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OCR Page 1 of 63PRESS CONFERENCE NO. 23
of the
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
3:09 P.M. EST
March 24, 1972
Friday
In the Oval Office
At the White House
Washington, D.C.
THE PRESIDENT: We will take your questions first.
QUESTION: In view of the suspension of the Paris peace
talks, can you tell us if the hopes are dimming for a negotiated
peace settlement and what you assess the situation is?
THE PRESIDENT: What we are trying to do there, Miss
Lewine, and this is being done under my direction, is to break
the filibuster. There has been a three and a half year fili-
buster on the peace talks on the part of the North Vietnamese.
They refuse to negotiate seriously and they use the talks for
the purpose of propaganda while we have been trying to seek peace.
Whenever the enemy is ready to negotiate seriously, we are ready
to negotiate and I would emphasize we are ready to negotiate in
public channels or in private channels.
As far as the hopes for a negotiated peace are concerned,
I would say that the way the talks were going, there was no
hope whatever. I am not saying that this move is going to bring
a negotiation. I do say, however, that it was necessary to do
something to get the talks off dead center and to see whether the
enemy continued to want to use the talks only for propaganda or
whether they wanted to negotiate.
When they are ready, we are ready, but we are not going
to continue to allow them to use this forum for the purpose of
bullying the United States in a propaganda forum rather than
in seriously negotiating peace, as we tried to do as exemplified
by not only our private contacts in the 12 meetings that I
discussed on January 25th, but also in my speech of January 25th,
in which I made a very forthcoming offer.
QUESTION: Was there any link between the ITT antitrust
settlement and the contribution to San Diego as a convention
city and do you think Mr. Kleindienst will be confirmed as
the Attorney General?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I have noted that you ladies
and gentlemen of the press have been pressing on this matter,
as you should, because it is a matter of very great interest
in the Senate and in the nation.
I will simply limit my remarks to these observations:
First, Mr. Kleindienst is being considered for, as you have
indicated, confirmation as Attorney General of the United
States. That is the purpose of the hearings. I had confidence
when I appointed him that he was qualified for this position.
I still have that confidence. I believe that he should be
confirmed and I believe that he will be confirmed.
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Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum