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Republican Governors' Association, Williamsburg, VA, April 19, 1971
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Republican Governors' Association, Williamsburg, VA, April 19, 1971
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The original documents are located in Box D31, folder "Republican Governors'
Association, Williamsburg, VA, April 19, 1971" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press
Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Bab Hartmam's
maffice Copy
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE--
April 19, 1971
Remarks of House Republican Leader Gerald R. Ford (Mich.)
to the Republican Governors' Association, Williamsburg, Va.
My report on the 92nd Congress must be brief. After three months there is
little legislative progress to report. Not counting unfinished business from last
year, the President since January has sent 46 specific requests to the new Con-
gress. They include some of the most fundamental Federal reforms in a generation.
Only one -- raising the debt limit and social security increases -- has become
law. One other measure -- military pay boosts and the draft extension aimed at an
all-volunteer force -- has passed the House of Representatives. The Senate --
well, the Senate is quite capable of speaking for itself.
The climate in the House is much different this year. Historically the
House operates very much in the shadow of its Speaker. Barely mentioned in the
Constitution, the Speakership has evolved into a very powerful and essentially
partisan office. Every Speaker has his own style, and obviously that of Carl
Albert differs from John McCormack's. Equally obvious is the differences in past
and present Majority Leaders. At this stage I would prefer to leave any cate-
gorical conclusions to the Washington columnists and to Mr. Albert's and Mr. Boggs'
own Democratic colleagues. But if you invite me back next year I may be more en-
lightened and more entertaining on this topic.
We also adopted some new House rules last year. Liberal critics of Congress
belittled them as window-dressing, but they have already worked significant
changes. More public committee procedures and the new method of recording teller
votes have had the initial effect of reducing absentecism, encouraging the tendency
to play to the galleries, and increasing the difficulty of imposing party disci-
pline. The crucial vote on the SST, for example, split Democrats and Republicans
almost down the middle. Only 4 more Republicans stayed with the President and
with me than were recorded against us. But on the other side, Democrats voted
down their own House leadership by 132 to 114. We can expect more narrow margins
in this session.
Even without any changes in procedure or personalities, the 92nd Congress
would have been more politically-oriented than the 91st. We are headed into
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
Digitized from Box D31 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
another Presidential campaign season. The list of would-be Presidents grows
longer in the Senate and we even have a few hopefuls in the House -- not all of
them Democrats either.
So I think we are in for some rough weather. Generally, I predict the new
Democratic Majority in the House will be a little more effective in its politicking,
a little less resolute in standing up to Senate demagoguery, a little more re-
sponsive to its far-out liberal faction, a little less responsible in foreign and
defense matters.
The Democrats in Congress already are coming up with a wide array of pro-
posals to rewrite and raise the ante on major Administration programs, such as
revenue sharing, health care and welfare reform.
Democrats undermining Nixon's goals on the domestic battlefield may be fair
political game. But I'm proud to say that neither Senator Dirksen nor I ever
undercut a Democratic President in his grave Constitutional role as the nation's
foreign policy spokesman and Commander-in-Chief of its brave defenders.
On this I want to get something off my chest without pointing at anybody.
I simply cannot comprehend how any American -- especially anyone with a claim to
public leadership -- can stand up in this trying hour of our history to carp and
criticize, snipe and sabotage, quarrel and quibble with a President who day by day
and week by week and month by month is skillfully and successfully extricating us
from the var in Vietnam.
In a little more than two years Richard Nixon has handled the immense and
seemingly insoluble problem of Southeast Asia precisely as he promised in 1968
and has brought results beyond our wildest hopes. He has cut the American combat
commitment in half already and will reduce it by two-thirds before this year ends.
More importantly, American casualties that were once 500 a week are down to below
50. And President Nixon is going to end our involvement in Vietnam altogether
just as fast as he can safety and honorably do SO. He deserves our applause and
all-out support.
Now what do his critics want? For what possible political advantage, for
what momentary glow of publicity, can any Republican or Democrat insist that
President Nixon handcuff himself in the final crucial months of this delicate and
unprecedented realignment of America's power for peace?
What do the President's Vietnam critics hope to accomplish? To play
numbers games with the calendar that could cost American lives and demean America's
credibility before the world? Do they really want to embarrass the President of
the United States, to force him to fail, to make him out a liar? I cannot be-
lieve it.
-3-
I have travelled the length and breadth of this country in the past few
weeks and I am convinced the vast majority of Americans support President Nixon in
his steady, measured march toward peace, not only in Southeast Asia but around the
world. I am confident that Richard Nixon will be remembered -- and re-elected in
1972 -- for ending the American combat role in Victnam not only with honor but
with extraordinary skill and courage.
One final suggestion from a fellow Republican. When I met with the Members
of the Republican Governors' Association in Colorado shortly after our spectacular
comeback in the 1966 elections, I said jokingly that perhaps our Republican Party
could survive anything except success. Nov, after the 1970 elections, that joke
isn't very funny.
We continued our gains in Congress and in the State capitals in 1968 and
we elected our President and recaptured the executive branch of the Federal govern-
ment. Then what did we do? We rode down Pennsylvania Avenue in the Inaugural
Parade and proceeded to dismantle the very vehicle that carried us there.
One of the first enterprises with which I was associated after being chosen
to lead the Republicans in the House in 1965 was the creation of the National
Republican Coordinating Committee. On it were represented the former Republican
candidates for President, the Republican Congressional leaders of House and Senate,
representatives of the Republican Governors (there were only 17 then) and State
legislators and the Republican National Committee. We met four times a year and
ve hammered out responsible and forward-looking Republican programs and policies.
Furthermore, in the give and take of these regular get-togethers, seasoned Repub-
lican officials in close contact with the voters somehow attained a degree of
harmony and unity which our Republican Party has never equalled before or since.
I don't know whose fault it was that the National Republican Coordinating
Committee was allowed simply to wither away just when it proved its worth in 1968.
We still had miles to go in winning back the Congress. We could have also concen-
trated on holding and increasing State offices so essential to redistricting after
the 1970 Census. But we didn't.
True, the Republican Governors continue to meet and so do the Senate and
House Republican Leadership, and we meet from time to time with the President and
the National Chairman and with one another, but these bilateral visits are not
enough. Republican program and policy leadership now, of course, is the primary
prerogative of a Republican President. But regular consultation and cross-
fertilization of ideas among experienced and elected Republican leaders, both to
promote and to produce party unity, is today sorely missed. I suggest we should
-4-
revive the Coordinating Committee now and ready it for the needs of 1972 and
beyond.
We meet here to talk about what President Nixon calls the New American
Revolution, surrounded by reminders of the Original American Revolution. General
Washington, in the dark winter of 1776, wrote privately to his brother that "if
every nerve is not strained to recruit the new army with all possible expedience,
I think the game is pretty near up."
Gentlemen, we are the field generals and the recruiters of the new army of
voters that must be raised in 1972. The Republican Party across the country, in
your States and in each Congressional district -- not merely at the Supreme com-
mander's headquarters in Washington -- must be the hard professional core of that
new all-volunteer army. If we do not rally and recruit it with all possible speed,
the game will indeed be up for the New American Revolution.
Let's prove that the Republican Party can survive even success.
# # * # #
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE--
April 19, 1971
Remarks of House Republican Leader Gerald R. Ford (Mich.)
to the Republican Governors' Association, Villiamsburg, Va.
My report on the 92nd Congress must be bricf. After three months there is
little legislative progress to report. Not counting unfinished business from last
year, the President since January has sent 46 specific requests to the new Con-
gress. They include some of the most fundamental Federal reforms in a generation.
Only one -- raising the debt limit and social security increases -- has become
law. One other measure -- military pay boosts and the draft extension aimed at an
all-volunteer force -- has passed the House of Representatives. The Senate --
well, the Senate is quite capable of speaking for itself.
The climate in the House is much different this year. Historically the
House operates very much in the shadow of its Speaker. Barely mentioned in the
Constitution, the Speakership has evolved into a very powerful and essentially
partisan office. Every Speaker has his own style, and obviously that of Carl
Albert differs from John McCormack's. Equally obvious is the differences in past
and present Majority Leaders. At this stage I would prefer to leave any cate-
gorical conclusions to the Washington columnists and to Mr. Albert's and Mr. Boggs'
own Democratic colleagues. But if you invite me back next year I may be more en-
lightened and more entertaining on this topic.
We also adopted some new House rules last year. Liberal critics of Congress
belittled them as window-dressing, but they have already worked significant
changes. More public committee procedures and the new method of recording teller
votes have had the initial effect of reducing absentecism, encouraging the tendency
to play to the galleries, and increasing the difficulty of imposing party disci-
pline. The crucial vote on the SST, for example, split Democrats and Republicans
almost down the middle. Only 4 more Republicans stayed with the President and
with me than were recorded against us. But on the other side, Democrats voted
down their own House leadership by 132 to 114. We can expect more narrow margins
in this session.
Even without any changes in procedure or personalities, the 92nd Congress
would have been more politically-oriented than the 91st. We are headed into
FORD GERALD LIBRARY GERALD
-2-
another Presidential campaign season. The list of would-be Presidents grows
longer in the Senate and we even have a few hopefuls in the House -- not all of
them Democrats either.
So I think we are in for some rough weather. Generally, I predict the new
Democratic Majority in the House will be a little more effective in its politicking,
a little less resolute in standing up to Senate demagoguery, a little more re-
sponsive to its far-out liberal faction, a little less responsible in foreign and
defense matters.
The Democrats in Congress already are coming up with a wide array of pro-
posals to rewrite and raise the ante on major Administration programs, such as
revenue sharing, health care and welfare reform.
Democrats undermining Nixon's goals on the domestic battlefield may be fair
political game. But I'm proud to say that neither Senator Dirksen nor I ever
undercut a Democratic President in his grave Constitutional role as the nation's
foreign policy spokesman and Commander-in-Chief of its brave defenders.
On this I want to get something off my chest without pointing at anybody.
I simply cannot comprehend how any American -- especially anyone with a claim to
public leadership -- can stand up in this trying hour of our history to carp and
criticize, snipe and sabotage, quarrel and quibble with a President who day by day
and week by week and month by month is skillfully and successfully extricating us
from the var in Vietnam.
In a little more than two years Richard Nixon has handled the immense and
seemingly insoluble problem of Southeast Asia precisely as he promised in 1968
and has brought results beyond our wildest hopes. He has cut the American combat
commitment in half already and will reduce it by two-thirds before this year ends.
More importantly, American casualties that were once 500 a week are down to below
50. And President Nixon is going to end our involvement in Vietnam altogether
just as fast as he can safety and honorably do so. He deserves our applause and
all-out support.
Now what do his critics want? For what possible political advantage, for
what momentary glow of publicity, can any Republican or Democrat insist that
President Nixon handcuff himself in the final crucial months of this delicate and
unprecedented realignment of America's power for peace?
What do the President's Vietnam critics hope to accomplish? To play
numbers games with the calendar that could cost American lives and demean America's
credibility before the world? Do they really want to embarrass the President of
the United States, to force him to fail, to make him out a liar? I cannot be-
lieve it.
-3-
I have travelled the length and breadth of this country in the past few
weeks and I am convinced the vast majority of Americans support President Nixon in
his steady, measured march toward peace, not only in Southeast Asia but around the
world. I am confident that Richard Nixon will be remembered -- and re-elected in
1972 -- for ending the American combat role in Vietnam not only with honor but
with extraordinary skill and courage.
One final suggestion from a fellow Republican. When I met with the Members
of the Republican Governors' Association in Colorado shortly after our spectacular
comeback in the 1966 elections, I said jokingly that perhaps our Republican Party
could survive anything except success. Nov, after the 1970 elections, that joke
isn't very funny.
We continued our gains in Congress and in the State capitals in 1960 and
we elected our President and recaptured the executive branch of the Federal govern-
ment. Then what did we do? We rode down Pennsylvania Avenue in the Inaugural
Parade and proceeded to dismantle the very vehicle that carried us there.
One of the first enterprises with which I was associated after being chosen
to lead the Republicans in the House in 1965 was the creation of the National
Republican Coordinating Committee. On it were represented the former Republican
candidates for President, the Republican Congressional leaders of House and Senate,
representatives of the Republican Governors (there were only 17 then) and State
legislators and the Republican National Committee. Ve met four times a year and
ve hammered out responsible and forward-looking Republican programs and policies.
Furthermore, in the give and take of these regular get-togethers, seasoned Repub-
lican officials in close contact with the voters somehow attained a degree of
harmony and unity which our Republican Party has never equalled before or since.
I don't know whose fault it was that the National Republican Coordinating
Committee was allowed simply to wither away just when it proved its worth in 1968.
We still had miles to go in winning back the Congress. We could have also concen-
trated on holding and increasing State offices so essential to redistricting after
the 1970 Census. But we didn't.
True, the Republican Governors continue to meet and so do the Senate and
House Republican Leadership, and we meet from time to time with the President and
the National Chairman and with one another, but these bilateral visits are not
enough. Republican program and policy leadership now, of course, is the primary
prerogative of a Republican President. But regular consultation and cross-
fertilization of ideas among experienced and elected Republican leaders, both to
promote and to produce party unity, is today sorely missed. I suggest we should
-4-
revive the Coordinating Committee now and ready it for the needs of 1972 and
beyond.
We meet here to talk about what President Nixon calls the New American
Revolution, surrounded by reminders of the Original American Revolution. General
Washington, in the dark winter of 1776, wrote privately to his brother that "if
every nerve is not strained to recruit the new army with all possible expedience,
I think the game is pretty near up."
Gentlemen, we are the field generals and the recruiters of the new army of
voters that must be raised in 1972. The Republican Party across the country, in
your States and in each Congressional district -- not mercly at the Supreme com-
mander's headquarters in Washington -- must be the hard professional core of that
new all-volunteer army. If we do not rally and recruit it with all possible speed,
the game will indeed be up for the New American Revolution.
Let's prove that the Republican Party can survive even success.
# # # # #