Conversation 889-001

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My head is on the neck.

Thank you, gentlemen.

I don't like the word private.

How does a hand go against an object?

He's just, I explained it badly to him last week.

He was worried about it.

Yeah.

It was bad, like Chad was talking about his paper.

I'm not sure.

Why don't I hand it now?

Oh, hand it on, Jim.

Well, it's going to be great, Mark, but I don't think it's going to be good.

Well, the paper is going to be out of hand.

Yeah.

Next time, too, for a little panel for backlighting.

Thank you.

We'll be right back.

2 1⁄2 to 3 1⁄2 p.m., right?

Thank you.

One minute there.

30 seconds.

30 seconds here.

I don't.

Good evening.

Four years and two months ago, when I first came into this office as president, by far the most difficult problem in the nation was the seemingly endless war in Vietnam.

550,000 Americans were in Vietnam.

As many as 300 of them were being killed in action.

Hundreds were held as prisoners of war in North Vietnam.

And no progress was being made at the peace negotiations.

I immediately initiated a program to end the war and win honorable peace.

Eleven times over the past four years, I have reported to the nation from this room on the progress we have made on that goal.

And tonight, the day we have all worked and prayed for, has finally come.

For the first time in 12 years, no American military,

are on their way home.

The 17 million people of South Vietnam have the right to choose their own government without outside interference.

And because of our program of Vietnamization, they have the strength to defend them.

We have prevented the imposition of a communist government by force on South Vietnam.

There are still some problem areas.

The provisions of the agreement require an accounting for all missing in action with the Chinese.

The provisions with regard to laws and voting, the provisions prohibiting infiltration from North Vietnam and the South Vietnam, have not been complied with.

We have and will continue to comply with the agreement.

We shall insist that North Vietnam comply with the agreement.

And the leaders of North Vietnam should have no doubt as to the consequences if they fail to comply with the agreement.

But despite these difficulties, we can be proud tonight of the fact that we have achieved our goal of obtaining an agreement which provides peace with honor in Vietnam.

And on this day, let us honor those who made this achievement possible, those who sacrificed their lives, those who were disabled, those who made every one of us proud of Vietnam as they returned from years of communist prison.

and every one of the two and a half million Americans who serve honorably in our nation's longest war.

Never have men served with greater devotion abroad with less apparent support at home.

Let us provide these men with the veterans' benefits and the job opportunities they have earned, and let us honor them with the respect they deserve.

And I say again tonight,

Let us not dishonor those who serve their country by granting amnesty to those who deserve it.

Tonight, I want to express the appreciation of the nations and others who helped make this day possible.

I refer to you, the great majority of Americans, for listening to me tonight.

who despite an unprecedented barrage of criticism from a small but vocal minority, stood firm for a peaceful government.

I know it was not easy for you to do so.

We've been through some difficult times, again.

I recall the time of November 1969, when hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marched on the White House.

The time in April 1970, when I found it necessary to order the tax on communist bases in Cambodia.

The time in May, 1972, when I ordered the mining of Haiphong and airstrikes on military targets in North Vietnam in order to stop a massive communist offensive in South Vietnam.

And then, and this was perhaps the hardest decision I had made as President, on December 18, 1972, when our hopes for peace were so high that the North Vietnamese stonewalled us at the conference.

I found it necessary to order more airstrikes on military targets in North Vietnam in order to break the deadline.

On each of these occasions, the voices of opposition we heard in Washington were so loud they at times seemed to be the majority.

But across an army, the overwhelming majority stood firm

against those who advocated peace at any price, even if the price would have been defeat and humiliation for the United States.

And because you stood firm, stood firm for doing what was right, Colonel McKnight was able to say for his fellow POWs and he returned home a few days ago, thank you for bringing us home on our feet instead of on our knees.

Let us turn now to some of our problems now.

Tonight, I ask your support in another battle, that we can be thankful this is not a battle in war or war, but a battle we must win if we are to build a new prosperity without war and without inflation now.

What I refer to is the battle of the budget, not just the battle over the federal budget, but even more important, the battle of Europe.

One of the most terrible costs of war is inflation.

The cost of living has skyrocketed during and after every war America has engaged in.

We recognized this danger four years ago.

We've taken strong action to deal with it.

As a result of our policies, we have cut the rate of inflation in half from the high point it reached in 1969 and 1997.

And today, our rate of inflation in the United States

of any industrial nation in the world.

But these popular statistics are small comfort to a family trying to make both ends meet.

And they are no comfort at all for the housewife who sees meat prices soaring every time she goes to market.

The major weak spot in our fight against inflation is in the area of meat prices.

I have taken action to increase imports of raw and production of coal.

This will increase the supply of meat, and it will help bring prices down later this year.

But what we need is action that will stop the rise in meat prices now.

And that is why I have today ordered a council to impose a ceiling on prices of beef, pork, and lamb.

The ceiling will remain in effect as long as it is necessary to do the job.

Meat prices must not go higher.

And with the help of the housewife and the farmer, they can and they should go down.

This ceiling will help in our battle against inflation.

But it is not a permanent solution.

We must act on all fronts.

And here is where the federal budget comes.

I have submitted to Congress for the next fiscal year the largest budget in our history, $268,000.

The amount I have requested in this budget for domestic programs, in such fields as health, housing, education, aid, aid for the elderly, the handicapped, the poor, is twice as big as the amount I asked for for these items four years ago.

Some members of Congress believe the budget in these areas should be even higher.

Now, if I were to approve the increases in my budget that have been proposed in the Congress, it would mean a 15% increase in your taxes or an increase in prices for every American.

And that is why I shall veto the bills which would break the federal budget which I have submitted.

If I do not veto these bills, increased prices or taxes would break the family budget of millions of Americans, including possibly your own.

This is not a battle between Congress and the President.

It is your money.

It is your money, your prices, your taxes, I'm trying to say.

Twenty-five years ago, as a freshman congressman, I heard a change in this office.

I met Harry Truman, who was then president of the United States.

I remember he had a sign on the desk.

It read, the buck stops here.

Now that meant, of course, that a president can't pass the buck to anyone else when a tough decision has to be made.

It also means that your buck stops here.

If I do not act to stop the spending increases which Congress sends to this text, you will have to pay the bill.

I admit there's an honest difference of opinion on the matter of the federal budget.

If you are willing to pay the higher taxes and prices, the real result, if we increase federal spending over my budget, as some in Congress have proposed, you should ask your senators and your Congress to override

But I do want to stop the rise in taxes and prices.

I have a suggestion.

I remember when I was a congressman and a senator, I always seemed to hear from those who wanted government to spend more.

I seldom heard from the people who had to pay the bills, the taxpayers.

And if your congressman or senator has the courage to vote again,

more government spending so that you won't have to pay higher prices or taxes.

Let them know if you support it.

Winning the battle to hold down the federal budget is a sanction if we are to achieve our goal of a new prosperity.

Prosperity without war and without aggression.

I ask you tonight for your support in helping to win this vital thing

Let me turn finally tonight to another great John treatise.

As we end America's longest war, let us resolve that we shall not lose the peace.

During a past year, we made great progress toward our goal of a generation of peace for America, the world.

The war at Vietnam has been ended.

After 20 years of hostility and confrontation, we have opened a constructing new relationship with the People's Republic of China.

We negotiated last year with the Soviet Union a number of important agreements, including an agreement which takes a major step in limiting nuclear arms.

Now, there are some who say that if you have all this progress toward peace, why not cut our defense budget?

Well, let's look at the facts.

Our defense budget today takes the lowest percentage of our gross national product that it has in 20 years.

There is nothing I would like better than to be able to reduce it further.

But we must never forget that we would not have made the progress for a lasting peace that we have made this past year unless we had had the military strength that commanded respect.

This year, we have begun new negotiations with the Soviet Union for further limitations on nuclear arms.

And we should be protected any later in the year in negotiations for mutual reduction of forces in government.

If prior to these negotiations we in the United States unilaterally reduce our defense budget or reduce our forces in government, any chance for successful negotiations for mutual reduction of forces or limitation of arms will be destroyed.

There is one unbreakable rule of international diplomacy.

You can't get something in a negotiation unless you have something to give.

If we cut our defenses before negotiations begin, any incentive for other nations to cut theirs will go right out the window.

If the United States reduces its defenses and others do not, it will increase the value of war.

It is only the mutual reduction of forces which will reduce the danger of war.

And that is why we must maintain our strength until we get agreements under which other nations will join us in reducing the burden of our menace.

What is the state?

It is whether the United States shall become the second strongest nation in the world.

If that day ever comes,

chance for building a new structure of peace in the world would be irreparable advantage, and free nations everywhere would be living in mortal danger.

A strong United States is not a threat to peace.

It is a free world's indispensable guardian of peace and freedom.

I ask for your support for keeping the strength,

the strength which enabled us to make such great progress toward world peace in the past year, and which is indispensable as we continue our bold new initiatives for peace in the years ahead.

As we consider some of our problems tonight, let us never forget how fortunate we are to live in America at this time in our history.

We have ended the longest and most difficult war in our history in a way that maintains the trust of our allies and the respect of our ancestors.

We are the strongest and most prosperous nation in the world.

Because of our strength, America has the magnificent opportunity to play the leading role of bringing down the walls of hostility which divide the people of the world.

in reducing the burden of arms in the world, of building a structure of lasting peace in the world.

And because of our wealth, we have the means to move forward at home on exciting new programs, programs for progress which will provide better environment, education, housing, and health care for all Americans.

and which will enable us to be more generous to the poor, the elderly, the disabled, and the disadvantaged than any nation in the history of the world.

These are goals worthy of a great deal.

Let us, therefore, put aside those honest differences about war which have divided us, and dedicate ourselves

to meet the great challenges of peace which can unite us.

As we do, let us not overlook their government, and all the more important even than military minors even under power, because it is essential for greatness in nation.

The pages of history are strewn with the wreckage of nations which fell by the wayside

at the height of their strength and wealth, because their people became weak, soft, and self-indulgent, and lost the character and the spirit which had led to their greatness.

As I speak to you tonight, I am confident that will not happen to America.

And my confidence has been increased to the fact that a war

which cost America so much in lives, money, and division of home, has, as an ending, provided an opportunity for millions of Americans to see again the character, the spirit, which made America a great nation.

Two days ago in this room, I talked to a man who had spent almost eight years in a communist prison camp.

he was in solitary confinement.

In that four-year period, he never saw and never talked to another human being except his communist captives.

He lived on two meals a day, usually just a piece of bread, a bowl of soup.

All he was given to read was communist propaganda.

All he could listen

I asked him how he was able to survive and come home standing tall and proud saluting the American flag.

He paused a long time before he answered.

And then he said, it's never helped me to answer.

I am not very good at words.

All I can say is that it was faith.

Faith in God.

and faith in my country.

If men who suffer so much for America can have such faith, let us who have received so much for America renew our faith, our faith in God, our faith in our country, and our faith

If we meet the great challenges of peace that lie ahead with this kind of faith, then one day,

No, I have a sign of Harry on his face.

I suppose that's a prologer.

You see, Brian told him.

Brian told him.

Right.

That was quite a sign.

No, I, he used to have a, did you see his desk?

Yes, I did.

He used to have a hole in his back.

I remember he took a photo of his face.

Thank you.

All right.

We'll do it well this time.

uh... uh... uh... uh...

Thank you.