Statement by the President Upon Signing Bill Authorizing Disposal From the Molybdenum Stockpile.

THREE WEEKS AGO I signed two bills authorizing the sale of platinum and refractory bauxite from our national stockpiles. I expressed the hope that Congress would work toward swift passage of the other stockpiles disposal measures.

The Congress has continued to justify that expectation by its prompt action on H.R. 13369--a bill that authorizes the release of 14 million pounds of stockpiled molybdenum, now excess to our strategic stockpile requirements. I have signed H.R. 13369 into law today. This measure has enabled us to meet the urgent needs of industry. It will return to the Treasury nearly $24 million of the taxpayer's money and it will leave in the stockpile an ample supply of molybdenum to meet future strategic requirements.

The continuing unparalleled expansion of our economy--which is now in its sixth consecutive year--and our military requirements in Vietnam have resulted in an increasingly short supply of molybdenum. Without the prompt action of the Congress in authorizing the orderly movement of molybdenum from our stockpile into the hands of industry, the production of high-strength, high-grade steel would be seriously disrupted.

Molybdenum imparts to steel a toughness which is of particular importance in the manufacture of armor-plate and other military products. It is also needed in space research and in the missile industry.

In April, when Congress authorized the disposal of platinum and refractory bauxite, those critical materials were on their way to industry within a matter of days.

We are ready to take similar steps in the case of molybdenum.

I have today directed the Administrator of the General Services Administration to begin moving into the hands of industry and users throughout the Nation without delay, the 14 million pounds of critically needed molybdenum covered by this new legislation.

Congress still has before it 22 similar measures for the disposal of excess strategic materials. Ten of these have already passed the House. I urge that the Congress take prompt and final action on all of the stockpile bills.

In this way, working together in a close partnership of Congress, the executive branch, and industry, we can safeguard our national welfare, sustain a healthy economy, protect the interests of the American consumer, and give our boys in Vietnam the tools they need.