Anti-Inflation Program Remarks at a Briefing for Federal Sub-Cabinet Officials.

This is my first chance to meet with you as a group. But I have had a chance to get to know many of you since I've been President. And I'm very grateful to be 'here with you this afternoon to discuss an important subject.

I'd like to ask, first of all, how many of you are willing to join in with me and Alfred Kahn, Charlie Schultze, the Cabinet, and others in helping to control inflation during this next year and in the months after—would you just raise your hand so I know where I stand? [Laughter] Any who did not raise their hand are excused. [Laughter]

Last year I spoke at Notre Dame at the graduation exercise, and I told them about a man who was arrested for being drunk and for setting a bed on fire. And when he got up in front of the judge he said, "I plead guilty to being drunk, but the bed was on fire when I got in it." [Laughter] And I want to make clear at the beginning that I don't assume responsibility for all the inflationary problems that have piled up on my shoulders in recent months. [Laughter]

As I said in my anti-inflation talk a couple of weeks ago, this has been a chronic problem for our Nation the last 10 years, averaging about 6 1/2 percent, as you well know. But you and I together have before us a very difficult, tedious, thankless battle to combat inflation. You are the leaders of our Government, enjoying positions of great responsibility, quite often not recognized for what you contribute. But still, if we fail, the responsibility will be yours as well as it is mine.

I think it's important on us to assess very carefully the inventory that we have with which to work, what Federal resources, what decisionmaking authority and power do we have to combat inflation; to set an example for others who work with us and for others around our Nation who observe us very closely.

We have already committed ourselves to a very tight budgeting procedure. The fiscal year 1980 budget will be stripped of every degree of waste and inefficiency possible to detect. We've already had success, as you know, in cutting down the level of the Federal budget deficit. This has been observed and in some cases appreciated. But I'm not here this afternoon to brag on ourselves. I'm here as President, as a partner of yours to ask for your help.

Many of you have insights and abilities and experience which I don't have. And I hope that you will leave this meeting this afternoon with an awareness of our goals, with a clearer knowledge personally of those with whom you will be working; but above all, with a commitment on your own initiative, without further request or encouragement or inspiration from any of us on the stage, to do what you can within the sphere of your own influence to be effective in controlling inflation.

As you well know, inflation hurts everyone in our country, particularly those who are least able to make their own decisions because of limited income, limited influence, limited awareness, limited flexibility. Those who are most defenseless are the ones who need defense most from us.

Also, I think it's accurate to say that in order to control inflation that sacrifice is going to be demanded from everyone. Very beneficent, very influential, very eloquent interest groups will make their voices heard in a competitive way. And because you are much closer to the delivery end of government services, those pressures on you will perhaps be even greater than they are on me or on members of the Cabinet or on the White House staff members.

And I know as well, you in some ways are part of the interest groups themselves. Because of the relatively narrow focusing of your own responsibility, you will be tempted to be a spokesman for those that you serve and say, "Above all other interests in government, I demand or I request or I will use my own influence with the Congress or with the budgeting authorities to serve those who look to me for their needs to be met."

I'd like to ask you to avoid that as much as possible and to put yourself in my position, looking at the Government as an entity and recognizing that the interest groups, however deserving, must be considered in the overall framework of how well they will be served if inflation is controlled.

I can't see any political benefit to be derived from the efforts that are required of us. There won't be enormous sums of money to hand out. And we will have to be as pure as Caesar's wife in making sure that the decisions we do make that require sacrifice, through the most intense observation and analysis, are obviously fair and just.

As you deal with contractors and grantees, suppliers of goods and services to the Government, I hope that you will demand of them and inspire in them a cooperative attitude with us. The influence that you can exert personally can spread like waves on a pond to include others and to get them brought up into a realization of the tremendous benefits to be derived for our country with an objective and enlightened control and reduction of inflationary pressures.

I think it's obvious that there is no need for us to reduce the quality of services. This is not an incompatibility with what I've just described. We've been successful in the last 2 years in having the needs of our people met and, at the same time, having substantially reduced waste, promoted efficiency, cut the deficits all at the same time. We've provided for our country's defense as never before in history.

And I think we've had a sustained level of the production of housing units for our people, increased allocation of funds for public recreation areas, education, health, social benefits that have brought credit to our administration. And that can obviously continue in the future as it has in the past. But the delivery of services must be more efficient and the assessment through zero-base budgeting techniques and through your own analyses of the priority allocation of limited Federal funds must be more intensely focused.

We've got a good opportunity through our reorganization efforts, which have been approved by the Congress, through the new civil service reform legislation, which gives us an additional opportunity for professional public servants to expend their efforts and energies more effectively, to make sure that we can deliver services even better than we have in the past.

I'd like to touch on another very sensitive subject, and that is fraud and corruption. In the last number of years, certainly not just since we've been in office, there have been embarrassing revelations of violation of regulation, violations of ethics, even violations of the law. Several people have been indicted within the last few months. Other investigations on a preliminary basis have already revealed practices that bring shame to our Government. I recognize as accurately as you that this is a very tiny minority in the Government, perhaps even a lower portion than would be the case in an average nongovernmental organization.

But we have an additional responsibility to root these kinds of practices out on our own initiative. It's not enough for the Administrator of the General Services Administration, working with the Attorney General, to try to reveal and correct and, secondarily, to punish those who are culpable.

But the devastating impact of this kind of revelation on the honest and sincere, dedicated, competent public employee is the most serious consequence of fraudulent practices. All of you remember clearly and vividly—in fact, the entire world remembers the reflection that was brought on the White House itself by the Watergate revelations and how the CIA is just struggling to overcome the adverse publicity brought to it by revelations of illegal practices.

But obviously, the White House, the Cabinet is an entity that deserves to be respected and honored and the CIA has the same character of professionalism and competence and dedication and patriotism that deserves recognition and honor.

The General Services Administration is the same way. It deserves to be recognized and honored for its good performance. The Small Business Administration is now becoming scrutinized much more closely. As you know, recently, legislation was passed for the establishment of 12 Inspectors General offices, and at the same time, the GAO has reported that $4.3 billion in unresolved audit findings hang over the Federal Government.

The point I want to make to you is that in our eagerness to set a good example to inspire the Nation to help us to control inflation in all its multitudinous and deleterious aspects, that the rooting out of improper practices is the responsibility not just of the President or Cabinet Members or the Attorney General. It's the responsibility of you and all those who work with you and under you.

And I would hope that you would not wait until a highly publicized revelation of improper practices becomes obvious before you take the initiative on your own to reexamine even accepted practices that might not be completely appropriate and to be sure that any standing practices that might have been condoned are reexamined for absolute propriety.

We have a team effort in order to make our Government more effective and respected, and I know that you will join in with me in making this possible. Charlie Schultze has spoken to you. Alfred Kaita has spoken to you. The Cabinet members are on the stage behind me. The White House staff and others are eager to cooperate.

The recent elections, I think, have given a clear message to the Congress, to Governors, to county and city officials, that this must be a joint effort to realize the two principles on which my own party's success has been predicated; a compassion and understanding for those who need assistance and services on the one band, and competence on the other.

We have to get maximum benefit from every dollar spent, every person employed, every decision made. Unwarranted Government regulation must be minimized. the competitive nature of the free enterprise system must be enhanced. And I know that I can count on you to join in with this effort with other leaders of our Government to be successful.

I do not intend to fail as President in making sure that the Government is efficient, competent, and honest. And I would like to be sure that a close observation of how we perform can be a real inspiration to our Nation. With you as partners, a member of the same team, I have no doubt that we will be successful. Thank you very much.