Press Conference

JAMES C. HAGERTY'S NEWS CONFERENCE DECEMBER 30, 1958 3:58 P.M., E.S.T. TUESDAY GETTYSBURG, PA. MR. HAGERTY: The President will sign the Alaska Statehood Proclamation, and will issue the Executive Order on the designation of the new Flag at ceremonies in the White House, Saturday at Noon. He would expect, weather permitting, to ¹copter down and then come back for the rest of the week-end. Now whether that would mean return early Monday morning or whether he will go back Sunday night, I just don't know. Q: Down and back the same day, though ? MR. HAGERTY: Yes. The President has extended invitations to the following to attend the ceremonies: The Vice President, and the Speaker of the House. As you might know, those are the two constitutional officers fof the Congress. The Secretary of the Interior; The Acting Governor of Alaska, Mr. Waino E. Hendrickson; the Chairman of the Alaska Statehood Committee, Mr. Robert B. Atwood; the last Presidentially appointed Governor of Alaska, Michael A. Stepovich; the two Senators=elect from the new State, Ernest Gruening and E. L. Bartlett. Mr. Bartlett, as you probably remember, was the Alaskan Delegate at the last Congress; also the Congressman-elect, Mr. Ralph J. Rivers and the Governor-elect Mr. William A. Egan. Those telegrams extending the invita- tion to these individuals from the President went out today. I am quite sure they have received them by now. Q: Do you have any preliminary indication of whether they will be down or whether they may be having some ceremonies up there too ? MR. HAGERTY: I would think they would be down. Q: They may have something going on at Juneau, I don't know. Burn the state house down. MR. HAGERTY: We haven't received any word from them yet because the telegrams just went out today. That's all I have this afternoon, unless you have some questions. Q: Jim, what will this ceremony consist of, these people just go in the President's office or the Cabinet room MR. HAGERTY: We haven't decided quite where we will have it. I would think either the President's office or more probably the Cabinet Room so that we can get more of you people in, and the photographic services, in the Cabinet Room than you can in the President's office. Q: Will the President have a statement ? MR. HAGERTY: Well, if he did it would be a very short ceremony. I don't expect that it would be any elaborate ceremony at all. Q: Alaska becomes a State the minute the Proclamation becomes legal ---