Statement of Senator John F. Kennedy on Unemployment

Senator John F. Kennedy said today that lack of administration action on widespread unemployment will be a major issue in his campaign.

He has called a conference on new jobs and new growth to be held in Charleston, W. Va., September 19. Democratic Governors, Senators, and Congressmen from several States have been invited to participate.

Kennedy will speak at a public rally in Charleston's Civic Center that evening, concluding the conference. His address will be televised on a statewide network, 9 to 9 :30 p.m., eastern standard time.

The conferees will be joined by business, labor, and civic leaders from an eight-State area surrounding Charleston.

Under discussion will be ways and means of creating more jobs to take care of the growing unemployment problem throughout the Nation.

Specific attention will be given the problem of long-term chronic unemployment in 177 areas throughout the Nation, the Senator said, but the conference will address itself mainly to the larger problem of jobless workers wherever they may be.

Codirectors of the conference will be Pennsylvania's secretary of labor and industry, William L. Batt, Jr., and Hulett C. Smith, chairman of the West Virginia State Democratic Committee.

Sponsors of the conference include:

Paul Douglas, U.S. Senator from Illinois.

Otto Kerner, Democratic candidate for Governor of Illinois.

R. Vance Hartke, U.S. Senator from Indiana.

Matthew E. Welsh, Democratic candidate for Governor of Indiana.

Bert T. Combs, Governor of Kentucky.

Keen Johnson, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senator from Kentucky.

J. Millard Tawes, Governor of Maryland.

Michael V. DiSalle, Governor of Ohio.

Stephen M. Young, U.S. Senator from Ohio.

David L. Lawrence, Governor of Pennsylvania.

Joseph S. Clark, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania.

J. Lindsay Almond, Jr., Governor of Virginia.

Jennings Randolph, U.S. Senator from West Virginia.

Robert C. Byrd, U.S. Senator from West Virginia.

W. W. Barron, Democratic candidate for Governor of West Virginia.

Secretary Batt has taken 2 weeks' leave from his duties as head of the department of labor and industry in order to direct the planning of the conference.