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7338836
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Exchange of Remarks between the President and John E. Robson at the Swearing-in Ceremony of John E. Robson as the Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board [Ford Speech or Statement]
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7338836
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document
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Exchange of Remarks between the President and John E. Robson at the Swearing-in Ceremony of John E. Robson as the Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board [Ford Speech or Statement]
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White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
Press Releases
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21
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1975-04-21
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4
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1975
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Digitized from Box 10 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 21, 1975
OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY
THE WHITE HOUSE
EXCHANGE OF REMARKS
BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT
AND
JOHN E. ROBSON
AT THE SWEARING-IN CEREMONY
OF
JOHN E. ROBSON
AS THE CHAIRMAN OF THE
CIVIL AERONAUTICS BOARD
THE ROSE GARDEN
5:04 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Members of the Cabinet, Members
of Congress, distinguished guests:
It is a great privilege and pleasure for me to
participate in the swearing-in of John Robson as the
Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board. It is my
judgment that the American commercial airline industry is
one of the very best. It has got fine people running it,
managing it. It has got outstanding equipment and fine
employees. It performs, in my judgment, a very useful
function, a very vital part of our transportation system.
It seems to me, however, that as we try
to achieve the most efficient commercial airline service
in this country at the lowest possible cost, we do have to
have an organization such as the CAB to look after such
mundane matters as fares, routes, competition and, of
course, the CAB must not neglect the environment, energy
and a raft of other important matters that are in the
public interest.
In John Robson I think we will have a Chairman
who will do an outstanding job. His experience in the
field of transportation goes back to the days when the
Department of Transportation was first established, first
as General Counsel and second as Under Secretary. He is
an outstanding lawyer, a person who has had experience
in Government, as well as in private practice.
John, it is a privilege and a pleasure for me
to be here on this occasion to participate in your swearing-
in, and at this point, may I ask Justice Rehnquist to
actually perform the function of making you a member,
first, and following that, I will designate you officially
as Chairman of the CAB.
(Justice William H. Rehnquist administered the
oath of office.)
Page 2
MR. ROBSON: Thank you, Mr. President, thank you,
Mr. Justice Rehnquist, and thank all of you distinguished
Members of the Congress, my friends and others from the
Government, and my family for being here with me.
Mr. President, I recall a conversation some
months ago that you and I had when I remarked that I
thought this was a difficult time to govern. And your
response was not a sigh of resigned agreement, but was
a statement that the difficult times offer the greatest
opportunities for new ideas and creative action.
In the area of the responsibility that I am
about to enter, new ideas and new concepts may very well
be needed. I go in with an open mind and a commitment
to search for new and good solutions and to implement them --
or try to implement them.
But the novelty of an idea and its merit are not
always coincident. As one of your predecessors said, "New
ideas can be good or bad, just like old ones."
So, I approach my new task with a sense of
deliberateness, seeking to avoid, as Winston Churchill
once said, a needless quarrel between the past and the
future only to find that we have lost the present.
I enthusiastically accept the challenge, Mr.
President. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to
serve, and I hope that I shall always justify your
confidence.
Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. We
are very grateful. I see around here a good many old
friends. It is nice to see you. I am sure this occasion
will be one that will be the beginning of a new era as
far as the CAB is concerned.
Congratulations again, John.
END
(AT 5:10 P.M. EDT)