Dubuque, Iowa Remarks on Arrival at the City.

Mayor Wertzburger, Congressman Tauke, our good hosts yesterday, John and Ann Culver:

I wish you could have been with us for lunch. We had enough, I believe, to feed the whole crowd, but there wasn't enough left to feed two people. We had Iowa corn, we had Iowa beef, we had Iowa ham, we had Iowa apple pie, we had some homemade ice cream made out of Iowa milk. And just so I don't use all my time up, I won't tell you about the rest of the menu, but it was just great.

One of the things that has been the best for Rosalynn and me and Amy has been to meet the people who have come out along the banks of the Mississippi to express your friendship toward us personally and your respect for the office of President of the greatest nation on Earth. I'm particularly grateful to John Culver, who saw that we were not originally scheduled to stop in Dubuque, and I think he talked to Captain Martin on the Delta Queen, and the first thing we knew, John Culver said, "I'll meet you in Dubuque."

I have to admit that this Midwest country is just as beautiful as Georgia, and you've got the Mississippi River as a bonus. And it's really been wonderful for us.

Every time we've been through one of the locks, we've had a large crowd of people. Night before last, we got to Lock 13, I believe it was, at 3 o'clock in the morning, and there was a large group of people there to meet us—it was almost an emotional thing. And then yesterday morning at 8 o'clock, we arrived at a lock, and it was pouring down rain. And there were several hundred people there in the rain—I think there were four umbrellas with several hundred folks with little ,babies and children and very senior citizens who had been waiting there several hours to pay their respects to the President of our country. And I deeply appreciate the friendship you've shown us.

We've got a wonderful country. God's blessed us in every possible way. And I know that the outpouring of friendship that has been exhibited on this trip is a true indication of your respect and your thanks for the many blessings that God's given us in the United States of America. He's given us great productive land. The number one farming State in the country, as you know, is Iowa. If anyone disagrees with that, speak up. [Laughter] If you agree with it, speak up. [Applause] I believe you have the highest percentage of productive land in the whole country. And I'm very grateful to be here with you.

I want to say two things. One is that we have a very serious problem. And the second thing I'm going to say is that we have the ability to overcome it.

The problem is with energy. Our country is too dependent on uncertain foreign oil. We've now got to the point where we are importing one-half of all the oil we use. And you've seen, back in 1973 and '74, what happened to our country when that supply was interrupted from just a few countries. And you've seen this year, when the prices have gone up 60 percent in 6 months, what can be done with prices over which we have no control. We are importing inflation and we are importing unemployment every time we import foreign oil. My preference is, instead of importing a barrel of foreign oil, is to produce a barrel of gasohol in Iowa. I believe that's a better approach to our energy problem.

We've already taken action since I've been in office, with the help of the Congress, of course, to cut our dependence on foreign oil by 4 million barrels every day. We've now proposed to the Congress a way to cut another 4 1/2 million barrels a day by 1990. But the whole process depends upon the passage of a windfall profits tax on the oil companies. The choice is whether the oil companies keep the enormous profits that come from increasing prices of oil, or whether a part of those profits shall be taken through a windfall profits tax and distributed among the people of our Nation to conserve energy, to cut out waste, to save energy, to produce other forms of energy like gasohol, solar power, and so forth. This is the important task that we have.

Every one of you can help—in your habits, driving to and from work, whether you share your automobile with others, whether you walk sometimes instead of ride, how you handle the use of heat in your homes—there are hundreds of things, literally, that you can do to cut down on the waste of oil. And I need your help and your support with the Congress to pass the windfall profits tax and give us a chance to protect our Nation's security.

So, that's one message I want to give to you. We must have a secure nation by cutting down on waste and producing more American energy.

And the second thing I want to say is that our country is strong enough to accomplish this task. Down through history—and you're part of history, right here in Dubuque—every time our Nation has had a serious problem or a challenge, we have been strong enough and united enough to meet that challenge, to overcome that problem, to answer that question. But almost always in the past, we've been able to identify the problem, like in the First World War, we knew our Nation was in danger, the Second World War, the Great Depression. And recognizing the danger to our country, we bound ourselves together. Our families became stronger, our communities became stronger, we had respect for and we supported our local officials, our State officials, our Federal officials. We .didn't let a chasm open up between ourselves and the Federal Government. We felt that it was our government, and we cherished it. If we didn't like something it did, we changed it at election time, but between elections we gave it our support and our respect.

Now with the energy shortage and 12 years of inflation, Americans have tended to get discouraged. We've kind of lost confidence in ourselves and lost confidence in one another. We've tended to become divided; we've got too many special interest groups grasping for some advantage. Now's the time for us to unite again and face this serious energy problem, which directly threatens our Nation's security, together, in an unselfish attitude.

There is no doubt in my mind that we can do it, and if you will help me, I will help you to make the greatest nation on Earth even greater in the future.

And now I'd like to come out and shake hands with as many of you as I can reach. And I thank you for coming out to meet us.

BYSTANDER. Jimmy, I've been waiting since 5 o'clock

THE PRESIDENT. I'll be right there.