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Question and Answer Session with the President at the Guest Quarters, Barksdale Air Force Base (Bossier City, Louisiana) [Ford Speech or Statement]
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7343725
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Question and Answer Session with the President at the Guest Quarters, Barksdale Air Force Base (Bossier City, Louisiana) [Ford Speech or Statement]
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White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
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1976-04-27
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1976
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Digitized from Box 25 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 27, 1976
OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY
(Bossier City, Louisiana)
THE WHITE HOUSE
QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION
WITH THE PRESIDENT
AT THE
GUEST QUARTERS
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE
4:21 P.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon.
Yes?
QUESTION: Mr. President, I understand that today
the Senate passed a bill that would mandate the Federal
takeover of Louisiana's grain activities.
THE PRESIDENT: Grain?
QUESTION: Yes.
My understanding is you in the past have said you
might veto such legislation. What is your position on it
today?
THE PRESIDENT: It is my understanding that the
Senate either yesterday or today passed what is called the
Clark Grain Inspection Bill. It would totally Federalize
the grain inspection service not only at the ports, but in
the inland.
I have indicated that I would veto that legis-
lation. I strongly favor an improvement and a change in
our grain inspection service, and we submitted a bill to
the Congress, we submitted one to the House of Representatives,
the Committee on Agriculture, and that bill has been changed
somewhat by the House committee.
We will endorse the House committee bill and
hopefully in conference with the Senate they can modify
the Senate version so it would be acceptable and it would
coincide with the House committee bill and the legislation
that I recommended.
MORE
Page 2
QUESTION: Mr. President, there have been
conflicting reports it seems to me in recent days and
weeks of your attitude toward the Panama Canal. Are you
or are you not in favor of the eventual turning over of
control of the Canal Zone and the Canal to another
Government?
THE PRESIDENT: I do not intend to turn it over
during the usable or economic lifetime of the Canal as
far as we are concerned. But, let me point out what my
opponent has said.
He has said in effect that we should stop the
negotiating process that was initiated first by President
Johnson in 1965 following the riots of 1964 where 24
people were killed, including four U.S. servicemen. Those
negotiations have gone on with the Government of Panama
since 1965. They are now in process at this time and the
reason we are doing that is to find an answer so that we
can maintain the operation, the maintenance and the defense
of that Canal during the term of a treaty so that it will be
usable by us and by other parties during its usable
economic lifetime.
Now, let me point out what my opponent's position
is. He, in effect, says that we should stop negotiating.
I think that is irresponsible. Let me tell you why.
In the first place, it would mean that we would
have a resumption of the riots and the bloodshed that took
place in 1964. It means that we would alienate 309 million
people in South America, including 25 Governments in
South America, who believe that we should make changes in
the present set-up in the Panama. It means that with more
riots and more bloodshed and the likelihood that we would
have sabotage and guerilla activity involving the Panama
Canal, that we would have to send an additional 10,000 to
20,000 American servicemen down to the Canal zone to defend
the Canal.
Now, this can all be avoided by rational, reason-
able negotiations aimed at a long-term treaty that would
extend into the next century, and this is the constructive
process that President Johnson initiated and I am following
at the present time, and I can assure you that we will do
nothing that will jeopardize the national security of the
country.
OUESTION: Mr. President, what is the status of the
Federal Energy Agency? We understand it is going to end
in June and its responsibilities will be scattered.
MORE
Page 3
THE PRESIDENT: I have recommended that the FEA
be extended for a period of three years, as I recall. That
is necessary for several reasons. One, the Congress passed
a 40-month decontrol piece of legislation and some agency
has to be in place in the Federal Government to carry out
the 40-month decontrol.
Secondly, Congress has passed, at my request,
the so-called stockpiling bill of fuel oil, domestic oil,
so that if we had another embargo, we would have a reserve
that would help us over the hump. Some agency has to carry
out the stockpiling of oil so that we have this reserve.
So, I have recommended the extension of the FEA
for three years so that we could carry out the responsibility
of decontrol and the handling of these stockpiles.
QUESTION: Do you think it will continue?
THE PRESIDENT: I think the Congress will pass it,
yes.
Yes?
QUESTION: What does the status of the new Govern-
ment policy on black Africa have to do with your campaign
in the South -- Louisiana, Texas and some of the other
States?
THE PRESIDENT: Our policy in Africa is the
following:
Number one, this country on a worldwide basis has
always believed in self-determination for any country,
regardless of whether it was Africa or anyplace else.
This country, the United States, has always believed in
guaranteeing minority rights, and this country has also
believed that no country, the United States or any other
nation, should dominate a developing continent such as
Africa and particularly South Africa.
So, what we are trying to do is to make sure that
Africa has an opportunity for self-determination with the
protection or guarantee of minority rights and the nondenom-
ination by any outside country such as the Soviet Union
or the United States or any other country.
QUESTION: Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes?
MORE
Page 4
QUESTION: Mr. President, on strictly a local
issue, Senator Russell Long of Louisiana said last week
that he will attempt to use his influence wiht the White
House to block the nomination of U.S. Attorney General
John Walters to a U.S. judgeship. What is the situation
on this, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: It is my understanding that Mr.
Walters' name is now before the Department of Justice for
consideration for a potential or possible appointment to the
Federal bench. But, that name, nor any other name, has
come to me for my approval as far as filling a vacancy in
the Western District of Louisiana.
QUESTION: Mr. President, how do you view your
chances in Texas on Saturday? Are your views any different
than they were a couple of weeks ago, especially in
light of reports that Wallace supporters are saying switch
over and vote for Reagan?
THE PRESIDENT: I still think we are underdogs in
Texas, but we are closing the gaps and the four days that I
am going to spend in Texas I hope will be beneficial. I
believe that it would be helpful for us to get as many as
possible of independent voters in Texas, as well as
Democrats in Texas, to vote in the Republican primary, and
the bigger the vote the better it will be for us.
QUESTION: Do you think you can win?
THE PRESIDENT: I think we have a chance to
win.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.
MR. CARLSON: One more.
QUESTION: Mobil Oil Company was reported
yesterday as negotiating with the Vietnamese Government
to drill for oil off the Vietnamese coast. What is the
Administration's position on this?
THE PRESIDENT: That is a private business
venture as far as Mobil Oil is concerned, and we have no
official position on that problem.
Thank you very much.
THE PRESS: Thank you, Mr. President.
END
(AT 4:31 P.M. CDT)