Richmond, Virginia Remarks at the State Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner.

In a few minutes, you will hear me make a speech from the other room, but I would like to say if I could choose one audience in the entire Nation that I would rather speak to tonight, it would be an overflow crowd at a Democratic fundraising event in Richmond, Virginia.

I won't have very much time in here. And since you won't be in the other room, you're very generous to let me come in ahead of time to speak to you.

I've only got about 7 minutes, so rather than making an extra speech, if you don't mind, I would kind of like to walk down this aisle and over and back, and maybe shake a few hands. I won't have a chance to do that in the large room, but I particularly want to thank you especially.

[The President spoke to dinner guests at 7:22 p.m. in the Marshall Room at the John Marshall Hotel. He then went to the Virginia Room at the hotel, where he delivered the following remarks at the main dinner.]

Lieutenant Governor Robb, Congressman Satterfield, Congressman Daniel, Congressman Harris, Congressman Fisher, my good friend Andy Miller, my good friend Henry Howell, Chairman Dick Davis, Speaker Cooke, and future victorious Virginia Democrats:

I am very proud to be with you. I'm glad to be back in Richmond. The first time I ever spent a night with my wife in a hotel was in Richmond, Virginia, in the old Jefferson. [Laughter]

It was a month before we got married— [laughter] —the night of June Week at the Naval Academy, and my mother and father stayed in the room, unfortunately, between us. [Laughter]

But I've always had a special place in my heart for Richmond ever since that time. I have a lot of warm feelings about Virginia. My ancestors came from your State. My first son was born in Virginia, because my wife and I started our married life in this great State. This is the birthplace of the Nation that I love, and, as you know, it's the home of the father of the Democratic Party. So, I feel at home with you, and I'm very glad to be here.

I try, when I come, to think of some good things to say about the State, and it's not difficult in Virginia.

Last weekend I was in Wisconsin, in Milwaukee and in Wausau. I spoke to a group in Wausau—this is the fourth group I've met with since I've been in Richmond tonight—and they told me that in Wausau, I was the first President who had been there since Calvin Coolidge.

He was in Wausau on a fishing trip. And when he spent all weekend fishing north of Wausau, he came back and had a two-word press conference. They came up and asked him, "How do you like the fishing in Wisconsin?" And he thought for a while and he said, "Prefer Maine." [Laughter]

Well, my feelings toward Virginia are quite different from Calvin Coolidge's toward Wisconsin.

This last decade or more has been an era of dissension and disappointment for Democrats of Virginia. There have been too many agonizingly close defeats. In 1973, I came here to campaign twice-all one weekend, and another time while I was Governor of Georgia, for Henry Howell. And he lost by seven-tenths of one percentage point. In 1976, another campaign in which I participated, along with Fritz Mondale, we lost by about 20,000 votes out of 1.6 million cast. And, as you know, last year Andy Miller lost a heartbreaking election by only, I think, 4.,800 votes out of 1.4 million.

So, we have had some serious setbacks, very close campaigns lost, and the candidates have obviously been disappointed. So have I. But Virginia has suffered in the past; in the future, it will be quite different. I think it's sobering to think that in a State which is the birthplace of the Democratic Party, this is the only State in the Nation which, since 1966, has not elected a Democratic Governor or a Democratic United States Senator and has not cast an electoral vote for a Democratic candidate for President. But that's all behind us now.

You won the Lieutenant Governor's race with Chuck Robb, and there is no one in this room who thinks that Chuck Robb's career in politics will stop with Lieutenant Governor. And other great Virginia Democratic candidates will join him for future victories. I think the future of the Democratic Party in Virginia is bright indeed.

Tonight, all segments of the party are here. And when I looked down at the list of notable Democrats who are attending, my heart was warmed indeed. I wish I could claim credit for the great turnout, but I know the real drawing card is Speaker John Warren Cooke. It's an honor for me to be here with him. He is famous in Virginia, but he's famous all over the country as well. As you know, he was honored as the National Legislator of the Year in 1975 for his long and outstanding service, and he's honored again by you tonight, and I'm honored to be with him.

The next 2 1/2 years will be a time of testing for the Virginia Democrats. You'll have the opportunity to elect Democrats to almost every State and local office. Today, you have the organization, the unity, the spirit, the finances, and the determination to regain the rightful place of leadership in the State where American democracy was born. Virginians can win, and the Democrats will win in Virginia. And I'll be there helping you to win those victories.

I feel a partnership with you, much closer, perhaps, than many of you would realize. It's of intense interest to me how Virginia goes in future elections. And I've been happy when you've won and heartbroken when you've lost, in the last few years, since I've gotten to know many of you. We've shared common problems, and we share a common future.

We have honored the ancient principles of our party in victory and defeat. And I think more and more, the Democratic Party on the national level and the Democratic Party on the State and local level has come with its modern programs to take its place in the broad and glorious and progressive mainstream of America and Virginia as well.

I inherited, along with you, a Republican mess in Washington a little more than 2 years ago. But we Democrats at that time formed a partnership. You've helped me since I've been there. And we have made a great deal of progress.

The 2 years since I became President have been a time for rebuilding. I'm proud of what we've accomplished, but our work, as you well know, is far from done.

When they write the history of these years, I hope they will say four things about what has been accomplished, what we've done together.

I want them to say that we were not afraid to tackle the difficult and sometimes unpopular problems, such as energy, and that we placed the long-term good of our country above petty political advantage.

I want them to say that we have restored what was lost, the trust and faith of American people in our own Government.

I want them to say that we have made America prosperous again and put our people back to work.

And, most of all, I want them to say that America has been at peace, and that we as a nation have contributed to a world without war.

If we can continue to build this New Foundation for peace, trust, and prosperity, we will have kept faith with our party and with our country.

Two nights ago, as you may have noticed, I spoke on television to the American people about our Nation's very serious energy problem. Our energy problem is, above all, an oil problem. We use too much oil; we waste too much oil. We don't produce enough oil in our own country, and our progress in developing alternatives to oil are being pursued all too slowly. As a result, we are importing oil now to the tune of $50 billion this year—that's $225 spent for foreign oil by every man, woman, and child in the United States of America.

So, our economy and our security are dangerously subject to the whims of a foreign oil cartel.

Two years ago, almost exactly 2 years ago, I introduced a comprehensive plan to the Congress to deal with this problem. And then after more than a year and a half of debate and special pleading and struggling among the various interest groups, Congress finally passed a program that was a beginning, a good beginning. But that program which Congress did pass, because of the political difficulties involved, did not deal at all with the oil problem. So, we still face the basic reality about America's use of oil: We must use less, and we must pay more for what we use.

That's not a pleasant message for any of us, but it's the truth. And the American people have shown time and time again that when they get the truth, they will respond. I did not make the decision that I announced because I expected it to be pleasant or popular. I made it because it's right, and it's necessary, and it's in the best interest of our Nation. But, having made it, I will not allow this painful but necessary step to become an excuse for a massive ripoff of the American people by the American oil companies. That's why I will fight for a windfall profits tax just on the unearned, excess profits of the oil companies.

With the revenues from this tax, we will establish an energy security fund. We will ease the financial burden of higher oil prices on those who can least afford to pay it. And we will develop a better mass transit system. We will finance an all-out effort by American science and technology to meet our longterm energy needs—with everything from gasification and liquefaction of coal to harnessing the power of the Sun.

But we must face facts. The oil lobby does not like the idea of the American [energy] ¹ security fund for the American people. The oil lobby is going to be all over Capitol Hill like a chicken on a june bug. [Laughter] It's certain, and you know it. And we are being told by them that we should just turn all the money over to them; they will wisely know how to spend it for the benefit of the American consumer. Now, I don't question their sincerity— [laughter] —and I certainly do not question their enormous political influence.

¹ Printed in the transcript.

They've blocked the energy legislation in the Congress now for more than 2 years. But the American people know that they are wrong. And I refuse to 'believe that the Congress of the United States will vote to make a few, already rich companies billions of dollars richer off the necessary sacrifices of Americans who are struggling to make ends meet.

Some people are already urging and wringing their hands and saying that this windfall profits tax and the energy security fund will never pass. They say that the oil lobby has more influence on the Congress than the American people. Even some Members of Congress say so. I say to you, let's prove them wrong. I say, let's prove that the Government of the United States belongs to the people of the United States.

Now, I'm not looking for a fight; I've got enough to keep me busy. But I'll promise you this: I am prepared to fight, if that's what it takes. And with your help, I do not intend to lose this fight.

Coal. Coal, which is one of the Nation's-and Virginia's—most abundant resources, is a significant part of the plan that I outlined 2 nights ago. We are already in the first part of the program, passed by Congress, restoring the health and the vitality of the coal industry, and Virginia is sharing in this renewed prosperity.

The energy security fund, derived from the windfall profits tax, will allow us to develop more quickly new alternatives of energy at affordable prices. Then we can rely on coal liquefaction and coal gasification and the purification of coal in a solid form, to light the way toward a more self-reliant future. I know that you in Virginia will be especially eager to give me your help on this facet of the energy problem.

I'd like to cover now very briefly with you a basic question. What kind of government do we need in Washington? Thomas Jefferson declared in his first Inaugural Address, and I'd like to quote from him, "A wise and a frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. That," he said, "is the sum of government."

When I campaigned for the Presidency in all our States for more than 2 years, everywhere I went, I heard how sick and tired the American people were of bureaucracy, redtape, and government inefficiency. Since taking office, I have worked hard to do something about it.

We have restored our system of federalism, forming a new partnership, an eager productive partnership, between county governments, city governments, State governments, and the Federal Government. I served for Governor for 4 years. I had absolutely no access, no cooperation, no communication, no consultation with the Federal Government in Washington, no matter how hard I tried. That's been changed. Any Governor in our Nation, any mayor in our Nation, Republican or Democrat, will tell you that what I say is true.

We have passed, for the first time in almost a hundred years, a landmark civil service reform bill that will now reward accomplishment, not mediocrity. It will give our thousands of excellent Federal employees a chance again to be proud of their own lives' work. And you'll see a difference when you call a Government agency or participate in a Federal program. We can make government work for you.

The American people complained about the regulatory nightmare, and we heard their voices. Our reforms in just a few areas have already saved consumers $2 1/2 billion, for instance, in reduced airline fees. We've eliminated a thousand unnecessary OSHA rules that harassed employers without protecting our workers' health or safety. Our new regulatory reform bill, now in Congress, will bring much needed rationality to the entire regulatory process.

We can protect the health and the safety of our people—and the environment. And we can lift the unnecessary burden of meddlesome regulations that threaten to smother our people in a mountain of paperwork. And I'm determined to be successful in this effort.

I found, in Washington, good Federal employees at all levels of responsibility concerned about a bureaucracy where waste and fraud were so common that often investigators and auditors could not even estimate the extent of it. We've given the people honest and competent government.

In cleaning up the GSA scandals, in cracking down on fraud in HEW and other departments, in appointing Inspectors General now in all major agencies, we've been following Andrew Jackson's credo, which he gave us in 1832. "There are no necessary evils," he said, "in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses."

It's not enough for our Government to work. Our economy must work also. The American people expect stable prices and ,jobs for all who seek them. As President, I intend to see that we have both.

We are in the midst of the longest economic boom in the history of our Nation. We have tended recently to become depressed over every individual item of the day's economic news. That kind of pessimism about our country and its strength is unwarranted, and it should not detract from what our Nation is nor should it detract from our accomplishments.

In 2 years, we have reduced unemployment by 25 percent in our Nation. Today, almost a hundred million Americans have jobs. We've created a net increase of more than 7 1/2 million of those jobs since I took office. And every one of these jobs means that another American is contributing to our productive economy. We have put America back to work.

And I would like to say, as a former businessman, that business has shared in these good times. Profits have grown by more than 34 percent since January of 1977. And last year, net farm income increased 30 percent.

But our economy will not be truly healthy until we bring inflation under control. It's been a burden for our Nation for the last 10 solid years.

Five months ago, I announced a tough program of voluntary standards to slow the rate of inflation. I cautioned then that it was a long-term program which would not provide instant results or immediate gratification.

We have had some important successes. It's unfortunate that they've been obscured by inflationary forces, many beyond our own control, such as OPEC oil prices, the very small cattle herds which are now being rebuilt, and the severe winter weather that made fruit and produce so scarce.

Most of our Nation's largest corporations have promised to abide by our guidelines. They have let us monitor their performance, and I can tell you they are keeping their word.

We have had problems with some smaller companies that in the past didn't think the guidelines applied to them, but now they're beginning to understand what we are attempting to do. But we are greatly increasing our price-monitoring effort to make sure that every business in our country does its share.

And without fanfare or headlines, often without recognition, the working people of this country, both organized and unorganized, are sharing in the fight against higher prices. As of mid-March, contracts that meet the guidelines have been negotiated by unions covering 325,000 workers, hundreds of contracts.

Inflation, however, is still a very serious problem. Our guidelines are voluntary, and there are times when they will be violated. But in almost every case, wage or price increases that exceed the standards will still be significantly lower than if we had chosen to do nothing.

We'll fight to make the guidelines more and more effective, week by week. And as we get the first quarter's results and analyze them, any company which is exceeding the guidelines will have a very difficult time selling their products to the Federal Government.

We must be prudent buyers. And I hope that you will also be prudent buyers. We will be sending out now, on a monthly basis, a report to you on those items which we believe have exceeded and are exceeding the prices that are most attractive for you and for your family. And I hope that you will purchase your supplies, your food, very carefully. And we've joined in with consumer groups and others to monitor the prices, still on a voluntary basis.

If we're going to curb inflation, however, the Federal budget must also set an example of restraint. And that's where my direct responsibility comes in.

Republicans talk about balanced budgets, but it takes Democrats to reduce the deficit. A recent poll, nationwide poll, showed that for the first time since the two parties have been formed, more people in this country now believe that Democrats are fiscally responsible than Republicans. We have always been more fiscally responsible; now people know it.

One reason is that in 1976, when I was running for President, the Federal budget deficit was over $66 billion. The budget that I've just submitted to Congress will realize a net reduction in our deficit of more than 55 percent, which will get us more than halfway toward our goal of what you want, and that's a balanced budget for the Government of the United States.

The important thing is that we have trimmed the fat in our budget without jeopardizing the programs that help the poor and the disadvantaged and the [un]employed and which give our Nation prosperity and give our Nation a strong defense, because we know that prosperity at home depends on our military strength and on our commitment to peace.

As Thomas Jefferson wrote to Andrew Jackson in 1806, Americans must convince the world that we are just friends and we are also brave enemies. This is still an excellent summary of the goals of American foreign policy.

The purpose of America's military forces is not to wage war but to preserve peace. And to do that, we must make sure that no nation seriously doubts our ability or our will to meet any challenge to the country which we love. We must continue to improve our ability to respond quickly and to respond effectively to military threats.

In 1818, looking back on his long years of service to our Nation, Thomas Jefferson noted with pride, and I quote, "During the period of my administration," he said, "not a drop of the blood of a single fellow citizen was shed by the sword of

war."

I am also proud that no drop of American blood has been shed in war during my own administration. And I pray, literally, several times a day, that when my years as President are over, that I can still share Jefferson's achievement of peace for our people.

Jefferson predicted that we would one day have greater power than the European empires which were so powerful when he lived. But he also cautioned, and I quote again, "I hope our wisdom will grow with our power and teach us that the less we use our power, the greater it will be."

Our military strength and our national will are abundantly clear now to all nations. We do not need to prove our strength through rash and reckless military adventures. Rather, our military capacity gives us a rare opportunity to lead the world toward peace.

I promised, when I was campaigning among the American people, that when I took office, that I would make our foreign policy reflect our own highest ideals and standards.

Here in the home of George Washington and Patrick Henry, it's well to remember who we are. Here the age-old dreams of mankind grew into the ideas that have made our Declaration of Independence a statement—not just of the goals and beliefs of our Nation but of the hopes and dreams of all the world's people.

When I promised this country a government as good as our own people, some critics dismissed it as meaningless rhetoric. But they missed what I was really talking about. But I guess, looking at the results of the election, that a majority of the voters must have understood.

Our foreign policy is as good as our people when we speak out for human rights around the world, and we will. Our foreign policy is as good as the American people when we work to bring peace to ancient enemies, and we have done so.

A victory for this kind of foreign policy was won when the peace treaty was signed last week by Egypt and Israel, and now we must make the full hopes and dreams that went into the signing of that treaty be realized for the people of the Middle East who yearn for peace.

The United States was able to perform a crucial role at a critical point to help make that possible. But that treaty was not a personal accomplishment, though I was proud and grateful to be a part of it. The treaty was a tribute to two courageous men, and also it was a triumph of moral strength and leadership of our Nation.

Whatever I'm able to do in easing the tensions of our world is based on the strength of the American people and how much support I have from you and on the power of the principles on which our Nation was founded.

If we can help the nations of the Middle East eventually to work out a permanent peace, it will be because they trust the American people and our principles, and not because they trust any one particular American President.

This is true not just in this administration, but from the moment of our birth as a nation, through all times, as long as we call ourselves a free people. We must set an example for the rest of the world, who look to us with such eager, questioning, often admiring eyes.

Our next major goal, I would like to say in closing, is a SALT treaty, to curb the horrible threat of nuclear destruction. Our Nation was shaken within the last few days by a potential serious accident in Pennsylvania. I hope that one result of that fright will be to remind every American how vastly more destructive to a hundred million American people, almost half our population, if there should be a nuclear exchange of powerful and destructive weapons between us and the Soviet Union. It's the most serious threat we face.

Any treaty that I sign will be negotiated very carefully. I have already spent 2 years in these detailed negotiations. They've been going on now for more than 6 years, including my own predecessors in the White House. Any treaty that I sign will enhance the safety and security of our country. And any treaty I sign will be adequately verifiable so that we can know with our own means whether or not the Soviets are complying with its terms.

I will need your strong support in the ratification of this necessary step toward peace through strength. Peace and prosperity through strength—peace and prosperity through strength—this is the source of our Nation's true power on which all else must rest. This is the foundation for good leadership at all levels of government. We Democrats offer this kind of leadership, and this is why the future of this party, the future of this State, and the future of this Nation is so bright.

Thank you very much.