Statement by the President on the Need for Federal, State, and Local Cooperation in Civil Defense and Emergency Preparedness.
WHILE we are working for peace, and hope that there never will be an attack upon this country, it has been the long-established policy of our Nation to maintain both military and nonmilitary preparedness.
The national security requires an effective partnership between the Federal and State and local governments. The Advisory Council and the Federal Government cannot do this job alone. Chief executives of all governmental units should continue to discharge their clear and compelling responsibility for leadership in civil defense and emergency preparedness.
Much progress has been made, but this is a continuing task. Additional fallout protection for our citizens and complementary preparedness programs will continue to strengthen our strategic defense posture. These preparations will also increase the effectiveness of State and local governments in coping with natural disasters. In time of emergency, what matters most is advance preparations.
I look forward to receiving the recommendations of the Council.
Note: The President's statement was made public as part of a White House release announcing the reappointment for 3-year terms of four members of the National Civil Defense Advisory Council established by the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950 (64 Stat. 1247). The full text of the release, which lists the Council members, is printed in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (vol. 4, p. 680).
The Council's recommendations adopted at its meeting on May 28, 1968, were not made public but were embodied in a resolution transmitted to the President on June 11, 1968.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Statement by the President on the Need for Federal, State, and Local Cooperation in Civil Defense and Emergency Preparedness. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/237851