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Michigan Association of County Officials, Grand Rapids, MI, January 18, 1971
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Michigan Association of County Officials, Grand Rapids, MI, January 18, 1971
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
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The original documents are located in Box D30, folder "Michigan Association of County
Officials, Grand Rapids, MI, January 18, 1971" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press
Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Digitized from Box D30 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF COUNTY OFFICIALS
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, 7 P.M. MONDAY,
JANUARY 18, 1971
Its up , Rowneys senter now
IN 1969 AMERICANS MADE THE
IMPOSSIBLE DREAM COME TRUE. THEY MADE
THE MOON MAN PROVINCE.
IMMEDIATELY THERE WERE THOSE WHO
DECLARED THAT NOTHING WAS IMPOSSIBLE OF
ACHIEVEMENT IN AMERICA. PEOPLE THROUGHOUT
OUR LAND WERE CAUGHT UP IN A WAVE OF
EUPHORIA. THE HORIZONS WERE LIMITLESS.
ALL PROBLEMS COULD BE SOLVED IF WE WOULD
ONLY UNITE IN A SHOW OF NATIONAL WILL.
SINCE THAT TIME THE EUPHORIA
HAS EVAPORATED.
/
SOBERER VOICES HAVE NOTED
THAT CONTROLLING INFLATION ELIMINATING
RACISM,/GENERATING PROSPERITY AND WIPING
OUT HUNGER ARE VASTLY MORE DIFFICULT
ACHIEVE THAN ROCKETING TO THE MOON.
GERALE TOFORD LIBRARY
-2-
MY OWN FEELING IS THAT THE
EUPHORIA WAS NOT ENTIRELY MISPLACED. NOR
IS THERE ANY REASON TO BE PESSIMISTIC
ABOUT ACHIEVING ECONOMIC SECURITY, / SOCIAL
JUSTICE AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE QUALITY OF
LIFE FOR ALL AMERICANS.
IT IS EASY TO FORGET THAT THE
FIRST MANNED U.S. SPACE FLIGHT TOOK PLACE
MORE THAN FOUR YEARS BEFORE NEIL ARMSTRONG
EMERGED FROM HIS SPACECRAFT AND ANNOUNCED
THAT "EAGLE HAS LANDED."
WHAT I AM SAYING, OF COURSE, IS
THAT SOLVING OUR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
PROBLEMS TAKES TIME, JUST AS IT TOOK TIME
FOR US TO MASTER THE TREMENDOUS COMPLEXITIES
OF MANNED SPACE FLIGHT. THERE ARE
OBSTACLES -- THERE WILL BE FAILURES -- BUT
I BELIEVE WE ULTIMATELY WILL TRIUMPH.
DERALD FORD LIBRARY
WE WILL NOT BE EMPLOYING THE
SAME ARRAY OF TECHNOLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC
-3-
SKILLS THAT PUT MEN ON THE MOON TO SOLVE
OUR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS. BUT SOLVE
THEM WE WILL -- IN TIME.
IT IS POSSIBLE TO ENGINEER AN
IMPOSSIBLE DREAM INTO REALITY -- AND I THINK
WE STAND ON THE THRESHOLD OF DOING SO
WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT IS THE
RETURN OF POWER TO THE LOCAL SCENE --
Then
REDIRECTING TO THE LOCAL UNITS OF GOVERNMENT
stand
100
$500
SOME OF THE POWER THAT HAS FLOWED
500
UNCEASINGLY AND INCREASINGLY TO WASHINGTON
IN
THE LAST FOUR DECADES.
I THINK THERE CURRENTLY IS A
SICKNESS IN THE AMERICAN SYSTEM -- AND I
CERTAINLY AM NOT A MEMBER OF THE NEW LEFT.
however
THE SICKNESS I SPEAK OF IS THE
POWERLESSNESS OF LOCAL UNITS OF GOVERNMENT
TO DEAL ADEQUATELY WITH THE PROBLEMS WHICH
CONFRONT THEM -- A POWERLESSNESS WHICH IS
LIBRARY
-4-
DUE TO LACK OF SUFFICIENT FUNDS AND A
GOVERNMENTAL STRUCTURE WHICH FINDS
WASHINGTON CALLING TOO MANY OF THE SHOTS.
THE REMEDY APPEARS OBVIOUS AND
RELATIVELY SIMPLE. SINCE WASHINGTON IS THE
MANEY
BIG TAX COLLECTOR, LET'S HAVE WASHINGTON
CUT IN THE LOCAL UNITS OF GOVERNMENT FOR
A SHARE OF THE FEDERAL TAX TAKE.
THE THE
A
AFTER ALL, IT'S THE PEOPLE'S MONEY.
SO LET'S PUT THAT MONEY WHERE IT WILL DO THE
MOST GOOD. LET'S PUT THAT MONEY WHERE THE
PROBLEMS ARE, AND LET LOCAL ADMINISTRATORS
USE THOSE FUNDS ACCORDING TO LOCAL
PRIORITIES.
THE ADMINISTRATION'S
REVENUE-SHARING BILL WAS INTRODUCED IN THE
91ST CONGRESS ON SEPTEMBER 23, 1969.
I CO-SPONSORED THE HOUSE BILL, H.R. 13982. FORD
UNFORTUNATELY, THE BILL DID GER NOT
LIBRARY
-5-
EVEN GET A HEARING IN THE 91ST CONGRESS.
I AM HOPEFUL THAT REVENUE-SHARING WILL BE
ENACTED INTO LAW BY THE 92ND CONGRESS.
UNDER THE OLD ADMINISTRATION
$500 MILLION WAS TO BE DISTRIBUTED
NATIONWIDE THE FIRST YEAR THAT
REVENUE - SHARING WENT INTO EFFECT. THIS
WAS TO GROW TO $5 BILLION WITHIN FIVE YEARS.
UNDER THAT PLAN, MICHIGAN
ULTIMATELY WOULD HAVE RECEIVED
$161 MILLION, WITH $34,732,348 GOING TO
THE CITIES, $15,587,617 TO THE COUNTIES AND
$2,290,374 TO THE TOWNSHIPS.
THERE IS GOOD REASON TO BELIEVE
THE NEW ADMINISTRATION REVENUE - SHAR ING
BILL WILL GO FAR BEYOND THOSE SUMS.
YOU PROBABLY KNOW HOW THE PLAN
WOULD WORK. MONEY WOULD BE DISTRIBUTED TO
THE STATES ON A PER CAPITA BASIS, WITH AN
LIBRAR
-6-
ADJUSTMENT FOR THE RELATIVE TAX EFFORT OF
AN INDIVIDUAL STATE AND ITS LOCAL UNITS
OF GOVERNMENT COMPARED TO THE NATIONAL
AVERAGE. WHILE NO RESTRUCTIONS WOULD BE
PLACED ON USE OF THE FUNDS, THE STATE
WOULD BE REQUIRED TO AUTOMATICALLY PASS
ON A SPECIFIED AMOUNT OF ITS ENTIRE
FEDERALLY-SHARED RECEIPTS TO LOCAL UNITS
OF GOVERNMENT. THE AMOUNT OF PASS-THROUGH
WOULD DEPEND ON A PERCENTAGE WHICH
REPRESENTS THE AMOUNT OF REVENUE RAISED
BY LOCAL UNITS OF GOVERNMENT FROM THEIR
OWN SOURCES, DIVIDED BY THE AMOUNT OF
REVENUE RAISED BY THE STATE AND ALL OF
ITS UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
THINK FEDERAL REVENUE - SHAR ING
IS MUST LEGISLATION. THE KEY TO GETTING
IT ENACTED IS THE POSITION TAKEN BY THE
-7-
HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE, ITS
CHAIRMAN, DEMOCRAT WILBUR MILLS OF ARKANSAS,
AND CARL ALBERT, WHO IS TO BECOME SPEAKER
OF THE HOUSE. UNFORTUNATELY, MILLS AND
ALBERT ARE AT PRESENT OPPOSED TO
REVENUE-SHARING.
LET ME TURN NOW TO ANOTHER
ADMINISTRATION PROGRAM WHICH IS AIMED AT
REDIRECTING POWER FROM WASHINGTON TO THE
LOCAL SCENE.
WE HAVE, OF COURSE, THE
TREMENDOUS TASK OF REFUELING OUR ECONOMY
AND EXPANDING JOB OPPORTUNITIES WHILE
SEEKING TO CONTROL INFLATION. BUT AT THE
SAME TIME WE HAVE THE PROBLEM OF MATCHING
THE UNEMPLOYED WITH AVAILABLE JOBS.
IN OUR EFFORTS TO MATCH MEN AND
JOBS WE HAVE CREATED A BUREAUCRATIC MAZE,
SOME OF IT FEDERALLY FUNDED, SOME OF IT
FORD is LIBRARY GERALD
-8-
PRIVATELY FUNDED, AND SOME OF IT LOCALLY
FUNDED WITH FEDERAL ASSISTANCE. IT ALL
COMES UNDER THE HEADING OF MANPOWER
TRAINING
MAYORS AND OTHER LOCAL OFFICIALS
HAVE LITTLE SAY AS TO WHAT MONEY IS SPENT
WITHIN THEIR JURISDICTIONS OR HOW IT IS
SPENT ON FEDERALLY-SUPPORTED MANPOWER
PROGRAMS.
PRESIDENT NIXON WANTS TO REMEDY
THAT -- AND SO IN 1969 HE PROPOSED THAT
STATES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS BE GIVEN
plus
PRIMARY CONTROL OVER MANPOWER PROGRAMS AND
AN IMPORTANT VOICE IN CHANNELING MANPOWER
MONEY INTO AREAS OF GREATEST NEED.
THE 91ST CONGRESS PASSED A
MANPOWER BILL BUT THE SENATE TOOK THE
GERALD R.FORD LIBRARY
WPA
ADMINISTRATION'S PROPOSAL AND MADE A
MAKE-WORK BILL OUT OF IT, SO THE PRESIDENT
VETOED IT.
-9-
I AM HOPEFUL THAT THE 92ND
CONGRESS WILL ENACT A MANPOWER TRAINING
ACT IN 1971 WITH EMPHASIS ON GIVING STATES
AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS PRIMARY CONTROL OF THE
PROGRAM. I WANT TO SEE FEDERAL MONEY USED
TO MEET LOCAL NEEDS AS THEY ARE DETERMINED
BY LOCAL OFFICIALS. 1N SUCH LEGISLATION
THERE SHOULD BE A LEGITIMATE AREA OF
SERVICE FOR THE PRIVATE SECTOR -- THE
FREE-ENTERPRISE EMPLOYMENT AGENCY.
with
THAT IS THE MEANING OF
1
x
sharing
PRESIDENT NIXON'S "NEW FEDERALISM " AND
THAT IS THE REAL MEANING OF "POWER TO THE
PEOPLE."
"
WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE
IS A MAJOR SHIFT IN POWER FROM THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNING
BODIES. THAT IS WHAT IS IMPLICIT IN THIS
-10-
LEGISLATION -- REVENUE - SHAR ING AND THE
ADMINISTRATIONS MANPOWER TRAINING BILL.
THIS IS WHAT THE STAKES ARE FOR YOU AS
COUNTY OFFICIALS.
I WILL TALK ABOUT JUST ONE MORE
91ST CONGRESS LEFTOVER BEFORE DISCUSSING
LEGISLATION WHICH WAS ENACTED, LEGISLATION
WITH AN IMPACT UPON LOCAL COMMUNITIES.
THE LEFTOVER, AND IT SHOULD
BECOME A 92ND CONGRESS MAIN COURSE, IS
PRESIDENT NIXON'S WELFARE REFORM PROGRAM.
SOMETHING I AM FOND OF SAYING ABOUT THE
ADMINISTRATION?S: WELFARE REFORM PROPOSAL
IS THAT IT MUST BE GOOD BECAUSE IT IS
OPPOSED BOTH ON THE FAR LEFT AND THE FAR
RIGHT
Jet me noh - Does anyone defend to
THIS MUCH WE ARE ALL SURE OF.
THE PRESENT WELFARE SYSTEM IS INEFFICIENT
AND INEQUITABLE AND IS STEADILY BECOMING
139 FORD LIBRARY
-11-
MORE COSTLY. IT is, IN A WORD, A SCANDAL.
WITHIN THE PAST 10 YEARS, THE
COST OF AID TO FAMILIES WITH DEPENDENT
CHILDREN (AFDC) HAS MORE THAN TRIPLED.
YET IT TEARS FAMILIES APART.
NONE OF THE PRESENT ASSISTANCE
PROGRAMS HELP THE WORKING POOR, YET NEARLY
60 PER CENT OF ALL POOR CHILDREN IN THE
UNITED STATES LIVE IN SUCH FAMILIES.
THE WELFARE ROLLS HAVE BECOME
A TRAP WHERE THE VERY POOR ARE CAUGHT AND
STAY, AND THE NUMBER OF THOSE TRAPPED
KEEPS GROWING.
WHAT WOULD THE ADMINISTRATIONS
WELFARE REFORM PROGRAM DO? IT WOULD PUT AN
INCOME FLOOR UNDER EVERY COVERED FAMILY AND
DISABLED PERSON. IT WOULD HELP THE WORKING
POOR. IT WOULD HELP KEEP FAMILIES TOGETHER.
IT WOULD REQUIRE THAT THE ABLE-BODIED WORK.
-12-
IT WOULD TREAT ALL FAMILY ASSISTANCE
RECIPIENTS FAIRLY AND WITH DIGNITY. IT
WOULD MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR THE POOR TO
GET OUT OF THE WELFARE TRAP AND BECOME
SELF-SUPPORTING. It would not penalize a person for Working.
THIS PROGRAM, WHEN ENACTED, WILL
BECOME THE GREATEST SOCIAL REFORM IN
NEARLY FOUR DECADES. WE NEED WELFARE
REFORM. WE MUST HAVE IT.
LOOKING AT WHAT THE 91ST CONGRESS
SUCCEEDED IN DOING, IT'S A TOSSUP WHETHER
TO CALL IT AN ENVIRONMENTAL CONGRESS OR
A CRIME-FIGHTING CONGRESS.
POLLUTION IS ONE OF THE GREAT
CHALLENGES OF THE SEVENTIES. CRIME
CONTINUES TO CONFRONT US AS ONE OF OUR MOST
PERPLEXING PROBLEMS.
FORTUNATELY THE PUBLIC HAS
BECOME ACUTELY AWARE OF THE DANGERS IN
-13-
BOTH OF THESE AREAS, AND WITH PUBLIC
SUPPORT WE ARE GETTING A LEGISLATIVE
RESPONSE.
[ITHINK] THE DECADE OF THE
SEVENTIES WILL SEE THE PROBLEMS OF POLLUTION
AND CRIME BOTH RECEDE. WE HAVE MADE A
GOOD START IN MEETING THE CHALLENGE.
THE CONGRESS PASSED A NEW TOUGH
CLEAN AIR BILL / INCREASED FUNDING FOR THE
FIGHT AGAINST WATER POLLUTION, EXPANDED
THE ATTACK AGAINST SOLID WASTE POLLUTION,/
STRENGTHENED AND IMPROVED THE SAFE STREETS
ACT ,/ ADOPTED AN ORGANIZED CRIME CONTROL
ACT, AND APPROVED A COMPREHENSIVE DRUG
CONTROL ACT.
THERE IS MUCH MORE TO BE DONE,
NOTABLY IN THE FIELD OF WATER POLLUTION
CONTROL, BUT WE HAVE REASON TO BE OPTIMISTIC
ABOUT OUR EFFORTS BOTH TO SAVE OUR
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
-14-
ENVIRONMENT AND TO CONTROL CRIME.
YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE NEW
CLEAN AIR ACT. YOU KNOW THAT IT CALLS FOR
A 90 PER CENT POLLUTION-FREE AUTOMOBILE
ENGINE BY 1975. WHAT YOU PERHAPS DO NOT
KNOW IS THAT IT ALSO REQUIRES SOME
HARD-HEADED ACTION ON THE PART OF THE
STATES ONCE FEDERAL AIR STANDARDS ARE
SET. FOR INSTANCE, ELECTRIC POWER SOURCES
ARE HIGH ON THE LIST OF FACILITIES TO BE
CURBED IF FEDERAL STANDARDS ARE TO BE MET.
YET WE FACE THE THREAT OF A SHORTAGE OF
ELECTRIC POWER. HOW DO YOU BALANCE THESE
INTERESTS AND KEEP YOUR JOBS AND YOUR
SANITY? TIME WILL TELL.
STATES MUST PREPARE PLANS TO
MEET THE FEDERAL STANDARDS WITHIN THREE (3)
YEARS. IF A STATE LAGS IN ENFORCING ITS
FORD
PLAN, THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL
-15-
PROTECTION AGENCY MAY ISSUE AN ORDER TO
A VIOLATOR REQUIRING COMPLIANCE OR TAKE
A VIOLATOR TO COURT.
THE NEW SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL
ACT IS AIMED AT PROMOTING NEW AND BETTER
WAYS OF GETTING RID OF SOLID WASTE. THE
EMPHASIS IS ON RECLAMATION OR WHAT IS KNOWN
AS RECYCLING. IT ENCOURAGES LOCAL
PLANNING, WITH GRANTS OF UP TO 3RDS FOR
ONE COMMUNITY AND UP TO 3/4THS FOR A JOINT
PROJECT. IT ALSO PROVIDES CONSTRUCTION
GRANTS OF 25 PER CENT FOR ONE COMMUNITY
AND 50 PER CENT FOR A JOINT PROJECT. THE
NEW ACT AUTHORIZES APPROPRIATIONS OF UP
TO $451 MILLION OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS.
I MENTIONED EARLIER THAT THE
91ST CONGRESS MIGHT BECOME KNOWN AS A
CRIME-FIGHTING CONGRESS. WE HAVE INDEED
STEPPED UP THE FIGHT AGAINST CRIME IN A
-16-
NUMBER OF WAYS.
NOT ONLY HAVE WE LAUNCHED A
BROADER ATTACK AGAINST ORGANIZED CRIME,
BUT WE HAVE GREATLY INCREASED FEDERAL AID
TO STATES AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES UNDER THE
SAFE STREETS ACT AND HAVE TAKEN STEPS TOWARD
EXPANDED REHABILITATION OF CONVICTED
OFFENDERS. I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT PRISON
REFORM IS ONE KEY TO A SHARP REDUCTION IN
THE INCIDENCE OF CRIME.
IN THE AREA OF ORGANIZED CRIME,
WE WENT TO THE HEART OF THE PROBLEM WITH
LEGISLATION AIMED AT GETTING RELUCTANT
WITNESSES TO TESTIFY AGAINST MOBSTERS.
THE BASIC THRUST OF THE NEW ORGANIZED CRIME
CONTROL ACT IS TO GET THE FACTS NEEDED TO
OBTAIN NOT ONLY INDICTMENTS BUT CONVICTIONS.
THIS SAME ACT PUTS THE F.B.I. INTO THE
BUSINESS OF INVESTIGATING BOMBINGS OF
R.FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
-17-
GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, LOCAL POLICE STATIONS
AND CAMPUS BUILDINGS. I CO-SPONSORED THIS
LEGISLATION.
WE HAVE ALSO LAUNCHED THE MOST
FAR-REACHING FEDERAL ATTACK ON DRUG ABUSE
EVER UNDERTAKEN IN THE UNITED STATES. WITH
PASSAGE OF THE COMPREHENSIVE DRUG CONTROL
ACT OF 1970, WE GET TOUGHER WITH THE
PEDDLER AND PUSHER / SEEK TO REHABILITATE THE
USER
AND WARN AWAY THE POTENTIAL USER.
THE EDUCATIONAL PROVISIONS OF THE NEW ACT
ARE PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANT. STATE AND LOCAL
EFFORTS WILL BE VITAL TO THIS EDUCATION
PROGRAM.
IN SUMMARY, THE ANTI-CRIME
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE 91ST CONGRESS ARE
MOST IMPRESSIVE. THE ENACTMENTS INCLUDE
NOT ONLY THE ORGANIZED CRIME CONTROL ACT,
DRUG CONTROL AND SAFE STREETS ACT BUT
DERALD R.FORD LIBRARY
-18-
EXPLOSIVES CONTROL, CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT
AMENDMENTS, A FEDERAL YOUTH CORRECTIONS
ACT, AND AN ANTI-OBSCENITY BILL APPROVED
AS AN AMENDMENT TO THE POSTAL REORGANIZATION
ACT.
WHILE THE EFFECTS OF THIS
LEGISLATION MAY NOT BE FELT OVERNIGHT, IT
IS SAFE TO SAY THAT THE 91ST CONGRESS --
WITH PRODDING FROM THE PRESIDENT -- OUTDID
ANY OTHER CONGRESS IN HISTORY WITH THE
ANTI-CRIME MEASURES IT ENACTED.
NOW LET ME TOUCH BRIEFLY ON ONE
OTHER LEGISLATIVE SUBJECT OF GREAT LOCAL
INTEREST -- PROGRAMS TO AID THE FIGHT
AGAINST HEART DISEASE, CANCER, STROKE AND
KIDNEY AILMENTS.
THE 91ST CONGRESS PASSED TWO
PUBLIC HEALTH BILLS WHICH WILL ASSURE
AMERICANS BETTER DIAGNOSTIC CARE AND
-19-
TREATMENT OF THESE DISEASES.
THESE BILLS EXPAND THE REGIONAL
MEDICAL AND COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH PLANNING
PROGRAM.
ONE BILL AUTHORIZES GRANTS OVER
A THREE-YEAR PERIOD FOR LOCAL-BASED
PROGRAMS DESIGNED TO DETECT HEART DISEASE
CANCER OR KIDNEY AILMENTS WHILE THESE
DISEASES ARE STILL IN THEIR EARLY STAGES.
THE OTHER BILL EXTENDS FOR THREE
YEARS PROJECT GRANTS FOR COMPREHENSIVE
HEALTH PLANNING ON THE STATE AND LOCAL
LEVEL AND PROVIDES FUNDS FOR IMPROVED
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES.
THIS LEGISLATION ALSO ASSURES
THAT RESEARCH PEOPLE WILL RECEIVE THE
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
STATISTICAL INFORMATION THEY NEED TO
DEVELOP CURES FOR THESE DREADED DISEASES.
CARING FOR OUR SICK AND FINDING
-20-
CURES FOR DISEASES SUCH AS CANCER MUST BE
ONE OF OUR TOP NATIONAL PRIORITIES. WE
CANNOT SIT BACK AND HOPE THESE DISEASES
WILL DISAPPEAR. WE MUST FINANCE THE
RESEARCH NEEDED TO FIND THE CURES.
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE 92ND
CONGRESS, I HOPE IT WILL BE A "HEALTH
CONGRESS." I LOOK FOR STRONG MEASURES TO
MEET THE RISING COSTS OF HEALTH CARE AND FOR
ADDITIONAL LEGISLATION AIMED AT FINDING
THE CURES FOR DREADED DISEASES LIKE CANCER.
DESPITE ALL THE ADVANCES OF THE
PAST TWO YEARS, WE ARE CURRENTLY IN A
PERIOD OF TESTING WHICH WILL DETERMINE
WHETHER MEN CAN GOVERN THEMSELVES UNDER
THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS.
GERALD R.FORD LIBRARY
MUCH NEEDED LEGISLATION WAS
PASSED BY THE 91ST CONGRESS BUT MANY VITAL
MEASURES WERE LEFT ON THE CALENDAR FOR 1971
-21-
GOVERNMENT MUST MEET ITS
OBLIGATIONS FOR A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE
FOR AMERICANS IN THE SEVENTIES AND BEYOND.
WE CAN DO THAT IF GOVERNMENT AT ALL
LEVELS -- FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL -- WILL
JOIN HANDS IN PROGRESSIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING
ACTION FOR THE GOOD OF EVERYONE
MAKE
GOVERNMENT MORE RESPONSIVE TO HUMAN NEEDS
/
AND DEMONSTRATE GOVERNMENT'S AWARENESS OF
SUCH VALUES AS EQUITY AND JUSTICE.
IF WE DO THIS, PUBLIC CONFIDENCE
WILL BE OURS AND THE ENTIRE NATION WILL BE
THE STRONGER. THANK YOU.
-- END - & &
Distribution Full
Galleries mail 6:30p. 1/15/21 Office Copy
a.m. 1/18/71
REMARKS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BEFORE THE MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF COUNTY OFFICIALS
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
7:00 p.m. MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 1971
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY AT 7 P.M. MONDAY
In 1969 Americans made the impossible dream come true. They made the moon
man's province.
Immediately there were those who declared that nothing was impossible of
achievement in America. People throughout our land were caught up in a wave of
euphoria. The horizons were limitless. All problems could be solved if we would
only unite in a show of national will.
Since that time the euphoria has evaporated. Soberer voices have noted that
controlling inflation, eliminating racism, generating prosperity and wiping out
hunger are vastly more difficult to achieve than rocketing to the moon.
My own feeling is that the euphoria was not entirely misplaced. Nor is
there any reason to be pessimistic about achieving economic security, social
justice and improvement of the quality of life for all Americans.
It is easy to forget that the first manned U.S. space flight took place
more than four years before Neil Armstrong emerged from his spacecraft and
announced that "Eagle has landed."
What I am saying, of course, is that solving our social and economic problems
takes time, just as it took time for us to master the tremendous complexities of
manned space flight. There are obstacles--there will be failures--but I believe
we ultimately will triumph.
We will not be employing the same array of technological and scientific
skills that put men on the moon to solve our social and economic problems. But
solve them we will--in time.
It is possible to engineer an impossible dream into reality--and I think we
stand on the threshold of doing SO.
What I am talking about is the return of power to the local scene--
redirecting to the local units of government some of the power that has flowed
unceasingly and increasingly to Washington in the last four decades.
I think there currently is a sickness in the American system-and I certainly
am not a member of the New Left.
(more)
-2-
The sickness I speak of is the powerlessness of local units of government to
deal adequately with the problems which confront them--a powerlessness which is due
to lack of sufficient funds and a governmental structure which finds Washington
calling too many of the shots.
The remedy appears obvious and relatively simple. Since Washington is the
big tax collector, let's have Washington cut in the local units of government for
a share of the Federal tax take.
After all, it's the people's money. So let's put that money where it will
do the most good. Let's put that money where the problems are, and let local
administrators use those funds according to local priorities.
The Administration's revenue-sharing bill was introduced in the 91st Congress
on Sept. 23, 1969. I co-sponsored the House bill, H.R. 13982.
Unfortunately, the bill did not even get a hearing in the 91st Congress.
I am hopeful that revenue-sharing will be enacted into law by the 92nd Congress.
Under the old Administration bill, $500 million was to be distributed
nationwide the first year that revenue-sharing went into effect. This was to grow
to $5 billion within five years.
Under that plan, Michigan ultimately would have received $161 million, with
$34,732,348 going to the cities, $15,587,617 to the counties and $2,290,374 to the
townships.
There is good reason to believe the new administration revenue-sharing bill
will go far beyond those sums.
You probably know how the plan would work. Money would be distributed to
the states on a per capita basis, with an adjustment for the relative tax effort
of an individual state and its local units of government compared to the national
average. While no restrictions would be placed on use of the funds, the state
would be required to automatically pass on a specified amount of its entire
Federally-shared receipts to local units of government. The amount of pass-through
would depend on a percentage which represents the amount of revenue raised by local
units of government from their own sources, divided by the amount of revenue
raised by the state and all of its units of local government.
I think Federal revenue-sharing is must legislation. The key to getting it
enacted is the position taken by the House Ways and Means Committee, its chairman,
Democrat Wilbur Mills of Arkansas, and Carl Albert, who is to become Speaker of the
House. Unfortunately, Mills and Albert are at present opposed to revenue-sharing.
(more)
-3-
Let me turn now to another Administration program which is aimed at
redirecting power from Washington to the local scene.
We have, of course, the tremendous task of refueling our economy and
expanding job opportunities while seeking to control inflation. But at the same
time we have the problem of matching the unemployed with available jobs.
In our efforts to match men and jobs we have created a bureaucratic maze,
some of it federally funded, some of it privately funded, and some of it locally
funded with federal assistance. It all comes under the heading of Manpower
Training.
Mayors and other local officials have little say as to what money is spent
within their jurisdictions or how it is spent on federally-supported manpower
programs.
President Nixon wants to remedy that--and so in 1969 he proposed that states
and local governments be given primary control over manpower programs and an
important voice in channeling manpower money into areas of greatest need.
The 91st Congress passed a manpower bill but the Senate took the
Administration's proposal and made a make-work bill out of it. So the President
vetoed it.
I am hopeful that the 92nd Congress will enact a Manpower Training Act in
1971, with emphasis on giving states and local governments primary control of the
program. I want to see Federal money used to meet local needs as they are
determined by local officials. In such legislation there should be a legitimate
area of service for the private sector-the free-enterprise employment agency.
That is the meaning of President Nixon's "New Federalism," and that is the
real meaning of "Power to the People.'
What we are talking about here is a major shift in power from the Federal
Government to state and local governing bodies. That is what is implicit in this
legislation--revenue-sharing and the Administration's manpower training bill. This
is what the stakes are for you as county officials.
I will talk about just one more 91st Congress leftover before discussing
legislation which was enacted, legislation with an impact upon local communities.
The leftover, and it should become a 92nd Congress main course, is President
Nixon's welfare reform program. Something I am fond of saying about the
Administration's welfare reform proposal is that it must be good because it is
opposed both on the Far Left and the Far Right.
(more)
-4-
This much we are all sure of. The present welfare system is inefficient and
inequitable and is steadily becoming more costly. It is, in a word, a scandal.
Within the past 10 years, the cost of aid to families with dependent
children (AFDC) has more than tripled. Yet it tears families apart.
None of the present assistance programs help the working poor, yet nearly
60 per cent of all poor children in the United States live in such families.
The welfare rolls have become a trap where the very poor are caught and
stay, and the number of those trapped keeps growing.
What would the Administration's welfare reform program do? It would put an
income floor under every covered family and disabled person. It would help the
working poor. It would help keep families together. It would require that the
able-bodied work. It would treat all family assistance recipients fairly and with
dignity. It would make it possible for the poor to get out of the welfare trap
and become self-supporting.
This program, when enacted, will become the greatest social reform in
nearly four decades. We need welfare reform. We must have it.
Looking at what the 91st Congress succeeded in doing, it's a tossup whether
to call it an Environmental Congress or a Crime-Fighting Congress.
Pollution is one of the great challenges of the Seventies. Crime continues
to confront us as one of our most perplexing problems.
Fortunately the public has become acutely aware of the dangers in both of
these areas, and with public support we are getting a legislative response.
I think the decade of the Seventies will see the problems of pollution and
crime both recede. We have made a good start in meeting the challenge.
The Congress passed a new tough clean air bill, increased funding for the
fight against water pollution, expanded the attack against solid waste pollution,
strengthened and improved the Safe Streets Act, adopted an Organized Crime Control
Act, and approved a Comprehensive Drug Control Act.
There is much more to be done, notably in the field of water pollution
control, but we have reason to be optimistic about our efforts both to save our
environment and to control crime.
You are familiar with the new Clean Air Act. You know that it calls for a
90 per cent pollution-free automobile engine by 1975. What you perhaps do not know
is that it also requires some hard-headed action on the part of the States once
Federal air standards are set. For instance, electric power sources are high on
(more)
-5-
the list of facilities to be curbed if Federal standards are to be met. Yet we
face the threat of a shortage of electric power. How do you balance these interests
and keep your jobs and your sanity? Time will tell.
States must prepare plans to meet the Federal standards within three years.
If a state lags in enforcing its plan, the administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency may issue an order to a violator requiring compliance or take a
violator to court.
The new Solid Waste Disposal Act is aimed at promoting new and better ways
of getting rid of solid waste. The emphasis is on reclamation or what is known as
recycling. It encourages local planning, with grants of up to 2/3rds for one
community and up to 3/4ths for a joint project. It also provides construction
grants of 25 per cent for one community and 50 per cent for a joint project. The
new Act authorizes appropriations of up to $451 million over the next three years.
I mentioned earlier that the 91st Congress might become known as a
Crime-Fighting Congress. We have indeed stepped up the fight against crime in a
number of ways.
Not only have we launched a broader attack against organized crime, but we
have greatly increased Federal aid to states and local communities under the Safe
Streets Act and have taken steps toward expanded rehabilitation of convicted
offenders. I firmly believe that prison reform is one key to a sharp reduction in
the incidence of crime.
In the area of organized crime, we went to the heart of the problem with
legislation aimed at getting reluctant witnesses to testify against mobsters. The
basic thrust of the new Organized Crime Control Act is to get the facts needed to
obtain not only indictments but convictions. This same Act puts the F.B.I. into
the business of investigating bombings of government buildings, local police
stations and campus buildings. I co-sponsored this legislation.
We have also launched the most far-reaching Federal attack on drug abuse
ever undertaken in the United States. With passage of the Comprehensive Drug
Control Act of 1970, we get tougher with the peddler and pusher, seek to rehabilitate
the user, and warn away the potential user. The educational provisions of the new
Act are perhaps most important. State and local efforts will be vital to this
education program.
In summary, the anti-crime accomplishments of the 91st Congress are most
impressive. The enactments include not only the Organized Crime Control,
(more)
-6-
Drug Control and Safe Streets Act but explosives control, Criminal Justice Act
amendments, a Federal Youth Corrections Act, and an anti-obscenity bill approved as
an amendment to the Postal Reorganization Act.
While the effects of this legislation may not be felt overnight, it is safe
to say that the 91st Congress--with prodding from the President--outdid any other
Congress in history with the anti-crime measures it enacted.
Now let me touch briefly on one other legislative subject of great local
interest programs to aid the fight against heart disease, cancer, stroke and
kidney ailments.
The 91st Congress passed two public health bills which will assure Americans
better diagnostic care and treatment of these diseases.
These bills expand the regional medical and comprehensive health planning
program.
One bill authorizes grants over a three-year period for local-based programs
designed to detect heart disease, cancer or kidney ailments while these diseases
are still in their early stages.
The other bill extends for three years project grants for comprehensive
health planning on the state and local level and provides funds for improved public
health services.
This legislation also assures that research people will receive the
statistical information they need to develop cures for these dreaded diseases.
Caring for our sick and finding cures for diseases such as cancer must be
one of our top national priorities. We cannot sit back and hope these diseases
will disappear. We must finance the research needed to find the cures.
Looking ahead to the 92nd Congress, I hope it will be a "Health Congress."
I look for strong measures to meet the rising costs of health care and for
additional legislation aimed at finding the cures for dreaded diseases like cancer.
Despite all the advances of the past two years, we are currently in a
period of testing which will determine whether men can govern themselves under the
democratic process.
Much needed legislation was passed by the 91st Congress but many vital
measures were left on the calendar for 1971.
Government must meet its obligations for a better quality of life for
Americans in the Seventies and beyond. We can do that if government at all
levels--Federal, state and local-will join hands in progressive problem-solving
(more)
-7-
action for the good of everyone, make government more responsive to human needs
and demonstrate government's awareness of such values as equity and justice.
If we do this, public confidence will be ours and the entire Nation will
be the stronger. Thank you.
###
FORD
&
REMARKS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BEFORE THE MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF COUNTY OFFICIALS
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
7:00 p.m. MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 1971
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY AT 7 P.M. MONDAY
In 1969 Americans made the impossible dream come true. They made the moon
man's province.
Immediately there were those who declared that nothing was impossible of
achievement in America. People throughout our land were caught up in a wave of
euphoria. The horizons were limitless. All problems could be solved if we would
only unite in a show of national will.
Since that time the euphoria has evaporated. Soberer voices have noted that
controlling inflation, eliminating racism, generating prosperity and wiping out
hunger are vastly more difficult to achieve than rocketing to the moon.
My own feeling is that the euphoria was not entirely misplaced. Nor is
there any reason to be pessimistic about achieving economic security, social
justice and improvement of the quality of life for all Americans.
It is easy to forget that the first manned U.S. space flight took place
more than four years before Neil Armstrong emerged from his spacecraft and
announced that "Eagle has landed.'
What I am saying, of course, is that solving our social and economic problems
takes time, just as it took time for us to master the tremendous complexities of
manned space flight. There are obstacles-there will be failures--but I believe
we ultimately will triumph.
We will not be employing the same array of technological and scientific
skills that put men on the moon to solve our social and economic problems. But
solve them we will--in time.
It is possible to engineer an impossible dream into reality--and I think we
stand on the threshold of doing SO.
What I am talking about is the return of power to the local scene--
redirecting to the local units of government some of the power that has flowed
unceasingly and increasingly to Washington in the last four decades.
I think there currently is a sickness in the American system-and I certainly
am not a member of the New Left.
(more)
-2-
The sickness I speak of is the powerlessness of local units of government to
deal adequately with the problems which confront them--a powerlessness which is due
to lack of sufficient funds and a governmental structure which finds Washington
calling too many of the shots.
The remedy appears obvious and relatively simple. Since Washington is the
big tax collector, let's have Washington cut in the local units of government for
a share of the Federal tax take.
After all, it's the people's money. So let's put that money where it will
do the most good. Let's put that money where the problems are, and let local
administrators use those funds according to local priorities.
The Administration's revenue-sharing bill was introduced in the 91st Congress
on Sept. 23, 1969. I co-sponsored the House bill, H.R. 13982.
Unfortunately, the bill did not even get a hearing in the 91st Congress.
I am hopeful that revenue-sharing will be enacted into law by the 92nd Congress.
Under the old Administration bill, $500 million was to be distributed
nationwide the first year that revenue-sharing went into effect. This was to grow
to $5 billion within five years.
Under that plan, Michigan ultimately would have received $161 million, with
$34,732,348 going to the cities, $15,587,617 to the counties and $2,290,374 to the
townships.
There is good reason to believe the new administration revenue-sharing bill
will go far beyond those sums.
You probably know how the plan would work. Money would be distributed to
the states on a per capita basis, with an adjustment for the relative tax effort
of an individual state and its local units of government compared to the national
average. While no restrictions would be placed on use of the funds, the state
would be required to automatically pass on a specified amount of its entire
Federally-shared receipts to local units of government. The amount of pass-through
would depend on a percentage which represents the amount of revenue raised by local
units of government from their own sources, divided by the amount of revenue
raised by the state and all of its units of local government.
I think Federal revenue-sharing is must legislation. The key to getting it
enacted is the position taken by the House Ways and Means Committee, its chairman,
Democrat Wilbur Mills of Arkansas, and Carl Albert, who is to become Speaker of the
House. Unfortunately, Mills and Albert are at present opposed to revenue-sharing.
(more)
-3-
Let me turn now to another Administration program which is aimed at
redirecting power from Washington to the local scene.
We have, of course, the tremendous task of refueling our economy and
expanding job opportunities while seeking to control inflation. But at the same
time we have the problem of matching the unemployed with available jobs.
In our efforts to match men and jobs we have created a bureaucratic maze,
some of it federally funded, some of it privately funded, and some of it locally
funded with federal assistance. It all comes under the heading of Manpower
Training.
Mayors and other local officials have little say as to what money is spent
within their jurisdictions or how it is spent on federally-supported manpower
programs.
President Nixon wants to remedy that--and so in 1969 he proposed that states
and local governments be given primary control over manpower programs and an
important voice in channeling manpower money into areas of greatest need.
The 91st Congress passed a manpower bill but the Senate took the
Administration's proposal and made a make-work bill out of it. So the President
vetoed it.
I am hopeful that the 92nd Congress will enact a Manpower Training Act in
1971, with emphasis on giving states and local governments primary control of the
program. I want to see Federal money used to meet local needs as they are
determined by local officials. In such legislation there should be a legitimate
area of service for the private sector--the free-enterprise employment agency.
That is the meaning of President Nixon's "New Federalism," and that is the
real meaning of "Power to the People. "
What we are talking about here is a major shift in power from the Federal
Government to state and local governing bodies. That is what is implicit in this
legislation--revenue-sharing and the Administration's manpower training bill. This
is what the stakes are for you as county officials.
I will talk about just one more 91st Congress leftover before discussing
legislation which was enacted, legislation with an impact upon local communities.
The leftover, and it should become a 92nd Congress main course, is President
Nixon's welfare reform program. Something I am fond of saying about the
Administration's welfare reform proposal is that it must be good because it is
opposed both on the Far Left and the Far Right.
(more)
-4-
This much we are all sure of. The present welfare system is inefficient and
inequitable and is steadily becoming more costly. It is, in a word, a scandal.
Within the past 10 years, the cost of aid to families with dependent
children (AFDC) has more than tripled. Yet it tears families apart.
None of the present assistance programs help the working poor, yet nearly
60 per cent of all poor children in the United States live in such families.
The welfare rolls have become a trap where the very poor are caught and
stay, and the number of those trapped keeps growing.
What would the Administration's welfare reform program do? It would put an
income floor under every covered family and disabled person. It would help the
working poor. It would help keep families together. It would require that the
able-bodied work. It would treat all family assistance recipients fairly and with
dignity. It would make it possible for the poor to get out of the welfare trap
and become self-supporting.
This program, when enacted, will become the greatest social reform in
nearly four decades. We need welfare reform. We must have it.
Looking at what the 91st Congress succeeded in doing, it's a tossup whether
to call it an Environmental Congress or a Crime-Fighting Congress.
Pollution is one of the great challenges of the Seventies. Crime continues
to confront us as one of our most perplexing problems.
Fortunately the public has become acutely aware of the dangers in both of
these areas, and with public support we are getting a legislative response.
I think the decade of the Seventies will see the problems of pollution and
crime both recede. We have made a good start in meeting the challenge.
The Congress passed a new tough clean air bill, increased funding for the
fight against water pollution, expanded the attack against solid waste pollution,
strengthened and improved the Safe Streets Act, adopted an Organized Crime Control
Act, and approved a Comprehensive Drug Control Act.
There is much more to be done, notably in the field of water pollution
control, but we have reason to be optimistic about our efforts both to save our
environment and to control crime.
You are familiar with the new Clean Air Act. You know that it calls for a
90 per cent pollution-free automobile engine by 1975. What you perhaps do not know
is that it also requires some hard-headed action on the part of the States once
Federal air standards are set. For instance, electric power sources are high on
(more)
-5-
the list of facilities to be curbed if Federal standards are to be met. Yet we
face the threat of a shortage of electric power. How do you balance these interests
and keep your jobs and your sanity? Time will tell.
States must prepare plans to meet the Federal standards within three years.
If a state lags in enforcing its plan, the administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency may issue an order to a violator requiring compliance or take a
violator to court.
The new Solid Waste Disposal Act is aimed at promoting new and better ways
of getting rid of solid waste. The emphasis is on reclamation or what is known as
recycling. It encourages local planning, with grants of up to 2/3rds for one
community and up to 3/4ths for a joint project. It also provides construction
grants of 25 per cent for one community and 50 per cent for a joint project. The
new Act authorizes appropriations of up to $451 million over the next three years.
I mentioned earlier that the 91st Congress might become known as a
Crime-Fighting Congress. We have indeed stepped up the fight against crime in a
number of ways.
Not only have we launched a broader attack against organized crime, but we
have greatly increased Federal aid to states and local communities under the Safe
Streets Act and have taken steps toward expanded rehabilitation of convicted
offenders. I firmly believe that prison reform is one key to a sharp reduction in
the incidence of crime.
In the area of organized crime, we went to the heart of the problem with
legislation aimed at getting reluctant witnesses to testify against mobsters. The
basic thrust of the new Organized Crime Control Act is to get the facts needed to
obtain not only indictments but convictions. This same Act puts the F.B.I. into
the business of investigating bombings of government buildings, local police
stations and campus buildings. I co-sponsored this legislation.
We have also launched the most far-reaching Federal attack on drug abuse
ever undertaken in the United States. With passage of the Comprehensive Drug
Control Act of 1970, we get tougher with the peddler and pusher, seek to rehabilitate
the user, and warn away the potential user. The educational provisions of the new
Act are perhaps most important. State and local efforts will be vital to this
education program.
In summary, the anti-crime accomplishments of the 91st Congress are most
impressive. The enactments include not only the Organized Crime Control,
(more)
-6-
Drug Control and Safe Streets Act but explosives control, Criminal Justice Act
amendments, a Federal Youth Corrections Act, and an anti-obscenity bill approved as
an amendment to the Postal Reorganization Act.
While the effects of this legislation may not be felt overnight, it is safe
to say that the 91st Congress--with prodding from the President--outdid any other
Congress in history with the anti-crime measures it enacted.
Now let me touch briefly on one other legislative subject of great local
interest programs to aid the fight against heart disease, cancer, stroke and
kidney ailments.
The 91st Congress passed two public health bills which will assure Americans
better diagnostic care and treatment of these diseases.
These bills expand the regional medical and comprehensive health planning
program.
One bill authorizes grants over a three-year period for local-based programs
designed to detect heart disease, cancer or kidney ailments while these diseases
are still in their early stages.
The other bill extends for three years project grants for comprehensive
health planning on the state and local level and provides funds for improved public
health services.
This legislation also assures that research people will receive the
statistical information they need to develop cures for these dreaded diseases.
Caring for our sick and finding cures for diseases such as cancer must be
one of our top national priorities. We cannot sit back and hope these diseases
will disappear. We must finance the research needed to find the cures.
Looking ahead to the 92nd Congress, I hope it will be a "Health Congress."
I look for strong measures to meet the rising costs of health care and for
additional legislation aimed at finding the cures for dreaded diseases like cancer.
Despite all the advances of the past two years, we are currently in a
period of testing which will determine whether men can govern themselves under the
democratic process.
Much needed legislation was passed by the 91st Congress but many vital
measures were left on the calendar for 1971.
Government must meet its obligations for a better quality of life for
Americans in the Seventies and beyond. We can do that if government at all
levels--Federal, state and local-will join hands in progressive problem-solving
(more)
-7-
action for the good of everyone, make government more responsive to human needs
and demonstrate government's awareness of such values as equity and justice.
If we do this, public confidence will be ours and the entire Nation will
be the stronger. Thank you.
###