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Georgiana: It is my distinct pleasure and honor to Georgiana: introduce to you a big man Georgiana: in the United States Senate. Georgiana: One of the biggest,

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Georgiana: the Honorable John J. Williams, Female voice 1: senior senator from the state of Delaware. [Applause] [Organ music] [Silence on tape]

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Senator John J. Williams: That was Georgiana made the introduction right? Female voice 1: Yes, she did. While you were coming in. Senator Williams: Thank you Georgiana, Senator Williams: for that most flattering introduction.

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Senator Williams: And my greetings to Senator Williams: all the honored guests at the head Senator Williams: table. Dot Elston, Mrs. Brooks, and all the other officials. And ladies, members of

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the greatest political party in America. [Applause] I greet you this morning as the most powerful political group

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in America, the Republican Women. [Applause] I... [Applause continue] ... make that statement

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not in any idle sense of flattery, but rather is a statement of fact. Because where in America would you find a group more

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interested or more sensitive to our foreign policy than the wife or the mother of the boy that is assigned to the foreign battlefield?

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Where in America would you find any group that is more concerned with the problems of inflation than the wife who buys

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the groceries for the family? And where in America would you find any one that is more aware of the need of a

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real balance budget than the housewife who oftentimes has to make the choice between what is a necessity and what is a luxury?

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Yes. And where in America could you find any one or any group that is more concerned with

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the questions of morality and integrity than the mother who's training her child? So I say again, I salute the women of America as

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the most powerful political force in our land. And the women in America are on the march. Now, the suggestion was made earlier

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that I speak on the subject of corruption in government, but I'm not going to touch that subject this morning to those of you who

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are interested in more elaborate details as to what has been happening in Washington in the last few years.

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I would say that if you want to read that book that was published recently by the author Clark R. Mollenhoff, the

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Despoilers of Democracy, as one of the most detailed reports of some of the happenings in the back stages of Washington that I have seen.

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I understand that this will soon be available in the paperback books. I do want to briefly though just review some of

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the highlights of what is happening here on the Potomac front before we start in. Just lightly, as you know, the lights are still out in the White House.

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The President has removed his French chef, but he's still kept his Baker. [Laughter and applause] He still has his same mania

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for signing bills in the most appropriate places. For example, when he signed the Medicare bill, he moved flies

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out to Independence, Missouri. When he signed the immigration bill, he goes to New York that the foot of the Statue of

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Liberty. Signed the Civil Rights bill at the foot of Lincoln statue. And we Republicans are just looking forward to the time when we

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pass the next space bill. [Laughter and applause] Now, I might say that contrary to some of the reports,

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the Great Society is not planning to sponsor a poverty program for the destitute members of Congress. As you noted last week,

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the Congress passed the rent subsidy bill by the narrow margin of one vote. This lost first in the committee, as you know,

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but later that according to the press, the President was able to pick up one extra vote. We're told that this was picked up

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because the administration reversed its previous position of opposition to a proposal and supported, agreed to support a

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ten million dollar grant for the state of Alaska. This concerned some of us at first when we thought, well, here's $10 million being paid for one vote,

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but we were given assurance by the White House that this price was well within the president's guidelines.

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[Some laughter and applause] Truly though, we have a great country. We have a country that was established by our forefathers with

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the idea that they were going to make sure that they protected and safeguarded the rights of every American citizen.

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In order to do that, they established a government of checks. They establish the three branches, the executive,

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the legislative, and judiciary, each to act as a check upon the other. But then recognizing that the time may come when

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all three branches would be overwhelmingly controlled by one political party, they reserved unto

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themselves one final check, a check which they themselves can always control the government and that is the ballot. And that is why it is so important as we

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approach this 1966 election to remember that we do have a chance to take control and to change the destiny of this government if we wish.

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Today with the administration having overwhelming control of both houses of the Congress, there's no question, but Congress in

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effect is acting as a rubber stamp. Congress is not functioning today as a check on the executive branch. And we desperately need

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a more effective minority in this control in this country. Never in the history of our country has there been

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so much distrust by the American people of the officials of their government and the manner in which it is being operated.

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Certainly, when we have an administration which has the control of the expenditures of over $100 billion annually,

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you can see the tremendous power in back of this. When you figured that over half of this is spent by one department,

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the Defense Department alone, the power to negotiate these contracts and make them award them to a particular corporation

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or a particular area in the country is a tremendous power. And on which should not be administered. It is even reach the point today where

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candidates on the Democratic ticket openly boost if they are elected due to their close association

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with the administration, they will be able to get more government contracts for their area then would happen if the

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opponent or a member of the minority elected. This is, in effect, political blackmail. And if it is true, it means that there,

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that not only is a Secretary of Defense operating improperly in awarding these contracts, but actually in violation of the law.

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Because the law specifically provides that all government contracts are supposed to be awarded to

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the lowest responsible bidder without regard to the area of the country, or without regard to the political affiliation of

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the state in which they are represented. Thank you. Appreciate that, water always helps on their dry speech. [Some laughter]

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As examples of how the presidential powers have been abused we only have to go back to

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the recent examples of the president threatening to dump the stock piles of aluminum-copper, the farm surplus and all

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in order to control prices. That's okay. We have in this country exercising today what is known as jawbone price controls

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without any legislative authority. We hear the administration speak of their concern over the threat of inflation. In my inflation, in my opinion,

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inflation has passed the stage of being a threat. We have inflation in our midst, as is evidenced by the price that we pay

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for our groceries every time we go to the store. The people in America today are being misinformed as to the real deficits of this administration

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and the real expenditures. For example, the president this year boasted of the fact that he would reduce the deficit for fiscal 67,

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by, down to $1.8 billion. When in reality, our expenditures in fiscal 67, based on his own budget,

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are scheduled to be over $9 billion more than our income. This difference is made up by the fact that he's counting as normal income

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the $4.9 billion net will be picked up as a result of the acceleration of the payment of corporation and individual taxes, plus

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the $2.5 billion that he expects to make by putting less silver in the coins, the quarters and the half dollars. This is non-recurring income

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and by no line of reasoning should be counted as normal income to defray the cost of the government. The deficits of

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this administration for the past five years, it's between 61 and including fiscal 67, has been over 36 billion dollars. Averaging for the past five years over

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$500 million per month and are running today, scheduled today to run at an even higher rate than this during the next fiscal year.

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The Democratic Party has a historical record of spending beyond their income. If you will examine the record,

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since 1900, you will find but three occasions when the Democratic Party has controlled the government

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that they've ever balanced the budget. 93% of our three hundred and twenty billion dollar and debt today was created under the Democratic administration

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while they were controlling it. So certainly when they speak of the high cost of government, they should know what they're talking about.

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Now, the president is expressing great concern over the fact that Congress is increasing his appropriation over and

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above what he wants. And he said he's afraid that this is going to be force him to raise income taxes. Now, what is overlooked

00:12:45.350 - 00:12:53.330

is the fact that it does not cost anymore money to buy a veto pen than it does one to sign all of these bills.

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[Applause] And I'm wondering if the Republican women would not want to present the White House

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with a box of these veto pens to use in order that he could veto these bills. Yes, we need truth in government. Today we have and we'll be

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continuing debating in the Senate a proposal which will authorize this administration to sell $33 billion worth

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of its assets and apply the proceeds to the payment of current expenditures. If this bill passes,

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it means that it would be possible for this administration in the next three to four years to spend $30 billion beyond

00:13:47.420 - 00:13:53.940

its income and still report a balanced budget to the American people in a manner in which it's accounting.

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This is deceit in government and it should not be permitted. If I said on the floor of the Senate the other day that if

00:14:01.340 - 00:14:09.650

any corporation reported to its stockholders in such manner as to its income, the Securities Exchange Commission would have

00:14:09.650 - 00:14:18.740

them in court before tomorrow morning. We need... [Applause] ...the President

00:14:18.740 - 00:14:27.770

has advocated truth in packaging, truth in lending to protect the borrowers and the American housewives. We need also truth in

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government to protect the American taxpayer. On December the second 1965, speaking from the White House in Texas, the president held a press conference

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and called upon all the branches of the government to cut employment by 25,000 before June 30th.

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And this went out all over the press hailing him as our great economizer because we were going to reduce government employment.

00:15:01.640 - 00:15:10.040

Last Saturday, the Joint Committee on Non-Essential Expenditures rendered their report showing that during the four months

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since he made that promise, 62,857 employees have been added to the payroll. This is an average of 15,000 a month,

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figuring on 30 day work week, 30-day month, that's 500 a day. Or if you figure on a 40 hour week, That's eight every five minutes or almost two

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a minute being added ever since he made the promise. In fact, during on that average, during the 10 minutes

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in which he was boasting, did the American people, how are we going to cut back, he actually added 15

00:15:45.500 - 00:15:58.370

extra employees at the time. [Some laughter] During the 1964 campaign, we remember hearing much about the efforts to pin

00:15:58.370 - 00:16:06.350

the war label on the candidate Goldwater. But can you name one single military proposal that was made by

00:16:06.350 - 00:16:23.940

Goldwater during that campaign that has not been put into effect since the election? [Loud applause]

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During the 64 campaign, we were fed a series of overly optimistic statements. The boys would be home

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from Vietnam by Christmas. We were making great progress. You're familiar with all of these optimistic reports.

00:16:39.500 - 00:16:46.610

And yet, the Senate Preparedness Committee under Senator Stennis at that time issued a report that these were overly

00:16:46.610 - 00:16:53.690

optimistic and that we were going to have to send a large number of men in that area. He also warned that

00:16:53.690 - 00:17:01.070

if the administration did not recognize this fact immediately and take prompt action, that there would be, develop a shortage in

00:17:01.070 - 00:17:11.850

munitions before it proceeded much farther. And he strongly recommended that they increase their request for appropriations last, during that period.

00:17:11.850 - 00:17:20.060

Shortages have developed. We've had to repurchase some of the bombs that we sold as surplus in 64.

00:17:20.060 - 00:17:29.090

We're buying them back from those and using them over in Vietnam. Now I would say at this point that I would like to deny one rumor

00:17:29.090 - 00:17:37.350

that's sometimes circulating. I understand that the President is not planning to name Goldwater as his military advisor.

00:17:37.450 - 00:17:47.570

Even though he may be following his suggestions. Speaking of the greed for power, the president has asked, or that is,

00:17:47.570 - 00:17:57.190

he was ready to ask for standby authority to raise taxes at his discretion. Just think of the power

00:17:57.190 - 00:18:03.640

this would give any administration and I am proud to state that the Republican Policy Committee on both the House and the

00:18:03.640 - 00:18:12.040

Senate repudiated this suggestion before it ever got off the ground. But with this power, the president could blackjack

00:18:12.040 - 00:18:19.620

American industry into cooperation almost at any time. Then again, it had another neat little arrangement.

00:18:19.620 - 00:18:28.430

By this power they could go before the electorate in 1966, still continuing their heavy spending, boast of the fact that they

00:18:28.430 - 00:18:38.960

had not increased taxes, and then after the election was over trigger the tax increase into effect sometime in late this year or early January.

00:18:38.960 - 00:18:49.100

Now we're asked the question, will taxes be increased? Certainly. Let's answer it this way. If the administration is going to insist

00:18:49.100 - 00:18:59.330

upon a continuing and expanding its spending, there can be but one answer. And at the same time, Let's go back and review the historic record.

00:18:59.330 - 00:19:09.410

Other presidents that have preceded this one. And history shows us that there has never, since 1900, there's never been a Democratic president

00:19:09.410 - 00:19:14.480

leave the White House that which taxes were not higher on the day he left than they were when

00:19:14.480 - 00:19:25.160

they day he went in the White House. This theory of spend, tax, and elect is one that has been passed down all too frequently.

00:19:25.160 - 00:19:37.160

Now let's enumerate for briefly just a few, I see my time is running out, but let's enumerate briefly some of the extra expenditures of this Great Society.

00:19:37.160 - 00:19:45.890

For example, the other day I noted $40,000 was being assigned to an Australian scientist to study why the natives in

00:19:45.890 - 00:19:55.670

that area sweat as they do. [Some laughter] A couple of years ago, we had a great economy blast that the President was putting

00:19:55.670 - 00:20:05.780

the presidential yacht, the Honey Fitz, in the moth balls. But how do we find a $102,900 was hidden in the defense appropriation bill

00:20:05.780 - 00:20:14.510

to recondition this yacht. And then the other day I saw an interesting item, $60,000 being approved or

00:20:14.510 - 00:20:29.540

a grant to study the sex life of a cabbage. [Laughter] $94,500 for a grant to an Oregon school for the purpose of giving 200 students a six weeks study trip to

00:20:29.540 - 00:20:39.200

study the principles of Alpine botany and the lava beds. The lecturers for that program events selected, Martin Luther King and Walter Ruther

00:20:39.200 - 00:20:50.960

to receive $800 per lecture. [Crowd moans] We have a poverty program in case you haven't heard it. The other day I noticed a $230,000 grant

00:20:50.960 - 00:21:01.760

to a poverty group in New York. The first expenditure of this group was $2,168.26 for the directors to have

00:21:01.760 - 00:21:09.920

a weekend in the Adirondacks, included among the expense account items was a $350 cocktail to get acquainted with each other.

00:21:09.920 - 00:21:18.290

The ladies flower $63.20. And one of them apparently got caught without his tuxedo. He charged $12.85 to

00:21:18.290 - 00:21:27.170

the government for renting a tuxedo. Now then in the bill which is passed the House of Representatives in which is now before the Senate committee,

00:21:27.170 - 00:21:37.480

there's a few lines items in this bill which provides a greater retirement benefits for two members of the Great Society.

00:21:37.480 - 00:21:49.700

One member of this Great Society under this gimmick would have his retirement increased from $19,212 to $27,648,

00:21:49.700 - 00:21:56.480

an increase of 40 percent or over 8000 dollars. Now who says we don't have a poverty program for

00:21:56.480 - 00:22:04.500

the members of the Great Society? Speaking of some of the campaign abuses and we've had abuses in the campaign.

00:22:04.500 - 00:22:13.990

During, in 1958, I discovered that during the 48 campaign, they had discovered a unique process

00:22:13.990 - 00:22:22.870

of lending money to the Democratic campaign and then writing it off as bad debts. Three individuals,

00:22:22.870 - 00:22:32.940

One contributed $310,000 or he loaned I'll say, $310 thousand. Two others loaned $50,000 each.

00:22:32.940 - 00:22:41.180

And then after the election, political parties, as they do having no money, they got a ruling within 24 hours from

00:22:41.180 - 00:22:51.080

the Treasury Department that they could write it off as a bad debt. We passed in 1958 a resolution or an amendment

00:22:51.080 - 00:23:00.170

prohibiting that in the future. Then we had the political advertising, which got out of hand with a $15,000 page ads

00:23:00.170 - 00:23:10.700

at the Atlantic City convention. Now if you can justify $15 thousand for a defense contractor with a $100 million contract,

00:23:10.700 - 00:23:17.930

why not $100 thousand for one who has a billion dollar contract, where would you stop? So we passed

00:23:17.930 - 00:23:27.980

an amendment which prohibited this. And I regret to say that some in our own party objected to this correction, but I wish to say this,

00:23:27.980 - 00:23:36.000

that we do not win elections by copying that which is wrong has been perpetuated by the Democratic Party.

00:23:40.630 - 00:23:48.740

The Republican Party has an enviable record in this connection and let's keep it. And I would suggest that in

00:23:48.740 - 00:23:54.990

this connection that the Republican women assembled here, in conjunction with our National Committee,

00:23:54.990 - 00:24:03.980

get together and get behind a proposal to form, to have some kind of a tax incentive for the small contributors in order

00:24:03.980 - 00:24:20.270

that we can spread the load of raising, financing these campaigns and get a lot of people in the party together. [Applause] I would far rather have ten thousand five dollar

00:24:20.270 - 00:24:29.630

contributions than five ten thousand dollar contributions. [Light applause] And bills have been introduced,

00:24:29.630 - 00:24:35.090

and I think that before this Congress adjourns they will be passed. And I would like to see our party

00:24:35.090 - 00:24:44.510

unite solidly in back of them. As I said before, the Republican Party, with its great record, certainly could not hope to win,

00:24:44.510 - 00:24:51.890

and I'd say we do not deserve to win if we went out on the basis that we were going to try to out promise or out

00:24:51.890 - 00:25:02.630

spend or out tax our opponents. [Applause] But we can take our republican record when we've been in power and

00:25:02.630 - 00:25:13.250

prove to the American people that we can and have outperformed them when we have been in power. We have our differences.

00:25:13.250 - 00:25:23.030

Sure. All parties have our differences just as all families. But as we approach this 1966, 1968 election,

00:25:23.030 - 00:25:30.350

Let's forget our differences and look to the future. Let's get together and win on those base arguments

00:25:30.350 - 00:25:40.370

upon which we can all agree. Surely we can all agree that inflation is a real danger in this country and not just a threat.

00:25:40.370 - 00:25:50.680

We all agree that inflation when it's in operation pauperizes the aged. I've said many times that is one of the greatest indictments against

00:25:50.680 - 00:25:58.760

this administration is the fact that they have pauperized the aged by destroying the purchasing power of their pensions,

00:25:58.760 - 00:26:04.100

their life, and saving their life savings and their life insurance policies. And if you don't believe it,

00:26:04.100 - 00:26:13.910

just ask one of those individuals who has retired a few years ago on what he thought and they thought at that time was adequate to take care

00:26:13.910 - 00:26:21.370

of them for the rest of their lives. Today they cannot buy the necessities of life due to the increased cost of living.

00:26:21.370 - 00:26:31.210

We all agree that corruption in government is on the increase and unless it is checked, it can destroy our American democracy

00:26:31.210 - 00:26:38.450

as you and I know it. We agree that overwhelming Democratic control or one party control of

00:26:38.450 - 00:26:47.640

the Congress is dangerous and the effect is that it means rubber stamp control. And Congress would not be able to operate

00:26:47.640 - 00:26:59.140

as an effective check on this government. We need a stronger minority. Yes, not as Republicans, but as American citizens.

00:26:59.140 - 00:27:08.870

Let us all stand up and be counted for honest government, fiscal integrity and the right of the American people

00:27:08.870 - 00:27:24.780

to know the truth. Let let's all get together and initiate a program of truth in government.

00:27:24.780 - 00:27:35.550

Now, I notice, I have a couple of minutes. I will tell you just one little report on one other program that is in operation here.

00:27:35.550 - 00:27:45.470

You've heard of the beautification program being sponsored by Lady Bird. This program had a noble objective of getting

00:27:45.470 - 00:27:54.630

rid of all commercial billboards on the highways. And it's making great progress, except that it's run into one roadblock.

00:27:54.630 - 00:28:03.540

That president is insisting that in front, notwithstanding this bill, but in front of every government construction project,

00:28:03.540 - 00:28:14.300

he wants a big billboard with his name on it in bold letters, some about eight inches high. Now there's a rumour circulating around

00:28:14.300 - 00:28:21.850

the Capitol that, in addition to this, the head of the agency that is sponsoring this project also,

00:28:21.850 - 00:28:28.550

wants his name on there. And then there's another suggestion going around that maybe it would be better to put

00:28:28.550 - 00:28:39.920

their pictures on the billboards. [Some chuckles in the crowd] And when these rumors got circulating, then finally one gentleman came up with the proposal that

00:28:39.920 - 00:28:50.340

instead of the names and the pictures that they just take the emblem of the Great Society itself, the donkey, and put that on the billboards. [More giggles and light laughter]

00:28:50.340 - 00:29:02.090

Now, if that is done, just picture this. You and I riding down our nation's highways, not a billboard, commercial billboard in sight,

00:29:02.090 - 00:29:34.580

but every time we pass the government project, we'd see the picture of a jackass. I thank you. [Applause]

00:29:34.580 - 00:30:18.330

[Organ begins playing again] [Applause resumes] [Applause and organ] Female voice: Wasn't that wonderful?