00:00:02.360 - 00:00:14.070

Female voice: If introducing Bill, Caleb Boggs Female voice: and Bill Roth is challenging, Female voice: How does one introduce our next speaker? Female voice: How do you do justice to

00:00:14.070 - 00:00:22.890

Female voice: a man whose very name has Female voice: become a legend in Female voice: Delaware and throughout the United States. Female voice: And how do you introduce

00:00:22.890 - 00:00:34.020

Female voice: a man whose name has become Female voice: synonymous with honesty, Female voice: integrity, and vigilance. Female voice: You have read of this gentleman's activities

00:00:34.020 - 00:00:45.890

Female voice: in the field of investigation. Female voice: We're aware of his critical work Female voice: in the area of government finance. Female voice: You have noted the many awards he has

00:00:45.890 - 00:00:57.470

Female voice: received from Female voice: organizations all over this nation. Female voice: Suffice it then to say that this man, Female voice: who was the first Delawarean to be elected

00:00:57.470 - 00:01:08.830

Female voice: to four successive terms Female voice: in the United States Senate, Female voice: holds a very high place in our esteem. Female voice: As always, we look forward to his message.

00:01:08.830 - 00:01:17.470

Female voice: Without further pause. Female voice: I give you Delaware's Female voice: senior United States Senator, Female voice: the Honorable John J. Williams.

00:01:17.470 - 00:01:56.240

[Applause] Senator John J. Williams: Thank you. Madam Chairman. My colleagues, Senator Williams: Senator Boggs, Congressman Roth, honored guests, Senator Williams: Republicans, Independents,

00:01:56.240 - 00:02:04.910

Senator Williams: Democrats, and last and but far Senator Williams: not the least, my brother groundhogs. [Room chuckles and laughs] To any of those who may

00:02:04.910 - 00:02:12.560

have some question in their minds as to the strength and the vitality of the Republican Party, I would most respectfully say,

00:02:12.560 - 00:02:21.550

let this meeting here tonight be their answer. Certainly, we're getting off to a wonderful start in this year of 1968, which we know is going to be

00:02:21.550 - 00:02:34.130

a Republican year of victory. [Applause] Now, Howell Haskell, just a few minutes ago, pointed out to you that he was making

00:02:34.130 - 00:02:42.710

some remarks and all I was supposed to do is to give my address. And he politely told you that that was 221 Senate Office Building.

00:02:42.710 - 00:02:51.470

But all I got to say is as I told you before, spell it out if you use it, you don't know how embarrassing it is to get a letter Caleb, addressed to

00:02:51.470 - 00:03:09.260

J. Caleb Boggs or John J. Williams S-O-B numbers so and so. [Applause and laughter] Now...

00:03:09.260 - 00:03:16.730

Caleb Boggs got 10 minutes tonight. Bill Roth gets ten minutes, and I get 13 minutes. [Room chuckles]

00:03:16.730 - 00:03:25.820

Now, the reason of that is that one year ago, this January, President Johnson delivered his State of the Union message to the Congress.

00:03:25.820 - 00:03:31.640

And at that time, it took him exactly one hour and eight minutes. This year he delivered his State of

00:03:31.640 - 00:03:38.330

the Union message in January, just three weeks ago, and it took him but 55 minutes, saving 13 minutes.

00:03:38.330 - 00:03:46.820

And Cleat Harrison said, I could have that here tonight. [Some applause] By the way, should be noted at this time, that

00:03:46.820 - 00:04:00.220

13 minutes savings is the only reduction that I could find in his 1968 budget. [Applause]

00:04:00.220 - 00:04:10.580

Now, President Johnson then is about three months ago, was speaking at Miami Beach before the joint session of

00:04:10.580 - 00:04:20.540

but the AF of L and the CIO at the national convention and he gave, delivered what he referred to it that time as a non-political speech in which you referred,

00:04:20.540 - 00:04:28.900

made some rather pointed remarks at some of the Republican wooden soldiers in Congress. Now as one of those wooden soldiers,

00:04:28.900 - 00:04:39.110

I would like to direct just a few non-political remarks about the Great Society here tonight. And the same non-political atmosphere

00:04:39.110 - 00:04:48.740

and before at the same type of a non-political meeting. But, before that, I would like to join Cale and I know

00:04:48.740 - 00:04:58.070

he'll join me in this in expressing to each and every one of you, not only our appreciation for all the support that you've given to each one

00:04:58.070 - 00:05:05.840

of us throughout the years, but also in particular, the thank you for joining with us last year in electing

00:05:05.840 - 00:05:19.760

Bill Roth to the Congress. It's been wonderful to have a solid Republican Congressional delegation to work with again,

00:05:19.760 - 00:05:26.870

and I'm confident that we're going to re-elect this young man who as his first year in congress has established a

00:05:26.870 - 00:05:33.600

rather enviable record as one of the hardest working and most dedicated public servants that's come down to Washington in a long time.

00:05:33.600 - 00:05:46.370

[Applause] And Dot, I want to join your many friends likewise in paying our respects to you and joining

00:05:46.370 - 00:05:55.580

the other Republican women throughout the country in honoring you. I was particularly interested in your eulogy for Abraham Lincoln,

00:05:55.580 - 00:06:01.790

that great American. And I couldn't help but think as you were reminding us that Abraham Lincoln once

00:06:01.790 - 00:06:08.090

won an election in Illinois, only to be counted out. That happen to us again, 1960, there's still at it.

00:06:08.090 - 00:06:17.840

And we're going to have to be a little more careful about Cook County from now on. So lets be remembering that. [Laughter] Really though in commenting on

00:06:17.840 - 00:06:26.660

the President's message and his budget message as we were sitting and listening to it the other night and examining this group of us were working, I,

00:06:26.660 - 00:06:38.450

the thought came to me as I began reading this that really, and to paraphrase the words of that great English statesman's once, As you read that message,

00:06:38.450 - 00:06:45.560

you can realize that never in the history of mankind, as any one man promised so much to so many, and at the same time has

00:06:45.560 - 00:06:54.470

so little with which to pay for it. But still, you've got to admit as you listen to the President's State of the Union message that

00:06:54.470 - 00:07:02.030

this year has started off as one of the most promising years that we've had since 1964 presidential campaign. And I am sure that

00:07:02.030 - 00:07:09.040

these promisings will keep on. But we're going to check and see the record whether or not these promises are being fulfilled.

00:07:09.040 - 00:07:16.700

Really. I want to mention just a few of what I think will be the issues tonight. I see my 13 minutes is running along,

00:07:16.700 - 00:07:26.360

but my clock stopped and maybe anyway, so I have a way of slowing it down, you know, in the Senate, over in the House you can hold Bill Roth down to five minutes

00:07:26.360 - 00:07:31.120

then wrap the gavel. But you just don't hold a member of the Senate down, you know how they get going.

00:07:31.120 - 00:07:38.260

But really briefly, there are going to be some of the main issues. Bill Roth hit some of them here tonight.

00:07:38.260 - 00:07:46.810

There's great concern on the part of the American people over the international situation. Now I'm not discussing Vietnam,

00:07:46.810 - 00:07:52.640

the question of the Pueblo incident or anything else. But here tonight because we don't have the time.

00:07:52.640 - 00:08:01.670

And really at a time when we have a half million Americans, boys fighting in the jungles of Vietnam, we as Americans, not as

00:08:01.670 - 00:08:09.880

Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans, we have but one choice and that is to stand united, throwing the full resources

00:08:09.880 - 00:08:17.690

of our government behind those men, and see that we can get this war to a successful conclusion as rapidly as possible.

00:08:17.690 - 00:08:35.350

[Applause] And I know that we're all going to be working together to that point. But I would say this as one who has

00:08:35.350 - 00:08:42.460

supported and the effort there and we'll have, we'll continue to support those men, that I think there are steps

00:08:42.460 - 00:08:49.530

that we could take in this administration and at the same time would help. And one of those I think long overdue,

00:08:49.530 - 00:08:58.660

is that we could call on our allies, our NATO allies, as Bill mentioned, who we helped several years, 20 years ago in the rebuilding of Europe.

00:08:58.660 - 00:09:07.830

We could call on the many allies that we have throughout the world and tell them that we expect them to stop trading with North Vietnam and North Korea,

00:09:07.830 - 00:09:21.250

as long as there's an American boy dying on those battlefields. [Applause] And then we reminded that

00:09:21.250 - 00:09:28.260

between the two great countries of France and the United States, there's always been this friendly relations and we hope that for the years to come,

00:09:28.260 - 00:09:34.270

many years to come, those same friendly relations will continue and we're confident that they will.

00:09:34.270 - 00:09:40.540

And we respect Mr. de Gaulle and his leadership. But if Mr. de Gaulle has a few more dollars then

00:09:40.540 - 00:09:46.870

he knows what to do with, I most respectfully suggest that instead of worrying about the safety of those dollars

00:09:46.870 - 00:09:54.170

and trying to convert them into gold that we would be glad to accept them as a part payment on the $5 billion debt he's owed us for twenty years.

00:09:54.170 - 00:10:10.790

[Applause] Now another issue that's going to be mentioned this time, and the one that is on very much on

00:10:10.790 - 00:10:18.740

the minds of Americans as we go, not necessarily in the campaign, but everyday life and that is crime in the streets.

00:10:18.740 - 00:10:28.550

President Johnson in his State of the Union message made an eloquent plea for additional laws to deal with this with the crime and give

00:10:28.550 - 00:10:34.100

the Department of Justice additional tools and we may need additional laws and I would support them.

00:10:34.100 - 00:10:42.440

But I most respectfully point out to him that just two years ago we passed a good anti-crime bill in the District of Columbia,

00:10:42.440 - 00:10:49.450

and he vetoed it at that time, and it embraced practically the same thing he's asking for now in this election year.

00:10:49.450 - 00:10:57.040

And I think it's a little late for somebody to be expressing this concern. But even though it's late, I'm glad that he has recognized it.

00:10:57.040 - 00:11:06.470

That one of the most important things here in America is that we keep our streets safe, where our wives and daughters can walk down the street here in our own country.

00:11:06.470 - 00:11:14.780

And I think that the American people are going to insist that we do maintain law and order. Sure, we want to protect

00:11:14.780 - 00:11:23.360

the rights of every man and I respect the rights of the accused as well as the ones who were the victims. But at the same time,

00:11:23.360 - 00:11:30.200

I think the time is long past due when the Department of Justice and some of our courts remember as they make

00:11:30.200 - 00:11:35.630

their decisions that the victims of these crimes, likewise, have constitutional rights and they

00:11:35.630 - 00:11:49.500

too have a right to be protected here in this country. Then when we speak of the promises that are being made,

00:11:49.500 - 00:11:57.220

I think it's well to remember that this credibility gap develops because of so many promises which had been made,

00:11:57.220 - 00:12:04.180

which cannot, and they knew it could not be fulfilled at the time. And much of this unrest is, arises as a result of

00:12:04.180 - 00:12:13.000

the dissatisfaction and the disappointments. Disappointments, which would have been unnecessary had that people been told the truth as to just how far we can

00:12:13.000 - 00:12:20.880

go and what we can pay with, pay for it. And at the same time, we should not be unmindful of the fact that much of that which we,

00:12:20.880 - 00:12:30.770

you and I have enjoyed in the past five years has been borrowed, had been bought and paid for with borrowed money. And our children and grandchildren

00:12:30.770 - 00:12:36.560

for the generations to come will be paying for it. This Administration, since President Johnson took

00:12:36.560 - 00:12:45.650

office in late 1963, has spent over $60 billion more than he's taken in just that five-year period

00:12:45.650 - 00:12:54.970

or less than five years. And if you figure on a 24 hour basis, 24 hours a day, just sit down and figure what that means.

00:12:54.970 - 00:13:05.080

It means that that we've gone behind in the red $1.5 million an hour, $25 thousand every minute since Johnson has been in office.

00:13:05.080 - 00:13:11.900

And that's $400 every second every time your watch ticks. And that's even counting the time while the lights

00:13:11.900 - 00:13:21.080

out in the White House, that the expense is still going on. I say that we have got to recognize that there is a limit

00:13:21.080 - 00:13:29.450

as to how much we in America can afford to continue piling up these deficits for the future generations. And then when we figure that we

00:13:29.450 - 00:13:39.320

have this year a deficit, which I recognize as twenty billion dollars, one next year, which is twenty eight and a quarter billion dollars based

00:13:39.320 - 00:13:47.440

upon the president's own recommendations. And I say that notwithstanding the fact that he said the other night, that would be an $8 billion deficit.

00:13:47.440 - 00:13:54.560

And there's no contradiction between his figures in mine except that he's moved down the line and used a little bit of

00:13:54.560 - 00:14:04.400

the fancy New Deal or Great Society budget juggling. Because he started out with a $28.3 billion deficit in his budget,

00:14:04.400 - 00:14:11.990

just the same as I am reporting to you, and then he said it would be minus whatever we raise taxes and he estimated that 13

00:14:11.990 - 00:14:21.260

billion, which bring it back to 15. And then in order to get a $7 billion or an $8 billion deficit, he reached over and counted

00:14:21.260 - 00:14:27.110

your money and my money which is in the trust funds, which under the law cannot be used to defray

00:14:27.110 - 00:14:35.330

the normal expenses of the government. And for accounting purposes only, he said I will report an $8 billion deficit. That that's the reason that we

00:14:35.330 - 00:14:42.620

have this credibility gap. And what we need here in America more than anything else is to tell the American people the truth.

00:14:42.620 - 00:14:50.750

We've had a Truth in Lending, Truth in Lending bill sponsored by this administration and truth in packaging.

00:14:50.750 - 00:15:02.470

And I say now what we need this year in 68 is truth in government. [Applause] And it's interesting to know

00:15:02.470 - 00:15:11.530

that we have, that 96 percent of our national debt today, which it stands at 353 billion dollars, 96 percent of that debt

00:15:11.530 - 00:15:17.830

was created under the, under the great, the Democratic administrations in the last 68 years.

00:15:17.830 - 00:15:26.800

And 53 of that was created under President Johnson. And today it's taking $3 billion a year of the American taxpayer's money

00:15:26.800 - 00:15:34.060

just to pay the interest on the deficit which was created under the Johnson administration of past five years.

00:15:34.060 - 00:15:43.130

Now, just briefly in the next half hour. [some laughter] I want to review some of the so-called campaign slogans because you know,

00:15:43.130 - 00:15:50.750

you've gotta win elections on slogans. We get some beauts sometimes and I don't have any suggestions, but let's review them.

00:15:50.750 - 00:15:57.920

I was told the other night and Caleb was in the meeting that the slogan this year is going to be don't change the horses in the middle of

00:15:57.920 - 00:16:07.820

the stream. Well we've heard that before. And I got to thinking back 1916 and we had a similar campaign slogan. You remember how President Roosevelt,

00:16:07.820 - 00:16:16.910

President Wilson, then pledge that we would keep us out of war. Then in 1940, speaking in Boston in the campaign,

00:16:16.910 - 00:16:23.740

President Roosevelt said, I pledged to the mothers of America that your sons will not die on a foreign battlefield.

00:16:23.740 - 00:16:32.990

Then we move up in 1960. We heard a lot about the prestige. Then a candidate, Kennedy was greatly concerned about prestige

00:16:32.990 - 00:16:41.260

in our international prestige, well, they conducted a poll or two since about the last couple of years and it hits so low,

00:16:41.260 - 00:16:46.810

they sealed the pole because it struck bottom and somebody said it would have to bounce again regardless.

00:16:46.810 - 00:16:57.290

But never in the history of our country has our international prestige been lower. And then in 1964, we can all remember the campaign slogans

00:16:57.290 - 00:17:07.450

then. I remember one statement, particularly by President Johnson, where he said that in his opinion, we should let Asian boys fight Asian wars.

00:17:07.450 - 00:17:15.070

And you and I were warned at that time, maybe we didn't heed the warning, but we were warned that if we dare vote for Goldwater,

00:17:15.070 - 00:17:23.660

we would have a large-scale war on our hands in South Vietnam. Well, I didn't listen to him. I voted for Goldwater and everything

00:17:23.660 - 00:17:31.580

that he warned us against is happening tonight. So we have a full-scale war on our hands. And even though he

00:17:31.580 - 00:17:39.620

thought that he could save it. So I say again, let's not be fooled by this campaign slogan in 1968

00:17:39.620 - 00:17:48.440

don't change horses in the middle of the stream. I say as we go to the polls this time, after we as Americans,

00:17:48.440 - 00:17:58.450

after having pulled this jackass out of deep waters on three occasions in this century, I say that if he's waded out in deep water again,

00:17:58.450 - 00:18:18.140

I say let's let him drown. [Applause] Yes. Let's let him drown. And let's, you and I all join

00:18:18.140 - 00:18:26.090

together as Republicans, Democrats and Independents and follow that wise old elephant. And see if he can't lead us around

00:18:26.090 - 00:18:38.180

the pitfalls of war and around the mires of the quicksands of inflation. Thank you. [Applause]