Remarks at Sioux City, Iowa

Wiley Mayne, Dave Stanley, Mayor Cole, my very good and old friend, former colleague in the House, Charlie Hoeven, all of the wonderful people from the Sixth Congressional District:

It is just great to be here a third time, and I thank you so much for the warm and tremendous welcome. I am deeply indebted and very, very grateful. Thank you very much.

A few days ago, I went to my hometown. We had a wonderful reception, but I can say without any reservation or qualification the reception here is just as enthusiastic, just as warm. And I wish to pay a special tribute to all of you who have come out on this occasion to meet me and to pay tribute to your Congressman, Wiley Mayne, and your next Senator, Dave Stanley.

I think it is very appropriate that we are having this rally at the airport. I have flown in today on a wing and a prayer. I ask you to send me some good men to Congress who will praise the Lord and pass the legislation.

It is particularly nice to be here in Sioux City, the largest community in the Sixth Congressional District in Iowa, and particularly, to pay tribute on this occasion to Wiley Mayne. You know, I have always been taught this from my early childhood--when you have a good thing going for you, you ought to keep it. And in Wiley Mayne you have that kind of a Congressman, so you darn well better keep him in the House of Representatives.

I served with Wiley almost 8 years in the House of Representatives. I have seen him on a day-to-day basis, working. I have seen him work in those two great committees--the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on the Judiciary. And I can assure you from this very personal experience that he is a man of skill, a man of stature, a man who understands your problems, my problems, and is in a position because of his seniority to do something about it. So, I come here and speak with conviction when I urge you to see that Wiley is reelected.

Since we are in the heartland of American agriculture, there is no better place to commend the production, actually the production genius of the American farmer, and to say thanks to so many of you who are here and thousands upon thousands of others who are not here who have labored long and effectively in the fields of America. We thank you for a job well done.

At times over the past few years, farmers, in my judgment, have been unfairly criticized as the cause of high food prices. Now, as you well know, farmers are more likely--as a matter of fact, they are probably, without any doubt, the victims of inflation more than its cause. By farmer efficiency and by American agriculture's ever-increasing productivity, farmers are actually in the frontline troops, who are staving off what might well have been an even more serious round of inflation if it had not been for their efforts.

I am acutely aware of the problems that have beset agriculture in America and the very challenging problems that you face in the growing of your crops and the marketing of your efforts.

Now, some of these have been aggravated by unwise decisions by your Government. Others are the result of absolutely unusual weather problems. It was too wet in the spring, you had a drought in the summer, and you have had unseasonably early frost in the fall. And all of this, of course, complicated by the great need of additional food throughout the world.

Now, because of the price incentive and provisions in our agricultural legislation and because of the encouragement by Government to expand planted acreage, farmers throughout the States of this great Union have responded magnificently, superbly, to boost the supply of feed grains and soybeans.

Thanks to the flexibility written into the 1973 Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act, farmers were able to move relatively smoothly from a limited to a full production program. And incidentally, great credit for the major provisions of the 1973 act can and must be given to Wiley Mayne, the top ranking Republican of the important House Committee on Agriculture, Subcommittee on Livestock and Grain.

Let me give you a little inside or cloakroom story. While the 1973 agricultural act was being considered in committee, Wiley was being considered on the floor of the House of Representatives. I conferred very frequently with your Congressman, Wiley Mayne. I know from firsthand experience how hard he worked to help effect its enactment and to liberate farmers from the discredited, income-restrictive programs of the past 40 years.

So I, as a former colleague of Wiley's and one who worked with him as the Republican leader in the House, wish to express my deep gratitude and appreciation, Wiley, for the fine job that you did on this vitally important legislation.

I think there is another area of concern--corn and soybean production is falling short of our worldwide needs. Even so, the corn crop is, I think, the fifth largest in the history of the United States, the soybean crop is the third largest, and wheat and rice the largest ever in America.

We cannot, however, in fairness, ask our farmers to produce, produce more from their soil and from their labor, unless all of us are willing to share at least a part of the production risk.

And furthermore, there are certain things that we must do and, I will promise you, that we will do. Fuel and fertilizer, especially fertilizer, adequate to supply farm needs, continue to be a very serious problem. And as I have stated before, I will ask authorities from the Congress to assure farmers all of the fertilizer that you need for your farms. And I will make certain and positive that you will have all of the fuel that you need to do the job for all of us and consumers throughout the world.

And may I repeat for emphasis, I will not ask Congress to increase gasoline taxes. That is one tax that is high enough, believe me.

I could not come to Sioux City, the heart of the slaughter and livestock industry, particularly the cattle-feeding business, and not say a word about the production of meat. Livestock producers, particularly cattle feeders, have called to the attention of responsible officials in the Federal Government many, many times in the past year the financial wringer that they have been put through. Adjusting to higher feed costs and the increased supply of beef animals is a very painful process.

And so, today, despite a headline that I read in the newspaper here in Des Moines--not the one in Sioux City, but Des Moines--I will make an announcement--not one, but two, and reaffirm a third, and perhaps give you some other information concerning farming in 1974.

I think these announcements will relieve some of the anxiety and possibly restore some of the confidence among producers so that this great part of agriculture, which is centered in Sioux City, can become again profitable.

First, this Administration intends to carry out precisely the intent of the meat import law.

And let me be quite specific. If imports of meat, subject to the meat import law, threaten to pick up markedly during the next year, and the Agriculture Department's estimate of 1975 imports exceeds the trigger level under the meat import law, I will impose meat quotas or negotiate volunteer agreements with foreign suppliers.

Second, no action will be taken to change the present system of dairy import quotas, which means that dairy quotas for imports will not be increased unless and until there has been a thorough review of the overall problem and full opportunity for our dairy producers to be heard at that time.

There is no intention on my part to increase dairy imports into the United States.

Third, this Administration is not going to permit foreign dairy producers to compete against the American dairymen in the U.S. market with subsidized products. If the Europeans reinstitute their export subsidies on dairy products directed at this market, I will impose countervailing duties on their products.

And one final announcement, which I think rounds out a pattern of strong, effective action to help the cattle and dairy business--and let me be quite specific. In addition, I have asked the Secretary of Agriculture to investigate USDA purchases of ground beef for use in the National School Lunch Program. These purchases would provide a highly nutritious food to schools for, I think. proper use in the school lunch program.

Let me add this, because it is not too well understood by many. These purchases will not be an additional cost to the Government, as the USDA is obligated by law to finance each school lunch program by 10 cents, either in cash or in commodities.

So, this report by the Secretary of Agriculture on prospective purchases should be in my hands in a relatively short period of time, and I hope his recommendation is favorable for these purchases.

Now, as I have in the past--as Republican leader in the House, and as Vice President, and now as President--as I look at the problems of agriculture, I will consult with Wiley Mayne for guidance, for help in the solving of agriculture's problems.

I hope that I do not duplicate some of what Wiley has been telling you as he has campaigned all over the Sixth District in the northwest corner of Iowa, but I want to remind you, if I might, about the kind of service I know he has rendered to this district.

In a period when big corporate farms are taking over some of agriculture's production, Wiley has been in there fighting for the family farm and the family farmer.

Let me just quote, if I might, one precise example. Wiley has helped lead the fight in the House during the last 3 or 4 years to limit Government payments to the total of $20,000 per farm. He did so because he was in contact on a person-to-person basis with the farmers in this district who advised him that these massive payments to big farms were discrediting your total farm program.

That is the kind of a Congressman, in my judgment, that this district deserves; one who can listen to people, the 460-some thousand who reside in this district; one who can listen and respond to the legitimate problems, complaints, criticisms, suggestions.

And I might add a postscript. Dave Stanley, when he is elected to the United States Senate, will be the same kind of United States Senator that Wiley Mayne is as a Member of the House of Representatives.

Speaking of Dave Stanley, I was in Des Moines a week or so ago. I saw Dave, talked to him. He has been carrying on one of the most vigorous campaigns for the United States Senate. I applaud him for his efforts to meet you, talk to you, listen to you.

His experience in the State legislature, his experience as a campaigner, his fine background as a good Iowan, a good Hawkeye, in my opinion will help you and help me and help your State in the United States Senate.

Wiley said that I have been in this district three times. I have enjoyed every visit. And as Wiley said, the crowds are a little bigger this time, and maybe you are listening a little more. But let me say this and say it with emphasis: When you have someone like Wiley Mayne representing you in the Sixth District, when you have somebody like him that stands up for you in the highest councils of the Federal Government, then I hope you feel that it is time for you to stand up for him in return.

I left Washington a little after noon. I am on the way to California, going to Oregon, to Utah, to Kansas, to--well, a couple of other places in the next 3 days. But I stopped here because I wanted to convey a specific message.

I wanted to convey my deep conviction of how I feel about Wiley. I think you need him. I need him. The country needs him. And on a very personal and intimate basis, I respect his judgment and his integrity.

If Wiley is not returned to the Congress from this Congressional district, this important agricultural district will not only lose one of the finest men in the Congress but it will lose a seniority on a committee that affects very vitally agriculture.

If Wiley is not in the next Congress, the potency of your representation on this great Committee on Agriculture will nosedive.

Now, one of my old and very good friends, Charlie Hoeven, knows that better than anybody. Charlie Hoeven, who represented this district for many, many years, was the senior Republican on the House Committee on Agriculture and knows very well the impact of a high-ranking position on that committee, the potency of that representation as it affects all of you who are interested in agriculture--whether it is on the farm or in the implement business or in the banking business or otherwise.

So, I strongly urge just on this very, almost selfish ground, that you make certain that Wiley continues this representation.

I do not mean to infer that Wiley Mayne rubber-stamps everything I suggest, either as President or as I did as Vice President or even as Republican leader in the House. He does not. He is an independent guy who gets your ideas and translates them into legislative action.

But even in those areas where we disagree, one thing that I particularly like about Wiley is the fact that we can disagree without being disagreeable, and that is a pretty darn good trait in any American.

And let me give you one illustration. Just recently, Wiley let me know very candidly, very forcefully, that he protested the action that I took on a certain Saturday to suspend--and I say suspend--certain sales of corn and wheat to the Soviet Union.

It did not take Wiley Mayne very long to get from Capitol Hill down to the White House to let me explain to him the justification for the action and to inform him that what I did was not a permanent one, involving this sale to the Soviet Union.

I assured Wiley at that time that my action on that particular occasion was not to limit exports on a permanent basis but to make certain that no single nation cornered either the corn or wheat market.

Forty million bushels of corn, 40 million bushels of wheat, have already been released since that time to the Soviet Union.

But the point I wanted to make, and make most emphatically, was that Wiley Mayne was on the firing line protecting your interest and your concern, and I congratulate you for it, Wiley.

One other area of great concern to you as citizens--and here is an area where both Wiley and Dave, I think, agree with me without any question--and this is the determination by them and by me to stop the rising cost of living, to do something effectively, as far as our Government is concerned, about inflation.

The principal cause of rising prices is the fact that our Government has been spending more than it takes in. Wiley Mayne has voted to cut spending and to balance the Federal budget in the past, and I can assure you he can be counted upon to do so in the future.

That is why I am here personally asking each of you, the people of the Sixth District, to send Wiley Mayne back to Congress on election day next Tuesday.

I can reemphasize, it really matters. America needs his very strong and his very reliable vote in the House of Representatives to help us keep back rising prices and the problems of inflation.

I want to also use this occasion, with your indulgence, to put some myths to rest here in Sioux City. I have seen some very interesting reports in this campaign here, and I consider it a very superb coincidence that we can bury these political hobgoblins on Halloween eve.

I have seen some reports around the country that some candidates of the other party are laying claim to being fiscal watchdogs. I have seen some reports that they are even accusing the Republican Party of being for high spending.

Now, you and I know what causes inflation. It is not the Republican Party. The facts are that it is largely due to the Government spending more money than it should. And I will tell you flatly and categorically the votes to break the budget did not come from Wiley Mayne or from those on his side of the political aisle.

Let's take a look at the record. Some great politicians in the past have said, "Let's look at what the record shows." And this is something I would like to call to your particular attention, to many people in this audience today. As I look around, I see there are a number between the ages of 20 and 42. This is an interesting fact often forgotten or not known: If you are in this age group, from 20 to 42, the Congress of the United States has been in control of one political party 85 percent of the time in your lifetime.

That means that 85 percent of your life has been lived under the legislative control of a single political party, and this is the party which has to be held accountable for so many of the problems that we face in this country today, including inflation--especially inflation, which is the biggest legacy of this period of monolithic Federal control.

Now, next Tuesday--it is a day that we cannot forget. I cannot believe there is voter apathy in the great State of Iowa. I do not believe there is voter apathy in the other 49 States. The issues are critical. The problems are serious. So, let's all make up our minds that we do not go down the same road again that has given us control by one party in 38 out of the last 42 years.

They have done a bad job, and they ought to be replaced.

Now, if you send Wiley Mayne--you send him back to the House of Representatives, and you send Dave Stanley to the United States Senate, and if you reelect Bob Ray, your great Governor, then the ticket, the Republican ticket, will be of great help in meeting the problems here in Iowa and helping to meet the challenges of those problems we face both at home and abroad and in the Nation's Capital.

I repeat, I need Wiley and Dave--you need them in Washington, you need Bob Ray in Des Moines. And if you go out and do the job that you can do with your friends, your neighbors, your relatives--Independents, Democrats, and others--then I am confident that you will achieve something good for yourself, your community, your State, and our great Nation.

Thank you very, very much.