Machyn home
I will be
touring
Kent and Ionia Counties in my mobile office from
through
August 23
August 26 and again from August 30
through Sept. 3.
But it it's true that family life suffers in the Congressional job--and
August
ERALOS RALD the FORD LIBRAR.
rece SS is a joy because it allows the family to spend some uninterrupted
time together.
also give members
Coming in the middle of a year-long session, such a rece SS can invigorate the
1 Compress an opportunity to talk with constituents about legilation
members of Congre SS and perhaps make for a faster windup of their legislative
and any personal problems or suggestions
-2-
responsibi ilities.
acting on
Other than the appropriations bills for the fiscal year which started last July 1,
Congre SS hasn't done much so far. Only four of the 54 major legislative requests by
the President have been passed by both Houses of Congre SS up to this time.
So this Congress seems to need some kind of
reinvigoration
because the
list of legislation awaiting action is
formidable.
Major bills with no floor action yet by either body include the health maintenance
organizations act, national health insurance partnership act, higher education
opportunity act and national foundation for higher education, a new consumer affairs
program, new drug abuse legislation, the act creating a legal services corporation,
all of the general and special revenue sharing
measures, and all of the Cabinet reorganization legislation to streamline the Federal
government.
hen there's the Welfare Reform and Social Security legislation, which is through
and
the House but is awaiting Senate action;
the Draft Law extension, which has
passed both Houses but is stalled in conference.
awarting action on the conference
committee comproment
There are, of course, many bills which have not yet been passed by either House
of Congre the Federal Executive Act; new
controls on pesticides;
land and
water conservation fund amendments; national land use policy legislation; hazardous
substances and noise control acts; power plant siting and ocean dumping control
legislation; and a new wildserness preservation act.
The work
ahead of the Congress is a tall order, and only a portion of the
FORD
bills now before the various committees will become law this session. But that is no
or accept
year. I think BLRALD Congress
reason to decide that more can't be accomplished this
-3-
still can compile an impressive record for the year if Democratic leaders in the
Congress will
team up with
Republicans to act in the best
interests of the country. Centamly in lept Oct of Nn & win
Docember The Registrative in can be done
This is Congressman Jerry Ford reporting to you from the Nation's Capital. This
will be my last report during the August recess. I will be t talking with you again
the
weekend of Sept. 11 and 12 over this same station.
######
BERALD FORD LIBRARY
SCRIPT FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF SEPT. 11-12, 1971.
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
With Congress resuming work roughly three weeks after the President's sweeping new
economic proposals, it's a
good time to look at what
legislative
activity lies ahead.
Last J anuary in his State of the Union Message the President set forth six great
goals for the nation-full prosperity in peacetime, welfare reform, the restoration of
our environment, comprahensive health care for all Americans, sharing of Federal income
tax revenue with state and local governments, and complete reform of the Federal Government.
The major economic proposals recently unveiled by the President are aimed at
achieving the great goal of prosperity in peacetime.
This means Congress should move quickly to implement what the President has
proposed--repeal of the 7 per cent automotive excise tax, speeding up the schedule d
increase in personal income tax exemptions by a year, and enactment of a 10 per cent
one-year investment tax credit to be followed by a 5 per cent investment tax credit.
These a re the tools we need to build
prosperity in peacetime while at the
same time liquidating our investment in Vietnam. It is important also
that we cut Federal spending by $4.7 billion
as the President ordered,
to offset the revenue losses the Treasury will suffer from the recommended tax cuts.
The holddown in Federal spending will mean delays in carrying forward two of the
President's great goals--Federal revenue sharing and welfare reform. The President has
asked Congress to postpone revenue sharing for three months and welfare reform for one
year. These are reasonable requests, which I feel sure Congress will abide by.
The House passed the President's welfare feform legislation last May. Now
facing stiff opposition in Sen. Russell Long's Senate Finance Committee. We want and
LIBRARY
should
need this legislation, although the effective date
be pospormed.
-2-
There is
hope for action on revenue sharing in some form or other. It will
revenue sharing
obviously be compromise legislation, but some kind of bill should come out of
the House Ways and Means Committee. This would be no small accomplishment, since
Ways and Means Chairman Wilbur Mills vowed earlier this year to kill
revenue sharing
altogether.
Health care legislation probably will go over until next year. There just does not
seem to be time enough to put together major legislation of this kind this year, what with
all the other big bills the House Ways and Means Committee is wrestling with.
The environmental report card is pretty good. The President's Council on Environmental
Quality is
doing an excellent job, and so is the relatively new Environmental
Protection Agency.
We also have last year's Air Quality Amendments, which set air quality standards
that promise to reduce air pollution to World War II levels within the next five years.
There also is progress in Congress on
a tough water quality act, long demanded by the
Administration. If this act is passed before the end of this year, it will clean up a
major portion of municipal and industrial pollution over the next several;
years.
However, complete water cleanup is at least a decade away.
Under prodding by the Administration, Congre SS also is beginning to move on such
vital environmental are as as land use policy, toxic substances and noise. So
we
are
coming along quite well in the environmental area.
RALD FORD LIBRARY
Reorganization of the Federal government is a big job which has a long way to go in
the Congress. But I do know this--the people want a general revamping of the Federal
-3-
Government's executive branch. My own 1971 questionnaire indicated that seven out of
10
Kent an Ionia County residents
believe the Federal Government should b
e
reorganized and the number of cabinet departments reduced from 11 to 8, as proposed by
the President.
Congre SS has a lot of work
ahead of it, and I believe Congress S hould stay
on the job until its work has been completed.
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from the nation's capital.
I'll be talking with you again next week--same time, same station.
######
DEBALO, FORD LIBRARY
SCRIPT FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF
1971.
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
For the third time since last
December a railroad strike has come and gone.
And so the pressure is off. Yet the need for Federal legislation to deal with national
emergency tr ansportation strikes is
just as real and urgent as ever. In fact, now
is
the best time to legislati in this area-when we are not operating in a cristis
atmosphewe.
Whenever a railreed strike does hit us, whether a general or a selective strike, the
result is uncertainty, confusion, and great damage to the economy. In fact, crisis
conditions are created which threaten to deprive American families of the necessities
of life. We cannot allow such conditions to continue.
The path for Congre SS to follow is clear. It must enact permanent legisla tion to
deal with
national emergency strikes in transportation and end the periodic
chaos that disrupts all of our lives.
Labor should have the right to strike. This is recognized as the working man's sole
weapon. But it seems clear that in the case of the railroads the right of the selective
strike should be circumscribed so as to provide the public
with appropriate safeguards.
Whatever the kind of legislation enacted--whether it follows closely the President's
proposals or not--the need for such
legislation cannot longer go unheeded by the
Congress. Otherwise Congress will periodically be forced to intervene inrailroad
strikes or the nation will be plagued with whipsaw type selective strikes.
Additional railroad
strikes are still very much a possibility. The settlement
earlier this summer did not deal with three major issues--any one
of which could
develop into a
crisis in a matter of weeks.
FORD LIBRA
These issues are the matter of employing firemen on diesel locomotives, plus
the
GER
wage disputes between the railroads and shopcraft workers and signalmen.
-2-
I would like to turn now to another problem that urgently needs
attention--the
need
to reorganize the Executive Branch of the Federal Government.
I am speaking of the President's hoposal to reorganize eight of the Cabinet
departments into four new departments--human resources, community development, natural
resources, and economic development.
This plan makes a lot of sense. It should be particularly appealing to those who
believe in a strong Presidency and would like to see Government work at its best.
The four new departments offer opportunities to eliminate overlapp ing programs
and to institute more efficient operation and cost cutting. The proposed reorganization
could be a big step toward convincing the American t axpayer that our governmental
machinery is capable of giving him something for the taxes he is paying.
Twentieth-century problems will not be solved with 19th-century organizations.
The Federal Government cannot hope to
administer more than 400 major domestic
programs with an organization that was set up to handle forty.
The time is long overdue to rearrange the old-line Federal Government agencies.
Coordination is no substitute for getting the boxes in the right place and giving one
man authority enough to be held completely
responsible for community development,
natural resource development and human resources.
President Nixon's proposals have come out of the work of task forces that studied
this problem in both the present and the previous administrations.
There should be no partisanship involved in finding the answers to the problem of
government organization. There is credit enough for everybody to share if the Congress
works out a solution, based on the President's proposals.
the fact that the proposals
FORD
trace back to the Johnson Administration is further evidence that partisanship has
GERAL
LISRARY
nothing to do with the handling of this problem.
-3-
Some people may find the
problem of governmental organization
dull. It is
anything but that. It is most challenging and the rewards for a solution will be
great. The truth is that we face a major crisis in America if we do not alter our
institutions to fit our changing times.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from the nation's
capital. I'll be talking with you again next week-same time, same station.
GEBALD FORD VIDRARY
SCRIPT TAPED FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF SEPT.
1971.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
Full voting at the a ge of 18 is the law of the land, now that the 26th
Amendment to the Constitution has been ratified by the states.
Our nation's young people who fall into this 18 to 20 age bracket--more than
11 million Americans--can now participate in electing officials at all levels of
government.
As 18-to-20-year-olds approach voting for the first time, it is important for
all of us to recognize and understand what concerns
young people. These concerns
will guide their choices as they exercise their full rights of citizenship.
Recently Steve Hess, chairman of the White House Conference on Youth, reported
youth
to members of Congress on the conference. He discussed certain themes that kept
recurring among the delegates to the conference. Hess believes that the 1,000
conference delegates represented a cross-section of the nation's youth and that their
views are generally held by young people today.
I believe these views should be heard--by parents, by teachers, by other young
people, and by elected officials at all levels. Therefore I would like to quote
from Hess's report.
Hess summarized the five main concerns of young people as expressed at the
White House Conference.
Of youth infolvement, he said: "Young people are not seeking to escape from
the system but rather are demanding agreater voice in the decisions that affect their
lives. This comes at a time when governmental and educational policies, in particular,
have tended to prolong the time of life which we call 'youth.' Young people 8980
0
RALD LIBRARY
seeking measures which will shorten, not prilong, the time between childhodd and
39
adulthood."
-2-
On "community control and participation," Hess said: "The Youth Conference
delegates generally proposed programs that put control in--or at least
substantial
participation by-those most affected. They felt that ecology must be a people-oriented
movement stressing community involvement. They favored
grass roots participation
in planning and implementation of all programs involving the social and physical
well-being of people.'
On equality: "Throughout the conference, there was the recurring theme that
the ideals upon which this country was founded have never been a reality for all its
people. The delegates called for an end to discriminatory practices, racial and
otherwise. Young people have been taught by their elders and teachers to take seriously
and literally the words of: the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution,
particularly its Bill of Rights. They therefore question why
these rights are
not extended to all Americans."
On libertarianism: "Liberty, a Conference Task Force said, is the freedom of
all human beings conscientiously to choose their own way of life when their choices
do not limit or harm this right of others. Some at the Conference cited libertarianism
as the fastest growing youth movement in America. This doctrine has a strong influence
on youth's
acceptance of an all-volunteer army and their strong support of
the right to privacy."
On humanization: "The youth delegates were especially sensitive to what they
viewed as threatsi to 'dehumanize society.' They saw these threats
coming in part
from 'uncontrolled technology.' Yet they were not anti-technology per se. Rather they
recognized the contribution that technology has made and the contributions that it can
LIBRA
make in the future, if properly used. The delegates called for 'more meaningful work;'
for "less impersonal employer-employe relationships;' for attempts to 'tailor jobs to
-3-
fit the individual;' for a flexible four-day week; and for greater participation by
workers in decision making.
The
expressed by these youth delegates are indeed thought-provoking.
We must take their opinions into consideration--not only because these young people
will be our future leaders but because by giving them
the right to vote at age 18
we have
placed them in the mainstream of the political
process.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from the nation's capital.
I'll be talking with you again next week, same time, same station.
#######
FORD
SCRIPT FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF Oct. 1971.
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
Some 200,000 of our senior citizens filled out a questionnaire recently and
made clear to the rest of us the
tremendous problems that exist among our
aging population.
More than half of the people who filled out the questionnaire said they don't
have enough money to make ends meet. Fifth-five per cent said they can't afford to buy
the food they like. More than half said that to get by they must spend less than $200
a month. Twenty per cent said they are limited to le SS than $100 a month. And 17.4
per cent said they sometimes feel
they have nothing to live for.
was
The questionnaire which produced these results
distributed
at more
than 6,000 community meetings for the elderly known as Older Americans White House
Forums.
The forums were organized as a curtain-raiser for a year of meetings, regional
hearings and localand # State White House conferences leading to a national conferenee
in Washington the week of November 28.
John B. Martin of Grand Rapids,
who is Special Assistant to the President for
Aging, is director of the Whitte House Conference.
John says the questionnaire sampling emphasized that the many and complex problems
related to income are the mosti
important concern of our older citizens. Beyond this,
the questionnaire results will be useful in pinpointing the issues to be taken up at the
White House Conference on Aging.
The
preliminary tabulation revealed that 71.9 per cent of those
answering the questionnaire depend on Social Security payments alone for income while
16.9 per cent also rely on earnings. Only five per cent said they got money.
GERAL from FORD LIBRARY
relatives.
-2-
Most of those sampled said they live in cities or small towns where the
majority of the forums on aging were held. Eighty-one per cent said they are happy
where they live. Almost 50 per c ent said they own their own homes. Of 35.3 per cent
who live alone, women outnumbered men three to one. This reflects in part the greater
number of women able to attend the forums but also
indicates some facts of aging--
that there are more
older women than men and that life expectancy is increasing at
a faster rate for women than formen.
In all the attention
focused on welfare little recognized
the Congress, reform it is
that the omnibus welifare reform bill passed last May by the House contains many
provisions highly important to our
senior
citizens. This is one of the
reasons why the bill must also be approved by the Senate.
The House-approved bill, H.R. 1, provides a guaranteed annual income for the poverty
element among senior citizens. This will be welcome because most of the five million or
more senior
citizens in this group are living solely on Social Security or
what little welfare they can obtain in most states.
Our senior
citizens are extraordinarily proud and want to be independent. Only two million have
been willing to aply for welfare even though the remaining three million in the poverty
segment are living in shocking quarters, under mourished, going without medical attention,
and suffering in other ways.
H.R. 1 also provides for automatic increases in Social Security benefits to
compensate for increases in the cost of living. The National Republican Coordinating
of which I was a member
Committee recommended in 1966 that such legislation be enacted. Since then it has been
supported by large numbers of Republican congre ssman. The President has also urged that
such legislation be approved.
BERALD FORD VIBRARY
H.R. 1 also would increase widow's pensions. This also was recommended by the
Republican National Coordinating Committee. The increase is from 821/2 per c ent to 100
-3-
per cent of her husband's benefits.
H.R. 1 further provides for raising the ceiling of the retirement test.
The President has urged that the amount a retired individual between the ages of
65 and 75 can earn without forfeiting any part of his Social Security benefits be
increased.
So H.R. 1 would be of considerable help to our Senior Citizens. I supported it
vigorously in the House, and I would hope the Senate would help us complete action
on this most important
bill before the end of this year.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from the nation's capital.
I'll be talking
with you again next week-same time, same station.
#####
FORD NEBARA
ment
M
I have introduced legislation which will make a limited
amount of a family's educational expenses a deductible item for income
tax purposes. I am working on another approach, the tax credit plan,
which may be introduced shortly. President nipon has a
Study Commission that is upated to report to him
a proposal That would help non- public schools.
SCRIPT FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF OCT. 9-10, 1971.
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
Today I would like to talk with you about a number of topics. First of all...aid
non public
financial
The Mon- public
to parochiel schools. We have a tremendous problem in connection with our parechial
schools. systems Many of them are being forced to close. In fact, they are closing at the
rate of one a
day.
The Constitution provides for separation of church and State, and I personally
believe very deeply in this principle. This rules out any direct aid to parochial
schools, (12)
However, something must be done to assist parochial
schools in the current sitution.
non puble non
The problem of helping parschiel schools of all denominations is one that Congress
will have to help solve. I have personally been seeking a solution to this problem for
non-public
many years through a bill which would provide the parents of parechiel school
children 1 thing federal tax relief.
theat
other
Verious ways to
help have been tried. The Supreme Court last June 28 ruled
invalid an attempt by the State of Pennsylvania to purchase non-religious educational
said.
services from church schools. The Court this plan would invite "political
division along religious lines." It also said the plan involved "excessive entanglement"
between Church and State. In Rhode Island, a plan was devised to supplement
the salaries of lay teachers in parochial schools with State funds. The Court vetoed this
attempt
on the same grounds as the Pennsylvania Plan.
Now the tuition voucher system has been proposed. Under this plan, the State regards
every child of school age as entitled to an equal share of public funds for education.
The sum could be appliedi toward instruction in any school where the minimum
FORD
requirements of the State for educational quality are being met. The State would
RALD
RARY
have nothing to do with operation of the schools or with payments to the teachers. The
&
student's parents wourld select the school their child would attend and would pay the
voucher to school authorities.
This has been described as a "freedom of choice" plan. There would be no monitoring
of church agencies, or investigation of church
teaching practices.
A test case is under way. It will undoubtedly go to the Supreme Court for final
decision. Jurists say that careful reading of the
Supreme Court's decisions in the
Pennsylvania and Rhode Island cases indicates that a
voucher system of
help for parochial schools would be acceptable. Court approval would give Congress the
green light to
formulate a workable voucher tuition system that would remove
much of the present controversy over)
marochiaid and would provide more
available across our
In Minnesota schooling for a youngsters Tax credit plan land. is now m operation and another may knower. be
Now I would
like to turn to the Senate-approved campaign reform bill and
emphasize my strong support for this measure. I hope that the Democrat-controlled
House of Representatives will take affirmative action on it. The Senate bill has
a number of virtues. It provides for a Federal Elections Commission, sets limits on
and
auditable, enforceable expenses provides for total disclosure. It
is not
essential that the House pass the Senate bill verbatim, but it should not stray
very farm from its basic provisions and principles.
On another subject, I would like to comment on the recent action by which
Congress repealed the Emergency Detention Act of 1950. This is an Act that became
law over President Truman's veto 21 years ago. The objective of the Act was a
secure America, an America free from domestic insurrection. The Act has never been
used. Yet it presented a threat that under conditions of internal stress
a
takeaction
President might be led to against some portion of our population
Fear of its possible III use prompted
LIBRARI
feelings of
distrust toward the Federal Government.
-3-
I therefore supported repeal of the Emergency Detention Act of 1950 and was
pleased to see Congress wipe it off the books.
There must be trust between our citizens and their government if we are to have
an orderly society. We do not need a law on the books that provides for the
establishment of concentration camps. We can protect ourselves against sabouteurs or
insurrectionists without such laws. The attorney General 8 the Department
f justice recommended repeal
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from the Nation's Capital.
I'll be talking with you again next week-same time, same station.
######
FORD LIBRAEK
SCREET TAPED FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF OCT. 16-17, 1971.
This isg your congre asman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
The key to the success 88 of the Pre sident's price and wage stabilization program
is cooperation from labor. Nothing is more important. If labor gives the program
its support, it
definitely will succeed.
If
the leaders of organized
labor refuse to support it, it will fail.
We have made an excellent start with the 90-day B price and wage freeze. The
evidence indicates it is working. Wholesale prices went down 0.4 of 1 per cent in
September, the first full month of the President's price-wage freeze. This was the
first drop in wholesale prices in 10 months. It was the biggest wholeskale price drop
in five years. And the price of industrial commodities went down for the first time
in seven years.
Add to that the fact that unemployment went down in September, and the message
seems unmistai kable. The President's New Economic Policy is working.
On the international front, adjustments are being made and actions taken to
set up a new monetary system in which America can compete
fairly once again.
Meantime, the Congre 85 is acting to stimulate our sluggish economy. The Hourse
has passed--and the Senate is now considering--the Revenue Act of 1971. This Revenue
Act, with its consumer and business t K cuts, will give the economy a big forward push.
All of us will benefit from cuts in personal income tax exemptions. Those
who use the standard deduction insteadi of itemizin their deductions will get a
break. And an estimated 10 million automobile buyers will save an average of $200
apiece on their
purchase of a new car.
It is estimated that the New Economic Policy will create 500,000 new jobserd
My 0 wn prediction is that unemployment will drop below 5 per cent by
the middle LIBRAR
of next year.
-2-
I believe the outlook is for strong, steady growth in the national economy, with
declining inflation and unemployment.
Some labor leaders have attacked
the
House-approved tax cut
bill as a bonanza for business. These attacks are wild and irresponsible and entirely
off target.
Tax cuts benefitting the consumer total $12.4 billion under the House-passed bill
when you add in the savings from repeal of automotive excise
taxes. If you just
figure the individual income tax cuts alone, they add up to nearly $5.7 billion--
$1# billion 370 million
this year, $3 billion 230 million in 1972, and $1 billion
90
million in 1973.
The only part of the tax bill that could be considered pro-business is the
reinstatement of the
7 per cent investment tax credit. And the only reason
the tax credit is being reinstated is to stimulate the economy and create jobs-not as
a bonanza for business. The tax cut represented by the 7 per cent investment tax
credit is offset by a reduction in the depreciation allowance granted busine SS last
Jan. 1 under new faster tax writeoff rules.
I am firmly convinced that when the entire new economic program is implemented,
this country will be on the path to high growth in the economy along with price
stabilization.
But as I mentioned at the outset, the new program cannot succeed unless
leaders of organized labor cooperate with the Administration.
This is certainly no time to be playing union politics, nor is it anytime to be
playing partisan politics. There is too much at stake for all of us, for the entire
FORD
Nation. It is in the best interests of every American to bring about stabiligation
of price s-and we cannot stabilize prices without
placing some
-3-
restraints on wage increases.
This is why I said immediately after Phase 2 of the
Price and
Wage Stabilization Program was announced that its success would depend on a high degree
of good citizenship on the part of all Americans.
I personally believe that our citizens will respond to the challenge posed by
this need
for restraint in
prices and wage increases. We must win the
battle against inflation.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from the Nation's
capital. I'll be talking with you again next week-same time, same station.
######
GERALD LEGARA FORD
SCRIPT TAPED FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF OCT. 23-24, 1971.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
Onexefxtion
One of the most pressing legislative needs in this country today is for
Federal law which will protect the consumer from those firs firms which engage in
deceptive advertising, packaging and labeling tricks, the use of hazardous substances
which may EP improve appearance or taste but are harmful to health, and lapses in product
design and quality control.
am
I n/x therefore pleased that the House has approved a strong, sensible, workable
and effective Consumer Protection Act.
This new Consumer Protection Act, if approved by the Senate, will create a new
Consumer Protection Agency within the Federal Government. It will be an independent
agency **inx in thellexExextux Executive Branch of the Government. Its responsibilities
will be to represent the consumer in the proceedings of other Federal agencies; to
handle and follow up on consumer complaints; to develop and disseminate information
of interest and value to consumers; and to generally protect and advance consumer
interests on a broadfx front. In short, inxwill it will be the Voice of the Consumer
on a nationwide basis.
There was a fight in the House on the bill. There were those who sought to
weaken the legislation and those who wanted to make the new Consumer Protection Agency
a super-exar agency which would have created administrative chaos. Fortunately, both
of these moves were defeated.
The truth is that the new agency will have ample power to appear before other
Federal agencies on behalf of the consumer. Not only that but the new agency could
obtain judicial review of any Federal agency proceeding and could compel agency action
where there is undue delay or failure toz complete a proceeding.
GERALD
The new fx House-approved consumer bill also would generate a flow of information
-2-
from the Синвинки Consumer Protection Agency to other Federal agencies to alert them
to consumer needs and stimulate corrective ngx action. The + bill also provides that
the Consumer Protection Agency report to the Congress and make recommendatimaxzfarx
any new legislation that might be mendxx needed to b enefit swasugerx consumers.
One thing should be made clear. The new Consumer Protection Agency would not
set up a testing laboratory and make announcements concerning "best buys" for consumers.
There will be product tests, but these will take place in connection with cases before
the
sthur Federal regulatory agencies or in connection with studies of hazardous household
products. This testing will be done by the National Bureau of Standards or NN a similar
agency.
The intent of the new Consumer Protection Bill is to employ the Consumer
Protection Agency to make use of existing Federal resources xumber on blux behalf of
the consumer and to promote the best interestsmfx of the consumer through cooperative
action.
FORD ERRALOR LIBRARY
The bill suprebadx approved by the House is strong legislation. It recognizes
that every agency of the Federal Government must give heed to consumer concerns.
And now I would like to turn to another topic--direct election of the President
of
the United States.
As you know, many of us sought to bring about the enactment last year of a
Constitutional Amendment providing for direct election of the President but the bill
diedi
in the Senate after passing the House with the required two-thirds majority.
I have now joined with 32 other congressmen of both political parties in introducing
direct-election
a new
Amendment. Direct election of the President is the
only system which guarantees that the basic
democratic
principle of one-man,
one-voter will be carried out in the selection of our
Chief Executive.
RALD FORD
Under the present Electoral College system, a state's
entire electoral vote
is
cast for the candidate winning the most votes in that state
even
if
he
does
-3-
not win a majority.
But it is people who vote for Fresident, not states. Whether an American lives
in Michigam or Delaware, Mississippi or Illinois, his vote should count as much as
any other American's.
It is important, too, that a Third Party candidate like George Wallace of
Alabama not have the leverage to throw a Presidential election contest into the U.S.
House of Representatives, where deals would be made to determine who would be the
next President of the United States.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from the Nation's capital.
I'll be
talking with you again # next week--same time, same station.
######
GERALD FORD
SCRIPT TAPED FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF OCT. 30-31, 1971.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
One of the most complicated subjects ever to face Congress is that involving
various environmental questions. And it is definitely a subject which has given rise
to some hasty and irresponsible actions.
Take, for instance, the flap over phosphates. You know howgenvironmental some groups
authoritatively rate public officials on their votes, statements and stands on matters
relating to ecology. And you no doubt recall how the environmentalists were quick to
give high marks certain to/members of the House Government Operations Committee for a study
and report on the harm being done to our environment by the increasing use of phosphate
detergem its.
Well, if the committee's report had stopped right there-with a warning about the
increasing use of phosphates, it would have been all well and good.
Theres isp no question that some lakes and slow-moving streams which have a certain
chemical balance are adversely affected by the excessive stimulation of algae growth
which results when sewage dumped into them contains a high level of phosphates.
Although phosphates are present in many other kinds of sewage, including human
waste, the committee was quick to condemn laundry detergents which have contributed to
a sharp increase in the consumption of phosphates in recent years because of the
improved cleaning properties phosphates have to offer. Some members of Congress became
so excited they wanted to
ban all, phosphate detergents,
suggested
that
a
new
chemical known as NTA or an old compound, caustic soda, be used instead.
Other members of Congre SS objected on the groundes that NTA's effects had never
been tested. It was also pointed out that the dangers of caustics such as caustic soda
FORD
were known-damage to eyes and other delicate hugian tissue. Furthermore,
to do away LIBRE
with phosphates in cleaning agents altogether would reduce cleaning proper ties and
increase risks of bacterial infections. Some members of Congress also pointed out
-2-
that a good sewage treatment plant which prevents the dumping of undertreated sewage
into lakes and streams can eliminate the phosphates after they have done their
good cleaning work and before they have contributed to what
is known as eutrophication.
Now come the U.S. Surgeon General, the Administrator of the Food and Drug
Administration, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the
Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality to say the same thing some Congre ssmen
were
saying two years ago. They noted that the
best way to deal with all
phosphates is to treat sewage before it is dumped. They pointed out that tests
of NTA indicate it may do serious harm to children and preginant women and
that
caustics account for thousands of injuries every year, some of them permanent. They
have even urged
governmental units which have banned phosphate detergents to
reconsider such bans and to act instead to improve their sewage treatment plants.
So this is evidence of hasty and irrational action on the part of those who act
without proper thought and knowledge on
behalf of
environmental
improvement.
Let me turn now to another topic--that of drug abuse. One of our highest national
priorities must continue to be a comprehensive drive
at all levels of government to
stamp out drug abuse.
On the federal level that effort
has continued unabated. Federal outlays for
drug abuse
control and prevention programs have nearly tripledi
over
the three fiscal years 1969 through 1971, rising from an estimated $67.9 million to
#166.4 million. For the current fiscal year, the budget called for $206 million, and
the President since has requested an additional $169.4 million in supplemental funds
to further expand the fight against drugs.
FORD LIBRAR RAVD
Last June 17th the President by executive order
established the national
-3-
Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention. At the same time, the President
asked Congre 88 to give
the office a three-year life span and authorize it to coordinate the various
programs@now handled individually by a half-dozen Federal departments and agencies.
It may take longer than three years to bring about final solutions to America's
drug abuse problems. But at
least with the new Special Action Office for Drug
Abuse Prevention we are moving in the right direction.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, speaking to you from the Nation's Capitol.
I'll be talking with you again next week-same time, same station.
######
BERALD FORD VIBRARY
SCRIPT FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF NOV. 6-7, 1971.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
I believe parents have the right to have their children go to school in
their own neighborhood--not be bused for miles and miles and for a large part of
the day just to satisfy some court's idea of racial balance among the students in
a particular school.
To me, it doesn't make sense for parents to work hard to buy a home in
a certain neighborhood and then have their children forcefully transported long
distances to some school far away from their home.
That's the reason I am trying to get the Justice Department to intervene
on the side of the Grand Rapids Board of Education and neighboring school boards
in the busing suit now pending against them.
The President is opposed to forced busing to achieve racial balance. His
position should be presented to the court by the Justice Department.
I am opposed to forced busing to achieve racial balance. I am therefore
supporting a proposed constitutional amendment that would end forced busing to
achieve integration. A discharge petition currently is on the Speaker's Desk
in the U.S. House of Representatives. 218 signatures are needed on this petition
to bring the proposed anti-busing Constitutional Amendment to the floor of the
House for a vote. I hope the effort succeeds.
GLEALD FORD VIBRARY
Lot me turn now to another topic that is currently the subject of much agitation
in Congre ss--foreign aid.
I
think it was irresponsible of the Senate
to kill
this year's foreign aid bill, especially at a time when the
President is seeking
to implement a policy of negotiatim in foreign
affairs in place of confronta tion.
and I will this year
I have voted for reductions in foreign aid many times, but I have always supported the
program in principle because I think it promottes world peace. That continues to be my
-2-
position. I-am working to revive the foreign aid program in Gengress. We should alter
ly proper reductions
Our metal and defore
the old foreign aid program to make it fit the times, but we should not destroy it. The
some
a
that are U. allis
future of the underdeveloped nations of the world hangs in the balance.
I would like to turn now to the question of making the collective bargaining
process work in the transportation industry.
Mare than a year and a half ago the Pre sident
sent
Congre
SS
legisla
tion
that would give the Chief Executive more power andrews more flexibility in dealing with
railroad and other transportation industry strikes of national emergency proportions.
The legislation languished
in the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce
Committee until just recently when the Transportation Subcommittee finally concluded
hearings on the Administration's bill and a number of other plans. Attention focused
primarily on a bill
authored by Rep. James Harvey, Republican of Saginsw, Michigan.
No timetable has yet been agreed upon for finalizing the legislation and getting
it the rest of the way to the floor of the House of Representatives. With the crisis
of the longshoreman's strike facing us, there should be prompt consideration. But I
Commerce
do not have any great hopes that the chairman of the committee, Democrat Harley Staggers
of West Virginia, will move the bill very soon.
All of the bills pending before the subcommittee seek to encourage collective
bargaining. Most of the proposals give the President an arsenal of alternatives to
encourage settlement of a major labor dispute in transportation or to prevent a strike
from disrupting our entire economy. The options include provisions for imposing
an additional cooling-off period, partial operation or selective strikes to give both
management and labor some leverage for their positions while negotiations continued and
finally, some form of compulsory arbitration or binding settlement tied to one
of the LIBRARY
final offers of the negotiating parties.
-3-
Whatever finally emerges from the Commerce Committee-if a bill does come out--it
will have to be a delicately balanced package. Not only are the rights of la bor and
management involved but the public's right to reasonable service from one of our most
vital industries.
There must be some action in this vital area, and I will continue to press for it.
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from the Nation's capital.
I'll be talking with you again next week-same time, same station.
########
SCRIPT FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKE OF NOV. 13-14, 1971.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
This past
week the House of Representatives failed to give the required two-thirds
majority to a proposed Constitutional Amendment which would have allowed voluntary
prayer or meditation in the Nation's public schools. There was a healthy majority
fob the amendment but we fell 28 short of the required two-thirds majority.
Imm am deeply disappointed that the Prayer Amendment failed to get two-thirds.
But with 80 per cent of the American people facuring in favor of allowing volunatary
prayer or meditation in the public schools, I believe the day will come when the
Supreme Court will either reverse its decisions of 1962 and 1963 or thexSung a
Constitutional Amendment permitting prayer or meditation in the public schools will
be adopted.
I supported the proposed Prayer Amendment for three reasons. I believe the
Supreme Court made a mistake in its interpretation of the First Amendment to the
Constitution as it applies to PM prayer in school. @ I believe the Congress has a
responsibility to give the American M. people the right to decide this question
through their State Legislatures. And I believe the proposed Amendment deserved
two-thirds approval of the House on its merits.
In saying the Supreme Court erred in 1962 and 1963, I side with Supreme Court
Justice Potter Stewart who dissented from the decision of the majority in both
the New York Case in 1962 and the Pennsylvania and Maryland cases in 1963.
In the New York Case, Justice Stewart stated: "The Contixs Court says that
in permitting school children to say this simple prayer, the New York authorities
have at established 'an official religion.' ...I cannot see how an 'official religion'
is established byketting letting those who want to say a prayer say it. On the
contrary, I think that to deny thematimxxxx wish to these children to join in
-2-
reciting this prayer is to deny them the opportunity of sharing in the spiritual
heritage of our nation."
dtzxexintasstingxtmzmetaxzhaix
I agree with Justice Stewart when he wrote in the Maryland-Pennsylvania cases,
"The choice involved...is one for each community and its school board, and not for
this Court. For, as I have said, religious exercises are not constitutionally
invalid if they simply reflect differences which exist in seciety the society from
which the school draws its people. They become constitutionally invalid only if the
administration places the sanction of secular authority behind one or more particular
religious or irreligious beliefs."
In my E judgment, Justice Stewart is correct and the Supreme Court decisions on
prayer should some day be overruled.
We have MEX often heard it said that "The Constitution is what the Supreme Court
says it is." But the Constitution belongs to the American people and not to the
Supreme Court. That is why I say that when there is overwhelming E public opposition
to a significant Supreme Court decision, the Congress owes it to the American people
to give them a chance to pass on the merits of the issue. Unfortunately, the House
did not do that tast this past week.
The proposed Ra Prayer Amendment should have received two-thirds House approval
on its merits. The proposed Amendment would have only authorized public school
officials to do what the House of Representatives does at the opening of each daily
session--join in a few minutes of prayer.
At a time when there is generalme concern in the country over the state of public
morals and ethics, we ought to promote those polices which uplift and inspire our
people. The Supreme Court agrees that "we are a religious people whose institutions
presuppose a #$ Supreme f Being." Our Constitution and the policies carried out under
-3-
it ought to encourage, not discourage, that concept.
would
The Constitutional Amendment voted onxx in the House a few days ago they's not have
establishmed a religion. It would simply have permitted the free exercise of it.
It would have confirmed the American people's determination to emphasize the place of
religion and the spiritual in the life of our nation.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from the Nation's capital.
I'll be talking with you again next week--same time, same station.
#######
SCRIPT TAPED FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF NOV. 20-21, 1971.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
This past week the House passed legislation which I think will ultimately lead to
a cure for our most dreaded disease, cancer.
The bill the House approved is known as the National Cancer Attack Act of 1971.
It
represents the launching of an all-out effort to conquer cancer. It gives
new vigor to cancer research. It provides for increased organizational efficiency
within the National Cancer Institute.
It
streemmlines the Institute's administrative
procedures. It calls for greater funds for the fight against cancer and sets the
cancer-fight budget apart from that of the parent agency, the National Institutes of
Health.
With this bill, the House committed itself to providing for the cancer fight $400
million this year, $500 million next year, and $600 million the following year--$15
billion over the next three years.
But the cancer attack bill does much more than simply assure adequate funding
for a research program. It
reestablishes programs to help people immediately--
cancer control programs. It reestablishes programs such as testing for the early
detection of breast cancer, cervical
cancer, and
oral cancer which
were phased out a year ago. It also authorizes generous support of existing clinical
research centers and the establishment of 15 new cancer research centers across the
country.
It is my belief that the National Cancer Attack Act will invagorate the best of
biomedical science toward finding solutions to a complex and devastating disease. The
bill provides every opportunity to overcome the torments of cancer.
RALD FORD LIBRARY
The need for the cancer attack program is great. Of the 200 million Americans
now alive, 50 million will develop cancer at present rates of incidence and 34
-2-
million will die of it if better
methods of prevention and treatment are not
discovered. Cancer deaths last year were eight times the number of lives lost in six
years of war in Vietnam, five and one-half times the number killed in automobile
accidents, and greater than the number of Americans killed in battle in all four years
of World War II.
S₀ there was no question of the needi for the program. The only difference which
developed in Congress was over the approach. The Senate passed a bibb which sets up an
independent cancer attack agency. The House bill provides independent budget authority
but rwise keeps the cancer attack effort within the National
Institutes of Health.
This difference has to be resolved. Whatever the outcome, the
fight
against
cancer must be won.
In other action, the House has passed a bill which for the first time brings
the manufacture, distribution and use of pesticides under control of the Federal
Government.
Up to this time we've just had a labeling law--a law requiring that labels
on pesticides set forth the
ingredients and instructions for usel
of
the
product.
Now all pesticides are grouped into two categories--general and restricted.
And
those that are
restricted can only be applied by
somebody
them
licensed to use or by someone working under a licensed applier.
The bill givest the Environmental Protection Agency broadi authority
over
the manufacture, distribution and use of pesticides. EPA has the power to restrict or
even to cancel the registration of a partichlar pesticide if it decides that
pesticide is an imminent hazard.
Some of the states have already adopted very tough laws concerning pesticides.
BER FORD LIBRAR
So the House voted to give States the power to impose more
rigid requirements
-3-
concerning pesticides than those of the Federal Government. I strong supported this
provision since Michigan ist one of those statements in the
forefront of
the pesticide control movement.
I think the pesticide control bill approved by the House is good legislation.
It strikes a delicate balance between what must be done to protect the environment
and what is important in allowing effective control of pests.
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from the Nation's capital.
I'll be talking with you again next week-same time, same station.
######
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
SCRIPT TAPED FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF NOV. 27-28, 1971.
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
I would like to begin by making a few comments about the treatment accorded
President Nixon at the recent AFL-CIO convention. There is no question that the
President w.as not shown the respect due the chief executive of the United States.
AFL GIO President George Meany was definitely rude to the President.
Apart from this I would like to comment on the fact that the
AFTE QIO delegates laugh when Presi dont Nixon saide the 90 day price freeze
at was the a The succe beganing delegates SS. should 2 would have White clapped make because some the comments latest Bureau on The of new Labor Cammel Statistics wording. Policy.
report shows
that the
increase in the cost of
living slowed in October to the lowest pace in more than four years. The rise in the
cost of living last month was about one-half the month-to-month rise before the August
15 freeze of prices.
At the same time, the gross national product rose by $17.7 billion. Unemployment
Ani housing
declined 0.2 of 1 per cent.
starts natiomally rose over the 2 million mark.
Auto 700,000 jibs
So the President's New Economic Policy is workings
Now I would like to take a look with you at the $71 billion Defense Department
appropriation bill passed by the House before the Thanksgiving Rece SS.
First of all, let me point out that the fiscal 1972 defense budget represents
only 6.5 per cent of our gross national product. That is the lowest it has been, in
terms of GNP, in nearly
20 years.
I also want to emphasize that more than half of the defense militarys budget--52
R. FORD LIB
per cent, to be exact--consists of pay and benefits for approximately 2.4 GERAD illion
military and about 1 million civilian personnel.
-2-
At the same time, the defense bill cuts military personnel by 1 million below the
peak of Vie anam War
strength of 3.5 million in 1968. At the end of this
fiscal year,
our armed forces will be at their lowest strength in more
than 20 years.
By the end of this fiscal year we will have some 200,000 fewer personnel in uniform
than in 1964, the year before the big escalation in Vietname. Yet in 1964 personnel costs
were only 43 per cent of the budget while today they account for 52 per cent.
The reason for that is inflation. Inflation has hit the military budget hard. It
explains why we cannot cut the military budget more and keep our strength up.
Inflation has added more than $17 billion to the personnel costs of the Department
of Defense, and that figure does not include the recent military pay raise.
I would like to make another very important and dramatic point.
The fiscal 1972
military budget does not
provide for even one additional strategic missile or one
additional strategic
bomber--despite the fact that the Soviet Union has surpassed the
United States in the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles on
launchers.
T
should add that the United States still maintains an
adequiate and credib
le
strategic deterrent force, since the number of our missile-launching submarines is roughly
equal
to those of the Soviet Union and our manned strategic
bombers far outnumber
those of the Soviets.
While the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks are in progress, the United States has
refr ained from increasing its strategic nuclear forces. However, the Soviet Union has
increased her strategic forces rapidly during the same period.
The fiscal 1972
defense
appropriations approved by the House totalled
FORD
$2.5 billion less than was requested by the Administration. The House
Committee
RAL
on Appropriations felt that the amount appropriated is sufficent for adequate military
-3-
strength.
I agree with the Committee that we
must maintain military
strength adequate for our national survival. The
size and speed of the Soviet
military
buildup has been such that we cannot make major reductions in military outlays
at this time.
This
is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford,
reporting to you from the Nation's
capital. I'll be talking with you again next week-same time, same station.
#######
LIBRARY
SCRIPT TAPED FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF DEC. 4-5, 1971.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from "ashington.
The foreign relations of the United States have changed dramatically in the past
three months, with President Nixon's announced visit to China and his planned trip
to the Soviet Union in late May of next year. Currently the President is setting dates
for consultations with our Free World partners in advance of his trips to the summit in
Peking and Moscow.
Following these initiatives by the President, we can see the outlines of a new
world posture for the United States We are turning, as the President promised, from
confrontation to negostiation. We are striving for a new generation of peace.
A new quality of realism dominates American policy under President
Nixon.
Mainland China, with its 750 million people and membership in the nuclear club, will
now be considered a sovereign nation as we adjust our policies in Asia to meet
changed economic and political conditions there. Following our military withdrawal
from Vietnam, we will continue to provide support under the Nixon Doctrine for our
non-Communist friends in Asia.
In our relations with the Soviet Union, new realism on both sides has recognized
a mutual interest in reducing the risk of nuclear war. There are signs that an agreement
or understanding on the
deployment of nuclear mi ssiles
will
result
from
the
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. Should these talks indeed prove successful, they will
prove that with hard bargaining and diligent negotiation we can avoid a new spiral
of the nuclear arms race. This will free our energies for more useful attention to
the hot spots of the world, such as the Middle East and Pakistan, where dangerous
threats of escalation could arise.
FORD
In announcing his visit to Moscow, the President referred to "recent advances
GLRAAD in LIBRARY
bilater? and multilateral negotiations involving the two countries." It ism safe to
-2-
assume this included the SALT Talks.
Sources close to the Talks, which resumed in Vienna on November 15, indicate a
good prospect for limiting anti-ballistic missile systems on both sides and a fair
prospect for a limit on offensive missiles. Also, the Unit States is urging a
related reduction of nuclear missile-carrying submarines, although this may be hard
to achieve.
A sign that the talks have momentum can be seen in the interim SALT agreement on
accidental nuclear explosions, signed September 20 in Washington by Secretary of State
Rogers and Soviet Foreign Minister
Gromyko. This agreement calls on each side to
notify the other promptly should the threat of an accidental nucle ar launch or
detonation arise. It also transfers the "hot line" between Washington and Moscow to
the satellite communications system.
I am convinced the barga ining from strength carried on by this Administration
at SALT has earned the respect of the Russians. The prospects for agreement today
are related, in my view, to our own decision to proceed with strategic
weapons
development--including the ABM system--during these talks.
Meantime, there is no question that the Middle East dispute needs cooling off.
Events in the Middle East have been dominated by reports of an estimated 20,000
in Egypt,
Soviet personnel including more than 100 combat
pilots using the most modern
fighter aircraft. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who visited Moscow in October, has
warned that unle SS a peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli
dispute isreached "within
a year" fighting will resume.
I believe President Nixon should give priority to the Middle East question in his
FORD
discussions with Soviet leaders. He should seek from them a clarification of their
GERAL
IBRAR
intentions in the Midelle East.
-3-
Over the
past year and a half, the Nixon Administration has made some progress
in
bringing Arab and Israeli positions closer on the question of extending the present
ceasefire and reopening the Suez Canal.
We now cannot afford to let any nation misjudge the readines 8 of the United
States to
maintain assist Ieraelf in The middle East
even as We pursue a peaceful settlement
of the Middle East dispute.
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from the nation's capital.
I'll be talking with you again next week-same time, same station.
######
GERALD R.FORD VIBRARY
SCRIPT TAPED FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF DEC. 11-12, 1971.
This is your congressman, Jerry Ford, reporting from Washington.
All of us are interested in the state of the economy, and all of us should
be interested in
bringing a halt to the inflation which has visited hardship
on so many of us.
It's time now to cut through all the talk of confusion in connection with
Phase 2 of the President's
New Economic Policy and ask ourselles
just where we have been and
where we are going.
What has happened since President Nixon announced
a 90-day
freeze on
prices and wages back on August 15?
Interest rates have come down, with prime bank rates cut from 6 percent
to
per cent. The Federal Reserve discount rate has gone down from 5 per cent
to 4-and-3/4 per cent, and
home mortgage rates and consumer loan rates
have
followed the downward trend.
Prices have been held down and have remained steady. Wholesale prices declined
in September for the first time in 10 months, while the consumer price index rose
only .2 of 1 per cent in September and .1 of 1 per cent in October. The October
increase was the smallest rise since April of 1967--nearly four years. This compares
with the average monthly consumer price rise from March through August, which was
04 of 1 per cent.
Rents also have stabilized. A government survey of 5,000 rental units shows
that only 1 per cent of the total increased after the freeze went into effect.
Unemployment dropped to 5.8 per cent in October and although it edged up
slightly in November, total employment moved past the 80 million mark f or
GERALD the FORD LIBRARY
first time in our history.
-2-
For the three months-August, September and October--the nation's industrial
output moved upward, reversing the
downward trend detected in July. Housing
starts, national climbed 5 per cent in October over the annual rate in September.
New car sales have continued to improve, setting a record for the first 10 days
of November for sales of American-made autos.
And the nation's output, measured as gross national product, rose at a 3.9 per
cent rate during the third quarter of this year. That's
a full
percentage
point ahead of the preliminary estimate of 2.9 per cent.
The figures
now in show that the "freeze " part of the New Economic
Policy was successful in damping down the price and wage pressures that have fed
inflationary
psychology for so long. And this was accomplished without
halting economic growth.
Now that we are in Phase 2 we can
expect to see some fluctuations.
The freeze is off. But we should see more sunshine than clouds in the future-in
spite of those who keep predicting bad economic weather ahead for their own political
advantage.
Phase 2 has a lot of things going for it. Inflationary pressure on prices
and wages should lessen. In addition, the
new tax cut bill will provide
enough stimulants to prod the economy into a broad recovery.
The big problem is the obstructionist stand being taken by the organized labor
members of the President's Pay Board, the attitude that the fight
against
inflation doesn't matter.
I was pleased to see the President's Price Commission refuse to pass the entire
FORD
bis
soft coal wage increase along to the public in the form of a price boost for coal.
LIBRARY
This may force a majority of the Pay Board to stiffen their spines and resist
-3-
clearly
excessive
wage increases. The tragic game of wage and price le apfrogging
that we have been playing has got to stop. It is time for just plain common sense--and
that means holding infla tion to at least the 2 to 3 per cent
goal which the President
has set.
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from the Nation's
capital. I'll be talking with you again next week--same time, same station.
#######
BERALOR FORD LIBRARY
SCRIPT TAPED FOR USE BY FIFTH DISTRICT RADIO STATIONS THE WEEKEND OF DEC. 18-19, 1971.
This is your congre ssman, Jerry Ford, reporting to you from Washington.
The 92nd Congress has wounds up its first se ssion--and it seems appropriate
to do a little stock-taking at this time on just what kind of a job Congress did this
year.
The record is spotty. It is
uneven because the Congre SS passed a half
a dozen major pieces of legislation but this contrasted with long periods of
inactivity and delay. The fact is that Congress failed to act on roughly three-fourths
of the 56 major measures President Nixon has labeled as "must" legislation.
What were the accomplishments? Chiefly, they were passage of tax cut legislation,
the extension of wage and price control authority, the 18-year-old vote amendment,
health manpower legiblation, campaign spending reform, and a draft extension with
provisions aimed at establishing an all-volunteer army.
From my viewpoint, the big disappointments were the failure to enact
a program for sharing Federal income tax revenue with the States and
local units
of government on a percentage basis;
failure to reform the obsolete welfare system;
failure to enact new ways of dealing with national emergency labor disputes in
transportation;
failure to reorganize the Federal cabinet departments; and failure
to abolish the Electoral College system and provide a better method of electing
the President.
In the area of accomplishments, I was particularly pleased about enactment of tax
reduction legislation
because it is definitely needed to stimula te the
economy.
The tax cut bill raises the $650 personal income tax exemption to $675 this
year FORD LIBRARY
and to $750 for 1972. It also raises the standard deduction from 13 per cent to 15
per cant, with a ceiling of $2,000, effective in 1972.
-2-
The tax reduction bill repeals the
7 per cent automobile excise tax,
retroactive to last August 15, and wipes out the 10 percent excise tax on light
trucks, retroactive to Sept. 22.
To stimulate the creation of new jobs, the bill restores the 7 per cent tax credit
for investments in new industrial
equipment.
The new tax cut bill will be a boon to working parents. It permits working parents
with income of less than $27,600 to
take income tax deductions of up to
$4,800 a year for day care of a child
The full deduction can be
taken only by those with total
income of not over $18,000 a year.
Now I would like to
call your attention to a new
proposal which President
Nixon
sent to the Congre SS in the closing days of the session--a bill aimed at
moving this country forward dramatically in the area of pension security for the
American working man. This is a retirement benefits bill which I am co-sponsoring
retirement security
because I believe it to be the most
important advance in
legislation since Social Security was
introduced.
The
program of security in the retirement benefits bill would do the
following: It would set a minimum standard in law for the vesting of pensions--in other
words for preserving pension rights of employes even though they leave their jobs
before retirement. It would allow employes who wish to
save independently for their
retirement or to supplement employer-financed pensions to deduct on their income tax
feturns the sums set aside for these purposes. It would also allow self-employed
persons who are already investing in pension plans for themselves and their employes
to take a more generous tax deduction than they now receive.
There is no subject more important to the individual American than retirement
FORD LIBRARY
security. It is tragic when a person enters upon his retirement years with an
-3-
inadequate income --so that he must live out his
twilight years in poverty and
misery. Every effort must be made to blot out this
American tragedy.
And now I would like to take this occasion to wish everyone listening to me
a very
merry Christmas and a most happy New Year. This will be my last
radio report of the year from Wæhington. I will resume my weekly reports from
the nation S capitall-same time, same station-when Congress
gathers for
its second session in January.
#######
GERALD LIBRARY FORD