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Press Secretary Briefings, 11/6/75
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Press Secretary Briefings, 11/6/75
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Ron Nessen Files (Ford Administration)
Ron Nessen's Press Briefing Transcripts
subjects
White House (Washington, D.C.)
Inflation (Finance)
Legislation
Natural gas
Presidential campaign, 1976
Regulatory reform
Revenue sharing
Vice-Presidents
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1975-11-06
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11
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1975
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6
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1975-11-06
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11
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1975
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Digitized from Box 14 of The Ron Nessen File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
This Copy For
NEWS CONFERENCE
#367
AT THE WHITE HOUSE
WITH RON NESSEN
AT 11:45 A.M. EST
NOVEMBER 6, 1975
THURSDAY
MR. NESSEN: I have a couple of different
announcements on different subjects today, a lot of it
about different trips we are making.
On the Paris trip, the French Government is going
to be issuing local press credentials to the members of the
White House Press Corps who are going with the President
to Paris so we will need three color passport size photographs
signed on the back in English, signed with ballpoint pen
on the back of each photo, delivered to Thym Smith in the
Press Office no later than 6:00 P.M,, Monday.
Q Ballpoint on the back, Ron?
MR. NESSEN: Yes.
Q
One time we did it and they said it should be
on the front.
MR. NESSEN: Signed in ballpoint pen on the back of
each photo.
Q What is the deadline on that?
MR. NESSEN: Monday at 6:00 P.M. these should be
given to Thym Smith. You should put these photos in an
envelope and you should type or print your names on the front
of the envelope and also at the same time give Thym your
passport number.
All night. Tomorrow's trip to Boston -- we have
posted a summary schedule, I believe. Has everyone received
that? I will run through it for you.
Press check-in at Andrews at 8:30, press plane departs
at 9:00, the designation is Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts.
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The President will be leaving the South Lawn at
9:45 -- I am sorry, will be leaving from Andrews on Air Force
One at 9:45, also landing at Westover. The press plane
gets to Westover at 10:15. The President gets there at
10:50. The President's destination is the Bay State West
Hotel in Springfield, Massachusetts.
He will, first of all, have a private chat with
members of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors.
He will then leave that hotel by car to go back to the Air Force
Base and the President will leave the Air Force base at 12:55
and fly to Logan Airport in Boston, arriving at Logan
Gate 8 at 1:35, will motor to the --
Q
Too fast, Ron.
MR. NESSEN: But this is all going to be posted.
Q
If it is going to be posted, why are you doing
it?
MR. NESSEN: Somebody asked me to do it.
Q
Newspaper thing completely closed -- no
coverage?
MR. NESSEN: Yes.
Q
What time is the speech in the afternoon?
MR. NESSEN: The speech is at 3:04 in the Grand
Ballroom of the Sheraton Boston Hotel. It is 51st New England
Council Conference.
Q
Ron, the newspaper thing won't be off the record,
though, will it?
MR. NESSEN: It is the same as the other private
chats he has had with different editors and publishers and
broadcasters.
Q Off the record?
MR. NESSEN: I think they can write based on the
conversation.
Q
In other words, the editors can write this
but the reporters can't come.
MR. NESSEN: Okay, the President arrives back at
Andrews at 9:50 in the evening. The press plane is expected
to arrive at 10:40 in the evening.
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The speech will be on the topic of national security
policy and we hope to have it for you -- we plan to have it
for you on the plane in the morning, and there will be --
Q Also here?
MR. NESSEN: Yes, and there will be plenty of
filing time, if you see the summary schedule, both before and
after the speech.
Q
Is this the speech of the Council of Conference?
MR. NESSEN: Yes, that is the only --
Q
Embargoed for release on delivery?
MR. NESSEN: It will be embargoed for 3 o'clock.
Q
Is this the one he is going to outline --
MR. NESSEN: No, it will be a more general speech
than that one.
Phil was asking whether he will outline what he
mentioned the other night of changes in procedures and the
answer is no, that will be a more general speech on his own
national security policies.
Q
Will he touch on SALT and defense spending?
MR. NESSEN: I expect SO.
Q
What is the start time for the speech?
MR. NESSEN: 3:04.
Q
Available for broadcast?
MR. NESSEN: Yes.
Q
How long do you expect to to last?
MR. NESSEN: I expect it to last 25 minutes.
(Laughter)
Q
Is that including interruptions for applause?
MR. NESSEN: Sustained applause.
Q
After the speech and before he returns to the
White House at 9:50, can you tell us what is on his
schedule?
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MR. NESSEN: He will have a little staff time in
the hotel to do his work. He will go to the Museum of Science
and then will attend a series of receptions -- of Republican
receptions and speeches.
Q
One of the receptions being at Logan Airport?
MR. NESSEN: Yes, there will be a reception at the
British Airways Lounge at Logan Airport for Republican elected
officials at 7:53 in the evening.
Q
Also, we heard that the Museum thing is
$500 a head, is that right? And that the British Airways
thing is $15 a ticket?
MR, NESSEN: I didn't bring my briefing papers down
on the exact price of all the events. We will get it for you.
Q
Ron, is this trip being paid for by the Republican
National Committee?
MR. NESSEN: Whatever the formula is for paying for
mixed trips, according to the formula.
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Q
Ron, you say the speech will deal with
SALT and Defense. Will it be in that area in which there
were reports of disagreement between Schlesinger and
Kissinger and the President -- not beyond the disagreements
will it be on that general area of SALT and the current
negotiations with the Russians and so on?
MR. NESSEN: I think it will be a description of
the President's national security policy and among the
areas that it will deal with will be SALT and the Defense
budget and other items in that area.
One bit of news for the radio people. I am told
that they are using a new type of telephone in Boston and
that this telephone is constructed in such a way that it
will not be possible to unscrew the mouthpiece and put
your alligator clips on. I am just trying to be helpful.
Q
That happened the other night in Los Angeles.
MR. NESSEN: The phone company is on to you.
Q
This is not at the recommendation of the
White House?
MR. NESSEN: No, it is not.
Q
So what are you recommending, Ron?
MR. NESSEN: Just to get back to the Paris trip
for a second, the sign-up for the Paris trip closes tomorrow
night at 9 o'clock so if you want to go or know anybody
that wants to go sign up before 9 o'clock tomorrow night,
There will be a trip by the President on Tuesday,
November 11, to Charleston, West Virginia. This is just
an evening down and back, leaving the White House at a
little after 5:00, going to Charleston, West Virginia,
going to the Charleston Civic Center.
Q
What is it for?
MR. NESSEN: It is a Republican fund raiser.
Q
Is that an evening trip?
MR. NESSEN: Yes, and then he will be back here
at the White House by 10:40.
Q
The radio crisis is grave for some of us
and in Los Angeles --
Q
And not for others. (Laughter)
Q
-- they said you could not clip in, in Los
Angeles, but they did indeed put blocks in that you could
clip onto above the phone so that you didn't have to break
in. If you know that much, can you tell us whether they
are going to have those blocks?
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MR. NESSEN: I will get somebody to work on
that, Walt.
Q
Thank you.
MR. NESSEN: There is another event on Tuesday,
the 11th of November, and that is that the President will
participate in a memorial service to the Marine Corps
at the Iwo Jima Memorial.
Q
Is that the 11th or the 10th? The 10th is
a birthday.
MR. NESSEN: Tuesday the 11th is when he is going
to do it.
The Marine Corps' war memorial ceremony is held
every year on the traditional Armistice Day, which is the
11th, in commemoration of the men who lost their lives in
the Marine Corps. At the same time, on November 10th is
the 200th anniversary of the Marine Corps.
The traditional Veterans Day is November 11th --
Armistice Day it used to be called, or, as you remember,
the Great War.
Q
Ron, can you tell us if the Paris trip is
going to be preceded by a trip to Atlanta so we might be
leaving from Atlanta or Raleigh?
MR. NESSEN: The President will be going to Atlanta
on the 14th and what the arrangements are to move from
there to Paris have not been worked out yet.
Q
What is he doing in Atlanta?
MR. NESSEN: He is going to have, I think, a
local news conference down there and I guess a Republican
event down there, too.
Q
Is he also stopping in Raleigh-Durham?
MR. NESSEN: Somewhere in North Carolina, I am
not sure.
Q
So you don't know if he is coming back
here before he leaves?
MR. NESSEN: He will come back here but perhaps
not for long.
Q
Will he leave from here?
MR. NESSEN: That has not been worked out.
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Q
Friday night?
MR. NESSEN: Friday night.
Q
It is unclear whether the press will leave
from here or from Raleigh-Durham?
MR. NESSEN: No. (Laughter)
Q
I am serious.
MR. NESSEN: Or from Upper Marlboro.
Q
It is unclear?
MR. NESSEN: Yes, that is unclear.
Q
Is he going to take Bo Callaway with him
to Georgia?
MR. NESSEN: I don't know.
Q
Is he going to bring him back? (Laughter)
Q
Is Raleigh and Atlanta on that same trip?
MR. NESSEN: Yes.
The Iwo Jima Memorial -- the President leaves by
car a little before 11 o'clock next Tuesday, drives over
there. There will be a ceremony, flag pageant and parade,
and then the President will speak briefly. Then there will
be a wreath laid and the President will be back at the White
House by noon.
Moving on to today, the President met at 9 o'clock
this morning with the Chairman and three other members of
the House Government Operations Committee. I think you
have a list of participants at that meeting. The subject
was to discuss an extension of the general revenue sharing
bill. In fact, I think there were some pictures taken
at that meeting.
I think you may know that the General Revenue
Sharing Act expires on the 31st of December 1976. On
April 25 of this year the President proposed legislation
that would extend and revise the Revenue Sharing Act for
another 5-3/4 years. The annual rate of revenue sharing
now in the general revenue sharing category is $5.9 billion
annually and that is divided according to a formula with
two-thirds of the money going to counties and municipalities
and one-third of the money going to the States.
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The President during this meeting this morning
stressed the need for early enactment of the extension
so that the State and local governments can make their
plans. Even though it does not expire for a little over
a year, the States and municipalities need to know whether
it is going to be extended so they can make their own
fiscal plans and avoid the impact of the delay and uncertainty.
The President is deeply committed to this revenue
sharing program and is concerned about the impact on
State and local governments should Congress allow this
Act to expire and should Congress allow the States and
municipalities to lose this almost $6 billion that they
are receiving every year from the Federal Government.
The President discussed with the committee Members
any problems they might be having and he encouraged them
to get the bill out of the subcommittee where it is now
by the end of this year.
As you may know, there are 29 different bills
pending which would modify in one way or another the
Revenue Sharing Act and the President has been concerned
for quite some time that its extension might become so
involved in the debate over these 29 different bills that
it could expire and he has talked to mayors and Governors
around the country about this and enlisted their support
to get in touch with their Congressmen and Senators to urge
extension of revenue sharing.
Q
Has he asked Mayor Beame's help on this
matter?
MR. NESSEN: I am sure Mayor Beame appreciates
the $3.5 billion he gets every year from the Federal
Government and would hate to see that end, Peter.
Q
What kind of response did he get from the
people he was meeting with?
Q
What did Fountain tell him?
MR. NESSEN: I don't really think that I should
speak for the Members.
Q
The White House supports the current formula?
MR. NESSEN: Yes. The two-thirds/one-third?
Q
Yes.
MR. NESSEN: Yes, it supports it and is afraid
that if there is a major debate or effort made to change
the formula that the result could be a failure to extend
at all.
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Q
Did he therefore ask them to bring it out
without amendments or without the rule?
MR. NESSEN: He asked them to bring out the
proposal that he made on April 25, which is an increase --
see, his proposal on April 25 was to extend it for 5-3/4
years and to increase it each year by $150 million. So
you start off with the current base of $5.9 billion and
the President's proposal was to increase that each year by
$150 million for 5-3/4 years.
Q
Can you tell us in general what their reaction
was?
MR. NESSEN: I would rather not speak for them.
Q
Is it true that the Chairman of the committee
is opposed to it?
MR. NESSEN: I just would rather not speak for him,
Howard.
Q
What did you say the expiration date is?
MR. NESSEN: December 31, 1976.
After this briefing we are going to be handing
out a list of five proposals which were presented to the
President yesterday by John Dunlop and his Labor and
Management Committee. These are in the area of housing and
they are recommendations from the Labor-Management
Committee for steps they think the President should take
on housing. The President will study these proposals and
get the views of other Members of his Administration dealing
in this area, and then make his decision.
The President telephoned the Vice President
shortly after the end of the Vice President's news conference.
The President saw a short part of the beginning of the news
conference but was not able to watch the whole thing and
asked some members of his staff to give him a report on it,
which they did and, at that point, he called the Vice
President on the phone and said, "I want to congratulate
you and thank you." He said: "It was a super job. The
nice things you said and the way you handled them, it was
excellent.'
Q
Go slower, Ron.
MR. NESSEN: "It was a super job. Then I missed
some of the rest of it but the essence of the quote was
that he thanked the Vice President and congratulated him
for "nice things you said and the way you handled it." He
said, "It was excellent."
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Q
What was he referring to when he said "the
way you handled it?"
MR. NESSEN: Handled the news conference.
Q
Ron, can you give us a readout on that
meeting last Tuesday?
MR. NESSEN: And "it was real good.' 11
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Q
What were the nice things he said, Ron?
MR. NESSEN: And he also expressed "it was excellent,
real good." He also thanked the Vice President for what he
referred to as the delightful time at dinner last night and
said, "we had a great time." (Laughter)
Q
Ron, did you talk to the President after the
press conference?
MR. NESSEN: Yes.
Q What was his reaction to the Vice President's
keeping open all options, though, including the possibility
of running for President next year.
MR. NESSEN: I not only talked to the President,
I talked to the Vice President and the Vice President thought
he had made it clear but if not wants you to know that he
is supporting the President and believes he will be nominated.
Q Well, he didn't tell us that, Ron. He had the
chance to say that. He was asked about it.
MR. NESSEN: If he didn't say that in those words,
or if he didn't spell it out quite that clearly, he wants you
to know that he will support the President and believes the
President will be nominated.
Q
Why did you call the Vice President, Ron?
MR. NESSEN: To tell him that I thought he did a
good job at the news conference, too -- told him it was real
good. (Laughter)
Q Did you suggest to him that some clarification
was necessary?
MR. NESSEN: We talked about what I anticipated
your questions would be.
Q
Ron, where did the Vice President get the
idea that he is prohibited from campaigning?
MR. NESSEN: Well, I also talked to him about that.
Q Real good? (Laughter)
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Q
What did he have to say about that?
MR. NESSEN: Well, what he had to say about that was
that he is restricted in a number of ways from the campaigning
he can do. For one thing, if he went out and campaigned for
President Ford and paid the expenses himself -- and he does
have his own airplane, for instance, as you know. (Laughter)
Well, Sarah, I was asked the question and I took
the time to get the information. If you would like to hear it,
okay.
Q
I didn't say I didn't want to hear it.
MR. NESSEN: Then what are you laughing about?
Q
I am just laughing.
MR. NESSEN: Is it funny that he has his own air-
plane? Didn't you know that until today?
Q No.
MR. NESSEN: All right. Then let's move on to the
answers to the questions.
Q
That is why I am laughing, because you don't
know --
MR. NESSEN: Come on, Sarah.
Q
Ron, he said he is restricted.
MR. NESSEN: If he campaigned and spent his own
money on campaign expenses, then under the election law, as
you know, he is limited to either a cash contribution or the
equivalent in services of a thousand dollars. He is obviously
restricted from using Government funds, Vice Presidential
Office funds, for any campaigning. He is also prohibited from
using Republican National Committee funds to campaign on
behalf of the President.
Now he is clearly not prohibited from campaigning
for the President if his expenses are paid by the President
Ford Committee. He has told the President he will, and he
will speak at fund raisers and other events to support President
Ford's candidacy for President when the expenses are paid for
by the President Ford Committee because that is the only way
he can do it.
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Q
Why didn't he tell us that, Ron? He seemed
to say just the opposite.
MR. NESSEN: Again, he indicated that if it was not
clear to the people who heard it that I should go ahead and
say that.
Q
Was he saying that he would be willing to
campaign for the President if --
MR. NESSEN: Not willing, he has told the President
he will, and he will.
Q
He will in fact campaign?
MR. NESSEN: Yes.
Q
Has that in fact happened?
MR. NESSEN: What?
Q
Have they picked up any of his expenses?
MR. NESSEN: I don't think SO.
Q
Ron, in view of Chairman Callaway's views
of the Vice President, can you envisage the Ford Campaign
Committee paying for Rockefeller to campaign for the
President under Callaway's direction?
MR. NESSEN: Why don't you ask Bo?
Q
Because you are here and I am asking
you. I will ask him at a later time.
MR. NESSEN: I would only be offering an opinion
and you don't want to hear my opinion.
Q
Ron, you say he has told the President that he
would do this.
MR. NESSEN: Yes.
Q
Did he tell the President this this morning
after the news conference in the phone call?
MR. NESSEN: I don't think they discussed that this
morning, no.
Q
Does the President agree with Rockefeller's
assessment of how the Republican Party can win this year?
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MR. NESSEN: What was that assessment?
Q
I forget what it was, about the center position.
MR. NESSEN: I think the President has told everybody
before he believes he is a middle of the road candidate.
He believes that the Republican Party by registration is
a minority party and the way you win elections is by addition
and not by subtraction. That is one of his favorite expressions.
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Q
Does the President agree with the Vice
President about the squabbling and that being the reason
the Vice President took himself out?
MR. NESSEN: I don't think we want to walk
through every answer, Dick, and say does he approve or
disapprove of that answer. You heard what he said to the
Vice President on the phone and I think that gives you an
idea of his view of the news conference.
Q
Spending time with the squabbling difficulties?
MR. NESSEN: I am not going to go through every
answer and comment on it.
Q
Ron, did the President talk at all with
the Vice President about the need to perhaps clarify some
of those statements or did he then ask Rockefeller to
speak with you to clarify some things?
MR. NESSEN: No. I gave you almost the full
text of the phone call.
Q
He hung up the phone and then you called
again?
MR. NESSEN: He said goodbye -- goodbye, Nelson.
Q
I am sorry. Does that mean he does not
expect to speak to the Vice President any more in the next
few months? (Laughter)
MR. NESSEN: You mean au revoir as opposed to
goodbye?
Q
Ron, I am serious. Did he hand the phone
to you or did you then go make a separate call?
MR. NESSEN: No, I had to spend my own dime.
Q
Fifteen cents.
Q
Ron, did the President ask you to phone
the Vice President?
MR. NESSEN: No, he did not ask me to phone the
Vice President.
Q
Ron, is the President having a dinner for
the Cabinet tonight?
MR. NESSEN: Yes.
Q
Is Vice President Rockefeller going to be
there?
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MR. NESSEN: I assume SO. I haven't seen the
guest list yet.
Q
Is Kissinger going to be there?
MR. NESSEN: I have not seen the guest list.
Q
I gather it is your feeling and the President's
feeling that Mr. Rockefeller in his news conference today
didn't put a great deal of distance between himself and
the President.
MR. NESSEN: What do you mean by distance, Russ?
He has said over and over again he supports the President
and expects him to be nominated and elected. He says
that he is going to campaign for the President. I don't
understand the question.
Q
He didn't say that in the news conference.
MR. NESSEN: Well, he told me that I could
certainly tell you that if you didn't understand him having
said that at the news conference.
Q
We didn't understand him. That is the
reason I raise the question.
Q That is why we are concerned.
MR. NESSEN: I would not agree with you that he
said
Q Ron, he did say it at the news conference,
not that he will campaign for him.
MR. NESSEN: And he said he did say that.
Q
Ron, I want to ask a different question.
When are we going to see and be able to question Dick
Cheney?
MR. NESSEN: We were working on a picture at
least, weren't we? That is the first step.
Q We got our picture.
MR. NESSEN: You got the picture.
I don't know, Dick is busy and you know my
policy.
Q Ron --
MR. NESSEN: Wait a minute.
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My policy has been since I came here to reverse
an earlier policy in the White House and my feeling is
that every one of the senior staff members or any staff
member can deal with interview requests on his own, and I
have never gotten in the business of either arranging or
censoring interviews. Dick is aware of everybody's interest
and I think when he feels it is the proper time he will
do it.
Q
Ron, are you aware of the confusion the
other night when several requests went into your office
for a picture of Mr. Rumsfeld and everybody was lined up
to go in and told there would be no picture, and then Time
Magazine was taken in and given a picture arranged through
your office, not through Mr. Rumsfeld?
MR. NESSEN: I am aware of the mixup, yes.
Q
Ron, we have seen several stories to the
effect that there has been concern about a political back-
lash within the Administration about the President's
travels and yet you come out and announce a full schedule
of travel next week before he even leaves for Paris.
MR. NESSEN: What whole schedule of travel? All
I gave was an evening trip to West Virginia and a trip to
Iwo Jima and a trip to North Carolina.
Q
And Atlanta, Georgia. Now that is a lot
of travel in one week when the man should theoretically
be preparing for a big world economic summit conference.
My question is, has there been a policy decision
here that to hell with those who don't think the President
should curtail his travels?
MR. NESSEN: No.
Q
Ron, what is the President's reaction to
the wholesale price index?
MR. NESSEN: The wholesale price index -- you
try to be open and you just lose every time.
Q
The wholesale price index speaks for itself.
Q
What it meant to say was --
MR. NESSEN: Well, for those of you who are not
aware of it, the wholesale price index price went up 1.8
percent in October, quite a big rise.
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There were a number of technical and one-shot
factors which exaggerated the increase but, nevertheless,
there is some feeling of concern by the President's
economic advisers in their evaluation of the wholesale
price index increase. I think some of you who follow this
know that it is quite a volatile index in that some months
it is up a lot and some months it barely raises and the
economic staff for the President feels that it would like
to follow this for a few more months and see the evidence
over a little longer period of time to make judgments as
to whether today's figure represents some sort of permanent
trend in the increase.
When I talk about technical or one-shot elements
being in this increase, there were some seasonal adjustment
problems and I am just not enough of an expert to be able
to spell those out for you.
There is also the factor that the new car prices
which, as you know, went up, hit in this reporting period
so that would be a one-time jump. The wholesale price index
went up one time to reflect the new car prices and which
would not be repeated in the future months.
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Q
Did they identify the volatile factors this
time?
MR. NESSEN: Peter, I don't have that here.
Q
Well, how much did they think that these
technical one-shot factors distorted the wholesale price
index?
MR. NESSEN: Well, I mean, Tom, there is no effort
to minimize the increase and I don't mean to -- and, as I say,
there are elements of concern among the President's economic
advisers, certainly another reminder that inflation is
by no means something that can be ignored in shaping other
economic policies of the Government.
Q
Ron, weren't they very concerned by what
happened?
MR. NESSEN: I would not say that that is true,
no.
Q
Ron, is this concern such that if the prices
continue to rise, to continue to take big increases for
several months, the President might re-consider his
economic tax package insofar as that element which calls
for a $10 billion increase in the deficit for the last half
of fiscal 1976, since that is generally regarded as inflationary?
MR. NESSEN: Well, I think you have got a couple
of elements that are not right there, Ted. For one thing, the
effect on the deficit,as I understand it, would be in the area
of $4 billion from the President's proposal of a $28 billion
tax cut and a reduction in the growth of spending by
$28 billion.
Obviously, the President has sent up a whole series
of proposals to hold fiscal 1976 spending down which Congress
has ignored or rejected. So, if you are asking is he in
favor of bigger deficits, the answer is clearly no. The
question ought to really be addressed to Congress.
Q
Am I wrong that the fact sheet distributed
that night and the press briefing by Simon and Lynn said $10
billion?
MR. NESSEN: My memory is $4 billion. Carlson will
know that.
Q
Has the President expressed himself on the
Ways and Means Committee bill that is coming out this week?
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MR. NESSEN: Well, you know, the Ways and Means bill
is really still in the process of being put together and they
have not really put the final elements in.
The problem with the Ways and Means Committee is
that as a parliamentary matter and not as a substantive matter
the Chairman has ruled, and the majority on the Committee has
upheld him, that as a parliamentary matter the Committee should
not take a position on a spending ceiling. But that was not
a vote on the issue, that was a vote on the jurisdiction of
the Committee. As I understand it, there are a number of
proposals to deal with the President's proposal for a spending
ceiling through another mechanism, either on the floor or
in the Budget Committee or by attaching it as an amendment
to another bill. So that issue really has not been addressed
by the Committee or the House as a whole.
The White House feels that the House as a whole
should have an opportunity to vote on that because there is
a good deal of support for it there.
Q
Do you have a date for the China trip?
MR. NESSEN: I don't, Dick.
Q
Ron, is there any doubt that it is going to be
held in the first week of December?
MR. NESSEN: The plans are all going ahead along that
line.
Q
Are the Chinese being difficult to deal with,
Ron?
MR. NESSEN: There are just a number of technical
and scheduling matters being discussed with the Chinese.
Q
Do you have anything on when the advance team
is going?
Q
Has the date been agreed on yet?
MR. NESSEN: It is still being negotiated.
Q
Ron, I thought it was the job of the advance
team to go to a country and deal on the spot with these
scheduling and technical matters which you now say are
holding up the departure of the advance team.
MR. NESSEN: I didn't say they were holding up the
departure of the advance team, but the negotiations are
going ahead.
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Q
Has the team left?
MR. NESSEN: The advance team, as I told you
yesterday, had to juggle its schedule a little bit or change
its plans because with the Paris trip coming and the China
trip and some of the people being involved in advancing both
trips they had to change their schedule on how they were
going to do this and be able to do both things.
Q
Ron, does the White House expect to see
decontrol legislation on gas that the President can approve
before the expiration of the controls on the 15th?
MR. NESSEN: Well, the conferees are still putting
together a bill and people from the White House are working
with them. Some of the things being discussed up there would
result in, frankly, an increase in imports, a decrease in
domestic production and an increase in fuel consumption.
Now, if a bill arrived here at the White House
that contained those elements, the President would veto it
but I don't want you to get the idea that there is any
assumption here that such a bill is going to arrive because
it is still being put together and White House people are
up there working with the conferees and so it is possible
that something would emerge that the President could sign.
Q
Is the President making any stop-overs other
than Paris?
MR. NESSEN: No.
Q
Don Rumsfeld was Chief of Staff, he held
Cabinet rank. Will Cheney get Cabinet rank also?
MR. NESSEN: That is one of the things that has not
been decided yet.
Q
Does the White House currently have to
approve Vice President Rockefeller's travel schedule?
MR. NESSEN: Not that I know of.
Q
So anytime he wants to fly somewhere, he can
just go out to Andrews and get on Air Force One and go there
without checking in first with somebody here at the White House?
MR. NESSEN: I think he has to call somebody up and
say "I want to use the plane tonight, Dad."
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But I mean there is no --
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Q
You say you think he has to do that or he does
not have to do that?
MR. NESSEN: He has to call somebody to make sure
the plane is ready to go, but he does not have to get any-
body's permission to fly anywhere.
Q
And that somebody that he has to call is not
here, it is somebody over --
MR. NESSEN: There or in the Military Aides' Office.
He has got a military aide, so presumably his military aide
would make the arrangements for the plane.
Q
But his schedule is not staffed through the
White House directly?
MR. NESSEN: That is correct.
Q
Does the President contemplate any change in
that?
MR. NESSEN: No, not that I know of.
THE PRESS: Thank you, Ron.
END
(AT 12:20 P.M. EDT)