Ladies and gentlemen:
We are delighted to have had at our Cabinet meeting this morning a group of Governors headed by Governor Grant Sawyer of Nevada, Governor Scranton of Pennsylvania, Governor Volpe of Massachusetts, Governor Smylie of Idaho, who heard the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense give us a review of highlights of foreign and military policy.
We also had contributions from Mr. Gaud in connection with AID programs throughout the world.
In addition, we received the report on the White House conference, the President's civil rights conference held here in June, the recommendations of the 29-man committee chaired by Mr. Heineman and Mr. Philip Randolph.
After receiving that report, I appointed a committee from the Cabinet to review it, evaluate it, report back to me within 30 days upon their conclusions and recommendations, the further action the administration should take.
At that meeting at the end of 30 days, we will ask the full 29-man committee, headed by Mr. Heineman and Mr. Randolph, to be present to hear the Government's response and reaction.
I am asking the Secretaries to make themselves available to you at the conclusion of our meeting and present to you all the information they gave the Cabinet, except for the classified data that was given.
I want to thank Mr. Heineman, who has given very freely of his time and provided extremely intelligent leadership in this very important work.
I want to express my appreciation to Mr. Randolph, who has spent 50 years of his life working in the cause of civil rights for this most constructive document. Detailed recommendations will be forthcoming within a 30-day period.
I have asked Secretary Rusk and Secretary McNamara and Mr. Gaud to present to the press a very brief review of what they gave the Cabinet. In case the press desires to make any inquiries or to pursue their presentations in depth, I am sure they will be delighted--with the time they spend with congressional committees, I am sure they will be glad to give you equal time.
In the meantime, I ask to be excused.
Note: The President spoke at 1 p.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White House. In his opening remarks he referred to Governor Grant Sawyer of Nevada, Governor William W. Scranton of Pennsylvania, Governor John A. Volpe of Massachusetts, and Governor Robert E. Smylie of Idaho. Together with Governor William Avery of Kansas they were members of the advisory committee on Federal-State-local relations of the National Governors' Conference.
Later the President referred to A. Philip Randolph, Honorary Chairman of the White House Conference "To Fulfill These Rights" and to Ben W. Heineman, Chairman of the Conference and of the 29-man Council appointed by the President on February 26 to prepare the agenda (see Item 88 [10]). For the President's statement upon receiving the Conference report see Item 408 below.
The chairmen of the committee appointed by the President to review the Conference report are listed in the note to Item 408 below, together with an outline of the committee's duties. Their conclusions and recommendations as to further action to be taken by the administration were not made public by the White House.
After the President's remarks Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, and the Administrator of the Agency for International Development William S. Gaud presented summaries of their reports to the Cabinet. The text of their statements and of a question and answer period is printed in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (vol. 2, p. 1138).
Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks to the Press Following a Cabinet Meeting on Foreign and Military Policy Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/238995
