Latest / BOB DOLE : 1995 Clinton's Comeback / Episode 455 BOB DOLE The Life That Brought Him There Part 36 The Bush Years (A ) The Tower Nomination (1) Who is John Tower?

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Episode 455 BOB DOLE The Life That Brought Him There Part 36 The Bush Years (A ) The Tower Nomination (1) Who is John Tower? · BOB DOLE : 1995 Clinton's Comeback

• 0:25
  I I guess my my logic question is, was there not on your part, but I wonder, was there on their part a concern at the beginning of the Bush presidency about how oil uh uh leader you were gonna put?
• 0:39
  Oh, that was speculation.
• 0:40
  You know, you could hit well Bob Dole and he's gonna try to torpedo Bush and but then the John Tarr came thing thing came along at that time, and and of course Tar is a very good friend of mine.
• 0:52
  Did he get a raw deal?
• 0:54
  Well, uh, you got a raw deal by the people who shouldn't have given him I won't name names, but I know a couple of people had drinking problems were up speaking against him on the Senate floor.
• 1:03
  I mean, it you know, and you know, I I uh I I really like Sam Nunn.
• 1:12
  I think he's really a great guy, but I thought, you know, I thought he got talked into opposing John Tower.
• 1:20
  They were good buddies.
• 1:22
  But I later forgot it all because uh we had a memorial service for Tower at the Arlington and Sam showed up.
• 1:31
  Um really so you know it's Yeah.
• 1:34
  There there are those who think there's a little bit of payback involved, but that over the years tower had been, you know, tower was a very bright guy.
• 1:46
  Yeah, he's very bright, and uh no small talk with tower.
• 1:53
  He did have a problem, you know.
• 1:54
  Um I'm not sure that is uh uh uh but when it editor started it all out, but uh but I think that was the thing that kind of convinced most of the Bush people that you know I even wanted to bring tower into the Senate, which you have a right to do, and have him testify before the senators, which is committed under the rules, and uh he declined because I thought he could look stab nut in the eye on other people and you know make a difference.
• 2:33
  But apparently he didn't think the dignity, I guess.
• 2:37
  I mean kind of begging for we could have done it.
• 3:07
  Well, the first duty of the President, specified by the Constitution, is that the President shall serve as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Armed Forces.
• 3:17
  And I certainly regard no duty of the President as more important than maintaining a strong national defense.
• 3:26
  Protecting our security and promoting peace are the groundwork upon which all other national progress is laid, and they're the prerequisites for a prosperous and forward-looking nation.
• 3:39
  And if we've proven anything in the last uh eight years, it is that peace through strength works.
• 3:46
  And therefore, it is with pride and a sense of solemn responsibility that I am announcing this morning my intention to nominate a man of great experience, expertise, and commitment to peace and freedom to be the next Secretary of Defense.
• 4:04
  John Tower served for 23 years in the United States Senate.
• 4:08
  He was chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
• 4:12
  He has been a top U.S.
• 4:14
  negotiator in talks on strategic nuclear arms, and he is a veteran, having enlisted in the Navy at the age of 17 and served in combat on a gunboat in the Western Pacific during the Second World War.
• 4:29
  John Tower is as knowledgeable as anyone in America about defense and national security issues, and he's a true expert on defense policy, and he understands the challenges ahead.
• 4:42
  And he's established great credibility and earned great respect both in Congress and among the American people for his knowledge, for his many contributions to this nation, and for his understanding of the fundamental truth that strength and clarity in our defense and national security policy lead to peace.
• 5:03
  That truth has been underlined by the many significant foreign policy accomplishments of this administration.
• 5:11
  Accomplishments which, I submit, would not have been possible but for the reestablishment of our national strength, which President Reagan inaugurated eight years ago.
• 5:22
  And today we we do face serious new challenges in the area of defense policy.
• 5:28
  Some tough choices have to be made.
• 5:31
  But I believe that with a proper approach to reform and commitment to efficiency, we can continue our policy of strength while making progress in holding the line on spending.
• 5:44
  And I've spoken at length with my friend Senator Tower about these challenges, and I am premi I am I am uh impressed with his commitment to reform.
• 5:57
  And he knows what must be done, and I have great confidence that he will make sure that each taxpayer's dollar uh delivers as much as possible to our collective security.
• 6:09
  The Packard Commission suggested several ideas for Pentagon reform, and we will be looking to make further progress in implementing many of the Commission's recommendations.
• 6:22
  And now, in closing, let me just say a word about uh my friend, the current Secretary of Defense, uh Frank Carlucci.
• 6:32
  The path ahead has been made clearer and easier by the fine work that Frank Carlucci has done.
• 6:41
  He really has made remarkable progress at the Defense Department in several areas, perhaps uh particularly in the area of reform.
• 6:51
  And as we move ahead with our agenda for a free and secure America, we owe him a great debt of gratitude.
• 6:59
  Now I'd like to ask Senator Tower to say a few words, and then as become our custom, I will take a few questions and then and then uh turn it over to him.
• 7:09
  John, welcome.
• 7:13
  Thank you, Mr.
• 7:14
  Vice President.
• 7:16
  First, I should like to express my deep gratitude to you for the confidence that you have reposed in me in proposing me for a nomination to this very difficult and challenging yet terribly important post of Secretary of Defense.
• 7:42
  We do have a great challenge ahead of us.
• 7:46
  The bottom line is that we must provide at least as much, if not more, defense for less money.
• 7:59
  And to meet that challenge, we must do several things.
• 8:05
  We must rationalize our force structure, we must refine and reform our management and procurement procedures, we must have biennial budgeting.
• 8:20
  All of this is going to require very close cooperation with the Congress.
• 8:26
  There is a great deal that can be achieved administratively, but in the final analysis, the whole job cannot be done without close cooperation between the Pentagon and the Congress.
• 8:42
  And after I have further extensive discussions with the President-elect and with others connected with the national security apparatus, I expect to have some extensive conversations with my old colleagues in the Congress who are charged with responsibilities for national security policy on what we can do together to get the legislative tools that are necessary to achieve the additional reforms that are required to meet our objectives.
• 9:27
  It is essential that America remain strong, that we maintain the ability to defend our country, defend our vital interests abroad, maintain the confidence of our allies, and the respect of our potential adversaries.
• 9:47
  I'll be delighted to respond to your questions after the vice president has responded to your questions.
• 10:32
  I'm totally satisfied in that regard because the investigation was extensive.
• 10:37
  Uh, and uh I am totally satisfied in that regard.
• 10:42
  I believe this is this matter is now totally concluded.
• 10:47
  It will be satisfy the most uh inquisitive members of the United States Senate who will take a look at the this nomination.
• 10:57
  And yes, he has not only my full confidence, but it is strengthened, if anything, by the process that has gone through.
• 11:05
  Do you think he is at all weakened in his own state of the United States?
• 11:08
  I don't think so.
• 11:08
  I think he's stronger.
• 11:09
  Anytime you get subjected to a lot of a lot of rumors out there and then receive a clean bell of health, why I think you're stronger.
• 11:18
  Welcome, everybody.
• 11:19
  This is Randall Wallace, your host for the Randall Wallace Podcast, and we are uh in the Bush years now, as President Bush is about to take office, and we're gonna start with the thing that really maybe solidified the Dole relationship with George Bush, because there were reservations by the Bush people, particularly, about Dole being the Republican leader in the Senate uh after the 1988 primary had been somewhat bruising.
• 11:47
  And this is gonna be the first big test for for Bob Dole.
• 11:51
  But it's also one that when you listen to these things, uh these oral histories, you you pick up really quickly that for the most part things rolled off Bob Dole's back.
• 12:00
  There's not much that that that um there were hard feelings about, and I think that may have helped bring Bush and Dole Dole together, really, because the John Tower nomination does create some of the things that you can pick up uh linger in the air between Republicans and Democrats over the nomination of John Tower uh uh uh to become the Secretary of Defense.
• 12:24
  The president-elect pick John Tower, he's from Texas as Bush was.
• 12:28
  Uh Tower was the first Republican to get elected in the state of Texas.
• 12:34
  So he has a he's he's a he's a real player uh through the years.
• 12:39
  For those of you who don't know who he is, uh I thought what we would do in this episode is just take a look at John Tower.
• 12:48
  Uh and we'll do that through the tribute video that was put together for him about him.
• 12:53
  He would die much later down the road from from this defense debate in a plane crash.
• 12:59
  Uh and you'll see also the relationship that Ronald Reagan had with John Tower.
• 13:06
  He is someone that Reagan would go and have a big fundraising dinner for, and we'll hear from John from Ronald Reagan about John Tower.
• 13:13
  So this would give you some feel for who he is.
• 13:16
  And what basically happens is he's nominated for the Secretary of Defense, and the FBI investigates him, and they come to the conclusion that he has a drinking problem.
• 13:25
  And as Bob Dole pointed out in this his oral history, there were people who did have a drinking problem who were on the floor criticizing him for having a drinking problem.
• 13:33
  Uh and and it and it left some hard feelings, I think, in the Senate, because it's not very often that you see a senator have be turned on by his own, especially in those days.
• 13:45
  You know, you had this case with Elizabeth Warren and and um Jeff Sessions that happens in our time.
• 13:52
  Uh, but that was that was highly unusual in the U.S.
• 13:55
  Senate in the 90s, in the 80s and the 90s.
• 13:58
  And uh so let's go back now and take a look at John Tower, and then in our next episode, we'll we'll begin the fight over John Tower getting in as Secretary of Defense.
• 14:11
  Texas today has a senator in Washington who can speak with authority.
• 14:15
  John used to say, My name is Tower, but I don't.
• 14:19
  But John Goodwin Tower launched a political revolution that transformed Texas into a two-party state.
• 14:27
  In 1961, Tower, a little-known professor of political science at Midwestern University in Wichita Falls, shocked the nation as he emerged victorious from a crowded field to claim Lyndon Johnson's Senate seat.
• 14:44
  At 35, he was the youngest member of the Senate, and more importantly, he was the first Republican senator from Texas since Reconstruction.
• 14:55
  Morning.
• 14:55
  This is Judy Weiss, speaking to you once again from Washington, D.C.
• 15:00
  Jack the Giant Killer has come to town.
• 15:03
  The Jack is Senator John Goodwin Tower, who has just been elected senator from the great state of Texas, and the giant is the idea that no Republican can be elected from any southern or southwestern state.
• 15:21
  The son and grandson of Methodist ministers, John's values were shaped at the family dinner table.
• 15:29
  It was here that his unwavering commitment to conservative principles was born.
• 15:35
  With degrees from Southwestern, SMU, and graduate work at the London School of Economics, he was quite a scholar.
• 15:45
  But he was an academic with a practical mind.
• 15:48
  He had an intuitive understanding of power and politics.
• 15:53
  And he went to Washington determined to make a difference.
• 15:57
  He fought hard to preserve right to work laws.
• 16:00
  If I were an industrial worker, I'd want to join a trade union and I'd be active in it.
• 16:05
  But I wouldn't want to be told I had to join.
• 16:07
  A man shouldn't be made to pay tribute to earn his daily bread.
• 16:11
  As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he toured Vietnam and he held a deep and abiding respect for our men and women in uniform.
• 16:21
  And he was a tireless champion on their behalf.
• 16:25
  Now, sometimes it seems every generation of Americans is called on to make sacrifices in blood to preserve freedom.
• 16:32
  As I visited the field hospitals, I saw sights I'll never forget.
• 16:36
  Yet the wounded men I saw understand, just as the American people must understand, that we're making our stand in Vietnam today to preclude a fight on a much broader front at greater cost later on.
• 16:47
  He also understood the importance of the oil and gas industry, both to Texas and to the nation.
• 16:54
  And he worked hard to deregulate pricing and stimulate exploration and development.
• 16:59
  I'm cautiously optimistic that we will finally deregulate the price of natural gas at the wellhead, and I'll work to remove oil price controls as soon as possible.
• 17:10
  And even in the early 60s, Tarr recognized the volley of uncontrolled deficit spending.
• 17:16
  I think the Congress should discipline itself to cut deficit spending because deficit spending is the principal cause of the reduction of the buying power of your money.
• 17:26
  In those days, it was often lonely to be a conservative.
• 17:30
  But John Tar was unyielding in pursuit of his vision.
• 17:34
  Many Democrats thought Tar would be a one-term senator, that his victory had been a fluke.
• 17:40
  And indeed, in those days, the joke was you could fit the entire Texas Republican Party in a phone booth with room to spare.
• 17:49
  But John Tar was the first Republican who could reach across party lines.
• 17:54
  His appeal was simple.
• 17:56
  His values were our values.
• 18:20
  He recruited candidates and campaigned tirelessly for them throughout the state.
• 18:26
  But more importantly, he was the standard bearer of a new conservative movement.
• 18:32
  Three times he went into battle against well-financed Democratic opponents.
• 18:37
  Three times he emerged with a victory.
• 18:40
  He turned back Wagner Carr in 66, Barefoot Sanders in 72, and Bob Krueger in 78.
• 18:48
  Suddenly, it was fashionable to be a Republican in Texas.
• 18:53
  And the seeds that Carr and his loyal supporters had planted came to full fruition in the 80s and 90s as Republican candidates scored victories in record numbers.
• 19:12
  He was a member of the Budget Committee, the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Chairman of the Influent Republican Policy Committee.
• 19:22
  But Tower's real legacy can be seen in his work both as member and as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
• 19:30
  Tower believed that lasting peace is attained through a strong national defense.
• 19:35
  He recognized that freedom came with the price, but believed that price was worth paying.
• 19:41
  The protection of our security, our vital interests abroad, the support of our well-motivated foreign policy objectives.
• 19:51
  And the continuing quest for freedom is our highest call.
• 20:03
  Thank you.
• 20:18
  Working with President Reagan, Tower was one of the principal architects of the military buildup that toppled communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
• 20:30
  He understood the importance of advanced weapons systems, and his foresight was proven in Operation Desert Storm.
• 20:40
  In 1983, Tar held a press conference to announce his retirement at the end of his term.
• 20:48
  It was time to come home.
• 20:54
  I regard it as the best place in the world and looking forward to retire.
• 21:00
  Though retired from the Senate, he was still committed to public service.
• 21:05
  In 1985, he served as U.S.
• 21:09
  ambassador to the negotiations in Geneva of strategic nuclear and space arms.
• 21:15
  And in 1986, he chaired the President's Special Review Board, more commonly known as the Tower Commission, investigating the Iran-Contra affair.
• 21:26
  In 1988, President Bush nominated John Tower to become Secretary of Defense, a job denied him by a democratically controlled Senate.
• 21:39
  Tower accepted his defeat with characteristic grace and dignity.
• 21:44
  It is time for the bitterness, rancor, and anger to fade, and for those elements of government who have been involved in the confirmation process to unite and to be about the people's business.
• 22:00
  But I depart from this place at peace with myself, knowing that I have given a full measure of devotion to my country.
• 22:09
  And indeed, John Goodwin Tower had the steely determination to take both the good and the bad life had to offer.
• 22:18
  To understand the strength of his character, one need only look where he looked for the world.
• 22:25
  Inspiration.
• 22:26
  St.
• 22:26
  Paul's Epistle to the Romans, chapter 5.
• 22:29
  We glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worth patience, and patience experience, and experience hope.
• 22:40
  And then there was Travis's letter from the Alamo in which he said, I shall never surrender our retreat.
• 22:48
  John Tower never surrendered.
• 22:50
  He never retreated.
• 22:52
  In over 30 years of public service, he left behind an unmatched legacy of accomplishment.
• 22:59
  Integrity.
• 23:01
  Commitment and debut.
• 23:04
  John America, we will never forget you.
• 23:09
  We owe you a debt we can never repay.
• 23:17
  His name was Tar.
• 23:20
  And he's a good one.
• 23:47
  So now that we know who John Tower is and the important position that he had on part that he had played in building the Texas Republican Party and really the Republican Party across the South and the Southwest.
• 23:59
  I mean, there's there's Strom Thurman and there's John Tower.
• 24:02
  I mean, these are the guys who who showed up first.
• 24:06
  And Ronald Reagan, who is uh becomes that that president that comes in in 1980 and leads this new conservative revolution, of which John Tower is a big part, uh, pays him back when he is leaving office in 1983 with a fundraising event for John Tower.
• 24:31
  And and and Reagan doesn't come in and just do a two-minute speech or drop-in, drop out.
• 24:36
  He comes in and he talks at this event for a while.
• 24:39
  And we're gonna let you hear Ronald Reagan at the event honoring John Tower.
• 24:45
  You're gonna hear from John Tower, too, in this uh segment.
• 24:49
  It is from uh April 29th, 1983.
• 24:54
  And it's a high privilege for me to em see this extravaganza for Senator John Tower.
• 25:03
  Thank you, my good friend, for that very generous introduction.
• 25:09
  Mr.
• 25:10
  President, my distinguished, and that's why I'm proud to be a part of that Republican majority in the Senate.
• 25:23
  And I think that if we fail to do everything that we can to support the policies of century, this country can continue to be the greatest power in the world.
• 25:54
  Now, of course, we have all the harbingers of recovery.
• 25:58
  Things are beginning to look good again.
• 26:01
  We're proceeding not rapidly up a sharp slope, but we've got an orderly progression in our economy that's going to be lasting.
• 26:11
  I do want to give you all my heartfelt thanks for this marvelous show of support for me and for what all of us believe in, and what we all fight for, and devote our energies and intellects to achieving that is a better world, and a country that is fully as free and prosperous to pass on to our children as it was when we entered it.
• 26:48
  We do all have a solemn obligation to the generation to follow.
• 26:53
  And I like to think that those of us here who are like-minded people perhaps aren't very good practical politicians sometimes because we think primarily in terms of the future, and not just in terms of the next election.
• 27:10
  We want to make sure that the things we do today will ensure the blessings of liberty and prosperity for our children and their children's children.
• 27:24
  And that's why we're all here.
• 27:27
  And that's why we're all so appreciative to have with us tonight this great president who has not faltered or failed in the face of some of the most virulent attack and criticism that a president could suffer.
• 27:53
  The amazing thing is that his esteem in the eyes of the people still holds firm.
• 28:03
  Indeed, it grows.
• 28:36
  I am deeply honored to present to you, ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.
• 30:10
  Chet and Virginia Upham, thanks so much for all that you have done.
• 30:26
  It's always an experience coming down here to be with you Texas Republicans.
• 30:32
  Everything's so big.
• 30:35
  And I hesitate, but I'm gonna I'm gonna dare the fates.
• 30:38
  I know that there aren't very many stories about the size of Texas that aren't known to all Texans, but maybe there are some outlanders here who might not have heard it.
• 30:48
  It was a Texan who was visiting in Maine.
• 30:52
  And he was visiting a farmer up there, and the Texan asked this old boy about his farm and what might be the extent of it, and the old fellow said, Well, it runs to that clump of trees and then over to that hill and then down to the creek and over to here.
• 31:10
  How big is your spread in Texas?
• 31:13
  And the Texan looked at him and said, Well, old timer, sometimes I get in my car and I can drive for an hour and a half before I get to the boundary of my farm.
• 31:23
  And the old fellow from Maine looked at him for a minute and then says, I know exactly what you mean I had a car like that myself once.
• 31:50
  And there's one great service that Texas can render to the United States next year.
• 31:56
  Return to the United States Senate the man who's proved himself second to none in his determination to improve America's economic well-being.
• 32:11
  And to improve her national security, your Senator John Tower.
• 32:21
  I've known and admired John Tower for many years, but it wasn't until I got into my current job that I fully appreciated his many talents.
• 32:30
  In the 80 election, we pledged to make America strong again.
• 32:34
  Militarily and economically.
• 32:37
  Well, I can tell you without any hesitation, Senator John Tower has been indispensable in putting us on the road towards success in both those fields.
• 32:52
  Over the years, John has stood firm sometimes like a voice in the wilderness against the tax, tax, spend, spend philosophy that pushed America to the brink of disaster.
• 33:04
  And since the 80 election, when we finally managed to get some leverage, he has provided the expertise and the leadership that was needed to deal with the economic crisis that we inherited.
• 33:15
  Every time I come to Texas, I feel like a kid showing a report card to his family.
• 33:23
  I just want you to know that before I start, in all the areas in which we've scored A's, we couldn't have done it without John Tower.
• 33:38
  I know it's getting difficult to remember.
• 33:40
  We're told that political memories are very short, but it wasn't that long ago when inflation was public enemy number one.
• 33:48
  We were told that it would be more than a decade before we could ever hope to conquer inflation.
• 33:54
  Well, it has come down from 12.4% to 3.6% last year.
• 33:59
  And for the first six months, or the last six months, I should say, it has been down to one half of one percent, and it hasn't been there since n for 22 years.
• 34:24
  I hear a lot about compassion in Washington from those who want us to return to the policies of the past.
• 34:32
  But it's about time we take a close look at what would have happened had we permitted the inflation caused by their policies to remain double-digit.
• 34:42
  If inflation had continued as it was, not increased, just stayed where it was, before we all took office, a family of four on a fixed income of$20,000 would be more than$1,500 poorer in purchasing power today, but also they would have been further impoverished by much higher taxes.
• 35:04
  And what was inflation doing to our economy?
• 35:08
  Savings and investments sank as the people trying to protect what they could put their money into non-productive inflation hedges, and those who could afford it into tax shelters.
• 35:18
  With inflation running double digits for two years back to back, interest rates shot right through the roof, knocking the wind out of construction, automobile, and other major industries.
• 35:31
  A blow from which they're just now beginning to recover.
• 35:34
  Consumer spending hit the skids when again, because inflation and over taxation, the real income of our working people began to drop, a total reversal of anything we'd ever experienced in the American history.
• 35:50
  Anybody who tries to tell you that we can return to tax, tax, and spend and spend and not reignite inflation, better stay away from taxes.
• 36:05
  And I get a little irritated with that constant refrain about compassion.
• 36:10
  I got an unsigned Valentine in February, and I'm sure it was from Fritz Mondale.
• 36:17
  The heart on it was bleeding.
• 36:21
  By getting control of inflation, we've channeled savings back into stocks and other productive investments.
• 36:27
  The stock market, reflecting the new confidence is spreading throughout the country, has shot up 400 points, reaching an all-time high, and it's still rising.
• 36:40
  The interest rates are down from the 21.5% when we took off to 10.5% now, and I think we're going to knock them down even lower in the very near future.
• 36:55
  But even now, home building and auto sales are far above what they were only a year ago.
• 37:01
  Real wages are up, as is productivity and consumer spending.
• 37:06
  The leading economic indicators rose again in March for the seventh straight month.
• 37:11
  And of course, as John told you already, I think the greatest and most positive indicator of all is they aren't calling it Reaganomics anymore.
• 37:29
  It was the result of that Republican majority that we finally have in the Senate after more than a quarter of a century of living in the wilderness, and a combination of good sound and prominent Democratic congressmen and Republicans in the House that made that economic plan go into effect.
• 37:56
  The you remember they when they were calling what was ailing America as a malaise, and now former Vice President Malaise is running for president, promising he can do everything just like they did before.
• 38:10
  Well, just as the A's on our report card reflect the degree of proficiency of our economic accomplishments, they can be attributed to the skill and hard work as well as to right thinking.
• 38:21
  Luckily, we had a professor from Wichita Falls teaching us how to do it.
• 38:32
  The formula was no secret.
• 38:34
  We reduced the rate of growth in federal spending.
• 38:38
  The budget was growing at a rate of 17.5% in 1980.
• 38:42
  We've cut it by 40%.
• 38:45
  Taxes and regulations were strangling incentive and tying the hands of our most productive citizens.
• 38:50
  As of July, we will have cut personal tax rates 25%.
• 38:55
  And I can assure you tonight, we're not going to retreat one iota on the tax rate reduction or indexing.
• 39:12
  The quickest way to short circuit this recovery would be to increase the taxes on our people.
• 39:18
  We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because you weren't taxed enough.
• 39:23
  We have a debt of that size because government has been spending too much.
• 39:33
  We can never underestimate the role of dedicated individuals like Senator Tower and the support of courageous band of conservative Democrats.
• 39:42
  And isn't it great to have Congressman Phil Graham on our side and not theirs?
• 39:56
  I think everyone here understands he didn't change philosophy, he just changed labels.
• 40:02
  But you, you, the Republican activist, deserve the lion's share of the credit when we succeed.
• 40:10
  Keeping the pressures on Capitol Hill made all the difference before and it will again.
• 40:15
  When you hold their feet to the fire, you don't have to make them see the light.
• 40:20
  Just feel the heat.
• 40:27
  I think we can be rightfully proud that we've set in place a program that should deliver in America a strong and sustained non-inflationary economic progress program.
• 40:39
  And I realize that many problems remain.
• 40:42
  Areas long dependent on the old smokestack industries are still suffering from dislocation that comes with technological transition.
• 40:51
  We're trying to help with training programs for those without skills or whose skills are no longer in demand.
• 40:58
  In South Texas, the people are also suffering in this time from something which no American can control: the peso devaluation and the economic crisis in Mexico.
• 41:09
  Senator Tower has a program to help the people in South Texas who are bearing the brunt of this problem.
• 41:14
  And I can assure you, we are now seriously examining his proposals at the White House at this time.
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  But getting our economy back on its feet is only half the job.
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  It won't matter how prosperous we become unless we're at peace and secure from foreign aggression.
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  And that's another reason I'm proud to be here tonight.
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  I can think of no other United States Senator, not one, who has contributed more to the security needs of the United States than Senator John Tower.
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  I won't go into all the details.
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  I think you know, though, that during most of the 70s, the security needs of America were neglected.
• 42:03
  During that time, the real national defense spending dropped 21.6%.
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  Our Navy went from nearly a thousand ships to under 500.
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  Research and development was cut back.
• 42:15
  Weapons systems were canceled, and by the end of the decade, our military personnel depended on weapons and equipment that had been designed by and for a previous generation.
• 42:27
  By 1980, morale in the armed forces was at a low ebb, it reflecting a serious erosion of military pay and just as important a seeming lack of appreciation for the job our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines were doing.
• 42:44
  And at this same time, when we voluntarily reduced our military commitment, the Soviets went into high gear, increasing their military capability conventionally and strategically, beyond any legitimate defensive requirements.
• 42:59
  This administration has received a good deal of criticism for our defense proposals.
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  But just like the domestic program, we're simply trying to make up for the irresponsibility of the past.
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  Let me make one thing plain.
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  We will not tolerate waste in the defense budget.
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  But neither will we permit the communist dictatorship to militarily dominate this planet.
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  We can't ask the brave young men and women in our armed forces to protect America with second-rate equipment and bargained basement weapons.
• 43:46
  If they can put their lives on the line to protect our way of life, we can afford to give them the weapons and equipment they need to do the job right.
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  And now to those who always are so in haste to say that's warlike and that we want a war.
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  You can't look as I do so often at the faces of those young men and women in a uniform and ever think for one minute that you would want to send them into combat.
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  They are there as peacemakers to deter any possible attack, to preserve the peace simply because of their ability to And their dedication to this country.
• 44:33
  There come many thrilling moments in a job like mine, but none has exceeded the thrill that I feel at the dedication, the esprit de corps, the morale of our people in uniform today, in contrast to what it was no more than two and a half years ago.
• 44:51
  I tell every opportunity I can get one little story and I'm going to tell it again.
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  And that is an ambassador, our ambassador from Luxembourg wrote me a letter one day.
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  He'd been up on the East German frontier.
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  He'd been visiting the Second Armored Cavalry Regiment.
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  And he said that when he finished and went to his helicopter, a young nineteen-year-old trooper followed him over there and asked him if he thought he could get a message to the president.
• 45:19
  Well, being an ambassador, he allowed us how he could.
• 45:22
  And the kid stood up there attention then and said, Well, will you tell the president that we're proud to be here and we ain't scared of nothing?
• 45:40
  But more recently, more recently, I received something else.
• 45:44
  With all of our talk about the budget and the sacrifice that we're asking people in government to make, and no pay increases and so forth, and no cost of living increases for a period while we attempt to get this budget under control.
• 45:57
  And that included the military.
• 45:59
  And I opened a letter one day and it was signed by over a hundred Marines stationed in Italy.
• 46:04
  And they told me very briefly over their signatures if this is what it takes to help the country, count them in, they will be happy to do without a pay raise.
• 46:26
  This generation of Americas faces tremendous responsibilities.
• 46:31
  There's nothing I want more than verifiable agreement with the Soviet Union to reduce the levels of strategic weapons.
• 46:40
  In the long run, that's the best way to lower the growth in defense spending.
• 46:45
  But the Soviets will only bargain in good faith if they understand we're determined to defend freedom, and I'm determined they will understand that.
• 47:06
  And if I ever for one second thought I would weaken in that determination, I will just turn to John Tower, and I know that he'll take care of that.
• 47:15
  In case you hadn't heard, I addressed the Congress a few nights ago on the subject of Central America.
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  And uh the challenge we face there is not some threat in some distant land.
• 47:32
  It's a brush fire that's burning in our own neighborhood.
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  And you here tonight know the truth of something I told the Congress.
• 47:38
  Texas is closer to El Salvador than it is to Massachusetts.
• 47:43
  And like it or like it or not, future freedom and peace of mankind rests on our shoulders.
• 47:52
  If we try to take the easy way out, our children will suffer.
• 47:57
  In Central America, which is so close to home, we must be willing to counter aggression at the very least with financial and military aid, or no one anywhere in the world will believe the word of the United States.
• 48:17
  Now there are those who suggest that because our friends in Central America are not perfect, we must back away and permit those armed to the teeth by the Soviets shoot themselves their way into power.
• 48:30
  The only alternative the American people has been presented is a prescription for disaster.
• 48:36
  Today we have the opportunity to avert crisis by giving our friends support they need to defend themselves and to develop their economies and their democratic institutions.
• 48:47
  But we can't succeed if we're paralyzed by indecision.
• 48:52
  An old preacher once said to a young man asking advice, in life, you must believe your beliefs and have your doubts, but not the other way around.
• 49:04
  Today, while we recognize that honest people do have doubts, we as a nation firmly grounded in individual freedom and representative government must have the courage to believe our beliefs and act upon them.
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  The United States remains the U.S.
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  remains the last best hope for mankind plagued with tyranny and deprivation.
• 49:28
  America is no stronger than its people.
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  And that means you and me, all of us.
• 49:35
  Over the first two and a half years, it's never been clearer to me that the future of a free people doesn't depend so much on those who hold elected office.
• 49:44
  It depends on those outside the government, on you at the grassroots.
• 49:49
  And while the history books may record events as they happened during those of that this or that administration, the direction of a country is determined not so much by the leader as by the character of its people.
• 50:06
  By being here tonight, you're demonstrating there's still reason to be optimistic about our future.
• 50:14
  You're doing your part so we can pass on to our children an America as free as the one that was given to us.
• 50:23
  And I thank you for doing your part.
• 50:27
  God bless you, and thank you very much.