Economic Club of New York, New York, NY, January 15, 1969

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The original documents are located in Box D26, folder "Economic Club of New York, New
York, NY, January 15, 1969" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and
Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
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Digitized from Box D26 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary
and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
Punctuation and
proofing by Pat
BEFORE THE ECONOMIC CLUB OF NEW YORK
WEDNESDAY EVENING. JAN. 15. 1969. AT THE
WALDORF ASTORIA HOTEL. NEW YORK. N.Y.
2 don't know whether it was 4 happenstaner N
lesin - That on the program with Mr. Manneli there is a
Ford from although not the same family as the better known
I AM DELIGHTED TO BE HERE. I AM
TOLD THAT BEING INVITED TO SPEAK TO THIS Fords
2
have
GROUP IS A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIM OPPORTUNITY:
my
1 SHALL TRY TO MAKE THE MOST OF IT.
ALL
to
IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED TO ME THAT
I SHOULD SEEK TO IMPART SOME NEW KNOWLEDGE
FROM MY SOMEWHAT SPECIALIZED SEGMENT OF
OUR SOCIETY TO THE distingnobed MEMBERS OF THIS FORUM.
organization.
THAT IS A CHALLENGE I HOPE TO MEET
lawyers + other specialists.
YOU ARE BUSINESSMEN. I AM A
Proud to be a member of the greatest legeslative body world the House JRT the Peoples House.
POLITICIAN. n I CAN HARDLY TELL YOU ANYTHING
NEW ABOUT ECONOMICS, SINCE THAT IS YOUR
FIELD OF EXPERTISE. SO ALTHOUGH YOURS IS A
NON-PARTISAN FORUM, I HAD BETTER DEAL IN MY
ora replay The months before Nw5
SPECIALTY -- POLITICS. not partician but mother a
glempse of what 2 see down the road from the vantage f the Capital
-2-
WHILE I WILL BE SPEAKING TO YOU
AS A REPUBLICAN LEADER OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, THE MESSAGE I BRING YOU
INVOLVES EVERY MAN AND WOMAN IN AMERICA --
DEMOCRATS AND INDEPENDENTS AS WELL AS
REPUBLICANS.
A FRIEND OF MINE HAS URGED ME TO
ADDRESS MYSELF TONIGHT TO WHAT HE CALLS
"THE REPUBLICAN CHALLENGE," THE TASK THAT
CONFRONTS THE GRAND OLD PARTY NOW THAT A
REPUBLICAN HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO THE BIG CHAIR
IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
IN LOOKING OVER THE PROBLEMS THAT
FACE US AS A NATION AND A PEOPLE, I SEE
FAR MORE THAN A REPUBLICAN CHALLENGE. I
SEE A CHALLENGE TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF
US. IN MY VIEW, THE VERY SURVIVAL OF
AMERICA HANGS ON WHAT WE DO OR DO NOT DO AS
A PEOPLE IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
I COULD BE SPEAKING ABOUT THE
-3-
THREAT OF NUCLEAR WAR. I DO NOT DO SO
/
ALTHOUGH THE DANGER IS REAL ENOUGH. I AM
TALKING ABOUT THAT COMPLEX OF PROBLEMS
KNOWN AS THE URBAN CRISIS -- THE PROBLEMS
OF THE CITY --/SLUMMISM AND HARD-CORE
UNEMPLOYMENT f- RACIAL HOSTILITY AND
SMOLDERING HATRED.
THIS IS ONLY ONE ITEM IN THE
CATALOG OF PROBLEMS FACING THE NEW
ADMINISTRATION. BUT IT IS PROBABLY THE
CRISIS MOST DIFFICULT OF RESOLUTION.
THERE ARE, OF COURSE, A HOST OF
OBJECTIVES WHICH THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION
MUST SET OUT TO ACHIEVE: TO END THE
VIETNAM WAR,/TO AVOID FUTURE VIETNAMS AND
TO AVERT A NUCLEAR WAR,/TO RESTORE BALANCE
TO THE ECONOMY WHILE MAINTAINING A HEALTHY
RATE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH,/TO ESTABLISH
RELATIVE PRICE STABILITY TO HELP MAKE
PRODUCTIVE CITIZENS OF THE HARD-CORE
-4-
UNEMPLOYED,/AND TO BRING PEACE TO OUR
RIOT-TORN LAND.
IN A SENSE, MOST OF THESE
PROBLEMS ARE INTER-RELATED AND IMPINGE
UPON EACH OTHER.
AN END TO THE VIETNAM WAR WOULD
HELP US SOLVE OUR DOMESTIC PROBLEMS. A
VICTORY OVER INFLATION, ALTHOUGH SLOW-BY-SLOW,
WOULD EASE THE SQUEEZE ON THE LOW-INCOME
GROUP. A HEALTHY ECONOMY IS A REQUISITE
FOR ANY CONCERTED ATTACK UPON THE URBAN
CRISIS -- CREATION OF NEW JOBS AND
LARGE-SCALE TRAINING OF THE HARD-CORE
UNEMPLOYED. AND PEACE WILL COME/TO OUR
EMBATTLED NEIGHBORHOODS ONLY WHEN THE
DEPRIVED GAIN A STAKE IN AMERICA, A STAKE
and must not lose
THEY DON'T WANT TO LOSE BY TEARING OUR
COUNTRY DOWN through unwise leadership or emotional over. meastron
E DON'T THINK THE HORRENDOUS
PROBLEMS WE FACE SHOULD FRIGHTEN US. WE
-5-
CAN SOLVE THEM OVER TIME IF WE DO NOT
BECOME TOO IMPATIENT / OR ALLOW OURSELVES
TO BE OVERWHELMED. WE CAN SOLVE OUR
PROBLEMS IF EVERY AMERICAN, INCLUDING THE MEN
IN THIS ROOM, WILL PITCH IN AND HELP -- NOW.
THE TIME BETWEEN NATIONAL
ADMINISTRATIONS IS NATURALLY A TIME OF
REFLECTION,/A TIME OF REAPPRAISAL ,/ A REVIEW
OF TASKS LEFT UNDONE.
TONIGHT I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE
WITH YOU MY THOUGHTS DURING THIS INTERIM
PERIOD WHEN AN OLD ADMINISTRATION IS PACKING
UP AND MOVING OUT/AND A NEW ADMINISTRATION
IS BEING BORN.
PERHAPS VIETNAM IS UPPERMOST IN
THE MINDS OF MOST AMERICANS, AND SO I WILL
BEGIN THERE.
I HAVE BEEN PROFOUNDLY IMPRESSED
WITH THE CONCEPTS ADVANCED BY DR. HENRY A.
KISSINGER, PRESIDENT-ELECT NIXON'S CHIEF
-6-
FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER, QN HOW TO
PROCEED WITH THE NEGOTIATIONS IN PARIS.
HIS PROPOSAL/THAT HANOI AND WASHINGTON
DISCUSS MUTUAL TROOP WITHDRAWAL AND RELATED
SUBJECTS WHILE SAIGON AND THE NATIONAL
LIBERATION FRONT TALK ABOUT THE INTERNAL
STRUCTURE OF SOUTH VIETNAM APPEARS TO ME
a
most
TO BE THE ONLY LOGICAL BASIS FOR ENDING
THE VIETNAM WAR AND ACHIEVING A DURABLE
PEACE.
FOR TECHNICAL REASONS IN DEALING
WITH THE ENEMY AND FOR DOMESTIC REASONS --
NOT TO RAISE FALSE HOPES OR BRING SAD
antition
DISARRAY-- WE SHOULD SET NO VIETNAM
DEADLINES FOR THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION. TO
DO SO WOULD BE UNREALISTIC. IMPATIENCE
WILL NOT WIN THE PEACE.
WE HAVE ALREADY SEEN HOW HANOI
HAS SOUGHT TO EXPLOIT THE PRESENT
ADMINISTRATION!S PUBLIC IMPATIENCE WITH
-7-
SOUTH VIETNAM. HANOI IS EMPLOYING THE
SPLIT BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND SAIGON AS AN
INSTRUMENT OF POLITICAL WARFARE.
WE MUST PATIENTLY AND
AFFIRMATIVELY PURSUE A NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT
OF THE VIETNAM WAR, USING THE DOUBLE-TRACK
METHOD SUGGESTED BY DR. KISSINGER.
MEANTIME WE MUST ENGAGE MORE VIGOROUSLY
IN THE "OTHER WAR" -- THE WAR OF
PACIFICATION IN THE HAMLETS OF SOUTH VIETNAM.
WE MUST PROVIDE SECURITY IN THE HAMLETS
AND INSIST UPON ECONOMIC,/POLITICAL/AND
SOCIAL PROGRESS IN SOUTH VIETNAM. WE CAN
WIN THE PEACE ONLY IF THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE
PEASANT CASTS HIS LOT AND HIS LOYALTY WITH
THE GOVERNMENT IN SAIGON.
THE WORLD BUBBLES WITH TROUBLE.
THE MIDEAST SEETHES WITH THE MAKINGS OF
A NEW ALL-OUT ISRAELI-ARAB WAR. A WAR THAT
WOULD POSE far GREATER DANGER OF A U.S.-SOVIET
-8-
CONFRONTATION THAN THE CONFLICT OF JUNE 1967.
potential
IT MAY BE THAT THIS DANGER WILL HELP TO
PRODUCE AN ARAB-ISRAELI SETTLEMENT. MY
POINT IS THAT THE LEADERS OF THE SOVIET
UNION SHOULD BE AS ANXIOUS AS WE ARE TO
AVOID A HEAD-ON U.S.-SOVIET CLASH IN THE
MIDDLE EAST.
REGRETTABLY, THE SOVIET LEADERS
APPARENTLY WANT TURMOIL SHORT OF AN EAST-WEST
CONFRONTATION OR/AN IMPOSED SETTLEMENT --
FOUR-POWER OR OTHERWISE -- THAT IS
SUBSTANTIALLY BENEFICIAL TO THEMSELVES AND
friends
THE NEW-FOUND MEDITERRANEAN ALLIES.
BUT ALL IS NOT DARK ON THE WORLD
SCENE. THERE ARE SOME HOPEFUL SIGNS. GOOD
PROSPECTS FOR THE RENEWAL OF U.S.-SOVIET
ARMS CONTROL TALKS. A REOPENING OF U.S.
TALKS WITH RED CHINA AT WARSAW ON FEB. 20,
THE FIRST CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO
NATIONS IN 13 MONTHS AND PERHAPS THE
BEGINNING
OF A, ALOGUE. -9-
MR. NIXON HAS SAID HIS
ADMINISTRATION WILL SEEK NEGOTIATIONS AND
NOT CONFRONTATION. I THINK HE WILL MAKE THE
MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO PROMOTE WORLD
PEACE. HE WILL SEEK TO STRENGTHEN OUR NATO
ALLIES AND TO IMPROVE OUR RELATIONS WITH
GEN. DeGAULLE. I BELIEVE MR. NIXON AS
PRESIDENT WILL BE NUMBERED AMONG THE
PEACEMAKERS.
ON THE DOMESTIC SCENE THE GREATEST
PROBLEM IS INFLATION, APART FROM THE URBAN
CRISIS.
DURING 1968 THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
WITNESSED THE SHARPEST INCREASE IN THE COST
OF LIVING IN 17 YEARS.- 4.8%
THERE IS SOME REASON TO BELIEVE
THAT INFLATIONARY PRESSURES WILL EASE UP IN
THE FIRST HALF OF THIS YEAR. THE OUTGOING
ADMINISTRATION TELLS US THAT THE 1968-69
an anticipated -10- suphus of last years deficit 9624.5
#2.4 bellion, Quite a suntch from
BUDGET WILL BALANCE, DUE TO THE 10 PER CENT
SURTAX AND THE $6 BILLION SPENDING CUTBACK
ORDERED BY CONGRESS. AND THERE MAY BE A
SMALL SURPLUS IN FISCAL 1970, -- IF THE
now forecast to be #3.4
SURTAX IS CONTINUED FOR A YEAR BEYOND
JUNE 30, 1969. IT IS I MPORTANT TO NOTE,
Too, THAT THE SOCIAL SECURITY TAX INCREASE
WHICH BECAME EFFECTIVE LAST JAN. 1 WILL
TAKE ABOUT $3 BILLION OUT OF CIRCULATION
AND THAT THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD RECENTLY
TOOK ACTION ON THE MONETARY FRONT.
BUT THESE FACTORS IN THEMSELVES
ARE NOT ENOUGH. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
This is understandable -inths last 3 years The cost I has living
CURRENTLY ARE INFECTED WITH INFLATION FEVER
visar
1/07D
THIS INFLATION PSYCHOLOGY MUST BE ERASED.
TO DO THAT THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION WILL
NEED THE GREATEST POSSIBLE COOPERATION FROM
INDUSTRY AND LABOR. COOPERATION AND
unhealthy
UNDERSTANDING NOW MIGHT AVOID AN ECONOMIC
WRENCH AS WE MOVE DOWN THE ROAD.
-11-
AS FOR THE NEW ADMINISTRATION
ITSELF, I FEEL CERTAIN IT WILL SET AN
EXAMPLE OF RESTRAINT FOR THE NATION. IN MY
VIEW, TIGHT, RESPONSIBLE CONTROL OVER
FEDERAL SPENDING AND A SORTING OUT OF
PRIORITIES MUST BE THE ORDER OF THE DAY IF
THIS COUNTRY IS TO AVOID STILL SHARPER
INFLATION CONTINUED WORSENING OF ITS
TRADE POSITION AND FURTHER DEFICITS IN THE
BALANCE OF PAYMENTS.
WE KNOW THAT BUILT-IN INCREASES
ARE GOING TO PUSH UP FEDERAL SPENDING IN
FISCAL 1970 BY $7 TO $10 BILLION. BUT I
CAN ASSURE YOU THERE WILL BE NO +2 emphange NO
PROLIFERATION OF FEDERAL SPENDING PROGRAMS.
INSTEAD YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE CONSOLIDATION
AND I MPROVEMENT OF EXISTING some PROGRAMS AND,
IN TIME, A RESTRUCTURING OF, FEDERAL
DEPARTMENTS.
among other projects
DICK NIXON IS ANXIOUS TO
-12-
STREAMLINE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. HE WILL
if given the mechang legeslative assistment
MOVE TO DO SO ON A "CRASH" BASIS, THIS
MEANS THE CONGRESS MUST ACT QUICKLY TO GIVE
MR. NIXON THE SAME REORGANIZATIONAL
AUTHORITY ENJOYED BY PRESIDENTS TRUMAN,
EISENHOWER, KENNEDY AND JOHNSON BEFORE HIM.
such
THE LAST CONGRESS ALLOWED THE EXECUTIVE
-REORGANIZATION ACT TO EXPIRE LAST DEC. 31.
ONE OF THE FIRST ORDERS OF BUSINESS OF
THE 91st CONGRESS MUST BE TO EXTEND THE
REORGANIZATION ACT FOR TWO YEARS. THE
CUSTOMARY SPAN FOR SUCH AN EXTENSION.
UNDER THE ACT, A REORGANIZATION PLAN SENT
TO THE CONGRESS BY THE PRESIDENT BECOMES
LAW IF NOT DISAPPROVED BY ONE OR THE OTHER
HOUSE OF CONGRESS WITHIN 60 DAYS
than
2
made
some
well- some higher authority
comments last wight
WHAT ABOUT THE SURTAX: I WOULD Let me
old, however
LIKE TO SEE IT DIE AS OF JUNE 30 BUT
observations. several personal
WHETHER IT EXPIRES WILL DEPEND UPON A
NUMBER OF CONTINGENCIES BETWEEN NOW AND THE
-13-
END OF THIS FISCAL YEAR which is June 30m.
IF I WERE MAKING THE LONGRANGE
DECISIONS IN A SIZABLE CORPORATION, I WOULD
NOT BET THAT THE SURTAX WILL BE ALLOWED TO
legislating
EXPIRE. OF COURSE / THERE ARE A VARIETY OF
on contingences
OPTIONS, DEPENDING ON CONDITIONS, THAT MAY
ARISE.
CONGRESS'S DECISION ON THE SURTAX
WILL DEPEND ON WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE AND
THE CONGRESS DO IN A HOST OF OTHER POLICY
AREAS WHAT THE PUBLIC DOES IN THE AREAS
OF SPENDING AND SAVING / WHAT LABOR AND
MANAGEMENT DO IN THEIR NEGOTIATIONS/AND
WHAT THE COMMUNIST ENEMY DOES IN MAKING
CURRENT AND LONGRANGE INTERNATIONAL POLICY
DECISIONS.
DICK NIXON IS VITALLY INTERESTED
IN IMPROVING THE HEALTH OF THE ECONOMY. AND
IT MAY BE THAT INFLATIONARY PRESSURES WILL
DEMAND THAT THE SURTAX BE EXTENDED BEYOND
-14-
MID-YEAR 1969 IN THE INTERESTS OF A
HEALTHY ECONOMY.
IN SHORT, AS FAR AS MR. NIXON AND
THE CONGRESS ARE CONCERNED THE SURTAX
af we are honest & realistic
DECISION CANNOT BE MADE NOW. WE WILL BE
1
TAKING REGULAR READINGS ON THE STATE OF THE
ECONOMY BEFORE MAKING A DEFINITIVE JUDGMENT
ON THE SURTAX.
WHILE I AM CRYSTAL BALL-GAZING,
I WILL PREDICT THAT THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION
WILL MOVE VERY QUICKLY TO BOLSTER THE FORCES
OF LAW AND ORDER IN A CONCERTED CAMPAIGN
TO COUNTER THE SWIFT RISE IN CRIME.
"NO-NONSENSE" RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE NIXON
TASK FORCE ON CRIME WILL CREATE THE PROPER
ATMOSPHERE FOR DEALING WITH CRIME DURING
THE NEXT FOUR YEARS. Rehabelitation
Bail refrom
Prosecution
ante -crime fundy
Judges .+ Counts
NOWHERE IS THE NEED TO TAKE MASSIVE
COUNTER-MEASURES AGAINST CRIME MORE URGENT
THAN IN WASHINGTON, D.C.. THE NATION'S
-15-
CAPITAL. IN THIS COMMUNITY WHICH SHOULD
BE A MODEL FOR THE REST OF THE NATION,
ARMED ROBBERIES ARE OCCURRING AT THE RATE
OF 20 A DAY. IN THE FIRST 11 DAYS OF THIS
including 2 FB.I agents
YEAR, 11 MURDERS WERE COMMITTED AND EIGHT
BANKING INSTITUTIONS WERE ROBBED. I LOOK
FOR POSITIVE MEASURES BY THE NIXON
ADMINISTRATION TO BREAK THIS MOUNTING WAVE
OF CRIME. But it does meed help from The Counts - cite case.
I HAVE TOUCHED ON ONLY PART OF THE
AGENDA ONLY A PIECE OF THE CHALLENGE THAT
FACES ALL AMERICANS AS WE STAND FIVE DAYS
AWAY FROM NEW NATIONAL LEADERSHIP.
I CAN ASSURE YOU THERE WILL BE
FRESH INITIATIVE SHOWN AT 1600 PENNSYLVANIA
AVENUE. NOT A HECTIC FIRST HUNDRED DAYS BUT
A SOLID PROGRAM AIMED AT BRINGING THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE TOGETHER AND MOVING US
FORWARD AS A NATION.
ENDING THE VIETNAM WAR WILL HAVE
-16-
TOP PRIORITY.
ON CAPITOL HILL THERE [ALSO] WILL
BE INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY. SINCE THE
DEMOCRATIC PARTY WILL CONTROL BOTH HOUSES
OF CONGRESS, ITS LEADERS understandably WILK AIM TO MAKE
A RECORD FOR THEIR PARTY. ON THE OTHER HAND
THE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP IN THE CONGRESS
WILL PRESS FOR CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF
NIXON ADMINISTRATION MEASURES. WE ALSO
WILL ADVANCE PROPOSALS WHICH HOUSE
REPUBLICANS HAVE BEEN PUSHING IN RECENT
as you imagine the adds been have
YEARS WITHOUT COMPLETE SUCCESS WHAT WITH
against
THE OPPOSITION BEING IN CONTROL OF THE
us
WHITE HOUSE AS WELL AS THE CONGRESS.
MY HOUSE REPUBLICAN COLLEAGUES
AND I WILL PRESS FOR ELECTORAL COLLEGE
REFORM TAX REVISION /CLEAN CLEAN ELECTIONS
LEGISLATION CONGRESSIONAL REORGANIZATION
WITH A VIEW TO MODERNIZING AND STRENGTHENING
THE CONGRESS,/REFORM OF THE FOREIGN AID
-17-
PROGRAM, /BLOCK GRANTS AND REVENUE SHARING, /
REFORM OF THE WELFARE SYSTEM SYSTEM/IMPROVEMENT / MPROVE
OF EXISTING METHODS FOR HANDLING NATIONAL
EMERGENCY STRIKES / FAIR PRICES AND FULL AND
FAIR OPPORTUNITY FOR THE FARMER /
REVITALIZATION OF THE MERCHANT MARINE
STRENGTHENING OF LOCAL SCHOOL SYSTEMS A
MASSIVE ATTACK ON AIR AND WATER POLLUTION
AND A ARSHALLING OF FORCES IN THE PRIVATE
SECTOR TO HELP GOVERNI ENT EET AND DEAL
ADEQUATELY WITH THE URBAN CRISIS.
IT IS MY EXPECTATION AND HOPE THAT
THE HEART OF THE NIXON PROGRAM WILL BE THE
USE OF TAX CREDITS TO ENLIST INDUSTRY IN A
NATIONWIDE ATTACK ON HARD-CORE JOBLESSNESS
/
UNDEREMPLOYMENT SLUM HOUSING AND POVERTY.
THERE IS BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR
THE USE OF TAX INCENTIVES TO ACHIEVE SOCIAL
Treasury Department officials universally vaine many objections - my anower INFAITMEN
OBJECTIVES. I PERSONALLY WILL DEDICATE MYSELF
TO ENACTMENT OF SUCH TAX CREDIT LEGISLATION on
a Groader basis.
-18-
I BELIEVE IN IT. I BELIEVE IT WILL WORK.
AT THE OUTSET I ASK ONLY THAT
CONGRESS GIVE FULL AND FAIR HEARINGS TO
NIXON ADMINISTRATION PROPOSALS IN THE TAX
CREDIT FIELD.
I SEE THE ENACTMENT OF A TAX
CREDIT FOR ON-THE-JOB TRAINING IN INDUSTRY
AS MOST URGENT. I KNOW OF NOBODY WHO WOULD
DISPUTE THE ARGUMENT THAT INDUSTRY IS THE
BEST TEACHER OF SKILLS, IN THIS COUNTRY
SUCH A PROGRAM WOULD COST LESS AND
ENLIST GREATER KNOW-HOW THAN THE DIRECT
GOVERNMENT APPROACH AND IT SURELY WOULD BE
MORE EFFECTIVE IN SOLVING THE PROBLEMS OF
HARD-CORE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDERE PLOY IENT.
I AM NOT SAYING IT WOULD BE CHEAP but a two
pronged approach seems 13 for ALSO better VITALLY. than an expansion NECESSARY the THAT dominated federal quot
traditional
THE CONGRESS OFFER INDUSTRY TAX INCENTIVES solution.
TO LOCATE NEW PLANTS IN POVERTY AREAS.
THOUSANDS OF NEW NEGRO ENTREPRENEURS
-19-
ARE CREATING CHANGES IN THE GHETTO. BUT
THE SMALL BUSINESSMAN IS NOT THE ANSWER TO
THE GHETTO'S ECONOMIC WOES. ONLY BIG
BUSINESS CAN PROVIDE CORE CITY RESIDENTS
WITH THE MASSIVE JOB OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE
THE BEGINNING POINT FOR SOLVING A NUMBER OF
GHETTO PROBLEMS.
I APPLAUD THE RISE OF THE NEGRO
CAPITALIST AND PROMOTER. BUT THE PRIMARY
GOAL SHOULD BE JOBS FOR THE HARD-CORE
UNEMPLOYED AND BETTER JOBS FOR THE INNER
CITY'S UNDEREMPLOYED. AND ONLY BIG
BUSINESS -- THE BIGGER THE BETTER -- CAN
PROVIDE THESE JOBS.
SO TODAY I URGE THE LEADERS OF
INDUSTRY TO BECOME greater PARTNERS FOR PROGRESS
WITH FEDERAL LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS.
I AM FULLY AWARE OF THE
TREMENDOUS CONTRIBUTION BEING MADE BY THE
NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF BUSINESSMEN IN THE FIELD
-20-
OF EMPLOYMENT. WE SHOULD PROVIDE EVERY
POSSIBLE BIT OF SUPPORT FOR THE NAB AND FOR
JOHN GARDNER'S URBAN COALITION.
I KNOW THAT COMPANIES LIKE
BELL TELEPHONE, BURROUGHS, IBM, THE
AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS AND OTHERS HAVE
RECRUITED AND ARE TRAINING THE HARD-CORE
UNEMPLOYED -- WITHOUT SPECIAL TAX
INCENTIVES. BUT THIS EFFORT REALLY IS A
FRACTION OF WHAT IS NEEDED. FAR MORE NEEDS
TO BE DONE.
BUSINESSMEN THROUGHOUT THE
COUNTRY UST DEVELOP A BURNING SOCIAL
CONSCIENCE, AND THE CONGRESS MUST HELP THEM
BECOME INVOLVED IN THE SOLUTION OF OUR
SOCIAL PROBLEMS.
I AM NOT SAYING THAT BUSINESS
ALONE CAN RESOLVE THE URBAN CRISIS. BUT I
AM SAYING/THAT GOVERNMENT ALONE CANNOT DO IT.
WE IN GOVERNMENT NEED YOUR LEADERSHIP, YOUR
-21-
CAPITAL AND MORE IMPORTANTLY YOUR KNOW-HOW.
WE NEED THE DEEP INVOLVEMENT OF
THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY CLEAR ACROSS THE
COUNTRY. AND TAX CREDITS ARE A BASIC TO
THAT INVOLVEMENT.
ALREADY FORMIDABLE OPPOSITION TO
THE USE OF TAX INCENTIVES FOR SOCIAL
PURPOSES HAS ARISEN IN THE CONGRESS. WE WHO
BELIEVE IN THIS APPROACH NEED YOUR HELP.
WE MUST MEET AND RESOLVE THE URBAN CRISIS.
EITHER WE SUCCEED AS A PEOPLE UNDER OUR
SYSTEM OF FREE ENTERPRISE AND OUR FORM OF
GOVERNMENT OR WE WILL PERISH AS A NATION.
IF OUR CITIES DIE, AMERICA WILL DIE.
WE ARE MET HERE AT A TIME OF GREAT
CHALLENGE AND EQUALLY GREAT OPPORTUNITY.
WE ARE FACE-TO-FACE WITH THE
CHALLENGE. LET US NOW SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITY
THE OPPORTUNITY TO WIN THE INVOLVEMENT OF
THE ALIENATED CITIZENS OF THE CORE CITIES
/
-22- them more
THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE
OF THEM, THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAVE THE CITIES
AND THUS SAVE THE NATION.
WITH THE ELECTION OF A NEW
PRESIDENT, WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SWING
AMERICA AROUND AND USE THE DYNAMIC THRUST
OF THE FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM TO PROPEL US
TOWARD NEW GREATNESS . AS A PEOPLE
WITHOUT YOUR HELP AND THAT OF OTHER
CONCERNED AMERICANS OUR NEW PRESIDENT CAN
DO LITTLE. WITH THE HELP OF THE PEOPLE
HE CANNOT FAIL.
LET US ALL RISE TO THE CHALLENGE
/
LET US LAY ASIDE CONFLICTING POLITICAL
LOYALTIES AND DEDICATE OURSELVES TO THE
BUILDING OF A NEW AND BETTER AMERICA.
I HOPEFULLY SEE AN EARLY END TO THE
ERA OF RIOTS AND THE BEGINNING OF AN ERA OF
RECONCILIATION AND RECONSTRUCTION.
THIS WILL COME AS SURELY AS THE
-23-
DAWN OF A NEW DAY IF WE HEED THE WISE
WORDS OF PLUTARCH, WHO SAID:
"PERSEVERANCE IS MORE PREVAILING
THAN VIOLENCE; AND MANY THINGS WHICH CANNOT
BE OVERCOME WHEN THEY ARE TAKEN TOGETHER YIELD
THEMSELVES WHEN TAKEN LITTLE BY LITTLE."
TOGETHER WE SHALL PERSEVERE. AND
TOGETHER WE SHALL PREVAIL. THANK YOU.
END : :
M Office Copy
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
MINORITY LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BEFORE THE ECONOMIC CLUB OF NEW YORK
WEDNESDAY EVENING
JANUARY 15, 1969
AT THE WALDORF ASTORIA HOTEL, NEW YORK, N.Y.
For release at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, January 15, 1969
I am delighted to be here. I am told that being invited to speak to this
group is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I shall try to make the most of it.
It has been suggested to me that I should seek to impart some new
knowledge from my somewhat specialized segment of our society to the members
of this forum. That is a challenge I hope to meet.
You are businessmen. I am a politician. I can hardly tell you anything
new about economics, since that is your field of expertise. So although yours
is a non-partisan forum, I had better deal in my specialty politics.
While I will be speaking to you as Republican leader of the House of
Representatives, the message I bring you involves every man and woman in America --
Democrats and independents as well as Republicans.
A friend of mine has urged me to address myself tonight to what he calls
"The Republican Challenge," the task that confronts the Grand Old Party now that
a Republican has been assigned to the Big Chair in the White House.
In looking over the problems that face us as a Nation and a people, I see
far more than a Republican challenge. I see a challenge to each and every one of
us. In my view, the very survival of America hangs on what we do or do not do as
a people in the next few years.
I could be speaking about the threat of nuclear war. I do not do so
although the danger is real enough. I am talking about that complex of problems
known as the urban crisis the problems of the city slummism and hard-core
unemployment racial hostility and smoldering hatred.
This is only one item in the catalog of problems facing the new
Administration. But it is probably the crisis most difficult of resolution.
There are, of course, a host of objectives which the Nixon Administration
must set out to achieve: To end the Vietnam War, to avoid future Vietnams and
to avert a nuclear war, to restore balance to: the economy while maintaining a
healthy rate of economic growth, to establish relative price stability, to help
(more)
-2-
make productive citizens of the hard-core unemployed, and to bring peace to our
riot-torn land.
In a sense, most of these problems are inter-related and impinge upon
each other.
An end to the Vietnam War would help us solve our domestic problems. A
victory over inflation, although slow-by-slow, would ease the squeeze on the
low-income group. A healthy economy is a requisite for any concerted attack upon
the urban crisis -- creation of new jobs and large-scale training of the hard-core
unemployed. And peace will come to our embattled neighborhoods only when the
deprived gain a stake in America, a stake they don't want to lose by tearing
our country down.
I don't think the horrendous problems we face should frighten us. We can
solve them over time if we do not become too impatient or allow ourselves to be
overwhelmed. We can solve our problems if every American, including the men in
this room, will pitch in and help -- now.
The time between national administrations is naturally a time of
reflection, a time of reappraisal, a review of tasks left undone.
Tonight I would like to share with you my thoughts during this interim
period when an old administration is packing up and moving out and a new
administration is being born.
Perhaps Vietnam is uppermost in the minds of most Americans, and so I
will begin there.
I have been profoundly impressed with the concepts advanced by Dr. Henry
A. Kissinger, President-Elect Nixon's chief foreign policy adviser, on how to
proceed with the negotiations in Paris. His proposal that Hanoi and Washington
discuss mutual troop withdrawal and related subjects while Saigon and the
National Liberation Front talk about the internal structure of South Vietnam
appears to me to be the only logical basis for ending the Vietnam War and
achieving a durable peace.
For technical reasons in dealing with the enemy and for domestic reasons --
not to raise false hopes or bring sad disarray--we should set no Vietnam deadlines
for the Nixon Administration. To do so would be unrealistic. Impatience will
not win the peace.
We have already seen how Hanoi has sought to exploit the present
Administration's public impatience with South Vietnam. Hanoi is employing the
(more)
-3-
split between Washington and Saigon as an instrument of political warfare.
We must patiently and affirmatively pursue a negotiated settlement of
the Vietnam War, using the double-track method suggested by Dr. Kissinger.
Meantime we must engage more vigorously in the "other war" -- the war of
pacification in the hamlets of South Vietnam. We must provide security in the
hamlets and insist upon economic, political and social progress in South Vietnam.
We can win the peace only if the South Vietnamese peasant casts his lot and his
loyalty with the government in Saigon.
The world bubbles with trouble. The Mideast seethes with the makings of
a new all-out Israeli-Arab war, a war that would pose greater danger of a
U.S.-Soviet confrontation than the conflict of June 1967. It may be that this
danger will help to produce an Arab-Israeli settlement. My point is that the
leaders of the Soviet Union should be as anxious as we are to avoid a head-on
U.S.-Soviet clash in the Middle East.
Regrettably, the Soviet leaders apparently want turmoil short of an
East-West confrontation or an imposed settlement--Four-power or otherwise--that
is substantially beneficial to themselves and their new-found Mediterranean
allies.
But all is not dark on the world scene. There are some hopeful signs.
Good prospects for the renewal of U.S.-Soviet arms control talks. A reopening of
U.S. talks with Red China at Warsaw on Feb. 20, the first conversations between
the two nations in 13 months and perhaps the beginning of a dialogue.
Mr. Nixon has said his administration will seek negotiations and not
confrontation. I think he will make the most of every opportunity to promote
world peace. He will seek to strengthen our NATO allies and to improve our
relations with Gen. deGaulle. I believe Mr. Nixon as President will be numbered
among the peacemakers.
On the domestic scene the greatest problem is inflation, apart from the
urban crisis.
During 1968 the American people witnessed the sharpest increase in the
cost of living in 17 years.
There is some reason to believe that inflationary pressures will ease up
in the first half of this year. The outgoing administration tells us that the
1968-69 budget will balance, due to the 10 per cent surtax and the $6 billion
spending cutback ordered by Congress. And there may be a small surplus in fiscal
(more)
-4-
1970 -- if the surtax is continued for a year beyond June 30, 1969. It is
important to note, too, that the Social Security tax increase which became
effective last Jan. 1 will take about $3 billion out of circulation and that the
Federal Reserve Board recently took action on the monetary front.
But these factors in themselves are not enough. The American people
currently are infected with inflation fever. This inflation psychology must be
erased. To do that the Nixon Administration will need the greatest possible
cooperation from industry and labor. Cooperation and understanding now might
avoid an economic wrench as we move down the road.
As for the new Administration itself, I feel certain it will set an
example of restraint for the Nation. In my view, tight responsible control over
Federal spending and a sorting out of priorities must be the order of the day if
this country is to avoid still sharper inflation, a continued worsening of its
trade position, and further deficits in the balance of payments.
We know that built-in increases are going to push up federal spending in
fiscal 1970 by $7 to $10 billion. But I can assure you there will be no
proliferation of federal spending programs. Instead you can expect to see
consolidation and improvement of existing programs and, in time, a restructuring
of federal departments.
Dick Nixon is anxious to streamline the federal government. He will move
to do so on a "crash" basis. This means the Congress must act quickly to give
Mr. Nixon the same reorganizational authority enjoyed by Presidents Truman,
Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson before him. The last Congress allowed the
Executive Reorganization Act to expire last Dec. 31. One of the first orders
of business of the 91st Congress must be to extend the Reorganization Act for two
years, the customary span for such an extension. Under the Act, a reorganization
plan sent to the Congress by the President becomes law if not disapproved by
one or the other House of Congress within 60 days.
What about the surtax? I would like to see it die as of June 30, but
whether it expires will depend upon a number of contingencies between now and
the end of this fiscal year.
If I were making the longrange decisions in a sizable corporation, I
would not bet that the surtax will be allowed to expire. Of course, there are
a variety of options, depending on conditions that may arise.
Congress's decision on the surtax will depend on what the White House and
(more)
-5-
the Congress do in a host of other policy areas, what the public does in the
areas of spending and saving, what labor and management do in their negotiations,
and what the Communist enemy does in making current and longrange international
policy decisions.
Dick Nixon is vitally interested in improving the health of the economy.
And it may be that inflationary pressures will demand that the surtax be extended
beyond mid-year 1969 in the interests of a healthy economy
In short, as far as Mr. Nixon and the Congress are concerned, the surtax
decision cannot be made now. We will be taking regular readings on the state of
the economy before making a definitive judgment on the surtax.
While I am crystal ball-gazing, I will predict that the Nixon
Administration will move very quickly to bolster the forces of law and order in
a concerted campaign to counter the swift rise in crime. No-nonsense
recommendations from the Nixon task force on crime will create the proper
atmosphere for dealing with crime during the next four years.
Nowhere is the need to take massive counter-measures against crime more
urgent than in Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. In this community which
should be a model for the rest of the nation, armed robberies are occurring at
the rate of 20 a day. In the first 11 days of this year, 11 murders were committed
and eight banking institutions were robbed. I look for positive measures by
the Nixon Administration to break this mounting wave of crime.
I have touched on only part of the agenda, only a piece of the challenge
that faces all Americans as we stand five days away from new national leadership.
I can assure you there will be fresh initiative shown at 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue. Not a hectic First Hundred Days but a solid program aimed at bringing
the American people together and moving us forward as a Nation.
Ending the Vietnam War will have top priority.
On Capitol Hill there also will be innovative activity. Since the
Democratic Party will control both houses of Congress, its leaders will aim to
make a record for their party. On the other hand, the Republican leadership in
the Congress will press for congressional approval of Nixon Administration
measures. We also will advance proposals which House Republicans have been push-
ing in recent years without complete success, what with the opposition being in
control of the White House as well as the Congress.
My House Republican colleagues and I will press for electoral college
(more)
-6-
reform, tax revision, clean elections legislation, congressional reorganization
with a view to modernizing and strengthening the Congress, reform of the foreign
aid program, block grants and revenue sharing, reform of the welfare system,
improvement of existing methods for handling national emergency strikes, fair
prices and full and fair opportunity for the farmer, revitalization of the
merchant marine, strengthening of local school systems, a massive attack on air
and water pollution, and a marshalling of forces in the private sector to help
government meet and deal adequately with the urban crisis.
It is my expectation and hope that the heart of the Nixon program will
be the use of tax credits to enlist industry in a nationwide attack on hard-core
joblessness, underemployment, slum housing and poverty.
There is bipartisan support for the use of tax incentives to achieve
social objectives. I personally will dedicate myself to enactment of such tax
credit legislation. I believe in it. I believe it will work.
At the outset I ask only that Congress give full and fair hearings to
Nixon Administration proposals in the tax credit field.
I see the enactment of a tax credit for on-the-job training in industry
as most urgent. I know of nobody who would dispute the argument that industry
is the best teacher of skills in this country.
Such a program would cost less and enlist greater know-how than the direct
government approach and it surely would be more effective in solving the problems
of hard-core unemployment and underemployment. I am not saying it would be
cheap.
It is also vitally necessary that the Congress offer industry tax
incentives to locate new plants in poverty areas.
Thousands of new Negro entrepreneurs are creating changes in the ghetto.
But the small businessman is not the answer to the ghetto's economic woes. Only
big business can provide core city residents with the massive job opportunities
that are the beginning point for solving a number of ghetto problems.
I applaud the rise of the Negro capitalist and promoter. But the primary
goal should be jobs for the hard-core unemployed and better jobs for the inner
city's underemployed. And only big business -- the bigger the better -- can
provide these jobs.
So today I urge the leaders of industry to become partners for progress
with federal, local and state governments.
(more)
-7-
I am fully aware of the tremdnous contribution being made by the National
Alliance of Businessmen in the field of employment. We should provide every
possible bit of support for the NAB and for John Gardner's Urban Coalition.
I know that companies like Bell Telephone, Burroughs, IBM, the
automobile manufacturers and others have recruited and are training the hard-core
unemployed -- without special tax incentives. But this effort really is a
fraction of what is needed. Far more needs to be done.
Businessmen throughout the country must develop a burning social
conscience, and the Congress must help them become involved in the solution of
our social problems.
I am not saying that business alone can resolve the urban crisis. But I
am saying that government alone cannot do it. We in government need your
leadership, your capital and more importantly your know-how.
We need the deep involvement of the business community clear across the
country. And tax credits are a basic to that involvement.
Already formidable opposition to the use of tax incentives for social
purposes has arisen in the Congress. We who believe in this approach need your
help. We must meet and resolve the urban crisis. Either we succeed as a people
under our system of free enterprise and our form of government or we will perish
as a Nation. If our cities die, America will die.
We are met here at a time of great challenge and equally great opportunity.
We are face-to-face with the challenge. Let us now seize the opportunity --
the opportunity to win the involvement of the alienated citizens of the core
cities, the opportunity to make productive people of them, the opportunity to
save the cities and thus save the Nation.
With the election of a new President, we have an opportunity to swing
America around and use the dynamic thrust of the free enterprise system to propel
us toward new greatness as a people.
Without your help and that of other concerned Americans, our new
President can do little. With the help of the people, he cannot fail.
Let us all rise to the challenge. Let us lay aside conflicting
political loyalties and dedicate ourselves to the building of a new and better
America.
I hopefully see an early end to the era of riots and the beginning of an
era of reconciliation and reconstruction.
(more)
-8-
This will come as surely as the dawn of a new day if we heed the wise
words of Plutarch, who said:
"Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which
cannot be overcome when they are taken together yield themselves when taken
little by little."
Together we shall persevere, and together we shall prevail. Thank you.
# # #
MINORITY LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Officially
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
BEFORE THE ECONOMIC CLUB OF NEW YORK
WEDNESDAY EVENING
JANUARY 15, 1969
AT THE WALDORF ASTORIA HOTEL, NEW YORK, N.Y.
For release at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, January 15, 1969
I am delighted to be here. I am told that being invited to speak to this
group is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I shall try to make the most of it.
It has been suggested to me that I should seek to impart some new
knowledge from my somewhat specialized segment of our society to the members
of this forum. That is a challenge I hope to meet.
You are businessmen. I am a politician. I can hardly tell you anything
new about economics, since that is your field of expertise. So although yours
is a non-partisan forum, I had better deal in my specialty -- politics.
While I will be speaking to you as Republican leader of the House of
Representatives, the message I bring you involves every man and woman in America --
Democrats and independents as well as Republicans.
A friend of mine has urged me to address myself tonight to what he calls
"The Republican Challenge," the task that confronts the Grand Old Party now that
a Republican has been assigned to the Big Chair in the White House.
In looking over the problems that face us as a Nation and a people, I see
far more than a Republican challenge. I see a challenge to each and every one of
us. In my view, the very survival of America hangs on what we do or do not do as
a people in the next few years.
I could be speaking about the threat of nuclear war. I do not do so
although the danger is real enough. I am talking about that complex of problems
known as the urban crisis -- the problems of the city -- slummism and hard-core
unemployment -- racial hostility and smoldering hatred.
This is only one item in the catalog of problems facing the new
Administration. But it is probably the crisis most difficult of resolution.
There are, of course, a host of objectives which the Nixon Administration
must set out to achieve: To end the Vietnam War, to avoid future Vietnams and
to avert a nuclear war, to restore balance to the economy while maintaining a
healthy rate of economic growth, to establish relative price stability, to help
(more)
LIBRARY
-2-
make productive citizens of the hard-core unemployed, and to bring peace to our
riot-torn land.
In a sense, most of these problems are inter-related and impinge upon
each other.
An end to the Vietnam War would help us solve our domestic problems. A
victory over inflation, although slow-by-slow, would ease the squeeze on the
low-income group. A healthy economy is a requisite for any concerted attack upon
the urban crisis -- creation of new jobs and large-scale training of the hard-core
unemployed. And peace will come to our embattled neighborhoods only when the
deprived gain a stake in America, a stake they don't want to lose by tearing
our country down.
I don't think the horrendous problems we face should frighten us. We can
solve them over time if we do not become too impatient or allow ourselves to be
overwhelmed. We can solve our problems if every American, including the men in
this room, will pitch in and help -- now.
The time between national administrations is naturally a time of
reflection, a time of reappraisal, a review of tasks left undone.
Tonight I would like to share with you my thoughts during this interim
period when an old administration is packing up and moving out and a new
administration is being born.
Perhaps Vietnam is uppermost in the minds of most Americans, and so I
will begin there.
I have been profoundly impressed with the concepts advanced by Dr. Henry
A. Kissinger, President-Elect Nixon's chief foreign policy adviser, on how to
proceed with the negotiations in Paris. His proposal that Hanoi and Washington
discuss mutual troop withdrawal and related subjects while Saigon and the
National Liberation Front talk about the internal structure of South Vietnam
appears to me to be the only logical basis for ending the Vietnam War and
achieving a durable peace.
For technical reasons in dealing with the enemy and for domestic reasons --
not to raise false hopes or bring sad disarray--we should set no Vietnam deadlines
for the Nixon Administration. To do so would be unrealistic. Impatience will
not win the peace.
We have already seen how Hanoi has sought to exploit the present
Administration's public impatience with South Vietnam. Hanoi is employing the
(more)
-3-
split between Washington and Saigon as an instrument of political warfare.
We must patiently and affirmatively pursue a negotiated settlement of
the Vietnam War, using the double-track method suggested by Dr. Kissinger.
Meantime we must engage more vigorously in the "other war" -- the war of
pacification in the hamlets of South Vietnam. We must provide security in the
hamlets and insist upon economic, political and social progress in South Vietnam.
We can win the peace only if the South Vietnamese peasant casts his lot and his
loyalty with the government in Saigon.
The world bubbles with trouble. The Mideast seethes with the makings of
a new all-out Israeli-Arab war, a war that would pose greater danger of a
U.S.-Soviet confrontation than the conflict of June 1967. It may be that this
danger will help to produce an Arab-Israeli settlement. My point is that the
leaders of the Soviet Union should be as anxious as we are to avoid a head-on
U.S.-Soviet clash in the Middle East.
Regrettably, the Soviet leaders apparently want turmoil short of an
East-West confrontation or an imposed settlement--Four-power or otherwise--that
is substantially beneficial to themselves and their new-found Mediterranean
allies.
But all is not dark on the world scene. There are some hopeful signs.
Good prospects for the renewal of U.S.-Soviet arms control talks. A reopening of
U.S. talks with Red China at Warsaw on Feb. 20, the first conversations between
the two nations in 13 months and perhaps the beginning of a dialogue.
Mr. Nixon has said his administration will seek negotiations and not
confrontation. I think he will make the most of every opportunity to promote
world peace. He will seek to strengthen our NATO allies and to improve our
relations with Gen. deGaulle. I believe Mr. Nixon as President will be numbered
among the peacemakers.
On the domestic scene the greatest problem is inflation, apart from the
urban crisis.
During 1968 the American people witnessed the sharpest increase in the
cost of living in 17 years.
There is some reason to believe that inflationary pressures will ease up
in the first half of this year. The outgoing administration tells us that the
1968-69 budget will balance, due to the 10 per cent surtax and the $6 billion
spending cutback ordered by Congress. And there may be a small surplus in fiscal
(more)
-4-
1970 -- if the surtax is continued for a year beyond June 30, 1969. It is
important to note, too, that the Social Security tax increase which became
effective last Jan. 1 will take about $3 billion out of circulation and that the
Federal Reserve Board recently took action on the monetary front.
But these factors in themselves are not enough. The American people
currently are infected with inflation fever. This inflation psychology must be
erased. To do that the Nixon Administration will need the greatest possible
cooperation from industry and labor. Cooperation and understanding now might
avoid an economic wrench as we move down the road.
As for the new Administration itself, I feel certain it will set an
example of restraint for the Nation. In my view, tight responsible control over
Federal spending and a sorting out of priorities must be the order of the day if
this country is to avoid still sharper inflation, a continued worsening of its
trade position, and further deficits in the balance of payments.
We know that built-in increases are going to push up federal spending in
fiscal 1970 by $7 to $10 billion. But I can assure you there will be no
proliferation of federal spending programs. Instead you can expect to see
consolidation and improvement of existing programs and, in time, a restructuring
of federal departments.
Dick Nixon is anxious to streamline the federal government. He will move
to do so on a "crash" basis. This means the Congress must act quickly to give
Mr. Nixon the same reorganizational authority enjoyed by Presidents Truman,
Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson before him. The last Congress allowed the
Executive Reorganization Act to expire last Dec. 31. One of the first orders
of business of the 91st Congress must be to extend the Reorganization Act for two
years, the customary span for such an extension. Under the Act, a reorganization
plan sent to the Congress by the President becomes law if not disapproved by
one or the other House of Congress within 60 days.
What about the surtax? I would like to see it die as of June 30, but
whether it expires will depend upon a number of contingencies between now and
the end of this fiscal year.
If I were making the longrange decisions in a sizable corporation, I
would not bet that the surtax will be allowed to expire. Of course, there are
a variety of options, depending on conditions that may arise.
Congress's decision on the surtax will depend on what the White House and
(more)
-5-
the Congress do in a host of other policy areas, what the public does in the
areas of spending and saving, what labor and management do in their negotiations,
and what the Communist enemy does in making current and longrange international
policy decisions.
Dick Nixon is vitally interested in improving the health of the economy.
And it may be that inflationary pressures will demand that the surtax be extended
beyond mid-year 1969 in the interests of a healthy economy.
In short, as far as Mr. Nixon and the Congress are concerned, the surtax
decision cannot be made now. We will be taking regular readings on the state of
the economy before making a definitive judgment on the surtax.
While I am crystal ball-gazing, I will predict that the Nixon
Administration will move very quickly to bolster the forces of law and order in
a concerted campaign to counter the swift rise in crime. No-nonsense
recommendations from the Nixon task force on crime will create the proper
atmosphere for dealing with crime during the next four years.
Nowhere is the need to take massive counter-measures against crime more
urgent than in Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. In this community which
should be a model for the rest of the nation, armed robberies are occurring at
the rate of 20 a day. In the first 11 days of this year, 11 murders were committed
and eight banking institutions were robbed. I look for positive measures by
the Nixon Administration to break this mounting wave of crime.
I have touched on only part of the agenda, only a piece of the challenge
that faces all Americans as we stand five days away from new national leadership.
I can assure you there will be fresh initiative shown at 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue. Not a hectic First Hundred Days but a solid program aimed at bringing
the American people together and moving us forward as a Nation.
Ending the Vietnam War will have top priority.
On Capitol Hill there also will be innovative activity. Since the
Democratic Party will control both houses of Congress, its leaders will aim to
make a record for their party. On the other hand, the Republican leadership in
the Congress will press for congressional approval of Nixon Administration
measures. We also will advance proposals which House Republicans have been push-
ing in recent years without complete success, what with the opposition being in
control of the White House as well as the Congress.
My House Republican colleagues and I will press for electoral college
(more)
-6-
reform, tax revision, clean elections legislation, congressional reorganization
with a view to modernizing and strengthening the Congress, reform of the foreign
aid program, block grants and revenue sharing, reform of the welfare system,
improvement of existing methods for handling national emergency strikes, fair
prices and full and fair opportunity for the farmer, revitalization of the
merchant marine, strengthening of local school systems, a massive attack on air
and water pollution, and a marshalling of forces in the private sector to help
government meet and deal adequately with the urban crisis.
It is my expectation and hope that the heart of the Nixon program will
be the use of tax credits to enlist industry in a nationwide attack on hard-core
joblessness, underemployment, slum housing and poverty.
There is bipartisan support for the use of tax incentives to achieve
social objectives. I personally will dedicate myself to enactment of such tax
credit legislation. I believe in it. I believe it will work.
At the outset I ask only that Congress give full and fair hearings to
Nixon Administration proposals in the tax credit field.
I see the enactment of a tax credit for on-the-job training in industry
as most urgent. I know of nobody who would dispute the argument that industry
is the best teacher of skills in this country.
Such a program would cost less and enlist greater know-how than the direct
government approach and it surely would be more effective in solving the problems
of hard-core unemployment and underemployment. I am not saying it would be
cheap.
It is also vitally necessary that the Congress offer industry tax
incentives to locate new plants in poverty areas.
Thousands of new Negro entrepreneurs are creating changes in the ghetto.
But the small businessman is not the answer to the ghetto's economic woes. Only
big business can provide core city residents with the massive job opportunities
that are the beginning point for solving a number of ghetto problems.
I applaud the rise of the Negro capitalist and promoter. But the primary
goal should be jobs for the hard-core unemployed and better jobs for the inner
city's underemployed. And only big business -- the bigger the better -- can
provide these jobs.
So today I urge the leaders of industry to become partners for progress
with federal, local and state governments.
(more)
-7-
I am fully aware of the tremdnous contribution being made by the National
Alliance of Businessmen in the field of employment. We should provide every
possible bit of support for the NAB and for John Gardner's Urban Coalition.
I know that companies like Bell Telephone, Burroughs, IBM, the
automobile manufacturers and others have recruited and are training the hard-core
unemployed -- without special tax incentives. But this effort really is a
fraction of what is needed. Far more needs to be done.
Businessmen throughout the country must develop a burning social
conscience, and the Congress must help them become involved in the solution of
our social problems.
I am not saying that business alone can resolve the urban crisis. But I
am saying that government alone cannot do it. We in government need your
leadership, your capital and more importantly your know-how.
We need the deep involvement of the business community clear across the
country. And tax credits are a basic to that involvement.
Already formidable opposition to the use of tax incentives for social
purposes has arisen in the Congress. We who believe in this approach need your
help. We must meet and resolve the urban crisis. Either we succeed as a people
under our system of free enterprise and our form of government or we will perish
as a Nation. If our cities die, America will die.
We are met here at a time of great challenge and equally great opportunity.
We are face-to-face with the challenge. Let us now seize the opportunity --
the opportunity to win the involvement of the alienated citizens of the core
cities, the opportunity to make productive people of them, the opportunity to
save the cities and thus save the Nation.
With the election of a new President, we have an opportunity to swing
America around and use the dynamic thrust of the free enterprise system to propel
us toward new greatness as a people.
Without your help and that of other concerned Americans, our new
President can do little. With the help of the people, he cannot fail.
Let us all rise to the challenge. Let us lay aside conflicting
political loyalties and dedicate ourselves to the building of a new and better
America.
I hopefully see an early end to the era of riots and the beginning of an
era of reconciliation and reconstruction.
(more)
-8-
This will come as surely as the dawn of a new day if we heed the wise
words of Plutarch, who said:
"Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which
cannot be overcome when they are taken together yield themselves when taken
little by little."
Together we shall persevere, and together we shall prevail. Thank you.
# # #

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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Economic Club of New York, New York, NY, January 15, 1969",
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        "Vietnam War, 1961-1975"
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"ocrText": "The original documents are located in Box D26, folder \"Economic Club of New York, New\nYork, NY, January 15, 1969\" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and\nSpeech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nCopyright Notice\nThe copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of\nphotocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United\nStates of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.\nWorks prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public\ndomain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to\nremain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid\ncopyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nDigitized from Box D26 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary\nand Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nPunctuation and\nproofing by Pat\nBEFORE THE ECONOMIC CLUB OF NEW YORK\nWEDNESDAY EVENING. JAN. 15. 1969. AT THE\nWALDORF ASTORIA HOTEL. NEW YORK. N.Y.\n2 don't know whether it was 4 happenstaner N\nlesin - That on the program with Mr. Manneli there is a\nFord from although not the same family as the better known\nI AM DELIGHTED TO BE HERE. I AM\nTOLD THAT BEING INVITED TO SPEAK TO THIS Fords\n2\nhave\nGROUP IS A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIM OPPORTUNITY:\nmy\n1 SHALL TRY TO MAKE THE MOST OF IT.\nALL\nto\nIT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED TO ME THAT\nI SHOULD SEEK TO IMPART SOME NEW KNOWLEDGE\nFROM MY SOMEWHAT SPECIALIZED SEGMENT OF\nOUR SOCIETY TO THE distingnobed MEMBERS OF THIS FORUM.\norganization.\nTHAT IS A CHALLENGE I HOPE TO MEET\nlawyers + other specialists.\nYOU ARE BUSINESSMEN. I AM A\nProud to be a member of the greatest legeslative body world the House JRT the Peoples House.\nPOLITICIAN. n I CAN HARDLY TELL YOU ANYTHING\nNEW ABOUT ECONOMICS, SINCE THAT IS YOUR\nFIELD OF EXPERTISE. SO ALTHOUGH YOURS IS A\nNON-PARTISAN FORUM, I HAD BETTER DEAL IN MY\nora replay The months before Nw5\nSPECIALTY -- POLITICS. not partician but mother a\nglempse of what 2 see down the road from the vantage f the Capital\n-2-\nWHILE I WILL BE SPEAKING TO YOU\nAS A REPUBLICAN LEADER OF THE HOUSE OF\nREPRESENTATIVES, THE MESSAGE I BRING YOU\nINVOLVES EVERY MAN AND WOMAN IN AMERICA --\nDEMOCRATS AND INDEPENDENTS AS WELL AS\nREPUBLICANS.\nA FRIEND OF MINE HAS URGED ME TO\nADDRESS MYSELF TONIGHT TO WHAT HE CALLS\n\"THE REPUBLICAN CHALLENGE,\" THE TASK THAT\nCONFRONTS THE GRAND OLD PARTY NOW THAT A\nREPUBLICAN HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO THE BIG CHAIR\nIN THE WHITE HOUSE.\nIN LOOKING OVER THE PROBLEMS THAT\nFACE US AS A NATION AND A PEOPLE, I SEE\nFAR MORE THAN A REPUBLICAN CHALLENGE. I\nSEE A CHALLENGE TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF\nUS. IN MY VIEW, THE VERY SURVIVAL OF\nAMERICA HANGS ON WHAT WE DO OR DO NOT DO AS\nA PEOPLE IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS.\nI COULD BE SPEAKING ABOUT THE\n-3-\nTHREAT OF NUCLEAR WAR. I DO NOT DO SO\n/\nALTHOUGH THE DANGER IS REAL ENOUGH. I AM\nTALKING ABOUT THAT COMPLEX OF PROBLEMS\nKNOWN AS THE URBAN CRISIS -- THE PROBLEMS\nOF THE CITY --/SLUMMISM AND HARD-CORE\nUNEMPLOYMENT f- RACIAL HOSTILITY AND\nSMOLDERING HATRED.\nTHIS IS ONLY ONE ITEM IN THE\nCATALOG OF PROBLEMS FACING THE NEW\nADMINISTRATION. BUT IT IS PROBABLY THE\nCRISIS MOST DIFFICULT OF RESOLUTION.\nTHERE ARE, OF COURSE, A HOST OF\nOBJECTIVES WHICH THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION\nMUST SET OUT TO ACHIEVE: TO END THE\nVIETNAM WAR,/TO AVOID FUTURE VIETNAMS AND\nTO AVERT A NUCLEAR WAR,/TO RESTORE BALANCE\nTO THE ECONOMY WHILE MAINTAINING A HEALTHY\nRATE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH,/TO ESTABLISH\nRELATIVE PRICE STABILITY TO HELP MAKE\nPRODUCTIVE CITIZENS OF THE HARD-CORE\n-4-\nUNEMPLOYED,/AND TO BRING PEACE TO OUR\nRIOT-TORN LAND.\nIN A SENSE, MOST OF THESE\nPROBLEMS ARE INTER-RELATED AND IMPINGE\nUPON EACH OTHER.\nAN END TO THE VIETNAM WAR WOULD\nHELP US SOLVE OUR DOMESTIC PROBLEMS. A\nVICTORY OVER INFLATION, ALTHOUGH SLOW-BY-SLOW,\nWOULD EASE THE SQUEEZE ON THE LOW-INCOME\nGROUP. A HEALTHY ECONOMY IS A REQUISITE\nFOR ANY CONCERTED ATTACK UPON THE URBAN\nCRISIS -- CREATION OF NEW JOBS AND\nLARGE-SCALE TRAINING OF THE HARD-CORE\nUNEMPLOYED. AND PEACE WILL COME/TO OUR\nEMBATTLED NEIGHBORHOODS ONLY WHEN THE\nDEPRIVED GAIN A STAKE IN AMERICA, A STAKE\nand must not lose\nTHEY DON'T WANT TO LOSE BY TEARING OUR\nCOUNTRY DOWN through unwise leadership or emotional over. meastron\nE DON'T THINK THE HORRENDOUS\nPROBLEMS WE FACE SHOULD FRIGHTEN US. WE\n-5-\nCAN SOLVE THEM OVER TIME IF WE DO NOT\nBECOME TOO IMPATIENT / OR ALLOW OURSELVES\nTO BE OVERWHELMED. WE CAN SOLVE OUR\nPROBLEMS IF EVERY AMERICAN, INCLUDING THE MEN\nIN THIS ROOM, WILL PITCH IN AND HELP -- NOW.\nTHE TIME BETWEEN NATIONAL\nADMINISTRATIONS IS NATURALLY A TIME OF\nREFLECTION,/A TIME OF REAPPRAISAL ,/ A REVIEW\nOF TASKS LEFT UNDONE.\nTONIGHT I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE\nWITH YOU MY THOUGHTS DURING THIS INTERIM\nPERIOD WHEN AN OLD ADMINISTRATION IS PACKING\nUP AND MOVING OUT/AND A NEW ADMINISTRATION\nIS BEING BORN.\nPERHAPS VIETNAM IS UPPERMOST IN\nTHE MINDS OF MOST AMERICANS, AND SO I WILL\nBEGIN THERE.\nI HAVE BEEN PROFOUNDLY IMPRESSED\nWITH THE CONCEPTS ADVANCED BY DR. HENRY A.\nKISSINGER, PRESIDENT-ELECT NIXON'S CHIEF\n-6-\nFOREIGN POLICY ADVISER, QN HOW TO\nPROCEED WITH THE NEGOTIATIONS IN PARIS.\nHIS PROPOSAL/THAT HANOI AND WASHINGTON\nDISCUSS MUTUAL TROOP WITHDRAWAL AND RELATED\nSUBJECTS WHILE SAIGON AND THE NATIONAL\nLIBERATION FRONT TALK ABOUT THE INTERNAL\nSTRUCTURE OF SOUTH VIETNAM APPEARS TO ME\na\nmost\nTO BE THE ONLY LOGICAL BASIS FOR ENDING\nTHE VIETNAM WAR AND ACHIEVING A DURABLE\nPEACE.\nFOR TECHNICAL REASONS IN DEALING\nWITH THE ENEMY AND FOR DOMESTIC REASONS --\nNOT TO RAISE FALSE HOPES OR BRING SAD\nantition\nDISARRAY-- WE SHOULD SET NO VIETNAM\nDEADLINES FOR THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION. TO\nDO SO WOULD BE UNREALISTIC. IMPATIENCE\nWILL NOT WIN THE PEACE.\nWE HAVE ALREADY SEEN HOW HANOI\nHAS SOUGHT TO EXPLOIT THE PRESENT\nADMINISTRATION!S PUBLIC IMPATIENCE WITH\n-7-\nSOUTH VIETNAM. HANOI IS EMPLOYING THE\nSPLIT BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND SAIGON AS AN\nINSTRUMENT OF POLITICAL WARFARE.\nWE MUST PATIENTLY AND\nAFFIRMATIVELY PURSUE A NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT\nOF THE VIETNAM WAR, USING THE DOUBLE-TRACK\nMETHOD SUGGESTED BY DR. KISSINGER.\nMEANTIME WE MUST ENGAGE MORE VIGOROUSLY\nIN THE \"OTHER WAR\" -- THE WAR OF\nPACIFICATION IN THE HAMLETS OF SOUTH VIETNAM.\nWE MUST PROVIDE SECURITY IN THE HAMLETS\nAND INSIST UPON ECONOMIC,/POLITICAL/AND\nSOCIAL PROGRESS IN SOUTH VIETNAM. WE CAN\nWIN THE PEACE ONLY IF THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE\nPEASANT CASTS HIS LOT AND HIS LOYALTY WITH\nTHE GOVERNMENT IN SAIGON.\nTHE WORLD BUBBLES WITH TROUBLE.\nTHE MIDEAST SEETHES WITH THE MAKINGS OF\nA NEW ALL-OUT ISRAELI-ARAB WAR. A WAR THAT\nWOULD POSE far GREATER DANGER OF A U.S.-SOVIET\n-8-\nCONFRONTATION THAN THE CONFLICT OF JUNE 1967.\npotential\nIT MAY BE THAT THIS DANGER WILL HELP TO\nPRODUCE AN ARAB-ISRAELI SETTLEMENT. MY\nPOINT IS THAT THE LEADERS OF THE SOVIET\nUNION SHOULD BE AS ANXIOUS AS WE ARE TO\nAVOID A HEAD-ON U.S.-SOVIET CLASH IN THE\nMIDDLE EAST.\nREGRETTABLY, THE SOVIET LEADERS\nAPPARENTLY WANT TURMOIL SHORT OF AN EAST-WEST\nCONFRONTATION OR/AN IMPOSED SETTLEMENT --\nFOUR-POWER OR OTHERWISE -- THAT IS\nSUBSTANTIALLY BENEFICIAL TO THEMSELVES AND\nfriends\nTHE NEW-FOUND MEDITERRANEAN ALLIES.\nBUT ALL IS NOT DARK ON THE WORLD\nSCENE. THERE ARE SOME HOPEFUL SIGNS. GOOD\nPROSPECTS FOR THE RENEWAL OF U.S.-SOVIET\nARMS CONTROL TALKS. A REOPENING OF U.S.\nTALKS WITH RED CHINA AT WARSAW ON FEB. 20,\nTHE FIRST CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO\nNATIONS IN 13 MONTHS AND PERHAPS THE\nBEGINNING\nOF A, ALOGUE. -9-\nMR. NIXON HAS SAID HIS\nADMINISTRATION WILL SEEK NEGOTIATIONS AND\nNOT CONFRONTATION. I THINK HE WILL MAKE THE\nMOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO PROMOTE WORLD\nPEACE. HE WILL SEEK TO STRENGTHEN OUR NATO\nALLIES AND TO IMPROVE OUR RELATIONS WITH\nGEN. DeGAULLE. I BELIEVE MR. NIXON AS\nPRESIDENT WILL BE NUMBERED AMONG THE\nPEACEMAKERS.\nON THE DOMESTIC SCENE THE GREATEST\nPROBLEM IS INFLATION, APART FROM THE URBAN\nCRISIS.\nDURING 1968 THE AMERICAN PEOPLE\nWITNESSED THE SHARPEST INCREASE IN THE COST\nOF LIVING IN 17 YEARS.- 4.8%\nTHERE IS SOME REASON TO BELIEVE\nTHAT INFLATIONARY PRESSURES WILL EASE UP IN\nTHE FIRST HALF OF THIS YEAR. THE OUTGOING\nADMINISTRATION TELLS US THAT THE 1968-69\nan anticipated -10- suphus of last years deficit 9624.5\n#2.4 bellion, Quite a suntch from\nBUDGET WILL BALANCE, DUE TO THE 10 PER CENT\nSURTAX AND THE $6 BILLION SPENDING CUTBACK\nORDERED BY CONGRESS. AND THERE MAY BE A\nSMALL SURPLUS IN FISCAL 1970, -- IF THE\nnow forecast to be #3.4\nSURTAX IS CONTINUED FOR A YEAR BEYOND\nJUNE 30, 1969. IT IS I MPORTANT TO NOTE,\nToo, THAT THE SOCIAL SECURITY TAX INCREASE\nWHICH BECAME EFFECTIVE LAST JAN. 1 WILL\nTAKE ABOUT $3 BILLION OUT OF CIRCULATION\nAND THAT THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD RECENTLY\nTOOK ACTION ON THE MONETARY FRONT.\nBUT THESE FACTORS IN THEMSELVES\nARE NOT ENOUGH. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE\nThis is understandable -inths last 3 years The cost I has living\nCURRENTLY ARE INFECTED WITH INFLATION FEVER\nvisar\n1/07D\nTHIS INFLATION PSYCHOLOGY MUST BE ERASED.\nTO DO THAT THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION WILL\nNEED THE GREATEST POSSIBLE COOPERATION FROM\nINDUSTRY AND LABOR. COOPERATION AND\nunhealthy\nUNDERSTANDING NOW MIGHT AVOID AN ECONOMIC\nWRENCH AS WE MOVE DOWN THE ROAD.\n-11-\nAS FOR THE NEW ADMINISTRATION\nITSELF, I FEEL CERTAIN IT WILL SET AN\nEXAMPLE OF RESTRAINT FOR THE NATION. IN MY\nVIEW, TIGHT, RESPONSIBLE CONTROL OVER\nFEDERAL SPENDING AND A SORTING OUT OF\nPRIORITIES MUST BE THE ORDER OF THE DAY IF\nTHIS COUNTRY IS TO AVOID STILL SHARPER\nINFLATION CONTINUED WORSENING OF ITS\nTRADE POSITION AND FURTHER DEFICITS IN THE\nBALANCE OF PAYMENTS.\nWE KNOW THAT BUILT-IN INCREASES\nARE GOING TO PUSH UP FEDERAL SPENDING IN\nFISCAL 1970 BY $7 TO $10 BILLION. BUT I\nCAN ASSURE YOU THERE WILL BE NO +2 emphange NO\nPROLIFERATION OF FEDERAL SPENDING PROGRAMS.\nINSTEAD YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE CONSOLIDATION\nAND I MPROVEMENT OF EXISTING some PROGRAMS AND,\nIN TIME, A RESTRUCTURING OF, FEDERAL\nDEPARTMENTS.\namong other projects\nDICK NIXON IS ANXIOUS TO\n-12-\nSTREAMLINE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. HE WILL\nif given the mechang legeslative assistment\nMOVE TO DO SO ON A \"CRASH\" BASIS, THIS\nMEANS THE CONGRESS MUST ACT QUICKLY TO GIVE\nMR. NIXON THE SAME REORGANIZATIONAL\nAUTHORITY ENJOYED BY PRESIDENTS TRUMAN,\nEISENHOWER, KENNEDY AND JOHNSON BEFORE HIM.\nsuch\nTHE LAST CONGRESS ALLOWED THE EXECUTIVE\n-REORGANIZATION ACT TO EXPIRE LAST DEC. 31.\nONE OF THE FIRST ORDERS OF BUSINESS OF\nTHE 91st CONGRESS MUST BE TO EXTEND THE\nREORGANIZATION ACT FOR TWO YEARS. THE\nCUSTOMARY SPAN FOR SUCH AN EXTENSION.\nUNDER THE ACT, A REORGANIZATION PLAN SENT\nTO THE CONGRESS BY THE PRESIDENT BECOMES\nLAW IF NOT DISAPPROVED BY ONE OR THE OTHER\nHOUSE OF CONGRESS WITHIN 60 DAYS\nthan\n2\nmade\nsome\nwell- some higher authority\ncomments last wight\nWHAT ABOUT THE SURTAX: I WOULD Let me\nold, however\nLIKE TO SEE IT DIE AS OF JUNE 30 BUT\nobservations. several personal\nWHETHER IT EXPIRES WILL DEPEND UPON A\nNUMBER OF CONTINGENCIES BETWEEN NOW AND THE\n-13-\nEND OF THIS FISCAL YEAR which is June 30m.\nIF I WERE MAKING THE LONGRANGE\nDECISIONS IN A SIZABLE CORPORATION, I WOULD\nNOT BET THAT THE SURTAX WILL BE ALLOWED TO\nlegislating\nEXPIRE. OF COURSE / THERE ARE A VARIETY OF\non contingences\nOPTIONS, DEPENDING ON CONDITIONS, THAT MAY\nARISE.\nCONGRESS'S DECISION ON THE SURTAX\nWILL DEPEND ON WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE AND\nTHE CONGRESS DO IN A HOST OF OTHER POLICY\nAREAS WHAT THE PUBLIC DOES IN THE AREAS\nOF SPENDING AND SAVING / WHAT LABOR AND\nMANAGEMENT DO IN THEIR NEGOTIATIONS/AND\nWHAT THE COMMUNIST ENEMY DOES IN MAKING\nCURRENT AND LONGRANGE INTERNATIONAL POLICY\nDECISIONS.\nDICK NIXON IS VITALLY INTERESTED\nIN IMPROVING THE HEALTH OF THE ECONOMY. AND\nIT MAY BE THAT INFLATIONARY PRESSURES WILL\nDEMAND THAT THE SURTAX BE EXTENDED BEYOND\n-14-\nMID-YEAR 1969 IN THE INTERESTS OF A\nHEALTHY ECONOMY.\nIN SHORT, AS FAR AS MR. NIXON AND\nTHE CONGRESS ARE CONCERNED THE SURTAX\naf we are honest & realistic\nDECISION CANNOT BE MADE NOW. WE WILL BE\n1\nTAKING REGULAR READINGS ON THE STATE OF THE\nECONOMY BEFORE MAKING A DEFINITIVE JUDGMENT\nON THE SURTAX.\nWHILE I AM CRYSTAL BALL-GAZING,\nI WILL PREDICT THAT THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION\nWILL MOVE VERY QUICKLY TO BOLSTER THE FORCES\nOF LAW AND ORDER IN A CONCERTED CAMPAIGN\nTO COUNTER THE SWIFT RISE IN CRIME.\n\"NO-NONSENSE\" RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE NIXON\nTASK FORCE ON CRIME WILL CREATE THE PROPER\nATMOSPHERE FOR DEALING WITH CRIME DURING\nTHE NEXT FOUR YEARS. Rehabelitation\nBail refrom\nProsecution\nante -crime fundy\nJudges .+ Counts\nNOWHERE IS THE NEED TO TAKE MASSIVE\nCOUNTER-MEASURES AGAINST CRIME MORE URGENT\nTHAN IN WASHINGTON, D.C.. THE NATION'S\n-15-\nCAPITAL. IN THIS COMMUNITY WHICH SHOULD\nBE A MODEL FOR THE REST OF THE NATION,\nARMED ROBBERIES ARE OCCURRING AT THE RATE\nOF 20 A DAY. IN THE FIRST 11 DAYS OF THIS\nincluding 2 FB.I agents\nYEAR, 11 MURDERS WERE COMMITTED AND EIGHT\nBANKING INSTITUTIONS WERE ROBBED. I LOOK\nFOR POSITIVE MEASURES BY THE NIXON\nADMINISTRATION TO BREAK THIS MOUNTING WAVE\nOF CRIME. But it does meed help from The Counts - cite case.\nI HAVE TOUCHED ON ONLY PART OF THE\nAGENDA ONLY A PIECE OF THE CHALLENGE THAT\nFACES ALL AMERICANS AS WE STAND FIVE DAYS\nAWAY FROM NEW NATIONAL LEADERSHIP.\nI CAN ASSURE YOU THERE WILL BE\nFRESH INITIATIVE SHOWN AT 1600 PENNSYLVANIA\nAVENUE. NOT A HECTIC FIRST HUNDRED DAYS BUT\nA SOLID PROGRAM AIMED AT BRINGING THE\nAMERICAN PEOPLE TOGETHER AND MOVING US\nFORWARD AS A NATION.\nENDING THE VIETNAM WAR WILL HAVE\n-16-\nTOP PRIORITY.\nON CAPITOL HILL THERE [ALSO] WILL\nBE INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY. SINCE THE\nDEMOCRATIC PARTY WILL CONTROL BOTH HOUSES\nOF CONGRESS, ITS LEADERS understandably WILK AIM TO MAKE\nA RECORD FOR THEIR PARTY. ON THE OTHER HAND\nTHE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP IN THE CONGRESS\nWILL PRESS FOR CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF\nNIXON ADMINISTRATION MEASURES. WE ALSO\nWILL ADVANCE PROPOSALS WHICH HOUSE\nREPUBLICANS HAVE BEEN PUSHING IN RECENT\nas you imagine the adds been have\nYEARS WITHOUT COMPLETE SUCCESS WHAT WITH\nagainst\nTHE OPPOSITION BEING IN CONTROL OF THE\nus\nWHITE HOUSE AS WELL AS THE CONGRESS.\nMY HOUSE REPUBLICAN COLLEAGUES\nAND I WILL PRESS FOR ELECTORAL COLLEGE\nREFORM TAX REVISION /CLEAN CLEAN ELECTIONS\nLEGISLATION CONGRESSIONAL REORGANIZATION\nWITH A VIEW TO MODERNIZING AND STRENGTHENING\nTHE CONGRESS,/REFORM OF THE FOREIGN AID\n-17-\nPROGRAM, /BLOCK GRANTS AND REVENUE SHARING, /\nREFORM OF THE WELFARE SYSTEM SYSTEM/IMPROVEMENT / MPROVE\nOF EXISTING METHODS FOR HANDLING NATIONAL\nEMERGENCY STRIKES / FAIR PRICES AND FULL AND\nFAIR OPPORTUNITY FOR THE FARMER /\nREVITALIZATION OF THE MERCHANT MARINE\nSTRENGTHENING OF LOCAL SCHOOL SYSTEMS A\nMASSIVE ATTACK ON AIR AND WATER POLLUTION\nAND A ARSHALLING OF FORCES IN THE PRIVATE\nSECTOR TO HELP GOVERNI ENT EET AND DEAL\nADEQUATELY WITH THE URBAN CRISIS.\nIT IS MY EXPECTATION AND HOPE THAT\nTHE HEART OF THE NIXON PROGRAM WILL BE THE\nUSE OF TAX CREDITS TO ENLIST INDUSTRY IN A\nNATIONWIDE ATTACK ON HARD-CORE JOBLESSNESS\n/\nUNDEREMPLOYMENT SLUM HOUSING AND POVERTY.\nTHERE IS BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR\nTHE USE OF TAX INCENTIVES TO ACHIEVE SOCIAL\nTreasury Department officials universally vaine many objections - my anower INFAITMEN\nOBJECTIVES. I PERSONALLY WILL DEDICATE MYSELF\nTO ENACTMENT OF SUCH TAX CREDIT LEGISLATION on\na Groader basis.\n-18-\nI BELIEVE IN IT. I BELIEVE IT WILL WORK.\nAT THE OUTSET I ASK ONLY THAT\nCONGRESS GIVE FULL AND FAIR HEARINGS TO\nNIXON ADMINISTRATION PROPOSALS IN THE TAX\nCREDIT FIELD.\nI SEE THE ENACTMENT OF A TAX\nCREDIT FOR ON-THE-JOB TRAINING IN INDUSTRY\nAS MOST URGENT. I KNOW OF NOBODY WHO WOULD\nDISPUTE THE ARGUMENT THAT INDUSTRY IS THE\nBEST TEACHER OF SKILLS, IN THIS COUNTRY\nSUCH A PROGRAM WOULD COST LESS AND\nENLIST GREATER KNOW-HOW THAN THE DIRECT\nGOVERNMENT APPROACH AND IT SURELY WOULD BE\nMORE EFFECTIVE IN SOLVING THE PROBLEMS OF\nHARD-CORE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDERE PLOY IENT.\nI AM NOT SAYING IT WOULD BE CHEAP but a two\npronged approach seems 13 for ALSO better VITALLY. than an expansion NECESSARY the THAT dominated federal quot\ntraditional\nTHE CONGRESS OFFER INDUSTRY TAX INCENTIVES solution.\nTO LOCATE NEW PLANTS IN POVERTY AREAS.\nTHOUSANDS OF NEW NEGRO ENTREPRENEURS\n-19-\nARE CREATING CHANGES IN THE GHETTO. BUT\nTHE SMALL BUSINESSMAN IS NOT THE ANSWER TO\nTHE GHETTO'S ECONOMIC WOES. ONLY BIG\nBUSINESS CAN PROVIDE CORE CITY RESIDENTS\nWITH THE MASSIVE JOB OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE\nTHE BEGINNING POINT FOR SOLVING A NUMBER OF\nGHETTO PROBLEMS.\nI APPLAUD THE RISE OF THE NEGRO\nCAPITALIST AND PROMOTER. BUT THE PRIMARY\nGOAL SHOULD BE JOBS FOR THE HARD-CORE\nUNEMPLOYED AND BETTER JOBS FOR THE INNER\nCITY'S UNDEREMPLOYED. AND ONLY BIG\nBUSINESS -- THE BIGGER THE BETTER -- CAN\nPROVIDE THESE JOBS.\nSO TODAY I URGE THE LEADERS OF\nINDUSTRY TO BECOME greater PARTNERS FOR PROGRESS\nWITH FEDERAL LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS.\nI AM FULLY AWARE OF THE\nTREMENDOUS CONTRIBUTION BEING MADE BY THE\nNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF BUSINESSMEN IN THE FIELD\n-20-\nOF EMPLOYMENT. WE SHOULD PROVIDE EVERY\nPOSSIBLE BIT OF SUPPORT FOR THE NAB AND FOR\nJOHN GARDNER'S URBAN COALITION.\nI KNOW THAT COMPANIES LIKE\nBELL TELEPHONE, BURROUGHS, IBM, THE\nAUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS AND OTHERS HAVE\nRECRUITED AND ARE TRAINING THE HARD-CORE\nUNEMPLOYED -- WITHOUT SPECIAL TAX\nINCENTIVES. BUT THIS EFFORT REALLY IS A\nFRACTION OF WHAT IS NEEDED. FAR MORE NEEDS\nTO BE DONE.\nBUSINESSMEN THROUGHOUT THE\nCOUNTRY UST DEVELOP A BURNING SOCIAL\nCONSCIENCE, AND THE CONGRESS MUST HELP THEM\nBECOME INVOLVED IN THE SOLUTION OF OUR\nSOCIAL PROBLEMS.\nI AM NOT SAYING THAT BUSINESS\nALONE CAN RESOLVE THE URBAN CRISIS. BUT I\nAM SAYING/THAT GOVERNMENT ALONE CANNOT DO IT.\nWE IN GOVERNMENT NEED YOUR LEADERSHIP, YOUR\n-21-\nCAPITAL AND MORE IMPORTANTLY YOUR KNOW-HOW.\nWE NEED THE DEEP INVOLVEMENT OF\nTHE BUSINESS COMMUNITY CLEAR ACROSS THE\nCOUNTRY. AND TAX CREDITS ARE A BASIC TO\nTHAT INVOLVEMENT.\nALREADY FORMIDABLE OPPOSITION TO\nTHE USE OF TAX INCENTIVES FOR SOCIAL\nPURPOSES HAS ARISEN IN THE CONGRESS. WE WHO\nBELIEVE IN THIS APPROACH NEED YOUR HELP.\nWE MUST MEET AND RESOLVE THE URBAN CRISIS.\nEITHER WE SUCCEED AS A PEOPLE UNDER OUR\nSYSTEM OF FREE ENTERPRISE AND OUR FORM OF\nGOVERNMENT OR WE WILL PERISH AS A NATION.\nIF OUR CITIES DIE, AMERICA WILL DIE.\nWE ARE MET HERE AT A TIME OF GREAT\nCHALLENGE AND EQUALLY GREAT OPPORTUNITY.\nWE ARE FACE-TO-FACE WITH THE\nCHALLENGE. LET US NOW SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITY\nTHE OPPORTUNITY TO WIN THE INVOLVEMENT OF\nTHE ALIENATED CITIZENS OF THE CORE CITIES\n/\n-22- them more\nTHE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE\nOF THEM, THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAVE THE CITIES\nAND THUS SAVE THE NATION.\nWITH THE ELECTION OF A NEW\nPRESIDENT, WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SWING\nAMERICA AROUND AND USE THE DYNAMIC THRUST\nOF THE FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM TO PROPEL US\nTOWARD NEW GREATNESS . AS A PEOPLE\nWITHOUT YOUR HELP AND THAT OF OTHER\nCONCERNED AMERICANS OUR NEW PRESIDENT CAN\nDO LITTLE. WITH THE HELP OF THE PEOPLE\nHE CANNOT FAIL.\nLET US ALL RISE TO THE CHALLENGE\n/\nLET US LAY ASIDE CONFLICTING POLITICAL\nLOYALTIES AND DEDICATE OURSELVES TO THE\nBUILDING OF A NEW AND BETTER AMERICA.\nI HOPEFULLY SEE AN EARLY END TO THE\nERA OF RIOTS AND THE BEGINNING OF AN ERA OF\nRECONCILIATION AND RECONSTRUCTION.\nTHIS WILL COME AS SURELY AS THE\n-23-\nDAWN OF A NEW DAY IF WE HEED THE WISE\nWORDS OF PLUTARCH, WHO SAID:\n\"PERSEVERANCE IS MORE PREVAILING\nTHAN VIOLENCE; AND MANY THINGS WHICH CANNOT\nBE OVERCOME WHEN THEY ARE TAKEN TOGETHER YIELD\nTHEMSELVES WHEN TAKEN LITTLE BY LITTLE.\"\nTOGETHER WE SHALL PERSEVERE. AND\nTOGETHER WE SHALL PREVAIL. THANK YOU.\nEND : :\nM Office Copy\nAN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.\nMINORITY LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES\nBEFORE THE ECONOMIC CLUB OF NEW YORK\nWEDNESDAY EVENING\nJANUARY 15, 1969\nAT THE WALDORF ASTORIA HOTEL, NEW YORK, N.Y.\nFor release at 6:30 p.m.\nWednesday, January 15, 1969\nI am delighted to be here. I am told that being invited to speak to this\ngroup is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I shall try to make the most of it.\nIt has been suggested to me that I should seek to impart some new\nknowledge from my somewhat specialized segment of our society to the members\nof this forum. That is a challenge I hope to meet.\nYou are businessmen. I am a politician. I can hardly tell you anything\nnew about economics, since that is your field of expertise. So although yours\nis a non-partisan forum, I had better deal in my specialty politics.\nWhile I will be speaking to you as Republican leader of the House of\nRepresentatives, the message I bring you involves every man and woman in America --\nDemocrats and independents as well as Republicans.\nA friend of mine has urged me to address myself tonight to what he calls\n\"The Republican Challenge,\" the task that confronts the Grand Old Party now that\na Republican has been assigned to the Big Chair in the White House.\nIn looking over the problems that face us as a Nation and a people, I see\nfar more than a Republican challenge. I see a challenge to each and every one of\nus. In my view, the very survival of America hangs on what we do or do not do as\na people in the next few years.\nI could be speaking about the threat of nuclear war. I do not do so\nalthough the danger is real enough. I am talking about that complex of problems\nknown as the urban crisis the problems of the city slummism and hard-core\nunemployment racial hostility and smoldering hatred.\nThis is only one item in the catalog of problems facing the new\nAdministration. But it is probably the crisis most difficult of resolution.\nThere are, of course, a host of objectives which the Nixon Administration\nmust set out to achieve: To end the Vietnam War, to avoid future Vietnams and\nto avert a nuclear war, to restore balance to: the economy while maintaining a\nhealthy rate of economic growth, to establish relative price stability, to help\n(more)\n-2-\nmake productive citizens of the hard-core unemployed, and to bring peace to our\nriot-torn land.\nIn a sense, most of these problems are inter-related and impinge upon\neach other.\nAn end to the Vietnam War would help us solve our domestic problems. A\nvictory over inflation, although slow-by-slow, would ease the squeeze on the\nlow-income group. A healthy economy is a requisite for any concerted attack upon\nthe urban crisis -- creation of new jobs and large-scale training of the hard-core\nunemployed. And peace will come to our embattled neighborhoods only when the\ndeprived gain a stake in America, a stake they don't want to lose by tearing\nour country down.\nI don't think the horrendous problems we face should frighten us. We can\nsolve them over time if we do not become too impatient or allow ourselves to be\noverwhelmed. We can solve our problems if every American, including the men in\nthis room, will pitch in and help -- now.\nThe time between national administrations is naturally a time of\nreflection, a time of reappraisal, a review of tasks left undone.\nTonight I would like to share with you my thoughts during this interim\nperiod when an old administration is packing up and moving out and a new\nadministration is being born.\nPerhaps Vietnam is uppermost in the minds of most Americans, and so I\nwill begin there.\nI have been profoundly impressed with the concepts advanced by Dr. Henry\nA. Kissinger, President-Elect Nixon's chief foreign policy adviser, on how to\nproceed with the negotiations in Paris. His proposal that Hanoi and Washington\ndiscuss mutual troop withdrawal and related subjects while Saigon and the\nNational Liberation Front talk about the internal structure of South Vietnam\nappears to me to be the only logical basis for ending the Vietnam War and\nachieving a durable peace.\nFor technical reasons in dealing with the enemy and for domestic reasons --\nnot to raise false hopes or bring sad disarray--we should set no Vietnam deadlines\nfor the Nixon Administration. To do so would be unrealistic. Impatience will\nnot win the peace.\nWe have already seen how Hanoi has sought to exploit the present\nAdministration's public impatience with South Vietnam. Hanoi is employing the\n(more)\n-3-\nsplit between Washington and Saigon as an instrument of political warfare.\nWe must patiently and affirmatively pursue a negotiated settlement of\nthe Vietnam War, using the double-track method suggested by Dr. Kissinger.\nMeantime we must engage more vigorously in the \"other war\" -- the war of\npacification in the hamlets of South Vietnam. We must provide security in the\nhamlets and insist upon economic, political and social progress in South Vietnam.\nWe can win the peace only if the South Vietnamese peasant casts his lot and his\nloyalty with the government in Saigon.\nThe world bubbles with trouble. The Mideast seethes with the makings of\na new all-out Israeli-Arab war, a war that would pose greater danger of a\nU.S.-Soviet confrontation than the conflict of June 1967. It may be that this\ndanger will help to produce an Arab-Israeli settlement. My point is that the\nleaders of the Soviet Union should be as anxious as we are to avoid a head-on\nU.S.-Soviet clash in the Middle East.\nRegrettably, the Soviet leaders apparently want turmoil short of an\nEast-West confrontation or an imposed settlement--Four-power or otherwise--that\nis substantially beneficial to themselves and their new-found Mediterranean\nallies.\nBut all is not dark on the world scene. There are some hopeful signs.\nGood prospects for the renewal of U.S.-Soviet arms control talks. A reopening of\nU.S. talks with Red China at Warsaw on Feb. 20, the first conversations between\nthe two nations in 13 months and perhaps the beginning of a dialogue.\nMr. Nixon has said his administration will seek negotiations and not\nconfrontation. I think he will make the most of every opportunity to promote\nworld peace. He will seek to strengthen our NATO allies and to improve our\nrelations with Gen. deGaulle. I believe Mr. Nixon as President will be numbered\namong the peacemakers.\nOn the domestic scene the greatest problem is inflation, apart from the\nurban crisis.\nDuring 1968 the American people witnessed the sharpest increase in the\ncost of living in 17 years.\nThere is some reason to believe that inflationary pressures will ease up\nin the first half of this year. The outgoing administration tells us that the\n1968-69 budget will balance, due to the 10 per cent surtax and the $6 billion\nspending cutback ordered by Congress. And there may be a small surplus in fiscal\n(more)\n-4-\n1970 -- if the surtax is continued for a year beyond June 30, 1969. It is\nimportant to note, too, that the Social Security tax increase which became\neffective last Jan. 1 will take about $3 billion out of circulation and that the\nFederal Reserve Board recently took action on the monetary front.\nBut these factors in themselves are not enough. The American people\ncurrently are infected with inflation fever. This inflation psychology must be\nerased. To do that the Nixon Administration will need the greatest possible\ncooperation from industry and labor. Cooperation and understanding now might\navoid an economic wrench as we move down the road.\nAs for the new Administration itself, I feel certain it will set an\nexample of restraint for the Nation. In my view, tight responsible control over\nFederal spending and a sorting out of priorities must be the order of the day if\nthis country is to avoid still sharper inflation, a continued worsening of its\ntrade position, and further deficits in the balance of payments.\nWe know that built-in increases are going to push up federal spending in\nfiscal 1970 by $7 to $10 billion. But I can assure you there will be no\nproliferation of federal spending programs. Instead you can expect to see\nconsolidation and improvement of existing programs and, in time, a restructuring\nof federal departments.\nDick Nixon is anxious to streamline the federal government. He will move\nto do so on a \"crash\" basis. This means the Congress must act quickly to give\nMr. Nixon the same reorganizational authority enjoyed by Presidents Truman,\nEisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson before him. The last Congress allowed the\nExecutive Reorganization Act to expire last Dec. 31. One of the first orders\nof business of the 91st Congress must be to extend the Reorganization Act for two\nyears, the customary span for such an extension. Under the Act, a reorganization\nplan sent to the Congress by the President becomes law if not disapproved by\none or the other House of Congress within 60 days.\nWhat about the surtax? I would like to see it die as of June 30, but\nwhether it expires will depend upon a number of contingencies between now and\nthe end of this fiscal year.\nIf I were making the longrange decisions in a sizable corporation, I\nwould not bet that the surtax will be allowed to expire. Of course, there are\na variety of options, depending on conditions that may arise.\nCongress's decision on the surtax will depend on what the White House and\n(more)\n-5-\nthe Congress do in a host of other policy areas, what the public does in the\nareas of spending and saving, what labor and management do in their negotiations,\nand what the Communist enemy does in making current and longrange international\npolicy decisions.\nDick Nixon is vitally interested in improving the health of the economy.\nAnd it may be that inflationary pressures will demand that the surtax be extended\nbeyond mid-year 1969 in the interests of a healthy economy\nIn short, as far as Mr. Nixon and the Congress are concerned, the surtax\ndecision cannot be made now. We will be taking regular readings on the state of\nthe economy before making a definitive judgment on the surtax.\nWhile I am crystal ball-gazing, I will predict that the Nixon\nAdministration will move very quickly to bolster the forces of law and order in\na concerted campaign to counter the swift rise in crime. No-nonsense\nrecommendations from the Nixon task force on crime will create the proper\natmosphere for dealing with crime during the next four years.\nNowhere is the need to take massive counter-measures against crime more\nurgent than in Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. In this community which\nshould be a model for the rest of the nation, armed robberies are occurring at\nthe rate of 20 a day. In the first 11 days of this year, 11 murders were committed\nand eight banking institutions were robbed. I look for positive measures by\nthe Nixon Administration to break this mounting wave of crime.\nI have touched on only part of the agenda, only a piece of the challenge\nthat faces all Americans as we stand five days away from new national leadership.\nI can assure you there will be fresh initiative shown at 1600 Pennsylvania\nAvenue. Not a hectic First Hundred Days but a solid program aimed at bringing\nthe American people together and moving us forward as a Nation.\nEnding the Vietnam War will have top priority.\nOn Capitol Hill there also will be innovative activity. Since the\nDemocratic Party will control both houses of Congress, its leaders will aim to\nmake a record for their party. On the other hand, the Republican leadership in\nthe Congress will press for congressional approval of Nixon Administration\nmeasures. We also will advance proposals which House Republicans have been push-\ning in recent years without complete success, what with the opposition being in\ncontrol of the White House as well as the Congress.\nMy House Republican colleagues and I will press for electoral college\n(more)\n-6-\nreform, tax revision, clean elections legislation, congressional reorganization\nwith a view to modernizing and strengthening the Congress, reform of the foreign\naid program, block grants and revenue sharing, reform of the welfare system,\nimprovement of existing methods for handling national emergency strikes, fair\nprices and full and fair opportunity for the farmer, revitalization of the\nmerchant marine, strengthening of local school systems, a massive attack on air\nand water pollution, and a marshalling of forces in the private sector to help\ngovernment meet and deal adequately with the urban crisis.\nIt is my expectation and hope that the heart of the Nixon program will\nbe the use of tax credits to enlist industry in a nationwide attack on hard-core\njoblessness, underemployment, slum housing and poverty.\nThere is bipartisan support for the use of tax incentives to achieve\nsocial objectives. I personally will dedicate myself to enactment of such tax\ncredit legislation. I believe in it. I believe it will work.\nAt the outset I ask only that Congress give full and fair hearings to\nNixon Administration proposals in the tax credit field.\nI see the enactment of a tax credit for on-the-job training in industry\nas most urgent. I know of nobody who would dispute the argument that industry\nis the best teacher of skills in this country.\nSuch a program would cost less and enlist greater know-how than the direct\ngovernment approach and it surely would be more effective in solving the problems\nof hard-core unemployment and underemployment. I am not saying it would be\ncheap.\nIt is also vitally necessary that the Congress offer industry tax\nincentives to locate new plants in poverty areas.\nThousands of new Negro entrepreneurs are creating changes in the ghetto.\nBut the small businessman is not the answer to the ghetto's economic woes. Only\nbig business can provide core city residents with the massive job opportunities\nthat are the beginning point for solving a number of ghetto problems.\nI applaud the rise of the Negro capitalist and promoter. But the primary\ngoal should be jobs for the hard-core unemployed and better jobs for the inner\ncity's underemployed. And only big business -- the bigger the better -- can\nprovide these jobs.\nSo today I urge the leaders of industry to become partners for progress\nwith federal, local and state governments.\n(more)\n-7-\nI am fully aware of the tremdnous contribution being made by the National\nAlliance of Businessmen in the field of employment. We should provide every\npossible bit of support for the NAB and for John Gardner's Urban Coalition.\nI know that companies like Bell Telephone, Burroughs, IBM, the\nautomobile manufacturers and others have recruited and are training the hard-core\nunemployed -- without special tax incentives. But this effort really is a\nfraction of what is needed. Far more needs to be done.\nBusinessmen throughout the country must develop a burning social\nconscience, and the Congress must help them become involved in the solution of\nour social problems.\nI am not saying that business alone can resolve the urban crisis. But I\nam saying that government alone cannot do it. We in government need your\nleadership, your capital and more importantly your know-how.\nWe need the deep involvement of the business community clear across the\ncountry. And tax credits are a basic to that involvement.\nAlready formidable opposition to the use of tax incentives for social\npurposes has arisen in the Congress. We who believe in this approach need your\nhelp. We must meet and resolve the urban crisis. Either we succeed as a people\nunder our system of free enterprise and our form of government or we will perish\nas a Nation. If our cities die, America will die.\nWe are met here at a time of great challenge and equally great opportunity.\nWe are face-to-face with the challenge. Let us now seize the opportunity --\nthe opportunity to win the involvement of the alienated citizens of the core\ncities, the opportunity to make productive people of them, the opportunity to\nsave the cities and thus save the Nation.\nWith the election of a new President, we have an opportunity to swing\nAmerica around and use the dynamic thrust of the free enterprise system to propel\nus toward new greatness as a people.\nWithout your help and that of other concerned Americans, our new\nPresident can do little. With the help of the people, he cannot fail.\nLet us all rise to the challenge. Let us lay aside conflicting\npolitical loyalties and dedicate ourselves to the building of a new and better\nAmerica.\nI hopefully see an early end to the era of riots and the beginning of an\nera of reconciliation and reconstruction.\n(more)\n-8-\nThis will come as surely as the dawn of a new day if we heed the wise\nwords of Plutarch, who said:\n\"Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which\ncannot be overcome when they are taken together yield themselves when taken\nlittle by little.\"\nTogether we shall persevere, and together we shall prevail. Thank you.\n# # #\nMINORITY LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Officially\nAN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.\nBEFORE THE ECONOMIC CLUB OF NEW YORK\nWEDNESDAY EVENING\nJANUARY 15, 1969\nAT THE WALDORF ASTORIA HOTEL, NEW YORK, N.Y.\nFor release at 6:30 p.m.\nWednesday, January 15, 1969\nI am delighted to be here. I am told that being invited to speak to this\ngroup is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I shall try to make the most of it.\nIt has been suggested to me that I should seek to impart some new\nknowledge from my somewhat specialized segment of our society to the members\nof this forum. That is a challenge I hope to meet.\nYou are businessmen. I am a politician. I can hardly tell you anything\nnew about economics, since that is your field of expertise. So although yours\nis a non-partisan forum, I had better deal in my specialty -- politics.\nWhile I will be speaking to you as Republican leader of the House of\nRepresentatives, the message I bring you involves every man and woman in America --\nDemocrats and independents as well as Republicans.\nA friend of mine has urged me to address myself tonight to what he calls\n\"The Republican Challenge,\" the task that confronts the Grand Old Party now that\na Republican has been assigned to the Big Chair in the White House.\nIn looking over the problems that face us as a Nation and a people, I see\nfar more than a Republican challenge. I see a challenge to each and every one of\nus. In my view, the very survival of America hangs on what we do or do not do as\na people in the next few years.\nI could be speaking about the threat of nuclear war. I do not do so\nalthough the danger is real enough. I am talking about that complex of problems\nknown as the urban crisis -- the problems of the city -- slummism and hard-core\nunemployment -- racial hostility and smoldering hatred.\nThis is only one item in the catalog of problems facing the new\nAdministration. But it is probably the crisis most difficult of resolution.\nThere are, of course, a host of objectives which the Nixon Administration\nmust set out to achieve: To end the Vietnam War, to avoid future Vietnams and\nto avert a nuclear war, to restore balance to the economy while maintaining a\nhealthy rate of economic growth, to establish relative price stability, to help\n(more)\nLIBRARY\n-2-\nmake productive citizens of the hard-core unemployed, and to bring peace to our\nriot-torn land.\nIn a sense, most of these problems are inter-related and impinge upon\neach other.\nAn end to the Vietnam War would help us solve our domestic problems. A\nvictory over inflation, although slow-by-slow, would ease the squeeze on the\nlow-income group. A healthy economy is a requisite for any concerted attack upon\nthe urban crisis -- creation of new jobs and large-scale training of the hard-core\nunemployed. And peace will come to our embattled neighborhoods only when the\ndeprived gain a stake in America, a stake they don't want to lose by tearing\nour country down.\nI don't think the horrendous problems we face should frighten us. We can\nsolve them over time if we do not become too impatient or allow ourselves to be\noverwhelmed. We can solve our problems if every American, including the men in\nthis room, will pitch in and help -- now.\nThe time between national administrations is naturally a time of\nreflection, a time of reappraisal, a review of tasks left undone.\nTonight I would like to share with you my thoughts during this interim\nperiod when an old administration is packing up and moving out and a new\nadministration is being born.\nPerhaps Vietnam is uppermost in the minds of most Americans, and so I\nwill begin there.\nI have been profoundly impressed with the concepts advanced by Dr. Henry\nA. Kissinger, President-Elect Nixon's chief foreign policy adviser, on how to\nproceed with the negotiations in Paris. His proposal that Hanoi and Washington\ndiscuss mutual troop withdrawal and related subjects while Saigon and the\nNational Liberation Front talk about the internal structure of South Vietnam\nappears to me to be the only logical basis for ending the Vietnam War and\nachieving a durable peace.\nFor technical reasons in dealing with the enemy and for domestic reasons --\nnot to raise false hopes or bring sad disarray--we should set no Vietnam deadlines\nfor the Nixon Administration. To do so would be unrealistic. Impatience will\nnot win the peace.\nWe have already seen how Hanoi has sought to exploit the present\nAdministration's public impatience with South Vietnam. Hanoi is employing the\n(more)\n-3-\nsplit between Washington and Saigon as an instrument of political warfare.\nWe must patiently and affirmatively pursue a negotiated settlement of\nthe Vietnam War, using the double-track method suggested by Dr. Kissinger.\nMeantime we must engage more vigorously in the \"other war\" -- the war of\npacification in the hamlets of South Vietnam. We must provide security in the\nhamlets and insist upon economic, political and social progress in South Vietnam.\nWe can win the peace only if the South Vietnamese peasant casts his lot and his\nloyalty with the government in Saigon.\nThe world bubbles with trouble. The Mideast seethes with the makings of\na new all-out Israeli-Arab war, a war that would pose greater danger of a\nU.S.-Soviet confrontation than the conflict of June 1967. It may be that this\ndanger will help to produce an Arab-Israeli settlement. My point is that the\nleaders of the Soviet Union should be as anxious as we are to avoid a head-on\nU.S.-Soviet clash in the Middle East.\nRegrettably, the Soviet leaders apparently want turmoil short of an\nEast-West confrontation or an imposed settlement--Four-power or otherwise--that\nis substantially beneficial to themselves and their new-found Mediterranean\nallies.\nBut all is not dark on the world scene. There are some hopeful signs.\nGood prospects for the renewal of U.S.-Soviet arms control talks. A reopening of\nU.S. talks with Red China at Warsaw on Feb. 20, the first conversations between\nthe two nations in 13 months and perhaps the beginning of a dialogue.\nMr. Nixon has said his administration will seek negotiations and not\nconfrontation. I think he will make the most of every opportunity to promote\nworld peace. He will seek to strengthen our NATO allies and to improve our\nrelations with Gen. deGaulle. I believe Mr. Nixon as President will be numbered\namong the peacemakers.\nOn the domestic scene the greatest problem is inflation, apart from the\nurban crisis.\nDuring 1968 the American people witnessed the sharpest increase in the\ncost of living in 17 years.\nThere is some reason to believe that inflationary pressures will ease up\nin the first half of this year. The outgoing administration tells us that the\n1968-69 budget will balance, due to the 10 per cent surtax and the $6 billion\nspending cutback ordered by Congress. And there may be a small surplus in fiscal\n(more)\n-4-\n1970 -- if the surtax is continued for a year beyond June 30, 1969. It is\nimportant to note, too, that the Social Security tax increase which became\neffective last Jan. 1 will take about $3 billion out of circulation and that the\nFederal Reserve Board recently took action on the monetary front.\nBut these factors in themselves are not enough. The American people\ncurrently are infected with inflation fever. This inflation psychology must be\nerased. To do that the Nixon Administration will need the greatest possible\ncooperation from industry and labor. Cooperation and understanding now might\navoid an economic wrench as we move down the road.\nAs for the new Administration itself, I feel certain it will set an\nexample of restraint for the Nation. In my view, tight responsible control over\nFederal spending and a sorting out of priorities must be the order of the day if\nthis country is to avoid still sharper inflation, a continued worsening of its\ntrade position, and further deficits in the balance of payments.\nWe know that built-in increases are going to push up federal spending in\nfiscal 1970 by $7 to $10 billion. But I can assure you there will be no\nproliferation of federal spending programs. Instead you can expect to see\nconsolidation and improvement of existing programs and, in time, a restructuring\nof federal departments.\nDick Nixon is anxious to streamline the federal government. He will move\nto do so on a \"crash\" basis. This means the Congress must act quickly to give\nMr. Nixon the same reorganizational authority enjoyed by Presidents Truman,\nEisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson before him. The last Congress allowed the\nExecutive Reorganization Act to expire last Dec. 31. One of the first orders\nof business of the 91st Congress must be to extend the Reorganization Act for two\nyears, the customary span for such an extension. Under the Act, a reorganization\nplan sent to the Congress by the President becomes law if not disapproved by\none or the other House of Congress within 60 days.\nWhat about the surtax? I would like to see it die as of June 30, but\nwhether it expires will depend upon a number of contingencies between now and\nthe end of this fiscal year.\nIf I were making the longrange decisions in a sizable corporation, I\nwould not bet that the surtax will be allowed to expire. Of course, there are\na variety of options, depending on conditions that may arise.\nCongress's decision on the surtax will depend on what the White House and\n(more)\n-5-\nthe Congress do in a host of other policy areas, what the public does in the\nareas of spending and saving, what labor and management do in their negotiations,\nand what the Communist enemy does in making current and longrange international\npolicy decisions.\nDick Nixon is vitally interested in improving the health of the economy.\nAnd it may be that inflationary pressures will demand that the surtax be extended\nbeyond mid-year 1969 in the interests of a healthy economy.\nIn short, as far as Mr. Nixon and the Congress are concerned, the surtax\ndecision cannot be made now. We will be taking regular readings on the state of\nthe economy before making a definitive judgment on the surtax.\nWhile I am crystal ball-gazing, I will predict that the Nixon\nAdministration will move very quickly to bolster the forces of law and order in\na concerted campaign to counter the swift rise in crime. No-nonsense\nrecommendations from the Nixon task force on crime will create the proper\natmosphere for dealing with crime during the next four years.\nNowhere is the need to take massive counter-measures against crime more\nurgent than in Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. In this community which\nshould be a model for the rest of the nation, armed robberies are occurring at\nthe rate of 20 a day. In the first 11 days of this year, 11 murders were committed\nand eight banking institutions were robbed. I look for positive measures by\nthe Nixon Administration to break this mounting wave of crime.\nI have touched on only part of the agenda, only a piece of the challenge\nthat faces all Americans as we stand five days away from new national leadership.\nI can assure you there will be fresh initiative shown at 1600 Pennsylvania\nAvenue. Not a hectic First Hundred Days but a solid program aimed at bringing\nthe American people together and moving us forward as a Nation.\nEnding the Vietnam War will have top priority.\nOn Capitol Hill there also will be innovative activity. Since the\nDemocratic Party will control both houses of Congress, its leaders will aim to\nmake a record for their party. On the other hand, the Republican leadership in\nthe Congress will press for congressional approval of Nixon Administration\nmeasures. We also will advance proposals which House Republicans have been push-\ning in recent years without complete success, what with the opposition being in\ncontrol of the White House as well as the Congress.\nMy House Republican colleagues and I will press for electoral college\n(more)\n-6-\nreform, tax revision, clean elections legislation, congressional reorganization\nwith a view to modernizing and strengthening the Congress, reform of the foreign\naid program, block grants and revenue sharing, reform of the welfare system,\nimprovement of existing methods for handling national emergency strikes, fair\nprices and full and fair opportunity for the farmer, revitalization of the\nmerchant marine, strengthening of local school systems, a massive attack on air\nand water pollution, and a marshalling of forces in the private sector to help\ngovernment meet and deal adequately with the urban crisis.\nIt is my expectation and hope that the heart of the Nixon program will\nbe the use of tax credits to enlist industry in a nationwide attack on hard-core\njoblessness, underemployment, slum housing and poverty.\nThere is bipartisan support for the use of tax incentives to achieve\nsocial objectives. I personally will dedicate myself to enactment of such tax\ncredit legislation. I believe in it. I believe it will work.\nAt the outset I ask only that Congress give full and fair hearings to\nNixon Administration proposals in the tax credit field.\nI see the enactment of a tax credit for on-the-job training in industry\nas most urgent. I know of nobody who would dispute the argument that industry\nis the best teacher of skills in this country.\nSuch a program would cost less and enlist greater know-how than the direct\ngovernment approach and it surely would be more effective in solving the problems\nof hard-core unemployment and underemployment. I am not saying it would be\ncheap.\nIt is also vitally necessary that the Congress offer industry tax\nincentives to locate new plants in poverty areas.\nThousands of new Negro entrepreneurs are creating changes in the ghetto.\nBut the small businessman is not the answer to the ghetto's economic woes. Only\nbig business can provide core city residents with the massive job opportunities\nthat are the beginning point for solving a number of ghetto problems.\nI applaud the rise of the Negro capitalist and promoter. But the primary\ngoal should be jobs for the hard-core unemployed and better jobs for the inner\ncity's underemployed. And only big business -- the bigger the better -- can\nprovide these jobs.\nSo today I urge the leaders of industry to become partners for progress\nwith federal, local and state governments.\n(more)\n-7-\nI am fully aware of the tremdnous contribution being made by the National\nAlliance of Businessmen in the field of employment. We should provide every\npossible bit of support for the NAB and for John Gardner's Urban Coalition.\nI know that companies like Bell Telephone, Burroughs, IBM, the\nautomobile manufacturers and others have recruited and are training the hard-core\nunemployed -- without special tax incentives. But this effort really is a\nfraction of what is needed. Far more needs to be done.\nBusinessmen throughout the country must develop a burning social\nconscience, and the Congress must help them become involved in the solution of\nour social problems.\nI am not saying that business alone can resolve the urban crisis. But I\nam saying that government alone cannot do it. We in government need your\nleadership, your capital and more importantly your know-how.\nWe need the deep involvement of the business community clear across the\ncountry. And tax credits are a basic to that involvement.\nAlready formidable opposition to the use of tax incentives for social\npurposes has arisen in the Congress. We who believe in this approach need your\nhelp. We must meet and resolve the urban crisis. Either we succeed as a people\nunder our system of free enterprise and our form of government or we will perish\nas a Nation. If our cities die, America will die.\nWe are met here at a time of great challenge and equally great opportunity.\nWe are face-to-face with the challenge. Let us now seize the opportunity --\nthe opportunity to win the involvement of the alienated citizens of the core\ncities, the opportunity to make productive people of them, the opportunity to\nsave the cities and thus save the Nation.\nWith the election of a new President, we have an opportunity to swing\nAmerica around and use the dynamic thrust of the free enterprise system to propel\nus toward new greatness as a people.\nWithout your help and that of other concerned Americans, our new\nPresident can do little. With the help of the people, he cannot fail.\nLet us all rise to the challenge. Let us lay aside conflicting\npolitical loyalties and dedicate ourselves to the building of a new and better\nAmerica.\nI hopefully see an early end to the era of riots and the beginning of an\nera of reconciliation and reconstruction.\n(more)\n-8-\nThis will come as surely as the dawn of a new day if we heed the wise\nwords of Plutarch, who said:\n\"Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which\ncannot be overcome when they are taken together yield themselves when taken\nlittle by little.\"\nTogether we shall persevere, and together we shall prevail. Thank you.\n# # #"
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