Dwight D. Eisenhower photo

Statements by the President on the Second Day of the Republican Legislative Conference.

December 18, 1953

[The agenda for the morning session]

THE CONFERENCE this morning will discuss four main topics, as follows:

The Secretary of the Treasury will discuss taxes and the debt limit with the Congressional leaders.

The Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission will discuss proposed amendments to the Atomic Energy Act. Representative W. Sterling Cole and Senator Bourke Hickenlooper, Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy, will participate in this discussion.

The Secretary of State and the Director of the Foreign Operations Administration will discuss foreign affairs. Senator Alexander Wiley, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Representative Robert B. Chiperfield, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Senator Hickenlooper and Representative Cole will participate in this discussion.

The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare will discuss social security and aid to the physically handicapped and continue a discussion of the health plans of her Department. Representative Carl T. Curtis, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Social Security of the House Ways and Means Committee will participate in this discussion.

[The agenda for the afternoon session]

AT THE AFTERNOON session of the Conference the following subjects will come up for general discussion.

The Secretary of Commerce, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Counsel to the President, and Mr. Cutler, Special Assistant to the President, will discuss the St. Lawrence Seaway. Senator Alexander Wiley, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Representative George A. Dondero, Chairman of the House Public Works Committee, will participate in this discussion.

The Counsel to the President will next discuss Hawaiian statehood. Senator Hugh Butler, Chairman of the Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, and Representative A. L. Miller, Chairman of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, will attend this session.

The Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Agriculture will then bring up the question of public works, including highway, flood control, reclamation and water conservation problems. Senator Edward Martin, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Works, Senator Butler and Representatives Miller and Dondero will participate in these discussions.

The final subject to be discussed this afternoon will be the Administration's farm program. The Secretary of Agriculture will lead this discussion which will be participated in by Senator George D. Aiken, Chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Forestry Committee, and Representative Clifford R. Hope, Chairman of the House Agricultural Committee.

[Statement at the end of the second day]

ON THE SECOND DAY of conferences with Congressional leaders and Chairmen of Senate and House Committees, eight main subjects were discussed. They were:

Taxation. Because of reductions in expenditures already made and presently planned, it was agreed that the way was cleared for January tax reductions in personal income taxes and excess profits taxes.

Atomic Energy. Discussions were held on proposed amendments to the Atomic Energy Act. One phase of the discussions dealt with the prospects of peacetime, civilian development of uses of atomic energy.

Foreign Affairs. The Secretary of State reviewed the world situation for the Congressional leaders.

Social Security and Aid to the Physically Handicapped. Expanded coverage of old age and survivors' insurance, together with improvements in the Social Security system were discussed. Extension of health facilities as well as improved plans for the physically handicapped were likewise summarized.

St. Lawrence Seaway. The St. Lawrence Seaway project was discussed by the Secretary of Commerce and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from the standpoint of our national defense.

Hawaiian Statehood. The question of statehood for Hawaii was discussed and it was pointed out that the Republican Platform urges "immediate statehood" for that territory.

Public Works. A program for better roads was outlined by the Secretary of Commerce. Flood control and reclamation projects, as well as careful programs to conserve the water resources of our Nation were also discussed in detail.

Agriculture. The Secretary of Agriculture reviewed the agricultural accomplishments of the Administration in 1953 and made certain proposals for an agricultural program after the present law expires on December 31, 1954. Among this year's accomplishments were:

Removal of controls from livestock and meat.

Establishment of a drought emergency program with more than 1,000,000 tons of feed distributed in the drought areas; reduced rail rates placed in effect and 18 States and one Territory (700 counties ) receiving the benefit of the program.

A stepped-up beef purchase program that resulted this year in Government buying of 249,000,000 pounds of beef.

Extension of supports, where necessary, even when no storage facilities were available.

Expansion of facilities for storage of grain.

Reorganization of the Department of Agriculture, the creation of an independent Farm Credit Administration, and the establishment of a bipartisan Agricultural Advisory Committee.

The conference will continue tomorrow with morning and afternoon sessions.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Statements by the President on the Second Day of the Republican Legislative Conference. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/231496

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