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Press Secretary Briefings, 11/6/75

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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. MORE #367 - 2 - #367-11/6 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. MORE #367 - 3 - #367-11/6 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? MORE #367 - 4 - #367-11/6 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. MORE #367 - 5 - #367-11/6 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? MORE #367 - 6 - #367-11/6 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. MORE #367 - 7 - #367-11/6 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. MORE #367 - 8 - #367-11/6 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. MORE #367 - 9 - #367-11/6 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." MORE #367 - 10 - #367-11/6 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 MORE #367 - 11 - #367-11/6 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) MORE #367 - 12 - #367-11/6 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. MORE #367 - 13 - #367-11/6 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? MORE #367 - 14 - #367-11/6 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. MORE #367 - 15 - #367-11/6 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? MORE #367 - 16 - #367-11/6 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. MORE #367 - 17 - #367-11/6 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. MORE #367 - 18 - #367-11/6 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. MORE #367 - 19 - #367-11/6 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? MORE #367 - 20 - #367-11/6 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. MORE #367 - 21 - #367-11/6 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." - --- But I mean there is no -- MORE #367 - 22 -- #367-11/6 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)

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    "ocrText": "Digitized from Box 14 of The Ron Nessen File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nThis Copy For\nNEWS CONFERENCE\n#367\nAT THE WHITE HOUSE\nWITH RON NESSEN\nAT 11:45 A.M. EST\nNOVEMBER 6, 1975\nTHURSDAY\nMR. NESSEN: I have a couple of different\nannouncements on different subjects today, a lot of it\nabout different trips we are making.\nOn the Paris trip, the French Government is going\nto be issuing local press credentials to the members of the\nWhite House Press Corps who are going with the President\nto Paris so we will need three color passport size photographs\nsigned on the back in English, signed with ballpoint pen\non the back of each photo, delivered to Thym Smith in the\nPress Office no later than 6:00 P.M,, Monday.\nQ Ballpoint on the back, Ron?\nMR. NESSEN: Yes.\nQ\nOne time we did it and they said it should be\non the front.\nMR. NESSEN: Signed in ballpoint pen on the back of\neach photo.\nQ What is the deadline on that?\nMR. NESSEN: Monday at 6:00 P.M. these should be\ngiven to Thym Smith. You should put these photos in an\nenvelope and you should type or print your names on the front\nof the envelope and also at the same time give Thym your\npassport number.\nAll night. Tomorrow's trip to Boston -- we have\nposted a summary schedule, I believe. Has everyone received\nthat? I will run through it for you.\nPress check-in at Andrews at 8:30, press plane departs\nat 9:00, the designation is Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts.\nMORE\n#367\n- 2 -\n#367-11/6\nThe President will be leaving the South Lawn at\n9:45 -- I am sorry, will be leaving from Andrews on Air Force\nOne at 9:45, also landing at Westover. The press plane\ngets to Westover at 10:15. The President gets there at\n10:50. The President's destination is the Bay State West\nHotel in Springfield, Massachusetts.\nHe will, first of all, have a private chat with\nmembers of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors.\nHe will then leave that hotel by car to go back to the Air Force\nBase and the President will leave the Air Force base at 12:55\nand fly to Logan Airport in Boston, arriving at Logan\nGate 8 at 1:35, will motor to the --\nQ\nToo fast, Ron.\nMR. NESSEN: But this is all going to be posted.\nQ\nIf it is going to be posted, why are you doing\nit?\nMR. NESSEN: Somebody asked me to do it.\nQ\nNewspaper thing completely closed -- no\ncoverage?\nMR. NESSEN: Yes.\nQ\nWhat time is the speech in the afternoon?\nMR. NESSEN: The speech is at 3:04 in the Grand\nBallroom of the Sheraton Boston Hotel. It is 51st New England\nCouncil Conference.\nQ\nRon, the newspaper thing won't be off the record,\nthough, will it?\nMR. NESSEN: It is the same as the other private\nchats he has had with different editors and publishers and\nbroadcasters.\nQ Off the record?\nMR. NESSEN: I think they can write based on the\nconversation.\nQ\nIn other words, the editors can write this\nbut the reporters can't come.\nMR. NESSEN: Okay, the President arrives back at\nAndrews at 9:50 in the evening. The press plane is expected\nto arrive at 10:40 in the evening.\nMORE\n#367\n- 3 -\n#367-11/6\nThe speech will be on the topic of national security\npolicy and we hope to have it for you -- we plan to have it\nfor you on the plane in the morning, and there will be --\nQ Also here?\nMR. NESSEN: Yes, and there will be plenty of\nfiling time, if you see the summary schedule, both before and\nafter the speech.\nQ\nIs this the speech of the Council of Conference?\nMR. NESSEN: Yes, that is the only --\nQ\nEmbargoed for release on delivery?\nMR. NESSEN: It will be embargoed for 3 o'clock.\nQ\nIs this the one he is going to outline --\nMR. NESSEN: No, it will be a more general speech\nthan that one.\nPhil was asking whether he will outline what he\nmentioned the other night of changes in procedures and the\nanswer is no, that will be a more general speech on his own\nnational security policies.\nQ\nWill he touch on SALT and defense spending?\nMR. NESSEN: I expect SO.\nQ\nWhat is the start time for the speech?\nMR. NESSEN: 3:04.\nQ\nAvailable for broadcast?\nMR. NESSEN: Yes.\nQ\nHow long do you expect to to last?\nMR. NESSEN: I expect it to last 25 minutes.\n(Laughter)\nQ\nIs that including interruptions for applause?\nMR. NESSEN: Sustained applause.\nQ\nAfter the speech and before he returns to the\nWhite House at 9:50, can you tell us what is on his\nschedule?\nMORE\n#367\n- 4 -\n#367-11/6\nMR. NESSEN: He will have a little staff time in\nthe hotel to do his work. He will go to the Museum of Science\nand then will attend a series of receptions -- of Republican\nreceptions and speeches.\nQ\nOne of the receptions being at Logan Airport?\nMR. NESSEN: Yes, there will be a reception at the\nBritish Airways Lounge at Logan Airport for Republican elected\nofficials at 7:53 in the evening.\nQ\nAlso, we heard that the Museum thing is\n$500 a head, is that right? And that the British Airways\nthing is $15 a ticket?\nMR, NESSEN: I didn't bring my briefing papers down\non the exact price of all the events. We will get it for you.\nQ\nRon, is this trip being paid for by the Republican\nNational Committee?\nMR. NESSEN: Whatever the formula is for paying for\nmixed trips, according to the formula.\nMORE\n#367\n- 5 -\n#367-11/6\nQ\nRon, you say the speech will deal with\nSALT and Defense. Will it be in that area in which there\nwere reports of disagreement between Schlesinger and\nKissinger and the President -- not beyond the disagreements\nwill it be on that general area of SALT and the current\nnegotiations with the Russians and so on?\nMR. NESSEN: I think it will be a description of\nthe President's national security policy and among the\nareas that it will deal with will be SALT and the Defense\nbudget and other items in that area.\nOne bit of news for the radio people. I am told\nthat they are using a new type of telephone in Boston and\nthat this telephone is constructed in such a way that it\nwill not be possible to unscrew the mouthpiece and put\nyour alligator clips on. I am just trying to be helpful.\nQ\nThat happened the other night in Los Angeles.\nMR. NESSEN: The phone company is on to you.\nQ\nThis is not at the recommendation of the\nWhite House?\nMR. NESSEN: No, it is not.\nQ\nSo what are you recommending, Ron?\nMR. NESSEN: Just to get back to the Paris trip\nfor a second, the sign-up for the Paris trip closes tomorrow\nnight at 9 o'clock so if you want to go or know anybody\nthat wants to go sign up before 9 o'clock tomorrow night,\nThere will be a trip by the President on Tuesday,\nNovember 11, to Charleston, West Virginia. This is just\nan evening down and back, leaving the White House at a\nlittle after 5:00, going to Charleston, West Virginia,\ngoing to the Charleston Civic Center.\nQ\nWhat is it for?\nMR. NESSEN: It is a Republican fund raiser.\nQ\nIs that an evening trip?\nMR. NESSEN: Yes, and then he will be back here\nat the White House by 10:40.\nQ\nThe radio crisis is grave for some of us\nand in Los Angeles --\nQ\nAnd not for others. (Laughter)\nQ\n-- they said you could not clip in, in Los\nAngeles, but they did indeed put blocks in that you could\nclip onto above the phone so that you didn't have to break\nin. If you know that much, can you tell us whether they\nare going to have those blocks?\nMORE\n#367\n- 6 -\n#367-11/6\nMR. NESSEN: I will get somebody to work on\nthat, Walt.\nQ\nThank you.\nMR. NESSEN: There is another event on Tuesday,\nthe 11th of November, and that is that the President will\nparticipate in a memorial service to the Marine Corps\nat the Iwo Jima Memorial.\nQ\nIs that the 11th or the 10th? The 10th is\na birthday.\nMR. NESSEN: Tuesday the 11th is when he is going\nto do it.\nThe Marine Corps' war memorial ceremony is held\nevery year on the traditional Armistice Day, which is the\n11th, in commemoration of the men who lost their lives in\nthe Marine Corps. At the same time, on November 10th is\nthe 200th anniversary of the Marine Corps.\nThe traditional Veterans Day is November 11th --\nArmistice Day it used to be called, or, as you remember,\nthe Great War.\nQ\nRon, can you tell us if the Paris trip is\ngoing to be preceded by a trip to Atlanta so we might be\nleaving from Atlanta or Raleigh?\nMR. NESSEN: The President will be going to Atlanta\non the 14th and what the arrangements are to move from\nthere to Paris have not been worked out yet.\nQ\nWhat is he doing in Atlanta?\nMR. NESSEN: He is going to have, I think, a\nlocal news conference down there and I guess a Republican\nevent down there, too.\nQ\nIs he also stopping in Raleigh-Durham?\nMR. NESSEN: Somewhere in North Carolina, I am\nnot sure.\nQ\nSo you don't know if he is coming back\nhere before he leaves?\nMR. NESSEN: He will come back here but perhaps\nnot for long.\nQ\nWill he leave from here?\nMR. NESSEN: That has not been worked out.\nMORE\n#367\n- 7 -\n#367-11/6\nQ\nFriday night?\nMR. NESSEN: Friday night.\nQ\nIt is unclear whether the press will leave\nfrom here or from Raleigh-Durham?\nMR. NESSEN: No. (Laughter)\nQ\nI am serious.\nMR. NESSEN: Or from Upper Marlboro.\nQ\nIt is unclear?\nMR. NESSEN: Yes, that is unclear.\nQ\nIs he going to take Bo Callaway with him\nto Georgia?\nMR. NESSEN: I don't know.\nQ\nIs he going to bring him back? (Laughter)\nQ\nIs Raleigh and Atlanta on that same trip?\nMR. NESSEN: Yes.\nThe Iwo Jima Memorial -- the President leaves by\ncar a little before 11 o'clock next Tuesday, drives over\nthere. There will be a ceremony, flag pageant and parade,\nand then the President will speak briefly. Then there will\nbe a wreath laid and the President will be back at the White\nHouse by noon.\nMoving on to today, the President met at 9 o'clock\nthis morning with the Chairman and three other members of\nthe House Government Operations Committee. I think you\nhave a list of participants at that meeting. The subject\nwas to discuss an extension of the general revenue sharing\nbill. In fact, I think there were some pictures taken\nat that meeting.\nI think you may know that the General Revenue\nSharing Act expires on the 31st of December 1976. On\nApril 25 of this year the President proposed legislation\nthat would extend and revise the Revenue Sharing Act for\nanother 5-3/4 years. The annual rate of revenue sharing\nnow in the general revenue sharing category is $5.9 billion\nannually and that is divided according to a formula with\ntwo-thirds of the money going to counties and municipalities\nand one-third of the money going to the States.\nMORE\n#367\n- 8 -\n#367-11/6\nThe President during this meeting this morning\nstressed the need for early enactment of the extension\nso that the State and local governments can make their\nplans. Even though it does not expire for a little over\na year, the States and municipalities need to know whether\nit is going to be extended so they can make their own\nfiscal plans and avoid the impact of the delay and uncertainty.\nThe President is deeply committed to this revenue\nsharing program and is concerned about the impact on\nState and local governments should Congress allow this\nAct to expire and should Congress allow the States and\nmunicipalities to lose this almost $6 billion that they\nare receiving every year from the Federal Government.\nThe President discussed with the committee Members\nany problems they might be having and he encouraged them\nto get the bill out of the subcommittee where it is now\nby the end of this year.\nAs you may know, there are 29 different bills\npending which would modify in one way or another the\nRevenue Sharing Act and the President has been concerned\nfor quite some time that its extension might become so\ninvolved in the debate over these 29 different bills that\nit could expire and he has talked to mayors and Governors\naround the country about this and enlisted their support\nto get in touch with their Congressmen and Senators to urge\nextension of revenue sharing.\nQ\nHas he asked Mayor Beame's help on this\nmatter?\nMR. NESSEN: I am sure Mayor Beame appreciates\nthe $3.5 billion he gets every year from the Federal\nGovernment and would hate to see that end, Peter.\nQ\nWhat kind of response did he get from the\npeople he was meeting with?\nQ\nWhat did Fountain tell him?\nMR. NESSEN: I don't really think that I should\nspeak for the Members.\nQ\nThe White House supports the current formula?\nMR. NESSEN: Yes. The two-thirds/one-third?\nQ\nYes.\nMR. NESSEN: Yes, it supports it and is afraid\nthat if there is a major debate or effort made to change\nthe formula that the result could be a failure to extend\nat all.\nMORE\n#367\n- 9 -\n#367-11/6\nQ\nDid he therefore ask them to bring it out\nwithout amendments or without the rule?\nMR. NESSEN: He asked them to bring out the\nproposal that he made on April 25, which is an increase --\nsee, his proposal on April 25 was to extend it for 5-3/4\nyears and to increase it each year by $150 million. So\nyou start off with the current base of $5.9 billion and\nthe President's proposal was to increase that each year by\n$150 million for 5-3/4 years.\nQ\nCan you tell us in general what their reaction\nwas?\nMR. NESSEN: I would rather not speak for them.\nQ\nIs it true that the Chairman of the committee\nis opposed to it?\nMR. NESSEN: I just would rather not speak for him,\nHoward.\nQ\nWhat did you say the expiration date is?\nMR. NESSEN: December 31, 1976.\nAfter this briefing we are going to be handing\nout a list of five proposals which were presented to the\nPresident yesterday by John Dunlop and his Labor and\nManagement Committee. These are in the area of housing and\nthey are recommendations from the Labor-Management\nCommittee for steps they think the President should take\non housing. The President will study these proposals and\nget the views of other Members of his Administration dealing\nin this area, and then make his decision.\nThe President telephoned the Vice President\nshortly after the end of the Vice President's news conference.\nThe President saw a short part of the beginning of the news\nconference but was not able to watch the whole thing and\nasked some members of his staff to give him a report on it,\nwhich they did and, at that point, he called the Vice\nPresident on the phone and said, \"I want to congratulate\nyou and thank you.\" He said: \"It was a super job. The\nnice things you said and the way you handled them, it was\nexcellent.'\nQ\nGo slower, Ron.\nMR. NESSEN: \"It was a super job. Then I missed\nsome of the rest of it but the essence of the quote was\nthat he thanked the Vice President and congratulated him\nfor \"nice things you said and the way you handled it.\" He\nsaid, \"It was excellent.\"\nMORE\n#367\n- 10 -\n#367-11/6\nQ\nWhat was he referring to when he said \"the\nway you handled it?\"\nMR. NESSEN: Handled the news conference.\nQ\nRon, can you give us a readout on that\nmeeting last Tuesday?\nMR. NESSEN: And \"it was real good.' 11\nMORE\n#367\n- 11 -\n#367-11/6\nQ\nWhat were the nice things he said, Ron?\nMR. NESSEN: And he also expressed \"it was excellent,\nreal good.\" He also thanked the Vice President for what he\nreferred to as the delightful time at dinner last night and\nsaid, \"we had a great time.\" (Laughter)\nQ\nRon, did you talk to the President after the\npress conference?\nMR. NESSEN: Yes.\nQ What was his reaction to the Vice President's\nkeeping open all options, though, including the possibility\nof running for President next year.\nMR. NESSEN: I not only talked to the President,\nI talked to the Vice President and the Vice President thought\nhe had made it clear but if not wants you to know that he\nis supporting the President and believes he will be nominated.\nQ Well, he didn't tell us that, Ron. He had the\nchance to say that. He was asked about it.\nMR. NESSEN: If he didn't say that in those words,\nor if he didn't spell it out quite that clearly, he wants you\nto know that he will support the President and believes the\nPresident will be nominated.\nQ\nWhy did you call the Vice President, Ron?\nMR. NESSEN: To tell him that I thought he did a\ngood job at the news conference, too -- told him it was real\ngood. (Laughter)\nQ Did you suggest to him that some clarification\nwas necessary?\nMR. NESSEN: We talked about what I anticipated\nyour questions would be.\nQ\nRon, where did the Vice President get the\nidea that he is prohibited from campaigning?\nMR. NESSEN: Well, I also talked to him about that.\nQ Real good? (Laughter)\nMORE\n#367\n- 12 -\n#367-11/6\nQ\nWhat did he have to say about that?\nMR. NESSEN: Well, what he had to say about that was\nthat he is restricted in a number of ways from the campaigning\nhe can do. For one thing, if he went out and campaigned for\nPresident Ford and paid the expenses himself -- and he does\nhave his own airplane, for instance, as you know. (Laughter)\nWell, Sarah, I was asked the question and I took\nthe time to get the information. If you would like to hear it,\nokay.\nQ\nI didn't say I didn't want to hear it.\nMR. NESSEN: Then what are you laughing about?\nQ\nI am just laughing.\nMR. NESSEN: Is it funny that he has his own air-\nplane? Didn't you know that until today?\nQ No.\nMR. NESSEN: All right. Then let's move on to the\nanswers to the questions.\nQ\nThat is why I am laughing, because you don't\nknow --\nMR. NESSEN: Come on, Sarah.\nQ\nRon, he said he is restricted.\nMR. NESSEN: If he campaigned and spent his own\nmoney on campaign expenses, then under the election law, as\nyou know, he is limited to either a cash contribution or the\nequivalent in services of a thousand dollars. He is obviously\nrestricted from using Government funds, Vice Presidential\nOffice funds, for any campaigning. He is also prohibited from\nusing Republican National Committee funds to campaign on\nbehalf of the President.\nNow he is clearly not prohibited from campaigning\nfor the President if his expenses are paid by the President\nFord Committee. He has told the President he will, and he\nwill speak at fund raisers and other events to support President\nFord's candidacy for President when the expenses are paid for\nby the President Ford Committee because that is the only way\nhe can do it.\nMORE\n#367\n- 13 -\n#367-11/6\nQ\nWhy didn't he tell us that, Ron? He seemed\nto say just the opposite.\nMR. NESSEN: Again, he indicated that if it was not\nclear to the people who heard it that I should go ahead and\nsay that.\nQ\nWas he saying that he would be willing to\ncampaign for the President if --\nMR. NESSEN: Not willing, he has told the President\nhe will, and he will.\nQ\nHe will in fact campaign?\nMR. NESSEN: Yes.\nQ\nHas that in fact happened?\nMR. NESSEN: What?\nQ\nHave they picked up any of his expenses?\nMR. NESSEN: I don't think SO.\nQ\nRon, in view of Chairman Callaway's views\nof the Vice President, can you envisage the Ford Campaign\nCommittee paying for Rockefeller to campaign for the\nPresident under Callaway's direction?\nMR. NESSEN: Why don't you ask Bo?\nQ\nBecause you are here and I am asking\nyou. I will ask him at a later time.\nMR. NESSEN: I would only be offering an opinion\nand you don't want to hear my opinion.\nQ\nRon, you say he has told the President that he\nwould do this.\nMR. NESSEN: Yes.\nQ\nDid he tell the President this this morning\nafter the news conference in the phone call?\nMR. NESSEN: I don't think they discussed that this\nmorning, no.\nQ\nDoes the President agree with Rockefeller's\nassessment of how the Republican Party can win this year?\nMORE\n#367\n- 14 -\n#367-11/6\nMR. NESSEN: What was that assessment?\nQ\nI forget what it was, about the center position.\nMR. NESSEN: I think the President has told everybody\nbefore he believes he is a middle of the road candidate.\nHe believes that the Republican Party by registration is\na minority party and the way you win elections is by addition\nand not by subtraction. That is one of his favorite expressions.\nMORE\n#367\n- 15 -\n#367-11/6\nQ\nDoes the President agree with the Vice\nPresident about the squabbling and that being the reason\nthe Vice President took himself out?\nMR. NESSEN: I don't think we want to walk\nthrough every answer, Dick, and say does he approve or\ndisapprove of that answer. You heard what he said to the\nVice President on the phone and I think that gives you an\nidea of his view of the news conference.\nQ\nSpending time with the squabbling difficulties?\nMR. NESSEN: I am not going to go through every\nanswer and comment on it.\nQ\nRon, did the President talk at all with\nthe Vice President about the need to perhaps clarify some\nof those statements or did he then ask Rockefeller to\nspeak with you to clarify some things?\nMR. NESSEN: No. I gave you almost the full\ntext of the phone call.\nQ\nHe hung up the phone and then you called\nagain?\nMR. NESSEN: He said goodbye -- goodbye, Nelson.\nQ\nI am sorry. Does that mean he does not\nexpect to speak to the Vice President any more in the next\nfew months? (Laughter)\nMR. NESSEN: You mean au revoir as opposed to\ngoodbye?\nQ\nRon, I am serious. Did he hand the phone\nto you or did you then go make a separate call?\nMR. NESSEN: No, I had to spend my own dime.\nQ\nFifteen cents.\nQ\nRon, did the President ask you to phone\nthe Vice President?\nMR. NESSEN: No, he did not ask me to phone the\nVice President.\nQ\nRon, is the President having a dinner for\nthe Cabinet tonight?\nMR. NESSEN: Yes.\nQ\nIs Vice President Rockefeller going to be\nthere?\nMORE\n#367\n- 16 -\n#367-11/6\nMR. NESSEN: I assume SO. I haven't seen the\nguest list yet.\nQ\nIs Kissinger going to be there?\nMR. NESSEN: I have not seen the guest list.\nQ\nI gather it is your feeling and the President's\nfeeling that Mr. Rockefeller in his news conference today\ndidn't put a great deal of distance between himself and\nthe President.\nMR. NESSEN: What do you mean by distance, Russ?\nHe has said over and over again he supports the President\nand expects him to be nominated and elected. He says\nthat he is going to campaign for the President. I don't\nunderstand the question.\nQ\nHe didn't say that in the news conference.\nMR. NESSEN: Well, he told me that I could\ncertainly tell you that if you didn't understand him having\nsaid that at the news conference.\nQ\nWe didn't understand him. That is the\nreason I raise the question.\nQ That is why we are concerned.\nMR. NESSEN: I would not agree with you that he\nsaid\nQ Ron, he did say it at the news conference,\nnot that he will campaign for him.\nMR. NESSEN: And he said he did say that.\nQ\nRon, I want to ask a different question.\nWhen are we going to see and be able to question Dick\nCheney?\nMR. NESSEN: We were working on a picture at\nleast, weren't we? That is the first step.\nQ We got our picture.\nMR. NESSEN: You got the picture.\nI don't know, Dick is busy and you know my\npolicy.\nQ Ron --\nMR. NESSEN: Wait a minute.\nMORE\n#367\n- 17 -\n#367-11/6\nMy policy has been since I came here to reverse\nan earlier policy in the White House and my feeling is\nthat every one of the senior staff members or any staff\nmember can deal with interview requests on his own, and I\nhave never gotten in the business of either arranging or\ncensoring interviews. Dick is aware of everybody's interest\nand I think when he feels it is the proper time he will\ndo it.\nQ\nRon, are you aware of the confusion the\nother night when several requests went into your office\nfor a picture of Mr. Rumsfeld and everybody was lined up\nto go in and told there would be no picture, and then Time\nMagazine was taken in and given a picture arranged through\nyour office, not through Mr. Rumsfeld?\nMR. NESSEN: I am aware of the mixup, yes.\nQ\nRon, we have seen several stories to the\neffect that there has been concern about a political back-\nlash within the Administration about the President's\ntravels and yet you come out and announce a full schedule\nof travel next week before he even leaves for Paris.\nMR. NESSEN: What whole schedule of travel? All\nI gave was an evening trip to West Virginia and a trip to\nIwo Jima and a trip to North Carolina.\nQ\nAnd Atlanta, Georgia. Now that is a lot\nof travel in one week when the man should theoretically\nbe preparing for a big world economic summit conference.\nMy question is, has there been a policy decision\nhere that to hell with those who don't think the President\nshould curtail his travels?\nMR. NESSEN: No.\nQ\nRon, what is the President's reaction to\nthe wholesale price index?\nMR. NESSEN: The wholesale price index -- you\ntry to be open and you just lose every time.\nQ\nThe wholesale price index speaks for itself.\nQ\nWhat it meant to say was --\nMR. NESSEN: Well, for those of you who are not\naware of it, the wholesale price index price went up 1.8\npercent in October, quite a big rise.\nMORE\n#367\n- 18 -\n#367-11/6\nThere were a number of technical and one-shot\nfactors which exaggerated the increase but, nevertheless,\nthere is some feeling of concern by the President's\neconomic advisers in their evaluation of the wholesale\nprice index increase. I think some of you who follow this\nknow that it is quite a volatile index in that some months\nit is up a lot and some months it barely raises and the\neconomic staff for the President feels that it would like\nto follow this for a few more months and see the evidence\nover a little longer period of time to make judgments as\nto whether today's figure represents some sort of permanent\ntrend in the increase.\nWhen I talk about technical or one-shot elements\nbeing in this increase, there were some seasonal adjustment\nproblems and I am just not enough of an expert to be able\nto spell those out for you.\nThere is also the factor that the new car prices\nwhich, as you know, went up, hit in this reporting period\nso that would be a one-time jump. The wholesale price index\nwent up one time to reflect the new car prices and which\nwould not be repeated in the future months.\nMORE\n#367\n- 19 -\n#367-11/6\nQ\nDid they identify the volatile factors this\ntime?\nMR. NESSEN: Peter, I don't have that here.\nQ\nWell, how much did they think that these\ntechnical one-shot factors distorted the wholesale price\nindex?\nMR. NESSEN: Well, I mean, Tom, there is no effort\nto minimize the increase and I don't mean to -- and, as I say,\nthere are elements of concern among the President's economic\nadvisers, certainly another reminder that inflation is\nby no means something that can be ignored in shaping other\neconomic policies of the Government.\nQ\nRon, weren't they very concerned by what\nhappened?\nMR. NESSEN: I would not say that that is true,\nno.\nQ\nRon, is this concern such that if the prices\ncontinue to rise, to continue to take big increases for\nseveral months, the President might re-consider his\neconomic tax package insofar as that element which calls\nfor a $10 billion increase in the deficit for the last half\nof fiscal 1976, since that is generally regarded as inflationary?\nMR. NESSEN: Well, I think you have got a couple\nof elements that are not right there, Ted. For one thing, the\neffect on the deficit,as I understand it, would be in the area\nof $4 billion from the President's proposal of a $28 billion\ntax cut and a reduction in the growth of spending by\n$28 billion.\nObviously, the President has sent up a whole series\nof proposals to hold fiscal 1976 spending down which Congress\nhas ignored or rejected. So, if you are asking is he in\nfavor of bigger deficits, the answer is clearly no. The\nquestion ought to really be addressed to Congress.\nQ\nAm I wrong that the fact sheet distributed\nthat night and the press briefing by Simon and Lynn said $10\nbillion?\nMR. NESSEN: My memory is $4 billion. Carlson will\nknow that.\nQ\nHas the President expressed himself on the\nWays and Means Committee bill that is coming out this week?\nMORE\n#367\n- 20 -\n#367-11/6\nMR. NESSEN: Well, you know, the Ways and Means bill\nis really still in the process of being put together and they\nhave not really put the final elements in.\nThe problem with the Ways and Means Committee is\nthat as a parliamentary matter and not as a substantive matter\nthe Chairman has ruled, and the majority on the Committee has\nupheld him, that as a parliamentary matter the Committee should\nnot take a position on a spending ceiling. But that was not\na vote on the issue, that was a vote on the jurisdiction of\nthe Committee. As I understand it, there are a number of\nproposals to deal with the President's proposal for a spending\nceiling through another mechanism, either on the floor or\nin the Budget Committee or by attaching it as an amendment\nto another bill. So that issue really has not been addressed\nby the Committee or the House as a whole.\nThe White House feels that the House as a whole\nshould have an opportunity to vote on that because there is\na good deal of support for it there.\nQ\nDo you have a date for the China trip?\nMR. NESSEN: I don't, Dick.\nQ\nRon, is there any doubt that it is going to be\nheld in the first week of December?\nMR. NESSEN: The plans are all going ahead along that\nline.\nQ\nAre the Chinese being difficult to deal with,\nRon?\nMR. NESSEN: There are just a number of technical\nand scheduling matters being discussed with the Chinese.\nQ\nDo you have anything on when the advance team\nis going?\nQ\nHas the date been agreed on yet?\nMR. NESSEN: It is still being negotiated.\nQ\nRon, I thought it was the job of the advance\nteam to go to a country and deal on the spot with these\nscheduling and technical matters which you now say are\nholding up the departure of the advance team.\nMR. NESSEN: I didn't say they were holding up the\ndeparture of the advance team, but the negotiations are\ngoing ahead.\nMORE\n#367\n- 21 -\n#367-11/6\nQ\nHas the team left?\nMR. NESSEN: The advance team, as I told you\nyesterday, had to juggle its schedule a little bit or change\nits plans because with the Paris trip coming and the China\ntrip and some of the people being involved in advancing both\ntrips they had to change their schedule on how they were\ngoing to do this and be able to do both things.\nQ\nRon, does the White House expect to see\ndecontrol legislation on gas that the President can approve\nbefore the expiration of the controls on the 15th?\nMR. NESSEN: Well, the conferees are still putting\ntogether a bill and people from the White House are working\nwith them. Some of the things being discussed up there would\nresult in, frankly, an increase in imports, a decrease in\ndomestic production and an increase in fuel consumption.\nNow, if a bill arrived here at the White House\nthat contained those elements, the President would veto it\nbut I don't want you to get the idea that there is any\nassumption here that such a bill is going to arrive because\nit is still being put together and White House people are\nup there working with the conferees and so it is possible\nthat something would emerge that the President could sign.\nQ\nIs the President making any stop-overs other\nthan Paris?\nMR. NESSEN: No.\nQ\nDon Rumsfeld was Chief of Staff, he held\nCabinet rank. Will Cheney get Cabinet rank also?\nMR. NESSEN: That is one of the things that has not\nbeen decided yet.\nQ\nDoes the White House currently have to\napprove Vice President Rockefeller's travel schedule?\nMR. NESSEN: Not that I know of.\nQ\nSo anytime he wants to fly somewhere, he can\njust go out to Andrews and get on Air Force One and go there\nwithout checking in first with somebody here at the White House?\nMR. NESSEN: I think he has to call somebody up and\nsay \"I want to use the plane tonight, Dad.\"\n-\n---\nBut I mean there is no --\nMORE\n#367\n- 22 --\n#367-11/6\nQ\nYou say you think he has to do that or he does\nnot have to do that?\nMR. NESSEN: He has to call somebody to make sure\nthe plane is ready to go, but he does not have to get any-\nbody's permission to fly anywhere.\nQ\nAnd that somebody that he has to call is not\nhere, it is somebody over --\nMR. NESSEN: There or in the Military Aides' Office.\nHe has got a military aide, so presumably his military aide\nwould make the arrangements for the plane.\nQ\nBut his schedule is not staffed through the\nWhite House directly?\nMR. NESSEN: That is correct.\nQ\nDoes the President contemplate any change in\nthat?\nMR. NESSEN: No, not that I know of.\nTHE PRESS: Thank you, Ron.\nEND\n(AT 12:20 P.M. EDT)"
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