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    "title": "Remarks of the President at the Grossmont Shopping Center [Ford Speech or Statement]",
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    "ocrText": "Digitized from Box 33 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nOCTOBER 24, 1976\nOFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY\n(La Mesa, California)\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nREMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT\nAT THE\nGROSSMONT SHOPPING CENTER\n8:17 P.M. PDT\nCongressman Bob Wilson, Mayor Pete Wilson,\nCongressman Clair Burgener, Mayor Fordem, distinguished\nguests, ladies and gentlemen:\nLet me thank this wonderful group of\nentertainers, superb performers, celebrities: Peter\nGraves, thank you very much; Hugh O'Brien, thank you;\nZsa Zsa, we love you; Lance Alworth, thank you; Rod\nMcKuen; and those super singers, Serendipity Singers;\nand the chicken, I love it. (Laughter)\nAnd then we have four wonderful bands -- the\nHelix, Grossmont, Mt. Miguel and El Cajon. Thank you\nall very much.\nBut now I brought with me two super people\nwho were on a program with me this afternoon, which was\nshown all over the State of California. They are known\nto all of you. First, is Joe Garagiola; and then one\nof the finest Members of Congress that I have ever known,\na tough adversary -- when she was with you, you couldn't\nlose -- supporting me, Edith Green of Oregon.\nWhat a treat to be in San Diego and its\nwonderful surrounding communities. I love you and thank\nyou very, very much.\nAs I said in Kansas City, I won't concede a\nsingle State; I won't concede a single vote. The Ford-\nDole ticket, as I see California today, will win in\nCalifornia, and thank you very, very much. Let me extend\nto all of you a wonderful invitation, a very special\ninvitation: Come to Washington next January for the\ninauguration of Jerry Ford and Bob Dole.\nYou know where I stand. I stand on your side\nfor limited Government, for fiscal responsibility, for\nrising prosperity, for lower taxes, for military strength,\nfor peace in the world, and I say with pride, not a single\nyoung American is fighting or dying on any foreign soil\ntonight, and we will keep it that way.\nMORE\nPage 2\nAfter so many years in which America's\ndefensive needs were shortchanged I proposed the last\ntwo years the two biggest defense budgets in the history\nof the United States. I convinced the Congress in 1976\nthat they should stop slashing, stop cutting, stop gutting\nthe defense appropriation, and the net result is today,\nAmerica today and America in the future will be number\none, and we are going to keep it that way.\nBut let me add parenthetically, my opponent\nin this campaign has promised defense cuts of at least\n$5 to $7 billion. What does that mean? That kind of\ndefense cut would require troop withdrawals from many\nstrategic outposts around the world. It would delay or\ncancel our advance new weapons systems like the B-1 bomber.\nIt would slow down our ship construction program. It\nwould do serious damage in some of our other research and\ndevelopment programs. It might be just closing defense\nplants throughout the United States, including some\nright here in the great State of California. We aren't\ngoing to let that happen. America must stay number one.\nAfter so many years of runaway inflation, runaway\ngrowth in the Federal budget, I submitted a budget for the\nthird fiscal year which will cut the rate of growth in\nFederal spending by 50 percent. I have held the line\non Government spending with 66 vetoes and saved you, the\nhard-pressed American taxpayer, $9 billion, and each\nfamily in this country has been saved $200 by those tough\nvetoes, and we are going to have more and more if the next\nCongress is as bad as this Congress. Because I said no\non these 66 bills, we will be able to submit a balanced\nbudget to the American people and to the next Congress in\n1978. And we will have another tax reduction, in addition.\nMy idea of tax reform is tax reduction. I\nproposed, for example, raising your personal exemption\nfrom $750 to $1,000. The middle income taxpayer in\nthis country has been shortchanged, and we are going to\nchange it in the next Congress.\nThe other day I was out to a factory talking\nto some hard-working people who put in their eight hours\na day, who work hard, pay their taxes, and they asked me\nabout tax reduction. I said, \"How many children do you\nhave in your family?\" He said three. He has five\nexemptions. I said that if the tax reduction that I\nproposed goes through -- and we are going to get it next\ntime -- it would mean that you, when you fill out your\nincome tax return, will be able to take a $1,250 more\ntax exemption in your next tax return. That helps the\nmiddle income taxpayer, and that is what we are going\nto get.\nMORE\nPage 3\nAfter so many years of uncontrolled inflation,\nI am proud to say that we have cut inflation by 50 percent\nin the past two years, and I pledge to you we will do better\nin the next four years. After the worst recession in 40\nyears, we have added four million new jobs in the American\neconomy, not by creating deadend jobs for those that want\nto work, jobs created at the taxpayers' expense, but by\nstimulating jobs with a future in the private economy where\nfive out of those six jobs exist today.\nToo many people are out of work, I recognize\nthat. We are not satisfied with the progress we have\nmade, but more Americans were on the job in 1976 than\never before in the history of this great country -- nearly\n88 million people -- and that is a tremendous comeback\nfrom where we were just a year and a half ago.\nAfter suffering -- and I say this with sadness --\nafter suffering a tragic betrayal of public trust two\nyears ago, America has had its faith restored in the White\nHouse. My Administration has been open, candid, straight-\nforward and we will keep it that way for the next four\nyears.\nIn every field America is on the move, on the\nmarch. We have made an incredible comeback in the past\ntwo years, and we are not through yet. You can believe\nme when I say -- I say it from my heart -- America, this\nnation, is sound, this nation is secure, this nation is on\nthe way to a better quality of life, and this Adminis-\ntration has earned the trust of the American people for\nthe next four years.\nMy record is one of progress, not platitudes:\nperformance, not promises. We don't need a Government to\ndo everything for us or tell us everything we can or\ncannot do. As I travel around this great country, I find\nwe have a great reservoir of talent and industry in\nAmerica, and it is not all concentrated, believe me, on the\nbanks of the Potomac. Don't ever believe that.\nJimmy Carter has indicated -- Jimmy Carter has\ntold the American people that the United States is not\nrespected anymore. This week America made a clean sweep\nof the Nobel Prizes for economics, chemistry, physics,\nmedicine and literature. This is the first time in history\nthat a single country has brought home all of these winners.\nThat doesn't sound like a second-rate nation to me.\nAs I stand before this fantastic crowd of\nwonderful people from this part of California, I say from\nthe bottom of my heart I am proud to be an American, I am\nproud of all of you and we are proud of America.\nMORE\nPage 4\nWe have our problems, but in the past two\nyears we have come a long, long way. At home and abroad,\nwe are putting all of our differences aside. We are\nputting our old problems behind us and we are healing\nthe wounds. There is an old saying among many of us,\n\"You can disagree without being disagreeable,\" and\nAmerica is united. We are healed. We are on our way.\nLet's keep going.\nAs I look back over these troubled two years,\nit is a record that I think all of us can share. It is\na record that I am proud of, a record for the people of\nCalifornia, and concerned citizens throughout America --\nDemocrats, Independents and Republicans. I think it is\na record you will support and the people in 49 other States\nwill support November 2.\nGive me your mandate and we will reduce the\ngrowth of Government in the next four years. Give me\nyour mandate and we will insure the integrity of the\nSocial Security system. We will improve Medicare so that\nour older citizens can enjoy the health and the happiness\nthat they have worked so hard and so reachly earned. There\nis no reason that they should have to go broke just to get\nwell.\nGive me your mandate and we will create a tax\nstructure that is fair to all, that will preserve the\nfamily home, the family business, the family farm, that\nwill give us business tax incentives to build new plants,\nto modernize old ones and to create more jobs.\nGive me your mandate and I will lead this\nnation on a Dath of peace through strength, and we will\nlive in peace and freedom in the United States of\nAmerica. I have no fear for the future of this country.\nFor America, the future is a friend, and as we go forward\ntogether, I promise you once more -- as I promised you\nbefore -- to uphold the Constitution, to do what is\nright as God gives me to see the right, and to do the\nvery best that I can for our beloved America. God helping\nme, I will not let you down.\nThank you and good night.\nEND\n(AT 8:33 P.M. PDT)"
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