Documents / Official release
This Gerald R. Ford Library folder of Ford Congressional Papers holds material from Ford's broadcasts in 1965 and 1966. It contains correspondence with WJR station manager James H. Quello and drafts of Ford's June 1965 "Your Government" radio report on congressional imbalance, Vietnam and Cuba, along with budget remarks. It also includes Ford's March 25, 1966 on-air statement calling for a congressional investigation of UFO sightings near Ann Arbor, Michigan, a Great Society documentary script and a Meet the Press transcript with Indira Gandhi.
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
As leader of the Republican minority in the House of Representatives, I compare our politically-outnumbered group with the Michigan team that played Minnesota... we have the spirit and enthusiasm, but we lack power and strength in numbers. Further comparing the 89th Congress with football, we are three-quarters way through the season and our record could be better. The legislative score is impressive one way, however----news laws have been passed with historic speed. But, I question whether the overall performance has been of All-American class. The record is long on quantity and short on quality. I do not intend to spend this time with you harpooning my Democratic friends or President Johnson and his Administration, except to point out what I believe are some weaknesses in government at this time. But first, I emphasize that the Congress put aside political differences to strengthen our Nation's fight against Communist aggression---the threat to freedom. Although some of the President's own political empire dissented, Congress approved a $700 million expansion of the military budget. This action showed the world that Americans are overwhelmingly behind the President in his decision to honor our foreign commitments. It was, in effect, a public endorsement of the tougher line the President has been taking. We cannot turn away from the fact that today America is fighting a worldwide war for liberty. True, it is still a cold war in certain places. At any moment, however, it could burst into global flames but 2 am convinced of the President believe as I interpret his policy that America , its citizens and its allies must challenge the assertive dictators in Moscow , Keeping on Centro in Cuba whenever they threaten
Official release, from the nara collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 88 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.