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Remarks of the President at the Ohio State Capitol [Ford Speech or Statement]
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7346550
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Remarks of the President at the Ohio State Capitol [Ford Speech or Statement]
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White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
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1976
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Digitized from Box 34 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 1, 1976
OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY
(Columbus, Ohio)
THE WHITE HOUSE
REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT
AT THE
OHIO STATE CAPITOL
12:30 P.M. EST
Thank you very, very much, Governor Rhodes and
Mayor Moody. Let me express my deep appreciation to
Congressman Sam Devine, Congressman Chalmers Wylie,
Congressman Clarence Brown, John Ashbrook and Bill Harsha.
I want to make sure you elect them and re-elect them
for the benefit of Ohio and the United States.
But, I want also for the benefit of the great
Buckeye State and for the benefit of our great country --
you send Bob Taft back to Washington as your next United
States Senator.
You know this all began right here, right in
front of the Capitol, and local and State Government is vital,
and so I urge you to elect Bill Brownfield to the State
Senate.
It is great to be in Columbus, the home of two
of my good friends who represent excellence: First, Jack
Nicklaus, a great supporter of mine. I thank him for that
help and assistance. And then also one of my best friends,
the kind of a person who represents excellence not only in
coaching but excellence in the character. He believes in
winning, and that is what we are going to do. Thank you
very much, Woody Hayes.
You know, I come from that State up north. (Laughter)
But, since 1963 I have visited the Buckeye State 56 times,
and I love you. I had the honor and great privilege of
speaking at a commencement at Ohio State in the fall of
1974. Itwas a great experience. But, I have also come to
Columbus and all of the other places. You know what?
Columbus likes to be, along with the great State of Ohio,
on the side of a winner, so let's make it a home run, a
touchdown tomorrow for the winning team, Jerry Ford and
Bob Dole.
But there are several other people that I would
like to recognize and indicate to them and to all of you my
appreciation. First, we have on this platform one of the
three greatest Governors in the State of Ohio, John
Bricker.
MORE
Page 2
May I say, incidentally, from the appearance here
of this great crowd and from the wonderful rally that we
had in the Akron, Canton, Alliance and Massillon area
this morning, I am going to issue all of you an invitation.
Betty and I want all of you to come down to that inaugur-
ation on January 20 when Jerry Ford and Bob Dole are sworn
in as President and Vice President.
Now let me introduce to you a person who is well
known to you, who was a judge here in the State of Ohio
and Cleveland, who was your Governor, and one of the three
greatest Governors in the history of Ohio, who was a
United States Senator. Now, it is my privilege to intro-
duce a close personal friend whose support I really
appreciate -- your former Senator, your Former Governor,
Frank Lausche.
An endorsement from one of Ohio's great, great
citizens means a great deal to Jerry Ford, and I promise
you, Frank, I won't let you down.
As we enter this critical last 24 hours -- and
this is one of the most critical elections in the history
of the United States; it is the election that will set our
course for the first four years of our third century --
I want you to know where I stand.
I stand for lower taxes, more jobs, a balanced
budget, lower Federal spending, beating inflation, a clean
environment, peace and liberty for the United States of
America. From your ranks I come, and with you I stand.
In the last two years our great country, faced
with adversity, has made an incredible comeback. When
I spoke to you and to the American people in Kansas
City, I said I would not concede a single vote, I would not
concede a single State.
Ohio is going to be on the right side. We are
counting on that Buckeye State to be with us tomorrow.
With our momentum, let's do it, a home run.
I love that enthusiasm and applause, but take
just a minute -- let's hear a pin drop -- because I want
to talk about some of these, or at least two of the
critical issues where I strongly differ with my opponent.
First, taxes. In the first debate, my opponent
said that we could anticipate a $60 billion surplus in the
Federal Treasury. He said in that debate that he would
spend that $60 billion for more programs, piling one on
top of another. In that debate I said if there is a $60
billion surplus, I think it ought to go for a tax
reduction to the middle income taxpayer.
I can stand here and say with good conscience that
President Ford stands for the little taxpayer and President
Ford is against the big tax spender.
MORE
Page 3
Within the last several days Mr. Carter has
been pressed. Does he want a tax reduction, or not? He
says, if, perhaps. President Ford has been on the line
talking straight from the shoulder saying, yes, the
middle income taxpayer has been short-changed.
I recommended to the Congress in January that
we ought to have a $28 billion tax reduction along side
of a $28 billion restraint on Federal spending -- for
every tax dollar in reduction, a dollar reduced in the
rate of growth of Federal spending. The Congress gave
you half a loaf. They didn't go along with my proposal
to increase the personal exemption from $750 to $1,000.
Now, let me tell you what that means. It means
that the middle income taxpayer -- 50 percent of those
that pay our taxes -- would get -- and let me illustrate
it with an incident that happened: I was in a factory the
other day, down a production line, and one of the men said
to me, "President Ford, where do you stand on taxes?" I
told him how I wanted to increase the personal exemption.
I said, "How many children do you have?" He said, "I have
three." I said, "If you have a wife, three children and
yourself, if Congress had acted responsibly, next April
when you made out that income tax return, you would have
had under President Ford's tax reduction program $1,250
more in personal exemption for you to spend and not have
in the Federal Treasury.
Now Congress didn't do it. But on January 3,
when that next Congress convenes -- and I want all of this
good Ohio delegation back there to help me -- I will have
on their desk a tax reduction proposal that will include
the increase in the personal exemption, it will increase
jobs incentive legislation to help industry expand, to
modernize, and if that Congress doesn't pass it in 1977,
they will have it on their desk in January of 1978, and if
they don't give that kind of decent, equitable tax reduction
in 1978, I will join every one of you trying to beat them
in that election in 1978.
But now let's talk about defense. Today the
United States, with our Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines,
we are number one, and under President Ford we are going
to keep them number one. I have recommended appropriations
so they will have the best weapons, the best leadership,
the best training. That is the way to keep the peace. And
under President Ford, with the strength that we have, we
will strengthen our alliances. We will be able to look
our adversaries straight in the eye and they will respect us.
But let me say, you make a great contribution
in the City of Columbus because in the recommendations
that I made for a strong defense -- and that is the way
you keep the peace -- that we have a B-1 bomber to replace
those aging B-52s that are now 20 and 25 years old. If
we don't get the B-1 bomber as an instrument of peace, the
President in the next five, the next ten years, if we
continue to rely on the B-52, will be sending our young
combat pilots to protect us in the aircraft older than they
are, and that is not going to happen under President Ford.
MORE
Page 4
I am proud to stand before you and say that I
am the first President since Dwight D. Eisenhower who can
tell the American people that America is at peace. I am
proud of the fact that not a single young American is
fighting or dying on any foreign soil today. And we are
at peace because the United States is strong. We are not
at war because the United States is strong.
And let me say, wasn't it a great, great
celebration on the Fourth of July when America celebrated
its 200th birthday? I happened to have the privilege to
fly over New York Harbor and see those Tall Ships coming
in, representing many, many countries. And why did they
come to the United States? Because they respect America
and we are proud of America, and we will continue to be
proud of America.
But now as this great campaign comes to a
conclusion, I have the feeling that we have reunited as
a people. When I became President, people were angry,
divided, disillusioned. I will never forget that day in
the East Room of the White House when I put my hand on
the Bible, held by my wife Betty, and took the oath of
office when America was troubled.
Yes, we were in trouble. Inflation was over 12
percent; we were still involved in Vietnam; there was a
loss of confidence in the White House itself; we were on
the brink of the worst recession in 40 years. And, after
having taken the oath of office to be your President, I
said, since you have not elected me by your ballots, I ask
you to confirm me with your prayers.
With those prayers, we put the ship of State on
a: steady keel. I had a firm, common sense hand on the
tiller, and we have made incredible progress in the last
two years. We have cut inflation by better than 50 percent;
we have added four million jobs; we have 88 million people
working today, the most in the history of the United States;
we are at peace, and we are going to keep the peace.
And I can say with pride to all of you and to
my former colleagues in the Congress -- Bob Taft, Sam Devine,
Chalmers Wylie, Clarence Miller, Bud Brown, Bill Harsha,
Will Gradison -- that we have restored that confidence
in the White House. I have been open, candid, frank.
And now, as we come to the final quarter -- in
fact, the final minutes -- of this great campaign, you have
a critical decision to make tomorrow. It couldn't have
been put better than the way Frank Lausche put it.
But let me add, I have been proud to be your
President during troubled times. I want the opportunity to
build on that firm foundation, to keep America moving.
Therefore, I ask when you go to the polls tomorrow
that you not only confirm me with your prayers but you also
confirm me with your ballots, and I won't let you down.
END
(AT 12:57 P.M. EST)