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    "localId": "4526327",
    "label": "Debate with Mrs. Jean McKee Before the Grand Rapids Bar Association, Grand Rapids, MI, October 14, 1970",
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    "title": "Debate with Mrs. Jean McKee Before the Grand Rapids Bar Association, Grand Rapids, MI, October 14, 1970",
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        "Crime",
        "Environmental protection",
        "Federal budget",
        "Inflation (Finance)",
        "Legislation",
        "Vietnam War, 1961-1975",
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    "ocrText": "The original documents are located in Box D30, folder \"Debate with Mrs. Jean McKee\nBefore the Grand Rapids Bar Association, Grand Rapids, MI, October 14, 1970\" of the\nFord Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford\nPresidential 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 The Council donated to the United\nStates of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.\nWorks prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public\ndomain.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.\nDistribution:\n60 copies 4/mr Ford\nenvelopes news media for fifth District office Copy\nOPENING STATEMENT BY REP. GERALD R. FORD OF GRAND RAPIDS\nIN DEBATE WITH MRS. JEAN McKEE\nBEFORE THE GRAND RAPIDS BAR ASSOCIATION\nAT 12 NOON, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1970\nFOR RELEASE AT 12 NOON WEDNESDAY, OCT. 14\nMy opponent is a Democrat--an active, participating Democrat. She is proud\nof it.\nI am a Republican. I am proud of it. But on the other hand I am just as\nproud that in 11 elections I have received the support of many Democrats in the\nFifth Congressional District. I am also proud that I have supported, on many\noccasions, three Democratic Presidents. I have supported Democratic Presidents\nmore often and on tougher issues than many Democrats in the House and the Senate.\nI have letters of appreciation from those Democratic Presidents.\nThis campaign is an adversary proceeding in the best tradition of American\npolitics. Therefore, as Al Smith was fond of saying, let's look at the record.\nWhat was the legacy left behind by the previous Democratic Administration?\nA war in which the United States had been massively involved for four years.\nFederal deficits which totalled $60.6 billion from 1961 through 1968.\nNearly runaway inflation which has reduced the value of the 1960 dollar to\n76 cents.\nAir and water pollution that grew steadily worse during the eight years that\nDemocrats controlled both the Congress and the White House.\nA crime rate that rose 10 times faster than the population during the eight\nDemocratic years of the Sixties.\nIt's tough to deal with that kind of legacy but Republicans are making\nprogress. We could have made far greater progress if the Congress for the past two\nyears had been controlled by the Republican Party.\nAs lawyers, you gentlemen are accustomed to dealing with evidence. What,\nthen, is the hard evidence of progress under the present Administration on the\nwar, control of Federal spending, air and water pollution control, and crime\ncontrol? First, Vietnam.\nWe have reduced the authorized strength of our armed forces in Southeast\nAsia from 549,500 as of Dec. 31, 1968, to 384,000 as of Oct. 15, 1970, and we will\nbe reducing our authorized strength to 284,000 by May 1, 1971. This means that\nreductions in authorized strength by next May 1 will total 265,500.\n(more)\nDigitized from Box D30 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\n-2-\nPresident Nixon did not put half a million men into Vietnam, but he is\nclearly getting them out. And he is doing so with reduced losses, with an increase\nin the ability of the South Vietnamese to resist Communist aggression, and with a\ndecrease in the ability of the North Vietnamese to achieve military success in\nSoutheast Asia.\nThe Presidential candidate my opponent supported in 1964 escalated the\nVietnam War. The Presidential candidate I supported in 1968 has deescalated the\nVietnam War and is ending the U.S. role in it.\nWhat additional progress can we point to in Vietnam?\nDuring the past several months, the weekly toll of Americans killed in\nVietnam has dropped steadily to a point that in the week ended Oct. 3 was the\nlowest in 4 1/2 years. While any Americans dead in Asia are too many, that toll\nof 38 is vastly better than the 562 killed in the most deadly week of the war-the\nweek which ended May 11, 1968. In 1968, the average weekly loss of American lives\nwas 300. In 1969, it was 200. Since July 1, after Cambodia, the number of weekly\nwar deaths has averaged 61.\nAt the same time, draft calls have been reduced from 299,000 in 1968 to\n163,500 this year, a drop of 42 per cent. Military manpower, meantime, is being\nreduced from 3.5 million in mid-1968 to 2.9 million in mid-1971-- reduction of\n639,000.\nThe same political candidates who demand a precipitate U.S. pullout from\nVietnam are demanding a reordering of our priorities. The truth is that we have\nalready accomplished a massive reordering of our priorities, and we are continuing\nto shift priorities.\nMy opponent is correct in pointing out that our priorities were all askew\nduring the Sixties while the Democrats controlled both the White House and the\nCongress. Why didn't she speak out then?\nIn 1962 the Federal Government spent 48 per cent of its budget on national\ndefense and only 32 per cent on human resources. In 1968 we were still spending\n44 per cent of our budget on defense and only 34 per cent on human resources. Now,\nin fiscal 1971, under a Republican President, we have reversed our priorities. We\nare spending 41 per cent of our Federal budget on human resources and 37 per cent\non defense. I might mention that defense spending has declined to 7 per cent of\nour Gross National Product, the lowest percentage since 1951.\nAt the same time that we have reordered our priorities, Republicans have\nsought to hold down Federal spending to help fight the inflation we inherited from\n(more)\n-3-\nthe previous Democratic Administration. The present Administration cut the\nexpansion rate of Federal spending in half in 1970 and will reduce it by half again\nin 1971. This has enabled us to keep the Federal budget close to balance while\nat the same time recognizing important national priorities in the fields of\nenvironment, welfare and transportation. We have exercised firm control over\ndefense spending. We have cut back less urgent non-defense programs. And we have\nemployed greater efficiency throughout the Federal Government.\nWe have made substantial progress against inflation through policies of\nrestraint, both fiscal and monetary. There is dramatic proof of this in the fact\nthat the cost of living rose just .2 of 1 per cent in August 1970--an annual rate\nof 2.4 per cent--as compared with a rise of .4 of 1 per cent in August 1968--an\nannual rate of 4.8 per cent. The rise in the cost of living in August of this\nyear was the lowest in 20 months and just one-half what it was in the comparable\nmonth in 1968. And the three-month period of June, July and August 1970 showed the\nlowest cost of living rise for any three-month period since the fall of 1967.\nWhile Republicans in Congress have sought to hold down Federal spending to\naid in the fight against inflation, the Democrats have pressed for budget-busting\nappropriations.\nDuring the same period that they have sought to escalate Federal spending,\nthe Democrats have refused to act on President Nixon's plans for financing a\n$10 billion Federal-State-local water pollution control program for the construction\nof municipal waste treatment facilities over the next four years. The program calls\nfor the establishment of an Environmental Financing Authority to make sure that all\nmunicipalities needing treatment plants would be able to finance local costs. The\nDemocrats have even refused to hold hearings on this legislation--and yet some of\ntheir candidates accuse the Administration of lack of action on environmental\nproblems. President Nixon has promised to put modern waste-treatment plants in\nevery place needed to make our waters clean again. But he needs the help of a\ncooperative Congress to keep that promise.\nWhat of my own record on the environment? In 1965 I voted for the Water Pollutio\nControl Act and the Air Pollution Control Act; in 1966, for the Water Pollution Cont~\nAct and the Clean Air Act; in 1967, for the Clean Air act; in 1968, for establish-\nment of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Water Pollution Control Act;\nin 1969, for the Water Pollution Control Act, the Clean Air Act, establishment of\nthe Council on Environmental Quality, the Water Resources Development Act, the\nPublic Works Appropriation Bill; in 1970, Clean Air Act Amendments, the Clean Air\n(more)\n-4--\nand Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Resource Recovery Act of 1970, and the Water\nPollution Control Act Amendments of 1970.\nHere are copies of environmental bills I introduced or co-sponsored in the\n91st Congress, including a bill to prohibit the dumping of dredgings and other\nrefuse into the Great Lakes or any navigable water and a bill to establish the\nSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.\nHere is a list of National Park bills I voted for, with photos of these\nnational park areas.\nHere is a list of Federal grants I was instrumental in obtaining for Kent\nand Ionia Counties, including $3,106,837 for additional parklands and $1,480,610\nfor sewer and water improvements. And this is just for the period 1968 through\n1970.\nI and other Republicans in Congress have also made the war on crime a top\npriority. Here there has been heel-dragging on the part of some Democrats in the\nCongress. But despite the heel-dragging, it now appears that the bulk of the\nAdministration's 13 major anti-crime bills will be enacted into law. To that I say\nbetter late than never.\nI sponsored the major anti-crime legislation which has been enacted or is\nnearly through both Houses of the Congress--the District of Columbia Omnibus Crime\nBill, which is a model for the Nation; the Law Enforcement Assistance Act of 1970,\nwhich more than doubles law enforcement aid to States and local communities; and\nthe Organized Crime Control Act, comprehensive legislation which puts new crime\ncontrol tools in the hands of authorities.\nSpeaking of the war on crime, I might also mention that in 1969 the rise in\nthe nationwide crime rate was 11 per cent as compared with a 17 per cent rise in\n1968. Here is a graph which clearly shows how the rate of increase fell in 1969\nin all categories but one.\nThis year there has been a marked upturn in Federal indictments and\nprosecutions of key organized crime figures as a result of the Administration's\nstepped up attacks on the syndicate.\nThis, then, is how Republicans have dealt with the legacy left by the\nprevious Democratic Administration.\nI think we have made substantial progress in the face of tremendous\ndifficulties. We are on our way to solving problems that have defied the most\ngenerous spenders ever to handle the taxpayers' money. And that is an accomplishment.\n# # #"
}