Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 039-120
Date: Wednesday, June 6, 1973 at 4:56 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ford, Gerald R.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/039-120

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Hi, Mr. President.
[0:02] I understand you're tied up down there.
[0:04] Apparently the policy was going to come down and they said they couldn't come today.
[0:08] Well, we had a tough blow on this damn minimum wage thing and we lost the substitute and so we're now going through the process on about 20-some amendments to try and clean it up.
[0:21] We aren't very optimistic, but we're going to make the effort.
[0:26] You think it's something, all right.
[0:27] Well, then you go to conference, huh?
[0:29] Yeah, I think there will be a fairly substantial vote against the bill, and my recommendation would be that if the bill comes to your desk the way it is, that you ought to veto it.
[0:42] Okay.
[0:44] What's Pete Brennan's view?
[0:45] Of course, he's pro-labor, but why, it's just a bad bill, huh?
[0:52] Well, if we don't get the, honest to goodness, youth differential in there...
[0:57] then I think you've got to veto it.
[1:01] If they were to take the youth differential with all this other extra coverage and the wage, why, you might have a problem.
[1:10] But if they knock out the youth differential or keep it out of the committee bill, then I think you've got a good, legitimate reason to veto it because it doesn't coincide with your recommendations.
[1:22] That'll be a hairy thing with Brennan, I'm afraid.
[1:25] Well, we'll do our best.
[1:26] Oh, he's—we're having a cabinet meeting tomorrow, and I'll try to— Say, are you having a cabinet meeting after our bipartisan meeting?
[1:34] Oh, the bipartisan has shifted to Tuesday, Larry—I mean, Sherry.
[1:39] Oh, the bipartisan— Yeah, so you can pass that.
[1:42] We were going to have it tomorrow, but we've had—I decided that I wanted to wrap it up with—so that I could take Vietnam
[1:52] and the Brezhnev Summit all in one meeting, so Tuesday is a better day for it.
[1:59] That bipartisan meeting is Tuesday, not— Yeah, you probably should have a call by now, but we are changing it from tomorrow, Thursday, until Tuesday at the same time.
[2:11] Scott is here with me, and— He may not have the word, but— How about you and me coming down to that cabinet meeting?
[2:19] Great.
[2:20] I'd like to do that.
[2:21] Yeah.
[2:21] Great.
[2:22] You're invited.
[2:23] All right.
[2:23] What time is it?
[2:24] 10 o'clock.
[2:25] 10 o'clock.
[2:26] Yeah, that's a good idea.
[2:27] It'll be Mel's first one.
[2:28] Good.
[2:29] Good.
[2:29] Well, I think you and I would like to come if we could.
[2:32] You're invited.
[2:33] All right.
[2:33] You're invited.
[2:34] Great.
[2:35] You tell Hugh, yeah.
[2:37] All right.
[2:37] Hugh just said he'd like to speak with you.
[2:39] Sure.
[2:39] OK.
[2:40] Wait just a second.
[2:41] Pardon?
[2:42] Wait a second.
[2:43] How'd you do with our friend Klosky?
[2:45] Well, I got a copy of his speech, and I was just going over it hurriedly.
[2:51] It, frankly, is what I discussed with you.
[2:56] He doesn't make any affirmative recommendation.
[2:59] He doesn't say he's going to introduce a resolution.
[3:03] He talks about the need for study, and he gets into some other details.
[3:07] But my judgment is we still ought to ignore it.
[3:12] I agree.
[3:13] I agree.
[3:14] I'll see that you get a copy.
[3:15] No, don't bother.
[3:17] Don't bother.
[3:18] All right.
[3:19] I just told Jerry we'd like for you and him to attend the cabinet meeting tomorrow.
[3:27] We're putting the bipartisans of Tuesday so that I can wrap the Soviet summit in the one meeting.
[3:34] But we have an 830 meeting, I believe, with you, sir.
[3:37] That is off.
[3:39] We put that off to Tuesday.
[3:42] All right.
[3:42] But you're both to attend on cabinet meeting, if you like, you and Jerry.
[3:46] I think it'd be a good idea.
[3:48] It'd be an interesting, you know, it's a little different thing to do.
[3:50] Why, John Connolly's here.
[3:52] This idea doesn't come from me.
[3:53] It comes from him.
[3:55] It comes from me.
[3:56] We were just ready to sound it out, and that was if you have an economic package coming up, and it's one that you think is a strong one, whether you'd consider addressing a joint session with Congress.
[4:08] It goes right to the people line.
[4:09] The difficulty with it is that it isn't that strong.
[4:13] Yes.
[4:13] I'm going to see John Connolly tonight.
[4:14] He's going out—you know, I'm going to see him at 6 o'clock.
[4:18] I'll talk to him about it.
[4:22] It doesn't have the stuff in it that we really need for that sort of thing.
[4:27] You know what I mean?
[4:28] I don't want to go to that joint session on us.
[4:30] We've really got something that's a thing.
[4:32] Yes, sir.
[4:34] But I'll talk to John about it.
[4:36] Because it appalls me, you know, to read one of your economists in U.S. News that there's no consumer hurting anyone in the country.
[4:44] And that's absolute crap because... We know that.
[4:47] We know that.
[4:48] Sure, sure, sure, sure.
[4:49] We know that.
[4:49] Particularly the food prices going up 50% in about six months.
[4:52] What we need is some movement, some strong counteraction to this freeze because they plan to put on the debt limitation.
[5:01] A freeze running as long as the debt limitation, five months.
[5:06] Oh, my.
[5:06] All those freeze.
[5:08] And...
[5:08] On labor, too?
[5:11] Well, we believe it's going to be on wages and prices.
[5:14] Well, I'll tell you, that would break it off.
[5:16] It would ruin the economy, of course, and it would have... Lopp has met the day with the labor and management group, and labor is strenuously opposed to a freeze.
[5:30] That's interesting.
[5:30] And management, a little less strenuously, but also...
[5:34] So that's interesting, too, isn't it?
[5:35] Yes, sir.
[5:36] I just mention it because of what you do, if you can anticipate doing that, you take a play with it.
[5:43] I know.
[5:44] That's what we've been thinking about.
[5:46] You can't do it.
[5:47] Well, you did a fine job yesterday, I must say.
[5:49] Well, thank you, sir.
[5:50] It was a good shot across the bow.
[5:52] Thank you.
[5:52] And Mike is being very supportive now on the fact that I said this morning to the Senators that I wish all Senators in both parties would do what they could to restore confidence in the country by...
[6:03] Speaking of the strength of the country and the fact that we continue our commitments and that we are strong and unimpaired.
[6:11] That's right.
[6:11] And Mike's given some support on that.
[6:14] Good, good, good.
[6:16] Good.
[6:16] So we'll be there tomorrow.
[6:19] Yeah, at the cabinet meeting.
[6:20] Yeah.
[6:20] Right.
[6:21] Good.
[6:21] Thank you very much.