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OCR Page 1 of 13SUGGESTED REMARKS:
SHIPYARD APPEARANCE
Detail Concerning Decisions:
THE PRESIDENT HAS SEEN
1.
As a result of contracts which are being signed this morning, the
National Steel and Shipbuilding Company of San Diego wi 11 build
3 new bulk carriers at $18.2 million each -- a total contract of
$54. 6 million. Our new maritime program, for the first time,
makes possible the construction of this type of vessel in an American
shipyard. This is particularly important since some 90% of our
international trade tonnage is transported in ships of this sort.
2.
In a second decision, which also affects our shipbuilding industry,
the Department of Defense has approved conditional contracts for
the construction and charter of nine 25,000 ton tankers. Four of these
ships are to be built at the Todd Shipyards, San Pedro, California, for
a total price of approximately $66 million, and the other five ships are
to be built at the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Marine, for a total price of
some $80 million. (Note: The Internal Revenue Service, the
Comptroller General, and the Attorney General must all approve this
contract before it becomes effective. Such approval is expected in the
next few weeks. At this point, however, only Defense Department
approval can be officially announced.)
General Themes:
Late in 1968, in a speech on this coast (Seattle), I called attention to our
alarming maritime crisis. I pointed out that the American Merchant Marine,
comprised mostly of obsolete vessels built during World War II, was being
swept off the seas by the larger, faster, more efficient ships of other nations.
I pledged then that if I were elected I would present a plan to revitalize our
fleet and restore its competitive position. I fulfilled that pledge in my first
year in office (October, 1969), when I transmitted to the Congress a
comprehensive message which charted a new course for this nation's
maritime policies.
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