Documents / Official release
This file from the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library holds press releases and statements that House Republican Leader Gerald R. Ford issued between January and April 1966. Most cover Vietnam policy, the war on poverty, inflation, foreign aid, the federal budget and changes in his press staff. An April 21, 1966 statement says the Air Force told Ford it would contract a university with no close Air Force ties to have scientists study unexplained UFO sightings and make the report public. According to Ford, his call for congressional hearings led to this study.
“Hill”1 page
CONGRESSMAN
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
NEWS
RELEASE
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY AT 10:30 A.M.
THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1966
STATJ!MENT BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, HOUSE MINORITY LEADER.
Yesterday was the birthday of Thomas Jefferson. Today is the anniversary
of Abraham Lincoln's death. Tomorrow, as most of us are unhappily aware
even without this reminder is Great Society Tax Day--the deadline for filing
your federal income tax returns for 1965.
President Johnson is in Mexico City today unveiling a statue of Abraham
Lincoln, so I suppose it will not be amiss for me to say a few words in praise
of Thomas Jefferson.
Jefferson, though he called himself a Republican, is regarded now as the
Father of the Democratic Party. Lincoln, the first Republican president, was
himself a great admirer of Jefferson, saying that "the principles of Jefferson
are the definitions and axioms of free society." For his part, Jefferson
declared that "every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle •••
We are all Republicans; we are all federalists."
So without quibbling about labels, let me merely note that we are all today
indebted to Thomas Jefferson for one major contribution to our system of
government. He was the Founding Father who started the Two-Party System. You
might say that, as Vice-President, he was the first minority leader here on
Capitol Hill. And the country has prospered under the two-party system which
developed;-thanks to Jefferson--outside the provisions of the Constitution.
It added another and most important check and balance to our experiment in
self-government.
As to Jefferson's principles, during his presidency he cut federal spending,
reduced taxes, repaid $33 million of the national debt,and repealed the excise
tax on whisky. Whether he was the last Democrat or the first Republican to do
this I will leave for historians to argue.
There certainly can be no argument, however, about the differences of
principle that divide our two parties in this lopsided 89th Congress. There is
no doubt which is the spending party and which is the prudent party. Nevertheless,
we keep hearing noises from the direction of the White House that we 140
Republicans in the House of Representatives, outnumbered more than two to one, ._,
{MORE). Official release, from the nara collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 55 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.