Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
4526318
label
Michigan Republican Women's Club Dinner, Sparta, MI, September 29, 1970
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
4526318
sourceUrl
contentType
document
title
Michigan Republican Women's Club Dinner, Sparta, MI, September 29, 1970
citationUrl
collections
Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
Speeches
subjects
Agriculture
Federal budget
iiifBase
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
4526318
coverageEndDate
logicalDate
1970-09-30
month
9
year
1970
coverageStartDate
logicalDate
1970-09-01
month
9
year
1970
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
url
mediaId
1c8bf332fd0e830c
ocrText
The original documents are located in Box D30, folder "Michigan Republican Women's
Club Dinner, Sparta, MI, September 29, 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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.
Distribution
District
news
media
8/25/70
only
Office Copy
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M.--
Tuesday, September 29, 1970
Excerpts from a Speech by Rep. Gerald R. Ford, Republican Leader, U.S. House of
Representatives, at a dinner sponsored by the Sparta, Mich., Republican Women's
Club Tuesday evening, Sept. 29, 1970, at Sparta United Methodist Church.
I come before you as a staunch supporter of economy in government. I
make no apologies for it. I am pledged to hold down government spending--to back
up every effort by President Nixon to hold Federal spending in check.
Why is it particularly important to fight the big spenders in Congress
at this time?
It is important because years of increasing government costs with an
uncontrolled $25 billion in Federal red-ink spending in 1968 produced a nearly
runaway inflation in this country--inflation that hurt us all and hit farmers and
old folks on fixed incomes the hardest.
We have got to stop spending more than we take in at the Federal level. If
we fail to keep government spending within revenues, the price for the American
people will be catastrophic in the end.
The big spenders in Congress cause inflation. Their over-spending pushes
up the price of everything. And yet they pretend to be the friends of the people.
Their generosity with the taxpayers' dollars puts an ever-increasing burden on
generations yet to come and requires an ever-increasing appropriation just to pay
the interest on the national debt. In fact, the interest we now pay on the national
debt is a major government expense--second only to spending for national defense.
Today President Nixon and Republicans in Congress are locked in battle with
the big spenders. It's a fight to control inflation. You know whose side I'm on.
Help me and the President fight the big spenders, the radical liberals who vote
for every spending bill they can trot out.
Now let me tell you that we have turned the corner on inflation in spite of
the big spenders. We are making progress against inflation, and at the same time
the economy is in the early stages of an upswing.
If there is any segment of the economy which deserves greater rewards in
terms of performance it is agriculture.
Everyone will agree that one of the basic defects in the economy today is a
failure to achieve substantial gains in industrial productivity in recent years,
(more)
GERAL
Digitized from Box D30 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
By contrast, the American farmer's record of productivity is nothing short of
fabulous, and it continues on the increase.
Productivity has risen faster in agriculture than in any other sector of
the economy. In the past two decades alone, farm output per manhour has almost
quadrupled, while nonfarm productivity has just about doubled.
Last year, despite a sharp rise in production costs, farm operators posted
an 8 per cent increase in realized net income. Total net farm income was
$16 billion, based on substantial gains in both marketing receipts and government
payments. I hope the new farm bill will be a plus.
How can the farmer do better? One way is to make himself more friends in
Congress. Another way is to work for the election of a Responsible Congress.
We are making progress under the Nixon Administration on the problems of
the farmer and the problems of all the people.
We are moving toward peace in Vietnam despite the tactics of the congres-
sional sellout crowd. Vietnamization is ahead of schedule, and we will end our
front-line ground combat role in South Vietnam by next May.
The situation in the Middle East is tenuous, but at least the Nixon
Administration has produced a cease-fire there. Administration initiative in
the Middle East has averted a possible confrontation there with the Soviet Union.
We are making progress in fighting crime, too--no thanks to the weak-kneed
radical-liberals in the Congress.
The Administration has struck strong blows against organized crime, staging
massive raids on narcotics traffickers and producing shock waves felt throughout
the underworld.
The Administration has also sent 13 major anti-crime bills to the Congress.
I predict that most of these bills will be written into law by the end of this
session despite heel-dragging by those overly concerned with the rights of the
criminal.
President Nixon badly needs more support if he is going to turn America
around. He needs the help of sound-thinking people like the women here assembled.
Give him your help. Give me your help. Add to the strength of responsible
government in America.
# # #