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Remarks of the President and Question and Answer Session upon his Arrival to Love Field [Ford Speech or Statement]
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7343767
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Remarks of the President and Question and Answer Session upon his Arrival to Love Field [Ford Speech or Statement]
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White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
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1976-04-29
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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 29, 1976
OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY
(Dallas, Texas)
THE WHITE HOUSE
REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT
AND
QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION
UPON HIS ARRIVAL TO
LOVE FIELD
7:09 P.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: I want to congratulate you, Bob,
for winning the great victory for mayorship of Dallas, and
I congratulate you and wish you the very, very best in
a verv important responsibility in handling the good affairs
of the City of Dallas, and I know you will with great success.
I do want to thank Tom Landry, who I have known
for a good many years and envied and respected, because
I think Tom epitomizes the finest in American competitive
athletics. It is nice to see both Tom and Mrs. Landry.
Then it is nice to see Mary Ellen. I have seen
a lot of very beautiful young ladies in the State of
Texas in the last two days and it is nice to meet Miss
Texas. Congratulations and best wishes to you.
With those observations and comments, I would
be delighted and pleased to answer any questions.
May I say with the deepest gratitude, I am
delighted to be here in Dallas and to be, at this time,
with Mayor Bob Folsom, and I am delighted, of course, and
highly honored and pleased with the endorsement of Tom
Landry for my candidacy for the nomination as well as the
Presidency of the United States, and thank you very, very
much, Tom.
I would be glad to answer any questions.
QUESTION: It has been said that you will ask
Congress to repeal the Byrd amendment. Why did you wait
so late to ask Congress to repeal, and what type of effect
will it have on other countries? Will you ask them to also
buffer up the sanctions on that amendment?
THE PRESIDENT: I think, first, you have to
understand the factual situation. When I was in the House
of Representatives as minority leader, when I became
President, I have consistently believed that the overall
benefits of the repeal of the Byrd amendment overcame any
reasons to retain the Byrd amendment.
MORE
Page 2
So I haven't changed my position. I have been
consistent for a long, long time and I hope and trust
that the Congress will do SO.
QUESTION: President Ford, you are reported as
saying that the Nation will be better off as soon as it
forgets Watergate. Do you think that is a self-serving
statement since obviously the Republican Party will be
better off as soon as the Nation forgets Watergate?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think that was a very
unfortunate period in American history, a real tragedy,
and I think we have more important things to think about
in the future than to be concerned and distraught by some
of the problems that occurred in the past.
As a personal matter, I think the record is very,
very clear. When I was nominated for Vice President, 400
FBI agents spent better than a month checking my record
from birth to my age and they found nothing had any
connection whatsoever with Watergate, nothing. And then
two committees, one in the House and one in the Senate,
investigated, interrogated me and came to the conclusion
I had no connection whatsoever with Watergate.
Then the Senate and the House as a whole by
overwhelming votes confirmed me, clearly indicating that
in their opinion -- and I want you to remember it was a
Democratic Congress -- overwhelmingly confirmed me by
a substantial margin. So I think as far as I am personally
concerned, I have no connection whatsoever with the Watergate
period.
QUESTION: Mr. President, earlier today you said
John Connally had good reasons to remain neutral in the
primary. Could you tell us what those good reasons are?
THE PRESIDENT: I assume, since John, who is
a very good friend of mine, has decided not to endorse me
or to endorse my opponent, he had good reasons. I think
you will have to ask him for the reasons that he has not
endorsed either me or my opponent.
QUESTION: Does the addition of Coach Landry
indicate any last-minute change in his strategy? (Laughter)
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I have known Coach Landry
and respected him, not only as an outstanding football
player but probably one or the outstanding coaches in the
National professional league in the history of that league.
So I feel very, very fortunate that a man of that stature,
a man of that great respect in Texas, as well as elsewhere,
has endorsed me. I am just very grateful.
MORE
Page 3
QUESTION: Mr. President, earlier today you said
you could confirm the gist of the Woodward-Bernstein
book "The Final Days." I wonder if your confirmation
includes such things as the characterization and description
of your Secretary of State and his relationship with the
former President? It described Mr. Kissinger as despising
the former President and working with him anyhow.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, the investigation by the
FBI of my record, the investigation by the two committees
in the Congress -- the House and the Senate -- involved
me and my record, and they found that I passed the test
without any problem. They didn't get into the relationship
of other individuals to anybody else in the Administration.
QUESTION: So in confirming that the gist of the
book was true, you are not confirming that particular --
THE PRESIDENT: No, I was only confirming my
personal experiences in those latter days and, as far as
I had any personal observations, any personal connections,
it was strictly a business relationship where the President
told me at one time that he was going to step aside and
it was strictly a man-to-man conversation.
QUESTION: So far, have you been pleased with
Kissinger's outcome of his trip in Africa?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I think that Secretary
Kissinger has gone there at my direction, one, to reaffirm
this country's belief in the right of self-determination
of any country, including the United States -- that, of
course, is how we became a country -- and, secondly, that
under any and all circumstances this country stands for the
full protection of minority rights.
At the same time, the Secretary has clearly
stated to all of Africa that the United States does not
believe that any foreign powers outside of Africa should
seek to dominate Africa. Africa should grow and prosper
and strengthen itself by its own efforts with the broad
help and assistance of a number of more developed nations
of the world. So the Secretary has carried out my
directives and I think our relationship with the nations
of Africa have been considerably enhanced.
QUESTION: Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very, very much. It
is nice to see you. It is great to be back in Dallas.
END (AT 7:16 P.M. CDT)