Davenport, Iowa Remarks During a Radio Call-Out Program on KSTT/WXLP Stations.

MR. JACKSON. Good morning. I'm H. L. Jackson, news director of KSTT and WXLP. Good morning, Mr. President, and welcome to the studios and the Quad Cities.

THE PRESIDENT. Good morning.

It's really a great occasion for me to be back here in the Quad City area. I've been here several times before, but I have to say that this is the .biggest and most enthusiastic crowd I've ever seen around Davenport and Moline.

This is a fine opportunity also for me as President this morning to get questions from the listeners in this Quad City area, and I'm looking forward to trying to explain as best I can what our Nation is doing now and what we can do in the future with the help of all Americans to remove this threat to our Nation's energy security. So, I think this will be a good session for me to express my views, and I'm looking forward to the questions very, very much.

MR. JACKSON. Very good. Mr. President, many people have sent in postcards, wanting an opportunity to talk with you this morning.

During the next 45 minutes, we will get as many calls in as possible. All calls have been preplaced. A reminder to those who will be talking with the President: Be sure all the radios in the vicinity of your telephone are off while you're on the phone with the President. We're using a tape delay system that may tend to be confusing to you.

Now, in order to get as many people on the air as possible we will go straight to the telephones.

Mr. President, the first caller is Mr. Carl Ferrell of Rock Island, Illinois.

MR. FERRELL. This is him. Mr. President, how are you today?

THE PRESIDENT. Just fine, Carl. It's good to hear from you.

MR. FERRELL. Well, it's good to talk to you.

NATIONAL MORALE

I just want to say I think you're doing a pretty good job, and I think it's time-energy is a problem, of course, but I think a bigger problem is the morale of the American people. I think what they should be doing is concentrating and channeling their energies to conserving energy and working with the government, rather than spending all their time working against it.

THE PRESIDENT. Carl, that's a very wise analysis. The main question that we face now is how- our Nation can be unified in the face of this energy threat.

In the past, in the history of our country, when we've had a serious challenge like this, it's been easy for us to see it and to recognize it, like in the First World War, the Second World War, or even the Great Depression. But with this energy threat to our basic national security, caused by our excessive dependence on foreign oil, it's hard for the average American to see it or to understand it.

We import, as you know, about half all of our oil, and there are two things we can do about it: One is to save energy, to eliminate waste, to conserve all we can, and every American can help there. And the other one is to increase American production of energy. Oil, gas, coal, geothermal-gasohol obviously would be very important to Iowa and to Illinois—and the increasing use of solar power.

These are the basic things that must be done, but you're absolutely right that people must be determined to do it. They must be unselfish, and they must work closely with local, State, and Federal Government officials and with each other.

MR. FERRELL. Well, we've got a great nation, and the American people is a large family, and that's what they've got to realize. We have to work together to survive.

THE PRESIDENT. That's a very good statement. I agree completely with you. Thank you, Carl, very much.

MR. FERRELL. Okay. I'll let you go. I know you've got a lot of people to talk to you, okay?

THE PRESIDENT. Thank you.

MR. FERRELL. Okay. Have a good trip. Bye now.

THE PRESIDENT. Goodby.

MR. JACKSON. The next caller is Debbie Brown of Davenport. Debbie?

MS. BROWN. Yes?

THE PRESIDENT. Go ahead, Debbie.

MS. BROWN. Oh, hi. Who is this?

THE PRESIDENT. I think you're Debbie Brown.

MS. BROWN. I am.

THE PRESIDENT. My name is Jimmy Carter.

MS. BROWN. Hi.

THE PRESIDENT. Do you have a question, Debbie?

DAVENPORT

Ms. BROWN. Yeah. One, I'd like to know how you like Davenport.

THE PRESIDENT. Well, Davenport is just one of my favorite places. When I was campaigning for President, I came into the Davenport Airport, and I remember we only had about 15 or 20 people there to meet me.

This morning, we had thousands of people here to meet me as President. And I've always found, whether there was a small group or a large one, that the people in Davenport are very enthusiastic and very friendly and very patriotic.

One of the most important things, though, is that Davenport seems to be a very unified community. You've never been afraid to face difficulties. And I think that you're living in one of the most productive areas of the entire world as far as farmland is concerned, has given you a sense that you contribute to a worldwide, beneficial life for other people. So, there's an unselfishness here and a friendship here and a spirit of unity here in Davenport and a spirit of patriotism that makes )'our community really a good place to live.

And I might say that you've got the Mississippi River as a bonus. So, you couldn't have it better.

MS. BROWN. That's Davenport.

THE PRESIDENT. Thank you, Debbie.

MS. BROWN. You're welcome.

MR. JACKSON. The next caller is Mark Larson in Milan, Illinois.

MILITARY PAY INCREASE

MR. LARSON. Hello.

THE PRESIDENT. Good morning, Mark. Go ahead.

MR. LARSON. Thank you, sir.

My question has to do with a subject that's a little off from the energy problem, although I am behind your proposals and I hope Congress gets behind you as quickly as the Quad City people have.

I'm on leave from the military right now. I'm in the Navy, sir, like you were. And before I left I heard that the military was going to get a 5.5-percent pay raise. Is this true, sir?

THE PRESIDENT. Yes, that's true, Mark. We will have a 5.5-percent pay raise for the military. It's a little bit less than the inflation rate, but I think it's enough to get us by. And we hope that in a very short time, we'll be able to turn this 10- or 12-year inflation rate around and let us have a more stable cost of living.

As you know, when we import too much oil we also import unemployment and we also import inflation. So, the economic situation in our country is very closely tied in with the energy situation. One of the best things about our Nation is, however, that we have such tremendous productivity in our farming areas. We now are exporting more farm products overseas than we ever have before in history. In 1978 we also set a world record, and in 1977 we also set a record. So, each year we're exporting more farm products, which helps us control inflation, and of course, dealing with the energy question will help it as well.

But the pay increase for the military will be as you described, and I think this is certainly well deserved by all of you who serve in the Navy and the other branches of the Armed Forces.

MR. LARSON. Well, we're behind you, sir.

THE PRESIDENT. Thank you, Mark. That means a lot to me.

MR. LARSON. Well, thank you, sir. Have a good day.

MR. JACKSON. The next caller is Chris Swanson from Tipton, Iowa. Chris, go ahead.

DECONTROL OF OIL PRICES; NUCLEAR POWER

MR. SWANSON. Good morning, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT. Good morning, Chris.

MR. SWANSON. How are you this morning?

THE PRESIDENT. I'm just great. Good to hear from you. Do you have a question or a comment'?

MR. SWANSON. Yes, kind of a mixture of a comment and a question. My comment is on, I think that oil and natural gas should be decontrolled immediately, all oil and natural gas. And the reason I say this—even though it might be inflationary and maybe even cause a recession immediately—wouldn't it be better to get the transfer of American dollars from the Arab countries back towards the United States? And this flow of dollars, wouldn't it offset recession by increasing jobs and reducing unemployment and plowing $40 billion back into our economy?

THE PRESIDENT. Well, obviously the increase in American production is a very good approach, but I think an immediate decontrol of oil and natural gas would not be well-advised.

The Congress has passed legislation that would let natural gas prices be decontrolled over a fairly long period of time, 7 or 8 years. And as a result of that legislation, we've already had a tremendous increase in both the amount of natural gas produced in the United States and also the amount that's transported outside the oil-producing States to States like Georgia, Iowa, and the others further north.

So, I think that the gradual decontrol of natural gas and oil is a better approach. The main thing is to let the oil companies and the American people know that it will be done in a carefully planned fashion.

We have other forms of energy also to increase. I've mentioned gasohol already, synthetic fuels. We need to increase the use of coal, and we can make it clean-burning. And in addition to that, of course, a much heavier dependence in the future on solar power.

I hope that by 1990—well, by the year 2000, we'll have 20 percent of all the energy being consumed in our Nation coming directly from solar power.

MR. SWANSON. You're not ignoring nuclear, are you?

THE PRESIDENT. No. We have a place for nuclear power. As you know, we now have a study going on with the Three Mile Island incident. That report should be to me in the next few days, and then I will assess, as President, what we can do to make the existing nuclear plants and those being designed be safer and better operated and, obviously, better designed as well.

I might say that the whole range of energy supplies is important, but the most important facet is to conserve energy, not to waste it. I think the consumption of increasing quantities of energy in our country is not good for us, but whatever we do consume we want as much as possible to be from our own Nation.

MR. SWANSON. That's a good idea.

MR. JACKSON. The next caller is Clark Scott from Moline, Illinois. Good morning, Clark.

MR. SCOTT. Hello.

THE PRESIDENT. Clark, go ahead.

NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL

MR. SCOTT. I didn't really have a question for you as much as I'd like to voice my opinion on something.

THE PRESIDENT. Fine.

MR. SCOTT. I think what really made this country great are the natural resources that were here when it was settled, and that my major concern about the future is our, what I think, our abuse of the country by dumping toxic wastes. And my major concern is the dumping of nuclear wastes, and I read the other day that you were thinking about importing nuclear wastes from foreign countries to be dumped here.

THE PRESIDENT. No. I'm not thinking about that at all. We are thinking about presenting to the Congress for the first time in 35 years a proposal on how we can more safely dispose of nuclear wastes.

I know there have been some rumors around here that toxic or nuclear wastes were being brought into Rock Island, for instance, to the arsenal. That's not true. The toxic wastes that are produced on Rock Island have been handled very carefully. And we've had a reassessment made of that situation recently, and they are being taken care of properly and taken off the island for proper disposition.

But we do not intend to import nuclear or toxic wastes from foreign countries. We're trying to make sure that when we dispose of those produced in our own country, that it's done safely and wisely.

MR. SCOTT. Well, I don't see how that can be done, though, because how long do they last?

THE PRESIDENT. Well, we've been producing nuclear wastes now for 35 or 40 years, ever since we've had nuclear powerplants. They last, as far as radioactivity is concerned, for thousands of years. The problem is to try to dispose of them so that they won't have an adverse impact on our environment in the future.

And as you know, toxic wastes or toxic materials and also nuclear materials exist in very large quantities in a natural state in the ores from which uranium is derived, and also from which radium and other radioactivity is derived.

So, we're trying to straighten out a toxic waste and a nuclear waste mess that I inherited 2 1/2 years ago. We have proposed to the Congress new legislation that requires that the manufacturers of any toxic materials would have to pay a small amount of money into a reserve fund, like an insurance fund, and after those toxic wastes are used, then that fund would be tapped to dispose of the toxic wastes properly. And if a mistake was made in their disposition in the future, that any damage that was done to an American or to a community would be paid for out of the insurance fund that would be accumulated from the toxic wastes manufacturers.

As you know, many toxic materials have to be used in our country for herbicides, insecticides, and other reasons, and we want to make sure that when they are finally disposed of, that nobody gets hurt because they are disposed of wisely, and if any damage takes place, then the damages can be paid for by those who manufacture the toxic wastes in the beginning.

MR. JACKSON. Mr. President, we have Jaye Zessar of Rock Island on the line.

MR. ZESSAR. Good morning, President Carter.

THE PRESIDENT. Good morning, Jaye.

GOALS FOR THE NATION

MR. ZESSAR. My family and I want to welcome you and your family to the Quad City area. We realize that all of you are making great sacrifices in order for you to serve as President of our country, and we appreciate your efforts and dedication and wish you success with all the issues you must deal with for the sake of our country and the world's future.

My question is, if you were granted the power to independently do three things to improve the country or the world, what three things would you consider the most important to do?

THE PRESIDENT. Okay. Let me say first of all that it's not a sacrifice to serve as President. It's gratifying and it's a great honor for Inc, obviously. And the support that I've had from the American people since I've been in office has made the job not a burden, but an enjoyable experience for me. It's the greatest nation on Earth, and to occupy the highest elective office in the greatest nation on Earth is really a wonderful position for inc to hold.

I think the first requirement, Jaye, for any President is to guarantee the security of our Nation, and I have done what I could and will continue to make sure that our Nation's defenses are adequate to discourage any possible threat to our Nation's safety or its existence. That's the number one consideration that any President must face.

Secondly, I would like to go out of office with the same record that I've got now, that is, that no American citizen in combat would ever be endangered or lose their lives. It's been a long time since this happened, that a President could serve an entire term or a time in the White House without having any service men or women have to endanger their lives in combat. So, the peace for our own Nation is also as important as protecting its own security, to avoid war.

And the third thing, of course, I'd like to have is peace in other parts of the world. This obviously goes along with our own. And I'd like to see our country have its spirit revived. We don't need to deplore what we have now, but there is a sense in our country of disunity and kind of a loss of confidence, that I described in my Sunday evening speech.

We ought to remember as Americans-and part of my responsibility as President is to remind people—that our country is the greatest on Earth. We're the strong. est country in the world—militarily, economically, politically. God's given us almost unbelievable blessings as far as natural resources are concerned.

In a democracy like ours we have freedom, the right to speak as we choose, to select our own officials, to be an individual, to be different, to meet challenges using the initiative and the innovation that comes from a free enterprise system.

So, I would say that to defend our country, to have American and world peace, and to restore and to enhance the spirit of both confidence and self-sacrifice and patriotism, those are the three things that I believe are very important.

MR. ZESSAR. I think those are three very good things, and I agree with you that this is the greatest country in the world. I think that all Americans should remember that. And it's been a privilege for me to speak with the President of the United States. Thank you.

MR. JACKSON. The next caller is Leon King in Burlington, Iowa. Mr. King?

THE PRESIDENT. Leon, go ahead.

MR. KING. Good morning, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT. Good morning to you.

INFLATION

MR. KING My question is, I wondered, I had some property acquired through urban renewal, and I was wondering what your plans are for lower income people as far as upgrading their standards. I know I've had an awful lot of problems with it, because of the reason that the law was made in 1972, I believe. And at that time, the price of living was lower than what it is now. And they haven't upgraded the law. So therefore, when my property was acquired, I was forced into an economic situation that I was not prepared for. And I wondered if you have any feelings along these lines or thoughts in the future.

THE PRESIDENT. Yes, Leon.

MR. KING. I can't get it across like I'd like to, Mr. President, but I sure would like to spend some time with you. I have a lot I'd like to tell you.

THE PRESIDENT. Well, as you know, we'll be in Burlington later on this week, and I'll have a townhall meeting there and be able to answer some questions for a large audience in public, and perhaps I will have a chance to see you there.

MR. KING. I sure hope so.

THE PRESIDENT. We have had this problem with inflation now for 10 or 12 years. And I think most of the programs that we've got for very poor people or for retired people through social security have had a compensation built in so that as inflation goes up rapidly, the payments for the very poor, for medical programs, and for the elderly have gone up as well.

Another thing that should be remembered about inflation, which is almost all bad, is that if you did buy property in the past and now are paying for it, then the value of your property has gone up since you bought it. And in general, the interest rates several years ago when you may have bought your property are perhaps lower than the interest rates are now.

The government, including the President, must be constantly aware of ways to meet new problems. One of the new problems is the unexpected increase in the inflation rate brought about by the OPEC oil nations increasing the price of oil more than 50 percent in the last 6 months.

With the windfall profits tax that we're trying to get the Congress to pass to put on the oil companies, we will have a reserve fund adequate to make the low and middle-income families' pressures from increased oil prices easier to bear.

We'll also have money derived from the oil company profits to have a better transportation system in our country. And the third thing, of course, is to produce more energy for our people and also to let us conserve energy by more efficient automobiles, weatherization of homes, and so forth, so that the poor family won't be wasting heat, but on the other hand, saving it.

A lot of people don't understand how this would work. And so, 2 years ago, just after I became President, we initiated an Energy Extension Service similar to the Home Demonstration Agent in every county, and the Agricultural Extension Agent. This is an Energy Extension Service. We tried it out for 2 years in 10 different States around the country. And early in 1980, this program will be instituted in all the States in the country.¹

¹ On the same day, the White House released the following information at Davenport.

The President today announced a nationwide Energy Extension Service (EES) program that will provide Federal grants to 57 States and territories to help families, owners of small businesses, and local government officials take practical steps to save energy and switch to renewable energy sources.

The program would be administered under the Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Solar Applications in the Department of Energy.

Funding for the program includes $27.7 million in grant funds and $2 million for administrative costs, subject to final congressional approval.

State energy offices are encouraged to immediately begin the 180-day planning process. All States are expected to have their EES program operating by early 1980.

As a result of a highly successful 2-year pilot program in 10 States, the EES is being expanded to all 57 States and territories and will provide a Federal/State partnership to give personalized information and assistance on energy conservation to small-scale users of energy.

The 2-year ELS demonstration began under the National Energy Extension Service Act of 1977. The 10 demonstration States—Alabama, Connecticut, Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming—each received $1.5 million. The other 47 States and territories received $45,000 each to follow and learn from the demonstration.

As a result of the demonstration program many recipients have made and are planning to make more energy conservation improvements than people who were not contacted. The ELS program is cost effective, because the value of the energy saved exceeds the participants' investment and the Federal costs of the program. Under the ELS grant program each State decides which small-scale energy users need the most information and assistance on energy conservation, what types of services they need, and what institutions in the State can best deliver those services.

Each State plan will be designed and implemented by the State. Those interested in participating in their State Energy Extension Service program should contact the State energy office for details.

There will be an adequate amount of money allotted to each State. I think Illinois will get about $430,000—Illinois will get about $930,000, Iowa about $430,000. It's based on population. And out of this money will come advice for you and for other families on how you can save more energy and meet this increased financial burden if it's not handled wisely.

So, in many ways we're trying to make the burden on the poor families easier in spite of inflation. And I hope that at the end of this year, we'll see the inflation rate turning around and start down again. I believe we'll see that happen, Leon.

Thank you very much.

MR. KING. Thank you, Mr. President.

MR. JACKSON. The next caller is Nita Eagle Frink.

Ms. FRINK. Yes, this is she.

THE PRESIDENT. DO you have a question, Nita?

Ms. FRINK. Hi. Good morning. How are you?

THE PRESIDENT. Good Morning to you. Where you from?

MS. FRINK. And I'm from Rock Island. I just saw you down at the dock, and it was wonderful.

THE PRESIDENT. That was a very, large crowd and a very, excited crowd.

EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT

Ms. FRINK. Oh, we were, really, believe me. I do want to tell you that all of us who want the equal rights for all appreciate the fact that you have always supported the equal rights amendment. And my question is, what do you intend to do to ensure ratification of the ERA before 19827

THE PRESIDENT. We have been working on that; not only myself but my wife and my oldest son's wife works almost full time at it. We've called the members of the legislatures in the States where equal rights has not yet passed, and we very, eagerly hope that it will become part of our Constitution. We've also tried to correct some of the very misleading statements that have been made against equal rights for women by those who oppose it. This is obviously a subject of intense debate.

We are now on the border between a State that has ratified equal rights—that is, Iowa—and a State that has not yet ratified the equal rights amendment, that is Illinois. We hope it will be passed, and I think questions like yours and maybe answers like mine show people that we have established equal rights for almost every other citizen in the Nation—not yet for women. And there's no doubt in my mind that the women deserve this protection under our Constitution.

Ms. FRINK. Thank you, Mr. President. We've worked very hard, and we'll continue to do so. I hope .you do, too.

MR. JACKSON. The next caller is Cindy Wolf in Davenport.

THE PRESIDENT. Cindy, good morning. Go ahead.

ENERGY CONSERVATION

MS. WOLF. Good morning, Mr. President.

I'd like to change the focus a little bit. We're talking mostly about what happens on a very large scale, and I know that's what you're concerned with. But I'm .just a little person, and OPEC to me is simply a four-letter word that we talk about at the dinner table, and that's all. I need to know something that I can do very. specifically. When we talk about the economy having trouble, that will affect me. But I think we will be in more trouble, the generation of today will be in more trouble, because we can't do the things that our heritage has given us because we've let it slip through our fingers.

THE PRESIDENT. Okay. I think that's a very good approach, and it's always good for us to get down to practicalities.

I think the first thing that an American citizen could do, Cindy, in one's own life and within one's own family and within .one's own community is to count our blessings and to say something good about our country and, in between elections, to try to support our government officials at the local, State, and Federal level. The sense of unity and a common purpose is often missing in a nation. We have blessings in our own standard of living, the quality of our lives, that are as high or higher than any other nation on Earth. Also when a country has a problem like we have now with energy, each family should decide what it can do and each person what he or she can do.

There are many things that I can do and you can do to save energy, first of all, I think, in our driving habits. I like to walk and in fact I run every day for exercise. We can ride bikes. We can eliminate excessive trips. We can always obey the speed limit. We can share our automobiles or perhaps small vans with neighbors going to shop or going to work every day. We can try to set aside one day in the week where we don't drive at all.

There are hundreds of things that can be done around a home to make sure that a house is efficient, to eliminate the waste of heat in the winter and to eliminate the waste of air-conditioning in the summer. These things can be not only effective in helping our country, but they can be an enjoyable experience and also save us a lot of money, help to overcome the impact of inflation.

One of the great things that we can do is to increase the productivity of our farms and factories. Each American worker, whether you're on a tractor or whether you're manufacturing a product to be sold, can do just a little bit better job during the day to have the productivity of our own lives higher.

And I think the last thing, to try to abbreviate an answer that could go on for several hours—

Ms. WOLF. Right.

THE PRESIDENT. — is to have a renewed sense of the history of our country. Morality, ethics, the standards of our own lives, deeper commitment to our religious beliefs—these kinds of things also are very important. So, you could inventory your own life, realize it's different from everyone else's. and use your own initiative instead of waiting for a public official, even a President, to tell you or others what must be done.

Presidents learn more from people than people learn from Presidents.

Ms. WOLF. As mothers do from children.

THE PRESIDENT. Absolutely. So, we're all in it together. We've got a great country. We can make it even greater.

Ms. WOLF. That's true. And I feel like I am part of the greatest country in the world. But it's gotten its greatness from my ancestors, from my very recent ancestors, because we're a young country. And I want to be part of that greatness; I want my grandchildren to say we live in the greatest country on Earth. And we waste so much. I think that's more of a problem, one of the basic problems, rather than more specific things like energy, although that is a big problem.

THE PRESIDENT. Amen. Thank you very much.

Ms. WOLF. Thank you, Mr. President.

MR. JACKSON. The next caller, Mr. President, is Mrs. Owen Gardner, and she lives in Davenport, Iowa.

THE PRESIDENT. Luella, go ahead.

MRS. GARDNER. Good morning, sir. How are you?

THE PRESIDENT. Just fine.

FOREIGN IMPORTS

Q. So nice to have you in Davenport, and we want you to know that we think you're doing a good job.

I want to get a different kind of a question in this time. We want to know if there are any new laws in—import laws—in progress that will curb so many foreign items coming in.

You know, you can't go to the store and buy American-made sweaters or shoes or TV's or cars or anything, and we'd like to go back to buying America again. Is that going to be possible?

THE PRESIDENT. Yes, of course, it is. One of the things that the Congress has just done is to pass a Multilateral Trade Negotiation bill which helps to reduce the obstacles to international trade, and it makes the competition more efficient.

We have—just take automobiles, for in stance. Your first name is Luella, is it not?

MRS. GARDNER. Right.

THE PRESIDENT. Just take automobiles, for instance, since you mentioned that. We have tried in the years gone by—before I became President, of course—to encourage American automobile producers to make cars that were more efficient, smaller, lighter, safer, and also that had cleaner exhausts.

Some of the foreign nations got ahead of us, because American customers demanded the large and very expensive, very heavy, inefficient automobiles. It was a matter of customer demand, not something that was decided for us by the automobile manufacturers.

This was when oil was selling for $2 or $2.50 a barrel. Now it's almost 10 times that high. There's a rapid transformation taking place in the automobile production industry of our country, to make automobiles not only more efficient 'but also safer and almost equally as convenient.

So, I think that the rapid change in the buying habits of Americans to accommodate changing circumstances is going to make your wish come true. Every American who goes into a store to buy products will have a choice. And I think it would be good for us to choose American products whenever they are of high enough quality and reasonably competitive on price.

Sometimes you can buy something a little bit cheaper from a foreign country. But I think it's good for us to try to buy American when we can. There's no doubt in my mind now that the automobiles made by American manufacturers are as good a quality and at this point are actually cheaper than some of the foreign manufactured automobiles.

That's a good point you've made. I hope everybody listening will try to buy American whenever we possibly can.

MRS. GARDNER. I hope so, too, because it would help us all in so many ways. And I thank you, and God bless you.

THE PRESIDENT. Thank you. The same to you.

MR. JACKSON. Our next caller is from Moline, Illinois. This is Oscar Zepeda.

THE PRESIDENT. Oscar, go ahead. Good morning.

MR. ZEPEDA. (good morning, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT. You have a question?

MR. ZEPEDA. Yes.

THE PRESIDENT. Ask it.

SUPPORT FOR THE PRESIDENT

MR. ZEPEDA. Okay. I just wanted to say that I believe in you—and-

THE PRESIDENT. That's good enough. Thank you very much.

You know, the important thing in our country—whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, or black or white, or speak English or speak a foreign language, or whether your family has been over here for 300 years or 3 years, is to recognize that public officials in our government need our support. We're all in it together. The challenges that come before us face all of us, and the opportunities for resolving those problems and meeting those challenges must include us all.

And it's very encouraging for a President to come to a place like Davenport and to Moline, the Quad City area, and have someone like you express your confidence in me. I thank you very much. I'll try to do you a good job.

MR. ZEPEDA. I believe you, Mr. President.

Is it all right if my wife and my little girl say hi to you?

THE PRESIDENT. Of course.

MISS ZEPEDA. Hello.

THE PRESIDENT. Hello, good morning to you.

MISS ZEPEDA. Hello, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT. Good morning. I'm glad to talk to you. What's your name?

MISS ZEPEDA. Mary.

THE PRESIDENT. Mary, how old are you?

MISS ZEPEDA. Three.

THE PRESIDENT. That's great. Well, I wish you could come and see Amy before we leave here. Good luck to you. Is your mother there? Is your mother there? Can I speak to your mother?

MISS ZEPEDA. Yes.

THE PRESIDENT. Okay.

Mrs. ZEPEDA. Yes, I am.

THE PRESIDENT. Good morning to you. You must have a wonderful family, and I thank all of you.

MRS. ZEPEDA. Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT. Good luck, have a good day.

MRS. ZEPEDA. You too.

MR. JACKSON. The next caller, Mr. President, is Teresa Shima from Eldridge, Iowa.

SOLAR HEATING

Ms. SHIMA. Morning. Morning, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT. Good morning.

Ms. SHIMA. Okay, first of all, I'd just like to say that I think you're doing a very good job, and I'll be voting for you in the next election.

And my question is, do you think that in the future there will be Federal aid for the installment of solar heating in homes like there was for the insulation?

THE PRESIDENT. Yes. There already is, as a matter of fact—and I'm glad you asked that question. We have a very good program already passed by Congress that gives those who install solar heating or other solar uses in their home a tax break. And all you have to do is—you can get up to $2,200 in tax credits for the installation of solar heat or other solar uses in your home.

Ms. SHIMA. Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT. In the future, by the way, when we get the windfall profits tax passed, we'll have additional programs that would do things like let your utility companies, either those who sell you natural gas or electricity, provide for each family home a long-term loan at reasonable interest. And you could take that loan and weatherize your house, make it more efficient, do other things that would help with the energy problem, and then the loan would not have to be repaid until the house was actually sold.

Obviously, this costs a little money, and that money would come from a tax on the oil companies. The choice is, should we let the oil companies keep all that enormous profit that comes from higher prices for oil, or should we tax part of it with the windfall profits tax, and let the money be used for Americans for more solar energy, for better and more efficient homes, and for a better quality of life?

I think we ought to get the windfall profits tax passed, and I want all of you to help me get the Congress to pass that tax so we can have a better and more energy-secure nation, including the use of gasohol from Iowa and Illinois, as well as solar power.

Ms. SHIMA. Thank you. Have a trip back to Washington, D.C.

THE PRESIDENT. Thank you very much.

MR. JACKSON. The next caller is Keith Royal in Davenport, Iowa.

ENERGY LEGISLATION

MR. ROYAL. Yes. Hello, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT. Good morning, Keith.

MR. ROYAL. Since I'm a high school debater and last year's topic was the energy crisis, I'd like to ask you two questions.

THE PRESIDENT. Okay.

MR. ROYAL. First, of all, why do you feel that Congress has delayed so long on your energy proposals? And secondly, if Congress is the major blame, why do you feel that's the problem—like, is it a problem within the party, or something like that?

THE PRESIDENT. Well, we've had a very severe energy problem, as you know, since 1973—when we had the OPEC embargo, where they stopped shipping oil to us completely, and the price went up.

We really live in two nations here as far as oil goes. One is the oil-producing States—they derive a great deal of benefit from producing oil and distributing it to the rest of the country—and the other States, of course, or the other kinds of people, are the oil-consuming people of our country.

In the past, in the Congress, the oil companies have had a tremendous influence in the Congress. Since I became President, I have tried to build up an opposing force, made up of the consumers of our. country, to meet, for the first time, this oil lobby in Washington, and it's been a very difficult thing to do.

When we passed the energy bill of 1977 last November, the votes were almost exactly even in the House and the Senate. But for the first time the oil lobby was successfully challenged by those interested in the consumers of our country.

Now we've got another major test this year. Are we going to have a windfall profits tax on the oil companies or not? If the consumers of the country, including people like you, Keith, will speak up and let your voice be heard with your own Member of Congress and with others, then we'll have the windfall profits tax, and we'll have an able country to meet the energy challenge.

This will leave, by the way, adequate amounts of money for the oil companies to go ahead and explore and produce new oil supplies and natural gas supplies in the United States. But this is the first time in the last couple of years that anyone has ever challenged the enormous authority and influence of the oil companies in the Congress of the United States. And I believe we've made good progress so far.

But this year is going to tell the tale, and if you'll help me, along with all those who are listening to my voice, it'll pick up some extra votes, we'll get the windfall profits tax passed, leave the oil companies enough profit, and have a better life for all of us in meeting the energy challenge.

MR. ROYAL. Thank you, Mr. President.

MR. JACKSON. Mr. President, we have no further time for callers. We will open our microphone for any final comments you'd like to make.

THE PRESIDENT. I want to say that it's been a real pleasure for me to be with KSTT and WXLP here in Davenport and Moline to talk to roughly six or seven hundred thousand listeners of these two stations. The questions have been very good. It's given me a chance to talk about the basic strength of our country, the individual responsibility that falls on the shoulders of every American, how serious our energy problem is now, and what we can do about it. If the Congress acts effectively this year, we will have made a major stride forward in meeting a problem that bas not been faced in previous years.

And I might add that the government can't do it alone. There must be a dedication and a determination on the part of every single American to do one's part.

The last thing I'd like to repeat is that our country is the greatest on Earth. We've been given enormous blessings by God in every possible way. And this is one of the richest and the most blessed parts of a great nation. So, if we can all work together, there's no doubt in my mind that our greatest Nation will be even finer in the future.

I see Amy peeping in through the door. And we're all glad to be here—Amy, Rosalynn, and I—and I might say that the trip down the Mississippi so far has been an exciting part of our lives, and I want to express my thanks to everyone listening to my voice.

MR. JACKSON. Mr. President, we at KSTT and WXLP thank you very much for being with us. The Quad Cities, of course, thank you for taking this time from your day. It is most important that the people have access to their leaders, and today we've had exactly that. I'm H. L. Jackson, KSTT/WXLP News.