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Albuquerque, New Mexico Remarks at a Meeting With Civic and Community Leaders.

October 11, 1979

Governor Bruce King, it's a great honor for me to come to meet with this distinguished bipartisan group this morning. [Laughter] The only thing I can say is that the people in Albuquerque get up pretty early. And I'm very proud to be with the most effective and distinguished mayors in the city, David Rusk. David celebrated his 39th birthday this week—yesterday? Yesterday. I've celebrated 16 of those 39th birthdays. [Laughter]

It's good for me to come back to be with you. As I walk down the rope—and I'll shake hands with everyone here before I leave—I was reminded of the times I've been to New Mexico before and the friendship that you've always extended to me, which is typical of the hospitality and the character of those of you who live in this beautiful State.

I do have a. lot of responsibilities on my shoulders, but it's one of the most challenging and, certainly, the most exciting jobs on Earth. And it's one that I am thinking very seriously about keeping for a while if you'll help me. [Laughter]

This past week, we had an experience that I think will live in the history of our Nation and in the memories of all Americans-and I'm glad that Archbishop Sanchez is here, because it has been a thrill for me as a Baptist, for others of all kinds of faiths, to see the tremendous outpouring of love and respect that was paid to Pope John Paul.

He came here not as a statesman, although he is; he came here as a man of God. And when I had a private conversation with him, he said that he was absolutely amazed at the tremendous reception that he got. I was, too. I knew that they would have tens of thousands of people, maybe hundreds of thousands of people who would come out to meet him, but to see literally millions of people assembled on the streets of Chicago and Boston and Philadelphia and New York and even in the rural area of Iowa and, of course, in Washington, was a pleasant surprise and an exciting surprise for me.

I think there's a hunger in our country for decency and commitment, for the binding of wounds, for unity, for mutual respect, for compassion, and for love; and this to me is heartening. And I think the reception that he got transcended any kind of minor religious differences we have, because we worship the same God. And this, I think, is a good solid base for Americans to meet any possible challenge to us.

We are so strong—our country is. Sometimes we get bogged down in the daily news programs—where we are reminded of the problems and the differences and the debates and the temporary failures and the inconveniences—and we forget to stand back for a moment and assess the blessings that we have.

We live in the greatest and the strongest nation on Earth. It's the strongest nation on Earth militarily. We need fear no one, and we will never be second to any other country in military strength. And, of course, we are the strongest nation on Earth economically, because God blessed us with such great natural resources. In the past, we've not always handled them carefully. We've not been constant good stewards of what we've inherited. But I really believe that the recent reminder that there is a limit to how much waste Americans can accept in our society is healthy for us.

I met last night, 2 hours, with the Governors of the Western States. It was one of the most productive and exciting meetings I've ever had. And I told the Governors at the conclusion of the meeting that I wished that every person in America, with TV cameras or otherwise, could have seen what went on there, because it was a vivid demonstration of the system of federalism at work.

There was a frank exchange of ideas and a searching for common ground. And when we got through, I can tell you that the differences among us were almost nonexistent and we had been brought together. It would not have been that way a year ago or 2 years ago, but now we see common problems and we see common solutions. And we see a binding together of officials at the local, State, and Federal levels of government to deal with the particular problem of energy that, in my opinion, will be carried over in future years, to deal with other crises or challenges or problems that we've not yet had to address.

You in this part of the world live in a relatively untouched environment. You begin to see, though, an enormous explosion in population as people move from other parts of the country here. And how to deal effectively with the growth, both in population and economically, and the utilization of your natural resources, and at the same time keep the beauty of your place and the quality of your life, is indeed a challenge. And I think this new relationship between the State and Federal Government in dealing with the energy crisis is going to provide a basis of communication and consultation and partnership that will stand us in good stead in the future.

It's the way our Nation ought to work. And it's the way our Nation has always worked if we had a crisis or a challenge or a threat that we could see clearly. The threat of the First World War, the threat of the Second World War, even the threat of the Great Depression touched every American's life. And so, at that time we were unified; our families came together; our communities came together; people had more respect for public officials. We were like a team meeting the challenge. And it's not been possible for us in the past to marshal our great strength and to unify ourselves to meet a challenge that was not quite so easy to see—the threat to our security from the importation next year of $70 billion worth of foreign oil. We're importing oil; we're importing unemployment; we're importing inflation.

The inflation rate now is boosted 4 percentage points just by energy increases foisted on us by OPEC. And if we can cut down the level of our imports through the prices of the energy program I've put to Congress, we can cut down severely on inflation. But that's hard to see, and we've got to unify our efforts to deal with it-that was the purpose of my visit out here. And we can do the same thing with inflation, and we can hold constantly those cherished personal values in America through that same process.

You've got such a great State. I've depended on New Mexicans to help me, on a per capita basis, in Washington perhaps more than any other State in the whole Nation. Graciela Olivarez came out with me on the plane. She handles the Community Services Administration, to deal with people who are most deprived. And she does a superb job with tens of millions of dollars, carefully placed to alleviate the most severe hardships in our country. She's got a special sensitivity. She knows what it means to be from a community which is not only poor but also where the people don't speak English well. And I think that's a special insight that the Federal Government ought to have.

And Alex Mercure has been of great help to me. I happen to be a farmer, and to have him as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture gives a special insight into the problems of agriculture for your region.

Fabian Chavez, as you know, has helped me in the Department of Commerce. He's here among you again now. But these kinds of contributions are very good. And last and perhaps least—I won't mention everyone—Tim Kraft— [laughter] —and Chris Brown 1 helped me in special ways as well.

1 Carter/Mondale Presidential Committee campaign manager and campaign manager for the New England area, respectively.

And you also have the greatest amount of solar energy, per capita. So, you've got a lot to be thankful for. But I think the main thing that I would like to say this morning in closing is that I appreciate your friendship and the strength and the pioneer spirit that still exemplifies the people who live in your beautiful part of the country. And I hope that we can form this closer relationship in the future to deal with challenges that will inevitably arise. And I have absolutely no doubt that we can meet any challenge or answer any question or resolve any problem if Americans have confidence in one another and confidence in our system and, also, if we can unify our efforts toward common goals. That's one of the responsibilities of a President, and I feel a partnership with every one of you here.

Thank you for letting me be with you. God bless every one in this room.

Note: The President spoke at approximately 8 a.m. in the Rio Grande Room at the Sheraton Old Town Hotel.

Jimmy Carter, Albuquerque, New Mexico Remarks at a Meeting With Civic and Community Leaders. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/248863

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