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The original documents are located in Box D29, folder "Manufacturers Association, Warren, OH, May 18, 1970" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Copyright Notice The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. 20 copies to Mr. Ford only O Office Copy AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH. REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BEFORE THE MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION AT WARREN, OHIO 6:30 P.M. MONDAY, MAY 18, 1970 FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. MONDAY In 1778, a French nobleman said of Americans, "They are the hope of the world. They may become its model." From that time forth, Americans have been envied and feared, seldom loved. We have been much admired, much maligned, and much misunderstood. It might also be said we have difficulty understanding ourselves. It was another Frenchman, De Toqueville, who saw Americans clearly. In his famous book, "Democracy in America," De Toqueville talked of the perpetual dissatisfaction of Americans with their situation in life, their constant striving for something better. Said De Toqueville of Americans: "They have all a lively faith in the perfectibility of man; they judge that the diffusion of knowledge must necessarily be advantageous, and the consequences of ignorance fatal; they all consider society as a body in a state of improvement, humanity as a changing scene, in which nothing is, or ought to be, permanent; and they admit that what appears to them today to be good, may be superseded by some- thing better tomorrow." De Toqueville put his finger on the key character trait of Americans -- their restlessness, their thirst for something better, their drive toward change, the riveting of their eyes on tomorrow. So it has always been in this great and glorious land we call America, and so it is today. We stand today on the threshold of great change. I am sure this is not apparent to some, perhaps even to millions of Americans. I am not speaking of the kind of changes sought by the violently revolutionary elements in our society but of changes that are being wrought within and at the instigation of what is called "The Establishment." (more) Digitized from Box D29 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library -2- I am talking about the "new ecology. I am talking about welfare reform. I am talking about population planning and population control. I am talking about giving cities and states a percentage slice of Federal income tax revenue, and of everything else that comes under the heading of "the New Federalism. These are revolutionary changes, and they are changes which I believe are not only acquiesced in but demanded by what has come to be known as The Silent Majority. Some of these reforms stem from the fact that we have witnessed the demise of the New Deal, as surely as if a curtain had been drawn across the spectacular drama which began with the Great Depression. We have reached a point where Federal programs have piled upon Federal programs in a mix that constitutes a mess, duplication that has mounted to chaos, a multiplicity of Federal programs that has mayors and State officials groping for Federal help as in a maze. We are now striving to straighten out that mess, bringing order out of chaos, cutting a direct route through the maze. We are reversing the flow of power. Far too much power has become concentrated in Washington. We are seeking to turn some of that power back to the cities and states. This is what we call "the New Federalism." It can be found in the Administration's proposed new comprehensive Manpower Training Act, the proposed Family Assistance Act which would turn welfare into "workfare," changes in the unemployment insurance system, and a long overdue Revenue Sharing Act. This is a fundamental change in Federal policy -- a new approach in manpower training, income maintenance, and Federal aid to cities and States with top priority to local priorities. We want to return more responsibilities to the States and local communities and to help them with the fiscal burden of shouldering those responsibilities. This is a sharp departure from the New Deal pattern of "the Federal bureaucrat knows best and you'll do it our way or else." As the President has stated, we want to do this "not as a way of avoiding problems but as a better way of solving problems." (more) -3- Last Sept. 24 I joined with more than 75 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives to introduce legislation that will make federally-collected revenues available for percentage sharing with the cities and states. The aim of this legislation is to carry out a proposal made by President Nixon last August 13. The introduction of this revenue-sharing bill marked the first time in recent history that a concerted effort has been made to give states and local governments funds that will allow them effectively to live up to their commitments to their citizens. Now, money flowing from the Federal Government to the states is being dispensed in the form of categorical grants, with the Federal Government determin- ing how and where the funds will be spent. The legislation we are seeking would provide additional funds that states and cities could spend as they see fit. There are those who lack confidence in the ability of states and local governments to spend money effectively or properly. But we have no farther to look than the Federal Government to see how great sums of money have been badly spent on poorly devised programs devised for questionable reasons. A majority of Americans have lost faith in heavily centralized government. And the cause for that is not hard to find, for in the five years prior to 1969 we saw scores of new Federal programs enacted with tens of thousands of new employees added to Federal payrolls and tens of billions of dollars spent with the avowed aim of healing the Nation's grave social ills. Yet despite this massive infusion of Federally-directed programs and dollars, the problems of our cities deepened into flaming crisis. I believe more and more Americans are turning away from the central government to their local and State governments as the best way to deal with local and State problems. Yet the Congress has not begun to move on revenue-sharing. Earlier I mentioned manpower training in connection with the New Federalism. I did so because at present mayors control none of the Federal manpower funds that come into their cities under the Manpower Development and Training Act and the Economic Opportunity Act. In contrast, if the Administration's new Manpower Training Act was fully implemented, the Nation's mayors would have administrative control over about three-quarters of a billion dollars in Federal funds each year. Instead of a large number of unrelated projects in a certain metropolitan area, we would have one coherent program and one sponsor -- and the sponsor would (more) -4- design a mix of services and program components uniquely suited to the needs of the community. I spoke at the outset about the insatiable desire of Americans to better themselves. This has been translated throughout American history into what I call the work ethic -- the idea that every man worth his salt works for a living if he is able to do SO. One of the most dramatic stories of American heroism unfolded during the Great Depression when millions of families throughout the country found some way to piece together a living. While most Americans clung to the work ethic throughout the depression, millions were forced onto the dole. Welfare became a way of life for them and for their sons and daughters. Today we have an opportunity to break the welfare cycle -- to make a viable truth of the principle that it pays to work. I am speaking of the proposal now before the Congress to wipe out the scandalous welfare hangover of the depression days -- wipe it out by replacing it with the Family Assistance Program, a new plan called "workfare." The new program is called workfare because it encourages people to work. Under the present welfare system, a poor man who is working can look across the street at a family on welfare getting more for not working. With workfare, the "disincentive" to work is removed. A poor family with a working member will always get more than a family without a working member. What we want is to take people off welfare rolls and put them on payrolls. We think these people would rather have a hand up than a handout. They will if the incentive is there. The workfare program will show us what the dignity of work can do for a human being. And it will help to keep families together. That, alone, will be worth the price we must pay, for the family is the foundation on which our republic is built. If the family is strong, the Nation will be strong. And as we invest in human resources through the workfare program we must also accept the expensive challenge of restoring the American environment -- cleaning up our air and water and dealing with the solid wastes that clutter up our land. The challenge of the "new ecology," as it is called, is being taken up by government at all levels, the students in our colleges, and our forward-looking industries. (more) -5- It is a challenge that demands far more of us than putting a man on the moon, magnificent as that mission was. It is far more difficult because it involves far more than the assembling of great brains and technology in pursuit of a clear-cut national goal. It does involve the assembling of a complex technology but it also requires coordination of effort on the part of the Federal, state and local governments. I believe we can win the fight to save our environment. And the reason I believe it is that we now have Presidential leadership in the effort. That makes all the difference between empty rhetoric and a program that can move. This is not a victory that can be won overnight. But I believe we can establish a bridgehead this year and achieve victory within this decade. Let me remind you that we do have a blueprint for victory in the fight to restore our environment --- a 37-point battle plan which has been laid before the Congress by the President of the United States. This is just one bit of evidence that we are re-ordering our priorities at the Federal level. We are winding down the Vietnam War --- extricating ourselves from that tragic conflict halfway around the world -- and turning our priorities around. Let me give you dollars-and-cents proof of the shift in our priorities. Let me point out to you that last year, as in every year since the Korean War, national defense ate up the biggest part of the Federal dollar. In the fiscal 1971 budget, by contrast, the largest share of the Federal budget goes to the civilian sector and specifically to human resources programs -- education, health, welfare, veterans needs and manpower projects. The shift is quite dramatic. In fiscal 1969, 44 per cent of the Federal budget went to defense and 34 per cent to human resources. In fiscal 1971, nearly the reverse is true, with 41 per cent going to human resources and 37 per cent to defense. I have talked tonight about policy changes made or sought by the Nixon Administration, about the New Directions in which this country is moving. I would be remiss if in addressing this audience I did not comment on the policies this Administration has employed to move toward relative stability in the economy and a new era of sound economic growth. We have employed the techniques of restraint without coercion -- a holddown in Federal spending and a tight rein on the money supply. We have refused to employ what I call economic blackmail. (more) -6- You have heard much criticism of the Administration for not reimposing price and wage guidelines, putting industry and labor into a public fishbowl and whipping the fishbowl into a froth if they engaged in wage and price actions deemed inflationary by the White House. We know how the guidelines worked in practice. While labor ignored the wage guideline, major industry was publicly castigated for price increase announce- ments and government business was withheld to whip companies into line. That, I repeat, is economic blackmail and I am pleased that the Nixon Administration is having no part of it. I, for one, do not think it naive to believe that when large industrial concerns raise prices in a competitive field those price increases are caused by rising costs and shrinking profit margins. So I make no apologies for the Nixon Administration's refusal to go back to wage and price guidelines and to jawboning. I submit that the Nixon Administration's fiscal and monetary policies are working in the fight against inflation. Wholesale prices have largely levelled off. We have made a minor shift, an appropriate shift, in policy -- a shift to less monetary restraint and some fiscal stimulus. It may appear to some that the easing of monetary restraint is premature, but in actuality it is well timed. We must remember that there is always a lag before the impact of such actions is felt in the economy. Besides slightly loosening the curbs on the economy, we must also focus on the need to avoid the economic dislocation which would come from a nationwide strike in transportation. There is a pressing need for quick congressional action to improve our handling of national emergency labor disputes in the transport field. The President has laid proposals involving three carefully thought-out options before the Congress -- options intended to bring about solutions in transportation labor disputes through collective bargaining but also designed to provide a solution of last resort if need be. Congress cannot afford to delay action on this most pressing problem. We must emulate the courage demonstrated by the President in formulating this major labor legislation and proceed to implement it. I believe the entire Nation will benefit. This is legislation not only in the public interest but in the interest of the principals involved. (more) -7- I have talked of problems here tonight, and I have talked of New Directions in Washington and the Nation. Let me tell you that I have the greatest confidence that we will surmount our difficulties of the moment and move this Nation to new highs of growth and prosperity. This will be a good year. Profits will improve on the whole. There will be a pickup in sales. Big increases are planned in business investment for 1970, particularly in the second half of the year. Auto sales are improving. The decline in home building has leveled off, and the Administration is providing that industry with stimulus. There is much for Government to do -- and Government has done much. I think we currently are correcting many of the mistakes of the recent past -- mistakes that have brought us a tragic war, inflation, an unstable economy. But we are remedying those errors. And to continue in that great work we need more than just the actions of Government. There is no substitute for the human spirit, the individual initiative that built America. We need the will and the wisdom of the American people if we are to do all that must be done to win the victory against the forces of defeatism at home and armed aggression abroad. Building on the past and learning from our errors, we can make America more deserving than ever of the great pride we feel in her -- more worthy than ever to serve as a model for other lands. # # # Distribution 20 Capies mr. Ford M Office Copy AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH. REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BEFORE THE MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION AT WARREN, OHIO 6:30 P.M. MONDAY, MAY 18, 1970 FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. MONDAY In 1778, a French nobleman said of Americans, "They are the hope of the world. They may become its model." From that time forth, Americans have been envied and feared, seldom loved. We have been much admired, much maligned, and much misunderstood. It might also be said we have difficulty understanding ourselves. It was another Frenchman, De Toqueville, who saw Americans clearly. In his famous book, "Democracy in America," De Toqueville talked of the perpetual dissatisfaction of Americans with their situation in life, their constant striving for something better. Said De Toqueville of Americans: "They have all a lively faith in the perfectibility of man; they judge that the diffusion of knowledge must necessarily be advantageous, and the consequences of ignorance fatal; they all consider society as a body in a state of improvement, humanity as a changing scene, in which nothing is, or ought to be, permanent; and they admit that what appears to them today to be good, may be superseded by some- thing better tomorrow." De Toqueville put his finger on the key character trait of Americans -- their restlessness, their thirst for something better, their drive toward change, the riveting of their eyes on tomorrow. So it has always been in this great and glorious land we call America, and so it is today. We stand today on the threshold of great change. I am sure this is not apparent to some, perhaps even to millions of Americans. I am not speaking of the kind of changes sought by the violently revolutionary elements in our society but of changes that are being wrought within and at the instigation of what is called "The Establishment." (more) -2- I am talking about the "new ecology.' I am talking about welfare reform. I am talking about population planning and population control. I am talking about giving cities and states a percentage slice of Federal income tax revenue, and of everything else that comes under the heading of "the New Federalism." These are revolutionary changes, and they are changes which I believe are not only acquiesced in but demanded by what has come to be known as The Silent Majority. Some of these reforms stem from the fact that we have witnessed the demise of the New Deal, as surely as if a curtain had been drawn across the spectacular drama which began with the Great Depression. We have reached a point where Federal programs have piled upon Federal programs in a mix that constitutes a mess, duplication that has mounted to chaos, a multiplicity of Federal programs that has mayors and State officials groping for Federal help as in a maze. We are now striving to straighten out that mess, bringing order out of chaos, cutting a direct route through the maze. We are reversing the flow of power. Far too much power has become concentrated in Washington. We are seeking to turn some of that power back to the cities and states. This is what we call "the New Federalism. 11 It can be found in the Administration's proposed new comprehensive Manpower Training Act, the proposed Family Assistance Act which would turn welfare into "workfare," changes in the unemployment insurance system, and a long overdue Revenue Sharing Act. This is a fundamental change in Federal policy -- a new approach in manpower training, income maintenance, and Federal aid to cities and States with top priority to local priorities. We want to return more responsibilities to the States and local communities and to help them with the fiscal burden of shouldering those responsibilities. This is a sharp departure from the New Deal pattern of "the Federal bureaucrat knows best and you'll do it our way or else." As the President has stated, we want to do this "not as a way of avoiding problems but as a better way of solving problems." (more) -3- Last Sept. 24 I joined with more than 75 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives to introduce legislation that will make federally-collected revenues available for percentage sharing with the cities and states. The aim of this legislation is to carry out a proposal made by President Nixon last August 13. The introduction of this revenue-sharing bill marked the first time in recent history that a concerted effort has been made to give states and local governments funds that will allow them effectively to live up to their commitments to their citizens. Now, money flowing from the Federal Government to the states is being dispensed in the form of categorical grants, with the Federal Government determin- ing how and where the funds will be spent. The legislation we are seeking would provide additional funds that states and cities could spend as they see fit. There are those who lack confidence in the ability of states and local governments to spend money effectively or properly. But we have no farther to look than the Federal Government to see how great sums of money have been badly spent on poorly devised programs devised for questionable reasons. A majority of Americans have lost faith in heavily centralized government. And the cause for that is not hard to find, for in the five years prior to 1969 we saw scores of new Federal programs enacted with tens of thousands of new employees added to Federal payrolls and tens of billions of dollars spent with the avowed aim of healing the Nation's grave social ills. Yet despite this massive infusion of Federally-directed programs and dollars, the problems of our cities deepened into flaming crisis. I believe more and more Americans are turning away from the central government to their local and State governments as the best way to deal with local and State problems. Yet the Congress has not begun to move on revenue-sharing. Earlier I mentioned manpower training in connection with the New Federalism. I did SO because at present mayors control none of the Federal manpower funds that come into their cities under the Manpower Development and Training Act and the Economic Opportunity Act. In contrast, if the Administration's new Manpower Training Act was fully implemented, the Nation's mayors would have administrative control over about three-quarters of a billion dollars in Federal funds each year. Instead of a large number of unrelated projects in a certain metropolitan area, we would have one coherent program and one sponsor -- and the sponsor would (more) -4- design a mix of services and program components uniquely suited to the needs of the community. I spoke at the outset about the insatiable desire of Americans to better themselves. This has been translated throughout American history into what I call the work ethic -- the idea that every man worth his salt works for a living if he is able to do SO. One of the most dramatic stories of American heroism unfolded during the Great Depression when millions of families throughout the country found some way to piece together a living. While most Americans clung to the work ethic throughout the depression, millions were forced onto the dole. Welfare became a way of life for them and for their sons and daughters. Today we have an opportunity to break the welfare cycle -- to make a viable truth of the principle that it pays to work. I am speaking of the proposal now before the Congress to wipe out the scandalous welfare hangover of the depression days -- wipe it out by replacing it with the Family Assistance Program, a new plan called "workfare." The new program is called workfare because it encourages people to work. Under the present welfare system, a poor man who is working can look across the street at a family on welfare getting more for not working. With workfare, the "disincentive" to work is removed. A poor family with a working member will always get more than a family without a working member. What we want is to take people off welfare rolls and put them on payrolls. We think these people would rather have a hand up than a handout. They will if the incentive is there. The workfare program will show us what the dignity of work can do for a human being. And it will help to keep families together. That, alone, will be worth the price we must pay, for the family is the foundation on which our republic is built. If the family is strong, the Nation will be strong. And as we invest in human resources through the workfare program we must also accept the expensive challenge of restoring the American environment -- cleaning up our air and water and dealing with the solid wastes that clutter up our land. The challenge of the "new ecology," as it is called, is being taken up by government at all levels, the students in our colleges, and our forward-looking industries. (more) -5- It is a challenge that demands far more of us than putting a man on the moon, magnificent as that mission was. It is far more difficult because it involves far more than the assembling of great brains and technology in pursuit of a clear-cut national goal. It does involve the assembling of a complex technology but it also requires coordination of effort on the part of the Federal, state and local governments. I believe we can win the fight to save our environment. And the reason I believe it is that we now have Presidential leadership in the effort. That makes all the difference between empty rhetoric and a program that can move. This is not a victory that can be won overnight. But I believe we can establish a bridgehead this year and achieve victory within this decade. Let me remind you that we do have a blueprint for victory in the fight to restore our environment -- a 37-point battle plan which has been laid before the Congress by the President of the United States. This is just one bit of evidence that we are re-ordering our priorities at the Federal level. We are winding down the Vietnam War -- extricating ourselves from that tragic conflict halfway around the world -- and turning our priorities around. Let me give you dollars-and-cents proof of the shift in our priorities. Let me point out to you that last year, as in every year since the Korean War, national defense ate up the biggest part of the Federal dollar. In the fiscal 1971 budget, by contrast, the largest share of the Federal budget goes to the civilian sector and specifically to human resources programs -- education, health, welfare, veterans needs and manpower projects. The shift is quite dramatic. In fiscal 1969, 44 per cent of the Federal budget went to defense and 34 per cent to human resources. In fiscal 1971, nearly the reverse is true, with 41 per cent going to human resources and 37 per cent to defense. I have talked tonight about policy changes made or sought by the Nixon Administration, about the New Directions in which this country is moving. I would be remiss if in addressing this audience I did not comment on the policies this Administration has employed to move toward relative stability in the economy and a new era of sound economic growth. We have employed the techniques of restraint without coercion -- a holddown in Federal spending and a tight rein on the money supply. We have refused to employ what I call economic blackmail. (more) -6- You have heard much criticism of the Administration for not reimposing price and wage guidelines, putting industry and labor into a public fishbowl and whipping the fishbowl into a froth if they engaged in wage and price actions deemed inflationary by the White House. We know how the guidelines worked in practice. While labor ignored the wage guideline, major industry was publicly castigated for price increase announce- ments and government business was withheld to whip companies into line. That, I repeat, is economic blackmail and I am pleased that the Nixon Administration is having no part of it. I, for one, do not think it naive to believe that when large industrial concerns raise prices in a competitive field those price increases are caused by rising costs and shrinking profit margins. So I make no apologies for the Nixon Administration's refusal to go back to wage and price guidelines and to jawboning. I submit that the Nixon Administration's fiscal and monetary policies are working in the fight against inflation. Wholesale prices have largely levelled off. We have made a minor shift, an appropriate shift, in policy -- a shift to less monetary restraint and some fiscal stimulus. It may appear to some that the easing of monetary restraint is premature, but in actuality it is well timed. We must remember that there is always a lag before the impact of such actions is felt in the economy. Besides slightly loosening the curbs on the economy, we must also focus on the need to avoid the economic dislocation which would come from a nationwide strike in transportation. There is a pressing need for quick congressional action to improve our handling of national emergency labor disputes in the transport field. The President has laid proposals involving three carefully thought-out options before the Congress -- options intended to bring about solutions in transportation labor disputes through collective bargaining but also designed to provide a solution of last resort if need be. Congress cannot afford to delay action on this most pressing problem. We must emulate the courage demonstrated by the President in formulating this major labor legislation and proceed to implement it. I believe the entire Nation will benefit. This is legislation not only in the public interest but in the interest of the principals involved. (more) -7- I have talked of problems here tonight, and I have talked of New Directions in Washington and the Nation. Let me tell you that I have the greatest confidence that we will surmount our difficulties of the moment and move this Nation to new highs of growth and prosperity. This will be a good year. Profits will improve on the whole. There will be a pickup in sales. Big increases are planned in business investment for 1970, particularly in the second half of the year. Auto sales are improving. The decline in home building has leveled off, and the Administration is providing that industry with stimulus. There is much for Government to do -- and Government has done much. I think we currently are correcting many of the mistakes of the recent past -- mistakes that have brought us a tragic war, inflation, an unstable economy. But we are remedying those errors. And to continue in that great work we need more than just the actions of Government. There is no substitute for the human spirit, the individual initiative that built America. We need the will and the wisdom of the American people if we are to do all that must be done to win the victory against the forces of defeatism at home and armed aggression abroad. Building on the past and learning from our errors, we can make America more deserving than ever of the great pride we feel in her -- more worthy than ever to serve as a model for other lands. ###

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    "ocrText": "The original documents are located in Box D29, folder \"Manufacturers Association,\nWarren, OH, May 18, 1970\" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech\nFile 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.\n20 copies to Mr. Ford only\nO Office Copy\nAN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.\nREPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES\nBEFORE THE MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION\nAT WARREN, OHIO\n6:30 P.M. MONDAY, MAY 18, 1970\nFOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. MONDAY\nIn 1778, a French nobleman said of Americans, \"They are the hope of the\nworld. They may become its model.\"\nFrom that time forth, Americans have been envied and feared, seldom loved.\nWe have been much admired, much maligned, and much misunderstood. It might also\nbe said we have difficulty understanding ourselves.\nIt was another Frenchman, De Toqueville, who saw Americans clearly. In his\nfamous book, \"Democracy in America,\" De Toqueville talked of the perpetual\ndissatisfaction of Americans with their situation in life, their constant striving\nfor something better.\nSaid De Toqueville of Americans:\n\"They have all a lively faith in the perfectibility of man; they judge that\nthe diffusion of knowledge must necessarily be advantageous, and the consequences\nof ignorance fatal; they all consider society as a body in a state of improvement,\nhumanity as a changing scene, in which nothing is, or ought to be, permanent; and\nthey admit that what appears to them today to be good, may be superseded by some-\nthing better tomorrow.\"\nDe Toqueville put his finger on the key character trait of Americans --\ntheir restlessness, their thirst for something better, their drive toward change,\nthe riveting of their eyes on tomorrow.\nSo it has always been in this great and glorious land we call America, and\nso it is today.\nWe stand today on the threshold of great change. I am sure this is not\napparent to some, perhaps even to millions of Americans. I am not speaking of the\nkind of changes sought by the violently revolutionary elements in our society but\nof changes that are being wrought within and at the instigation of what is called\n\"The Establishment.\"\n(more)\nDigitized from Box D29 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\n-2-\nI am talking about the \"new ecology. I am talking about welfare reform.\nI am talking about population planning and population control. I am talking about\ngiving cities and states a percentage slice of Federal income tax revenue, and of\neverything else that comes under the heading of \"the New Federalism.\nThese are revolutionary changes, and they are changes which I believe are\nnot only acquiesced in but demanded by what has come to be known as The Silent\nMajority.\nSome of these reforms stem from the fact that we have witnessed the demise\nof the New Deal, as surely as if a curtain had been drawn across the spectacular\ndrama which began with the Great Depression.\nWe have reached a point where Federal programs have piled upon Federal\nprograms in a mix that constitutes a mess, duplication that has mounted to chaos,\na multiplicity of Federal programs that has mayors and State officials groping for\nFederal help as in a maze.\nWe are now striving to straighten out that mess, bringing order out of chaos,\ncutting a direct route through the maze. We are reversing the flow of power. Far\ntoo much power has become concentrated in Washington. We are seeking to turn some\nof that power back to the cities and states.\nThis is what we call \"the New Federalism.\" It can be found in the\nAdministration's proposed new comprehensive Manpower Training Act, the proposed\nFamily Assistance Act which would turn welfare into \"workfare,\" changes in the\nunemployment insurance system, and a long overdue Revenue Sharing Act.\nThis is a fundamental change in Federal policy -- a new approach in\nmanpower training, income maintenance, and Federal aid to cities and States with\ntop priority to local priorities.\nWe want to return more responsibilities to the States and local communities\nand to help them with the fiscal burden of shouldering those responsibilities.\nThis is a sharp departure from the New Deal pattern of \"the Federal bureaucrat\nknows best and you'll do it our way or else.\"\nAs the President has stated, we want to do this \"not as a way of avoiding\nproblems but as a better way of solving problems.\"\n(more)\n-3-\nLast Sept. 24 I joined with more than 75 other members of the U.S. House of\nRepresentatives to introduce legislation that will make federally-collected\nrevenues available for percentage sharing with the cities and states. The aim of\nthis legislation is to carry out a proposal made by President Nixon last August 13.\nThe introduction of this revenue-sharing bill marked the first time in\nrecent history that a concerted effort has been made to give states and local\ngovernments funds that will allow them effectively to live up to their commitments\nto their citizens.\nNow, money flowing from the Federal Government to the states is being\ndispensed in the form of categorical grants, with the Federal Government determin-\ning how and where the funds will be spent. The legislation we are seeking would\nprovide additional funds that states and cities could spend as they see fit.\nThere are those who lack confidence in the ability of states and local\ngovernments to spend money effectively or properly. But we have no farther to\nlook than the Federal Government to see how great sums of money have been badly\nspent on poorly devised programs devised for questionable reasons.\nA majority of Americans have lost faith in heavily centralized government.\nAnd the cause for that is not hard to find, for in the five years prior to 1969\nwe saw scores of new Federal programs enacted with tens of thousands of new\nemployees added to Federal payrolls and tens of billions of dollars spent with the\navowed aim of healing the Nation's grave social ills. Yet despite this massive\ninfusion of Federally-directed programs and dollars, the problems of our cities\ndeepened into flaming crisis.\nI believe more and more Americans are turning away from the central\ngovernment to their local and State governments as the best way to deal with local\nand State problems. Yet the Congress has not begun to move on revenue-sharing.\nEarlier I mentioned manpower training in connection with the New Federalism.\nI did so because at present mayors control none of the Federal manpower funds that\ncome into their cities under the Manpower Development and Training Act and the\nEconomic Opportunity Act.\nIn contrast, if the Administration's new Manpower Training Act was fully\nimplemented, the Nation's mayors would have administrative control over about\nthree-quarters of a billion dollars in Federal funds each year.\nInstead of a large number of unrelated projects in a certain metropolitan\narea, we would have one coherent program and one sponsor -- and the sponsor would\n(more)\n-4-\ndesign a mix of services and program components uniquely suited to the needs of\nthe community.\nI spoke at the outset about the insatiable desire of Americans to better\nthemselves. This has been translated throughout American history into what I\ncall the work ethic -- the idea that every man worth his salt works for a living\nif he is able to do SO.\nOne of the most dramatic stories of American heroism unfolded during the\nGreat Depression when millions of families throughout the country found some way\nto piece together a living.\nWhile most Americans clung to the work ethic throughout the depression,\nmillions were forced onto the dole. Welfare became a way of life for them and\nfor their sons and daughters.\nToday we have an opportunity to break the welfare cycle -- to make a viable\ntruth of the principle that it pays to work.\nI am speaking of the proposal now before the Congress to wipe out the\nscandalous welfare hangover of the depression days -- wipe it out by replacing it\nwith the Family Assistance Program, a new plan called \"workfare.\" The new program\nis called workfare because it encourages people to work.\nUnder the present welfare system, a poor man who is working can look across\nthe street at a family on welfare getting more for not working.\nWith workfare, the \"disincentive\" to work is removed. A poor family with a\nworking member will always get more than a family without a working member.\nWhat we want is to take people off welfare rolls and put them on payrolls.\nWe think these people would rather have a hand up than a handout. They will if\nthe incentive is there.\nThe workfare program will show us what the dignity of work can do for a\nhuman being. And it will help to keep families together. That, alone, will be\nworth the price we must pay, for the family is the foundation on which our\nrepublic is built. If the family is strong, the Nation will be strong.\nAnd as we invest in human resources through the workfare program we must\nalso accept the expensive challenge of restoring the American environment --\ncleaning up our air and water and dealing with the solid wastes that clutter up\nour land.\nThe challenge of the \"new ecology,\" as it is called, is being taken up by\ngovernment at all levels, the students in our colleges, and our forward-looking\nindustries.\n(more)\n-5-\nIt is a challenge that demands far more of us than putting a man on the\nmoon, magnificent as that mission was.\nIt is far more difficult because it involves far more than the assembling\nof great brains and technology in pursuit of a clear-cut national goal. It does\ninvolve the assembling of a complex technology but it also requires coordination\nof effort on the part of the Federal, state and local governments.\nI believe we can win the fight to save our environment. And the reason I\nbelieve it is that we now have Presidential leadership in the effort. That makes\nall the difference between empty rhetoric and a program that can move.\nThis is not a victory that can be won overnight. But I believe we can\nestablish a bridgehead this year and achieve victory within this decade. Let me\nremind you that we do have a blueprint for victory in the fight to restore our\nenvironment --- a 37-point battle plan which has been laid before the Congress by\nthe President of the United States.\nThis is just one bit of evidence that we are re-ordering our priorities at\nthe Federal level. We are winding down the Vietnam War --- extricating ourselves\nfrom that tragic conflict halfway around the world -- and turning our priorities\naround.\nLet me give you dollars-and-cents proof of the shift in our priorities.\nLet me point out to you that last year, as in every year since the Korean War,\nnational defense ate up the biggest part of the Federal dollar. In the fiscal\n1971 budget, by contrast, the largest share of the Federal budget goes to the\ncivilian sector and specifically to human resources programs -- education, health,\nwelfare, veterans needs and manpower projects.\nThe shift is quite dramatic. In fiscal 1969, 44 per cent of the Federal\nbudget went to defense and 34 per cent to human resources. In fiscal 1971, nearly\nthe reverse is true, with 41 per cent going to human resources and 37 per cent to\ndefense.\nI have talked tonight about policy changes made or sought by the Nixon\nAdministration, about the New Directions in which this country is moving.\nI would be remiss if in addressing this audience I did not comment on the\npolicies this Administration has employed to move toward relative stability in\nthe economy and a new era of sound economic growth.\nWe have employed the techniques of restraint without coercion -- a holddown\nin Federal spending and a tight rein on the money supply. We have refused to\nemploy what I call economic blackmail.\n(more)\n-6-\nYou have heard much criticism of the Administration for not reimposing price\nand wage guidelines, putting industry and labor into a public fishbowl and whipping\nthe fishbowl into a froth if they engaged in wage and price actions deemed\ninflationary by the White House.\nWe know how the guidelines worked in practice. While labor ignored the\nwage guideline, major industry was publicly castigated for price increase announce-\nments and government business was withheld to whip companies into line. That, I\nrepeat, is economic blackmail and I am pleased that the Nixon Administration is\nhaving no part of it. I, for one, do not think it naive to believe that when large\nindustrial concerns raise prices in a competitive field those price increases are\ncaused by rising costs and shrinking profit margins. So I make no apologies for\nthe Nixon Administration's refusal to go back to wage and price guidelines and to\njawboning.\nI submit that the Nixon Administration's fiscal and monetary policies are\nworking in the fight against inflation. Wholesale prices have largely levelled\noff. We have made a minor shift, an appropriate shift, in policy -- a shift to\nless monetary restraint and some fiscal stimulus.\nIt may appear to some that the easing of monetary restraint is premature,\nbut in actuality it is well timed. We must remember that there is always a lag\nbefore the impact of such actions is felt in the economy.\nBesides slightly loosening the curbs on the economy, we must also focus on\nthe need to avoid the economic dislocation which would come from a nationwide\nstrike in transportation. There is a pressing need for quick congressional action\nto improve our handling of national emergency labor disputes in the transport\nfield.\nThe President has laid proposals involving three carefully thought-out options\nbefore the Congress -- options intended to bring about solutions in transportation\nlabor disputes through collective bargaining but also designed to provide a\nsolution of last resort if need be.\nCongress cannot afford to delay action on this most pressing problem. We\nmust emulate the courage demonstrated by the President in formulating this major\nlabor legislation and proceed to implement it. I believe the entire Nation will\nbenefit. This is legislation not only in the public interest but in the interest\nof the principals involved.\n(more)\n-7-\nI have talked of problems here tonight, and I have talked of New Directions\nin Washington and the Nation. Let me tell you that I have the greatest confidence\nthat we will surmount our difficulties of the moment and move this Nation to new\nhighs of growth and prosperity.\nThis will be a good year. Profits will improve on the whole. There will\nbe a pickup in sales. Big increases are planned in business investment for 1970,\nparticularly in the second half of the year. Auto sales are improving. The\ndecline in home building has leveled off, and the Administration is providing that\nindustry with stimulus.\nThere is much for Government to do -- and Government has done much. I think\nwe currently are correcting many of the mistakes of the recent past -- mistakes\nthat have brought us a tragic war, inflation, an unstable economy.\nBut we are remedying those errors. And to continue in that great work we\nneed more than just the actions of Government. There is no substitute for the\nhuman spirit, the individual initiative that built America.\nWe need the will and the wisdom of the American people if we are to do all\nthat must be done to win the victory against the forces of defeatism at home and\narmed aggression abroad.\nBuilding on the past and learning from our errors, we can make America more\ndeserving than ever of the great pride we feel in her -- more worthy than ever to\nserve as a model for other lands.\n# # #\nDistribution 20 Capies mr. Ford\nM Office Copy\nAN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.\nREPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES\nBEFORE THE MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION\nAT WARREN, OHIO\n6:30 P.M. MONDAY, MAY 18, 1970\nFOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. MONDAY\nIn 1778, a French nobleman said of Americans, \"They are the hope of the\nworld. They may become its model.\"\nFrom that time forth, Americans have been envied and feared, seldom loved.\nWe have been much admired, much maligned, and much misunderstood. It might also\nbe said we have difficulty understanding ourselves.\nIt was another Frenchman, De Toqueville, who saw Americans clearly. In his\nfamous book, \"Democracy in America,\" De Toqueville talked of the perpetual\ndissatisfaction of Americans with their situation in life, their constant striving\nfor something better.\nSaid De Toqueville of Americans:\n\"They have all a lively faith in the perfectibility of man; they judge that\nthe diffusion of knowledge must necessarily be advantageous, and the consequences\nof ignorance fatal; they all consider society as a body in a state of improvement,\nhumanity as a changing scene, in which nothing is, or ought to be, permanent; and\nthey admit that what appears to them today to be good, may be superseded by some-\nthing better tomorrow.\"\nDe Toqueville put his finger on the key character trait of Americans --\ntheir restlessness, their thirst for something better, their drive toward change,\nthe riveting of their eyes on tomorrow.\nSo it has always been in this great and glorious land we call America, and\nso it is today.\nWe stand today on the threshold of great change. I am sure this is not\napparent to some, perhaps even to millions of Americans. I am not speaking of the\nkind of changes sought by the violently revolutionary elements in our society but\nof changes that are being wrought within and at the instigation of what is called\n\"The Establishment.\"\n(more)\n-2-\nI am talking about the \"new ecology.' I am talking about welfare reform.\nI am talking about population planning and population control. I am talking about\ngiving cities and states a percentage slice of Federal income tax revenue, and of\neverything else that comes under the heading of \"the New Federalism.\"\nThese are revolutionary changes, and they are changes which I believe are\nnot only acquiesced in but demanded by what has come to be known as The Silent\nMajority.\nSome of these reforms stem from the fact that we have witnessed the demise\nof the New Deal, as surely as if a curtain had been drawn across the spectacular\ndrama which began with the Great Depression.\nWe have reached a point where Federal programs have piled upon Federal\nprograms in a mix that constitutes a mess, duplication that has mounted to chaos,\na multiplicity of Federal programs that has mayors and State officials groping for\nFederal help as in a maze.\nWe are now striving to straighten out that mess, bringing order out of chaos,\ncutting a direct route through the maze. We are reversing the flow of power. Far\ntoo much power has become concentrated in Washington. We are seeking to turn some\nof that power back to the cities and states.\nThis is what we call \"the New Federalism. 11 It can be found in the\nAdministration's proposed new comprehensive Manpower Training Act, the proposed\nFamily Assistance Act which would turn welfare into \"workfare,\" changes in the\nunemployment insurance system, and a long overdue Revenue Sharing Act.\nThis is a fundamental change in Federal policy -- a new approach in\nmanpower training, income maintenance, and Federal aid to cities and States with\ntop priority to local priorities.\nWe want to return more responsibilities to the States and local communities\nand to help them with the fiscal burden of shouldering those responsibilities.\nThis is a sharp departure from the New Deal pattern of \"the Federal bureaucrat\nknows best and you'll do it our way or else.\"\nAs the President has stated, we want to do this \"not as a way of avoiding\nproblems but as a better way of solving problems.\"\n(more)\n-3-\nLast Sept. 24 I joined with more than 75 other members of the U.S. House of\nRepresentatives to introduce legislation that will make federally-collected\nrevenues available for percentage sharing with the cities and states. The aim of\nthis legislation is to carry out a proposal made by President Nixon last August 13.\nThe introduction of this revenue-sharing bill marked the first time in\nrecent history that a concerted effort has been made to give states and local\ngovernments funds that will allow them effectively to live up to their commitments\nto their citizens.\nNow, money flowing from the Federal Government to the states is being\ndispensed in the form of categorical grants, with the Federal Government determin-\ning how and where the funds will be spent. The legislation we are seeking would\nprovide additional funds that states and cities could spend as they see fit.\nThere are those who lack confidence in the ability of states and local\ngovernments to spend money effectively or properly. But we have no farther to\nlook than the Federal Government to see how great sums of money have been badly\nspent on poorly devised programs devised for questionable reasons.\nA majority of Americans have lost faith in heavily centralized government.\nAnd the cause for that is not hard to find, for in the five years prior to 1969\nwe saw scores of new Federal programs enacted with tens of thousands of new\nemployees added to Federal payrolls and tens of billions of dollars spent with the\navowed aim of healing the Nation's grave social ills. Yet despite this massive\ninfusion of Federally-directed programs and dollars, the problems of our cities\ndeepened into flaming crisis.\nI believe more and more Americans are turning away from the central\ngovernment to their local and State governments as the best way to deal with local\nand State problems. Yet the Congress has not begun to move on revenue-sharing.\nEarlier I mentioned manpower training in connection with the New Federalism.\nI did SO because at present mayors control none of the Federal manpower funds that\ncome into their cities under the Manpower Development and Training Act and the\nEconomic Opportunity Act.\nIn contrast, if the Administration's new Manpower Training Act was fully\nimplemented, the Nation's mayors would have administrative control over about\nthree-quarters of a billion dollars in Federal funds each year.\nInstead of a large number of unrelated projects in a certain metropolitan\narea, we would have one coherent program and one sponsor -- and the sponsor would\n(more)\n-4-\ndesign a mix of services and program components uniquely suited to the needs of\nthe community.\nI spoke at the outset about the insatiable desire of Americans to better\nthemselves. This has been translated throughout American history into what I\ncall the work ethic -- the idea that every man worth his salt works for a living\nif he is able to do SO.\nOne of the most dramatic stories of American heroism unfolded during the\nGreat Depression when millions of families throughout the country found some way\nto piece together a living.\nWhile most Americans clung to the work ethic throughout the depression,\nmillions were forced onto the dole. Welfare became a way of life for them and\nfor their sons and daughters.\nToday we have an opportunity to break the welfare cycle -- to make a viable\ntruth of the principle that it pays to work.\nI am speaking of the proposal now before the Congress to wipe out the\nscandalous welfare hangover of the depression days -- wipe it out by replacing it\nwith the Family Assistance Program, a new plan called \"workfare.\" The new program\nis called workfare because it encourages people to work.\nUnder the present welfare system, a poor man who is working can look across\nthe street at a family on welfare getting more for not working.\nWith workfare, the \"disincentive\" to work is removed. A poor family with a\nworking member will always get more than a family without a working member.\nWhat we want is to take people off welfare rolls and put them on payrolls.\nWe think these people would rather have a hand up than a handout. They will if\nthe incentive is there.\nThe workfare program will show us what the dignity of work can do for a\nhuman being. And it will help to keep families together. That, alone, will be\nworth the price we must pay, for the family is the foundation on which our\nrepublic is built. If the family is strong, the Nation will be strong.\nAnd as we invest in human resources through the workfare program we must\nalso accept the expensive challenge of restoring the American environment --\ncleaning up our air and water and dealing with the solid wastes that clutter up\nour land.\nThe challenge of the \"new ecology,\" as it is called, is being taken up by\ngovernment at all levels, the students in our colleges, and our forward-looking\nindustries.\n(more)\n-5-\nIt is a challenge that demands far more of us than putting a man on the\nmoon, magnificent as that mission was.\nIt is far more difficult because it involves far more than the assembling\nof great brains and technology in pursuit of a clear-cut national goal. It does\ninvolve the assembling of a complex technology but it also requires coordination\nof effort on the part of the Federal, state and local governments.\nI believe we can win the fight to save our environment. And the reason I\nbelieve it is that we now have Presidential leadership in the effort. That makes\nall the difference between empty rhetoric and a program that can move.\nThis is not a victory that can be won overnight. But I believe we can\nestablish a bridgehead this year and achieve victory within this decade. Let me\nremind you that we do have a blueprint for victory in the fight to restore our\nenvironment -- a 37-point battle plan which has been laid before the Congress by\nthe President of the United States.\nThis is just one bit of evidence that we are re-ordering our priorities at\nthe Federal level. We are winding down the Vietnam War -- extricating ourselves\nfrom that tragic conflict halfway around the world -- and turning our priorities\naround.\nLet me give you dollars-and-cents proof of the shift in our priorities.\nLet me point out to you that last year, as in every year since the Korean War,\nnational defense ate up the biggest part of the Federal dollar. In the fiscal\n1971 budget, by contrast, the largest share of the Federal budget goes to the\ncivilian sector and specifically to human resources programs -- education, health,\nwelfare, veterans needs and manpower projects.\nThe shift is quite dramatic. In fiscal 1969, 44 per cent of the Federal\nbudget went to defense and 34 per cent to human resources. In fiscal 1971, nearly\nthe reverse is true, with 41 per cent going to human resources and 37 per cent to\ndefense.\nI have talked tonight about policy changes made or sought by the Nixon\nAdministration, about the New Directions in which this country is moving.\nI would be remiss if in addressing this audience I did not comment on the\npolicies this Administration has employed to move toward relative stability in\nthe economy and a new era of sound economic growth.\nWe have employed the techniques of restraint without coercion -- a holddown\nin Federal spending and a tight rein on the money supply. We have refused to\nemploy what I call economic blackmail.\n(more)\n-6-\nYou have heard much criticism of the Administration for not reimposing price\nand wage guidelines, putting industry and labor into a public fishbowl and whipping\nthe fishbowl into a froth if they engaged in wage and price actions deemed\ninflationary by the White House.\nWe know how the guidelines worked in practice. While labor ignored the\nwage guideline, major industry was publicly castigated for price increase announce-\nments and government business was withheld to whip companies into line. That, I\nrepeat, is economic blackmail and I am pleased that the Nixon Administration is\nhaving no part of it. I, for one, do not think it naive to believe that when large\nindustrial concerns raise prices in a competitive field those price increases are\ncaused by rising costs and shrinking profit margins. So I make no apologies for\nthe Nixon Administration's refusal to go back to wage and price guidelines and to\njawboning.\nI submit that the Nixon Administration's fiscal and monetary policies are\nworking in the fight against inflation. Wholesale prices have largely levelled\noff. We have made a minor shift, an appropriate shift, in policy -- a shift to\nless monetary restraint and some fiscal stimulus.\nIt may appear to some that the easing of monetary restraint is premature,\nbut in actuality it is well timed. We must remember that there is always a lag\nbefore the impact of such actions is felt in the economy.\nBesides slightly loosening the curbs on the economy, we must also focus on\nthe need to avoid the economic dislocation which would come from a nationwide\nstrike in transportation. There is a pressing need for quick congressional action\nto improve our handling of national emergency labor disputes in the transport\nfield.\nThe President has laid proposals involving three carefully thought-out options\nbefore the Congress -- options intended to bring about solutions in transportation\nlabor disputes through collective bargaining but also designed to provide a\nsolution of last resort if need be.\nCongress cannot afford to delay action on this most pressing problem. We\nmust emulate the courage demonstrated by the President in formulating this major\nlabor legislation and proceed to implement it. I believe the entire Nation will\nbenefit. This is legislation not only in the public interest but in the interest\nof the principals involved.\n(more)\n-7-\nI have talked of problems here tonight, and I have talked of New Directions\nin Washington and the Nation. Let me tell you that I have the greatest confidence\nthat we will surmount our difficulties of the moment and move this Nation to new\nhighs of growth and prosperity.\nThis will be a good year. Profits will improve on the whole. There will\nbe a pickup in sales. Big increases are planned in business investment for 1970,\nparticularly in the second half of the year. Auto sales are improving. The\ndecline in home building has leveled off, and the Administration is providing that\nindustry with stimulus.\nThere is much for Government to do -- and Government has done much. I think\nwe currently are correcting many of the mistakes of the recent past -- mistakes\nthat have brought us a tragic war, inflation, an unstable economy.\nBut we are remedying those errors. And to continue in that great work we\nneed more than just the actions of Government. There is no substitute for the\nhuman spirit, the individual initiative that built America.\nWe need the will and the wisdom of the American people if we are to do all\nthat must be done to win the victory against the forces of defeatism at home and\narmed aggression abroad.\nBuilding on the past and learning from our errors, we can make America more\ndeserving than ever of the great pride we feel in her -- more worthy than ever to\nserve as a model for other lands.\n###"
}