Lyndon B. Johnson photo

Statement by the President Upon Signing Bills Providing for Disposals From the National Stockpiles.

November 03, 1966

THE FOUR BILLS I have signed highlight the record-breaking achievements of the 89th Congress in enacting legislation to speed the disposals of surplus materials no longer needed in our national stockpiles.

These measures bring to 23 the number of stockpile disposal bills passed by the second session of the 89th Congress. Together with the 15 measures adopted at the first session, the 89th Congress enacted 38 separate stockpile laws covering 44 different materials--from aluminum to zinc. The total value of these surplus materials is almost $2 billion.

But these numbers alone cannot tell the full story of how the taxpayer, the economy, and the national defense have benefited from the legislation.

It has helped insure the uninterrupted flow of vital supplies and equipment to our men in Vietnam, from aluminum landing mats for our fighting planes to copper firing caps for small arms ammunition.

It has moved alloys in critically short supply from stockpile to smelter, to keep blast furnaces operating and the wheels of commerce turning.

It has helped ease some of the pressures of our economy through the orderly sale of stockpiled materials to businesses, large and small, throughout the country.

It has worked in countless other ways to help sustain our prosperity and to provide a fair return to the Treasury on the taxpayers' investment.

I want to commend the 89th Congress on its outstanding work in the field of stockpile legislation. I deeply appreciate the able leadership of Senators Richard Russell and Stuart Symington and Congressmen Mendel Rivers and Philip Philbin, who have served the national interest by bringing this record number of stockpile measures into being.

Note: The President approved the four bills on November 2, 1966. As enacted, they are:

H.R. 13320 (industrial diamond stones) Public Law 89-723 (80 Stat. 1153).
H.R. 13370 (fused crude aluminum oxide) Public Law 89-724 (80 Stat. 1153).
H.R. 13661 (battery-grade synthetic manganese dioxide) Public Law 89-726 (80 Stat. 1155).
H.R. 17376 (nickel) Public Law 89-740 (80 Stat. 1166).

Lyndon B. Johnson, Statement by the President Upon Signing Bills Providing for Disposals From the National Stockpiles. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/237587

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